Inspired by Sun Ra: AstraL TravelleR by MoonChilD

.......sun ra on a tecno space cruise.......

Sun Ra - Sound Sun Pleasure!! (1970)

The first half-dozen cuts on Sound Sun Pleasure (1970) are thought to have been documented between 1958 and 1960, during Sun Ra and his Astro Infinity Arkestra's residency in Chicago. Although Ra's arrangements are as intricate and involved as any from the era, the song list draws heavily upon standards. That said, it might be recommended as a starting point for parties not acclimated to the artist's later and exceedingly aggressive free and avant-garde leanings. Hatty Randolph (vocals) joins the combo for a pair of refined vocals on the covers of "'Round Midnight" and "Back in Your Own Backyard." The Arkestra complement Randolph's full-bodied delivery with such finesse, it is a wonder there isn't evidence of more frequent collaborations like this. She adds a bluesy melancholia that nicely offsets the instrumentation. "You Never Told Me That You Care" -- co-written by Ra and Hobart Dotson (trumpet) -- stunningly demonstrates Ra's unmatched scoring and superlative sense of melody. The sweeping and languid tempo allows the tune to unravel organically. "Enlightenment" -- another co-composition by the pair -- is slightly more indicative of Ra's complex approach, as well as the style that would inform his later work, noted by the band's stridency around the comparatively progressive harmonics. When Sound Sun Pleasure was issued on compact disc in 1992, an additional seven selections were included. Chronologically, they are among the earliest known from Sun Ra, recorded at various times and locations between 1953 and 1956, yielding understandably sporadic sound quality. "Deep Purple" -- from a session held in Ra's apartment -- features contributions by Stuff Smith, while Wilbur Ware (bass) duets on an emotive "Can This Be Love." Arthur Hoyle (trumpet) makes one of his first Arkestra appearances on the bouncy post-bop original "Dreams Come True" that also sports a rare Clyde Williams vocal. 

AMG Review by Lindsay Planer

5. [5]  Sonny Blount and Stuff Smith

Herman "Sonny" Blount (p. Solovox); Stuff Smith (vln).

Sonny Blount's apartment, Chicago,
between November 1948 and mid-1949

Deep Purple (DeRose-Parish)

Saturn 485 (released in 1973) was an LP titled Deep Purple (on some copies, Dreams Come True).  The artists on this collection were billed as "Sun Ra and his Arkestra featuring Stuff Smith on Violin."  All of Side A of this LP was reissued on Evidence 22014, Sound Sun Pleasure!!, a CD from 1992.

The Solovox was an early electronic keyboard instrument (already in Sonny's possession as early as 1941; it can be seen attached to his piano in a photograph that was reprinted in John F. Szwed's book Space Is the Place).  When asked for a session date, members of the Arkestra told Bob Rusch "pre-1953," which meant before John Gilmore joined the band (an event that actually took place in 1954); previous discographies have generally said 1953.  However, Anthony Barnett, author of Desert Sands: The Recordings and Performances of Stuff Smith, says that Smith probably left Chicago by the end of 1952, and had relocated to New York by February 1953 at the latest.  Tommy Hunter recalls recording this get-together (supposedly, just one tune because Sonny was running out of tape) in 1948 or 1949.  Sonny Blount had traveled to Cleveland earlier in 1948 to purchase an early model recorder that used paper tapes.

From May 19, 1947 (after the departure of Fletcher Henderson), till the Club De Lisa closed in the spring of 1958, the house band was led by Theodore "Red" Saunders (who had previously held down the job with a smaller unit from late 1937 until June 1945).  Saunders (1912-1981) was a spectacular Swing drummer, much enamored of the Count Basie sound of the late 1930s (Basie was, in fact, a personal friend).  The Saunders outfit was a versatile aggregation which was expected to back guest acts and provide functional music for floor shows.  For a detailed discography of Red Saunders, see http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~campber/saunders.html.

Sonny Blount led the off-night band at the De Lisa for a number of years, functioned as a rehearsal pianist for acts that appeared there, and reportedly wrote arrangements for the Saunders band.  Tommy Hunter confirms that Sonny rewrote Saunders' arrangements on a regular basis.  Some believe that Sunny sat in with Saunders on piano, though Hunter denies this.

Sun Ra never spoke of the arrangements he wrote for Saunders in interviews, so his involvement has had to be identified by ear alone.  Nonetheless, it seems clear that he contributed a good deal to the recordings made by Saunders between 1949 and 1954.  In the earlier years, his job was most often to retouch arrangements by others, some of whom, like Johnny Pate, were no slouches at arranging to begin with.  Toward the end of his involvement with the Saunders band, Sunny contributed original arrangements in his own evolving style (as is apparent on several of Red's sessions from 1953).



24. [13]  Sun Ra

Sun Ra (p.); Wilbur Ware (b -1).

Sun Ra's apartment, Chicago,
around 1955

Piano Interlude (Ra)
Can This Be Love? (Smith-James) -1

According to Julian Vein, these two tracks were sold to Black Lion/Freedom in 1971, along with what is now The Invisible Shield, side B, but were not issued at the time. 

38. [24]  Sun Ra and the Arkestra
Sound of Joy/
Sun Ra Visits Planet Earth/
Deep Purple

Sun Ra (p, Wurlitzer ep, announcement); Art Hoyle (tp, perc); Pat Patrick (as, bars, perc); John Gilmore (ts, perc); Charles Davis (bars,  perc); Victor Sproles (b); William Cochran (d); Jim Herndon (tymp); Clyde Williams (voc).

Unidentified studio, Chicago,
November 1, 1956

Dreams Come True (Ra-Mayo)

Also reissued on in 1983 on the Saturn anthology LP, Just Friends (Saturn XI).  Hoyle is listed as "Arthur Horn" on the jacket of Saturn 485; Robert Barry is incorrectly given there as the drummer.

All tunes from the session were finally united on one disk in 1994 as Delmark DD-414 (a CD again titled Sound of Joy).  On the Delmark CD, the 6-second piano introduction to "Dreams Come True" is included for the first time (it was edited out of the other issues).

41. [27]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra
Deep Purple

Sun Ra (p.); Victor Sproles (b); Tito (cga); Hattie Randolph (voc).

Budland, Chicago, early 1957

Don't Blame Me (McHugh-Fields)
'S Wonderful (Gershwin-Gershwin)
Lover Come Back to Me (Romberg-Hammerstein)

Hattie Randolph says these tracks were made live at Budland (Cadillac Bob's club in the basement of the Pershing Hotel -- formerly Birdland, before that the Beige Room) after Art Hoyle left the band.  The bassist is not Ronnie Boykins; Victor Sproles was credited on the Saturn LP jacket.  Tito is the only known conga player to have worked with Ra during this period.  Initially released in 1973 on Side A of Saturn LP 485, Deep Purple (some copies titled Dreams Come True).  All tracks from Side A reissued on Evidence 22014 [CD, 1992].

According to Leroy Cooper (who played baritone sax briefly with Sun Ra in 1957), Ra at the time was arranging for singer Lorenz Alexandria (see As Serious as Your Life by Val Wilmer).  Through Ronald Wilson, who was also a member of the Arkestra for a time, played on her first LP for King Records, we have no evidence of Ra arrangements on Alexandria's recordings from this period (she recorded for the King label in Chicago twice in 1957 and again in 1959, but it appears that pianist King Fleming was responsible for all arrangements).

Hattie Randolph recalled a version of "Saturn" featuring her brother Lucious on trumpet.  Although such a thing could have been recorded rather easily, none of the three known versions of "Saturn" from the Chicago period includes Lucious Randolph.  And there has been no confirmation of such a release on the Saturn label.

53. [38]  Sun Ra and his Astro Infinity Arkestra 

Sound Sun Pleasure!!

Sun Ra (celeste -1, p); Hobart Dotson (tp); James Spaulding (as); Marshall Allen (as, fl); John Gilmore (ts, cl); Pat Patrick (bars, as, fl); Charles Davis (bars); Ronnie Boykins (b); Robert Barry (d); Hattie Randolph (voc -2).

Studio Recording, Chicago, late 1958

'Round Midnight (Hanighen-Monk-Williams) -2
You Never Told Me That You Care (Dotson)
Hour of Parting (Schiffer-Spoliansky)
Back in Your Own Backyard (Jolson-Rose-Dreyer) -1, 2
I Could Have Danced All Night (Lerner-Loewe)

Alton Abraham has said that "'Round Midnight" and "Back in Your Own Backyard" were initially released on a Saturn Single; further information unknown.  Otherwise, this material was first issued on the LP Sound Sun Pleasure!! (Saturn SR 512) in 1970.  All tracks from that LP were reissued in 1992 on Evidence 22014 [CD].  "Back in Your Own Backyard" was also reissued in 1983 on the Saturn anthology LP, Just Friends (Saturn XI).  "'Round Midnight" is included in the 1997 Japanese Sun Ra sampler, Sun Ra Came Down to the Earth, on Paddle Wheel KICJ 315.

The personnel list for the Saturn issue was a ball of confusion: 15 performers were listed, mostly from the late 1960s.  The presence of Hobart Dotson nails down the date firmly, though according to Hattie Randolph, this was not the same session as Jazz in Silhouette; she also recalls Robert Barry as the drummer on the date.  According to Lucious Randolph, "You Never Told Me That You Care" was wholly written and arranged by Hobart Dotson.  Allan Chase's master's thesis gives a more detailed analysis of the scoring on each piece.

from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Sound Sun Pleasure!!
Sun Ra and his Astro Infinity Arkestra
Evidence ECD 22014-2 [CD]

1.  'Round Midnight   3:55
2.  You Never Told Me That You Care   5:37
3.  Hour Of Parting   4:53
4.  Back In Our Own Backyard   2:07
5.  Enlightenment   5:09
6.  I Could Have Danced All Night   3:11
7.  Deep Purple   4:03
8.  Piano Interlude   1:56
9.  Can This Be Love   6:01
10. Dreams Come True   3:08
11. Don't Blame Me   2:53
12. 'S Wonderful   2:18
13. Lover Come Back To Me   2:49

FLAC

RS

HF

or

320

RS

HF

 

Many Thanks to I-) for sharing pics found 'round the web

Sun Ra - Sound of Joy (1956)

Something of a "lost" album from Sun Ra – material initially intended as his second album for Transition records in the 50s, but not issued until a decade later when Delmark Records was first putting the Chicago underground on the map! The sound here steps out nicely from the first Transition session – and Ra is already a bit bolder, not just in his structure of the songs, but in the way he handles his piano – with some darker notes and tones, more exotic phrasing, and even some very early use of electric piano – already with the haunting qualities that would show up more strongly in the Saturn years. Every member of the group is wonderful too – each with their own voice, spoken strongly and freely – in a lineup that includes Art Hoyle and Dave Young on trumpets, Julian Priester on trombone, Pat Patrick on alto and baritone sax, John Gilmore on tenor, Charles Davis on baritone, Victor Sproles on bass, William Cochran on drums, and Jim Herndon on tympani and timbali.

from Dusty Groove

38. [24]  Sun Ra and the Arkestra

Sound of Joy/
Sun Ra Visits Planet Earth/
Deep Purple

Sun Ra (p, Wurlitzer ep, announcement); Art Hoyle (tp, perc); Dave Young (tp except -2); John Avant (tb -1); Pat Patrick (as, bars, perc); John Gilmore (ts, perc); Charles Davis (bars, perc); Victor Sproles (b); William Cochran (d); Jim Herndon (tymp, timb except -2); Clyde Williams (voc -2).

Unidentified Studio, Chicago,
November 1, 1956

El Is a Sound of Joy (Ra) -1
Overtones of China (Ra) -1
Two Tones (Patrick-Davis)
Paradise (Ra) [p, ep, b, d, perc only]
Planet Earth (Ra)
Ankh (Ra)
Saturn (Ra)
Reflection in Blue (Ra)
El Viktor (Ra)
As You Once Were (Ra-Williams) -2
Dreams Come True (Ra-Mayo) -2

This session was recorded for Transition and intend for a follow up to Jazz by Sun Ra, but the company failed and the album was never issued.  Items from this session appeared on three different LPs, two on Saturn and one on Delmark, from which various reissues have sprung in turn.

First, four tracks appeared in 1966 on Saturn 9956-11-A/B, Sun Ra Visits Planet Earth.  In 1967, it was given the catalog number 207.  All tracks from this album were reissued in 1992 on Evidence 22039 [CD].

Second, all but two tracks from the session were released in 1968 on Delmark DS-414, Sound of Joy (in electronic stereo).  According to Bob Koester, as interviewed by Allan Chase, the two cuts featuring vocalist Clyde Williams were in Delmark's possession but were held from release in 1968 because they seemed stylistically incongruous with the rest of the session.  (Clyde Williams sang with Sun Ra in late 1956 and 1957.)  The Delmark album was pirated as the first LP of the 2-LP set Monkey MY 40014 (Monkey being a French label with dubious credentials).  In addition, there was a single-LP French bootleg in the BYG Jazz Masters Série, BYG 529.162 (issued c. 1970 -- thanks to Marco Melaragni for pointing this one out).

Third, "Dreams Come True" with Clyde Williams' vocal (listed in the first edition as a separate session) saw the light in 1973 on Side A of Saturn LP 485, Deep Purple (some copies titled Dreams Come True).  All tracks from Side A of this LP were reissued on Evidence 22014 [CD, 1992].  "Dreams Come True" was also reissued in 1983 on the Saturn anthology LP, Just Friends (Saturn XI).  Hoyle is listed as "Arthur Horn" on the jacket of Saturn 485; Robert Barry is incorrectly given there as the drummer.

All tunes from the session (including "As You Once Were") were finally united on one disk in 1994 as Delmark DD-414 (a CD again titled Sound of Joy).  On the Delmark CD, the 6-second piano introduction to "Dreams Come True" is included for the first time (it was edited out of the other issues).  The composer of "As You Once Were" is not listed by Delmark, but Ron Horton's research at the library of Congress shows that Ra copyrighted it, and James Wolf has found that Clyde Williams was credited with the words.  The Delmark CD incorrectly states that "Dreams Come True" was previously unissued.


Personnel as per the Delmark LP jacket.  The date and location for the session are troublesome.  First, the date.  Delmark gave (and, on the CD, still gives) November 1957 as the recording date, but that is impossible.  Given the makeup of the band, September to December 1956 is pretty much guaranteed.  Art Hoyle was gone by the end of 1956 or shortly thereafter.  A 1957 recording would have included Lucious Randolph and (after June of that year) James Spaulding and (not too long after that) Marshall Allen.

Delmark gives John Avant as the trombonist, but Hoyle says he did not know Avant at the time.  However, Julian Priester (mentioned on the CD issue and in the first edition of this discography) left in September 1956 and did not work with this particular Arkestral lineup.  Moreover, Priester had a conspicuous trombone part on the first recording of "Saturn," and the trombonist lays out on this one.  Priester says Johnny Avant was a leading studio musician in Chicago and could well have been available for only two tracks.  (It turns out that Avant also worked briefly with Arkestrans Gilmore and Ronald Wilson in a big band led by alto saxophonist Willie Randall; moreover, he was a regular in the Dukes of Swing when Sunny was their music director and in the Red Saunders band while Sunny was arranging for Saunders.)

James Wolf at the Library of Congress has found that Sun Ra copyrighted a slew of tunes in December 1956.  On December 5, he and Clyde Williams copyrighted "As You Once Were."  On December 7, "Sunology: A Suite of Philosophical Sounds" followed.  The eight-part suite consisted of "Planet Earth," "Overtones of China," "India," "Eve," "Big Charles" (retitled "Kingdom of Not").  "El (House of Joy)," "El Viktor," and "Summation: Sunology."  The affinity between this session and the preceding session at RCA Studios is therefore most clear.

The best guess for the date is that November 1, 1957, as given in various discographies, is a year off, and the correct date was November 1, 1956.

Now, the location.  Delmark says that the session took place at Universal Studios, but Hoyle recalls recording for Transition in a "kind of nondescript" studio on the West Side of Chicago.  Alton Abraham recalls recording at a studio with a name like "Balladine" as well as RCA Studios.

John Szwed has uncovered test pressings of Sound of Joy and Visits Planet Earth.  Both were made at a Columbia pressing plant, but it is not known whether the plant was in Chicago or New York.  Alton Abraham has claimed that both Delmark albums were first put out on Saturn, but we have no confirmation that there were ever released Saturn LPs corresponding to Sun Song and Sound of Joy.

from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Sound of Joy
Sun Ra and the Arkestra
Delmark DD-414 [CD]

1.  El Is A Sound Of Joy   4:04
2.  Overtones Of China   3:25
3.  Two Tones   3:41
4.  Paradise   4:30
5.  Planet Earth   4:24
6.  Ankh   6:31
7.  Saturn   4:01
8.  Reflections In Blue   6:21
9.  El Viktor   2:33
10. As You Once Were   4:20
11. Dreams Come True   3:50

FLAC

RS
HF

or

320

RS
MF

 
Thanks again to I-) for the web pics!

Sun Ra - Jazz in Silhouette (1959)

Throughout their mid-to-late-'50s stay in Chicago, Sun Ra (piano) and his Arkestra established themselves as formidable purveyors of a new strain or sub-genre of jazz. Having evolved from elaborate reworkings of familiar standards, Jazz in Silhouette (1959) presents a collection of originals, building upon Ra's abilities as a consummate multi-tasker -- writing, arranging, scoring parts for his band, in addition to performing. He stretches the boundaries of the music to suit the Arkestra, simultaneously progressing his distinct sound. Seminal readings of the quick and complex "Saturn" and "Velvet" are offered with unmatchable dexterity and precision. The latter title comes off like a confused version of "Jeepers Creepers" as Hobart Dotson (trumpet) prominently displays his unquestionable tonality. "Ancient Aiethopia" is one of the more involved works, both in terms of length -- running over nine minutes -- and the Arkestra's capacity for Ra's compositions. "Blues at Midnight" is another expansive (nearly 12 minutes) outing that, by contrast, is for the soloists rather than full ensemble. John Gilmore (tenor sax), Ronnie Boykins (bass), Pat Patrick (baritone sax), and Marshall Allen (alto sax) all shine behind William Cochran's (drums) solid contributions. Equally significant is the running dialogue Ra maintains during other musicians' leads, directing the ebb and flow with an uncanny fusion of melody and rhythm. Undoubtedly, this is a factor in the freshness the material retains. It is also a prime example of Ra and company in a transitional phase, prior to their full-fledged explorations into the avant-garde.

AMG Review by Lindsay Planer

Thanks to I-) for sharing several web pics!

52. [37]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

Le Sun Ra (celeste -1, gong -3, p); Hobart Dotson (tp mouthpiece -3, tp); Bo Bailey [Larry Pickens] (tb -2); James Spaulding (as, fl, perc); Marshall  Allen (as mouthpiece -3, as, fl, perc); John Gilmore (ts, perc, voc); Pat Patrick (bars, fl, perc); Charles Davis (bars, perc); Ronnie Boykins (b, voc); William Cochran (d).

Studio recording, Chicago, late 1958

Hours After (Turner) -2
Horoscope (Ra) -2
Images (Ra)
Blues at Midnight (Ra) -1
Enlightenment (Dotson) -2
Saturn (Ra)
Velvet (Ra) -2
Ancient Aeithopia (Ra) -3 [JG, RB voc]

Jazz in Silhouette was originally issued in early 1959 on Saturn K7OP3590/K7OP3591, identified by matrix numbers only.  Thanks to doo-wop discographer Robert Ferlingere for a tutorial on the mysteries of the RCA Victor matrix number system (Saturns were pressed by RCA's Chicago plant during this period).  The prefix K7OP (not K70P as in the first edition) indicates a 1959 release, not late 1958 as previously stated.

According to Otto Flückiger, the LP originally had a silk-screened cover with an abstract design and the title (this can be seen in Geerken and Hefele's book).  The album was later given the serial number LP 5786 and provided with a sci-fi cover of half-naked women teleporting themselves over one of the moons of Saturn.  (Compare the cover of Esquivel's "Other Voices, Other Worlds," released on RCA Victor in 1958.)

The original Side A (matrix K7OP3590) consisted of "Hours After" through "Blues at Midnight" and Side B (matrix K7OP3591) of "Enlightenment" through "Ancient Aiethopia"; on all later issues, the sides are reversed.  In 1967, this LP was given the catalog number 205.  All tracks were reissued in 1974 on Impulse ASD 9265 (Impulse faded the theme statement at the end of "Blues at Midnight") and in 1992 on Evidence 22012 [CD].  Although the session was recorded in stereo, all issues except the Evidence CD are in mono!  "Enlightenment" also appeared in 1970 on Saturn SR 512, Sound Sun Pleasure!! in a different stereo mix of the same take (thanks to Mike Fitzgerald for discovering this) and was reissued in that form in 1992 on Evidence 22014 [CD].  "Enlightenment," in the mix that was included on Jazz in Silhouette, was also reissued in a 1997 Sun Ra sampler on Japanese Paddle Wheel KICJ 315, Sun Ra Came Down to the Earth.

The 1961 Saturn press release mentions "Saturn" and "Velvet" as appearing on singles, and it seems plausible that those two titles from this session were also released as a single; in fact, the version of "Saturn" from this album was included in a set of master tapes of singles by Alton Abraham.  A pressing still needs to be located, however.

 

 

Nate Pryor (who was supposed to be on this session but arrived too late) recalls that the studio was located off the Outer Drive, somewhere near Grand Avenue.  Alton Abraham has said that RCA Victor Studios and a studio with a name like "Balladine" were used for Saturn sessions.  Bill Fielder says Bo Bailey was on this session, not Julian Priester as stated on the Impulse issue.  (The incorrect listing could have come about because Bo Bailey "wasn't straight with the union," as Nate Pryor says.)  Thanks to Allan Chase for recognizing the role of the mouthpieces in "Ancient Aiethopia."  In the first edition of this discography, Sunny was credited with playing his Wurlitzer electric piano on the introduction to "Ancient Aiethopia," but more careful listening suggests that he was emulating his Wurlitzer style on a regular piano!  The wordless vocal during this same piece includes John Gilmore and Ronnie Boykins, but the most prominent voice belongs to another Arkestra member.

Sun Ra copyrighted a suite of compositions from this LP under the title "Images" on February 7, 1959.  "Enlightment" [sic] followed on February 13.  It consisted of "Enlightenment" and "You Never Told Me That You Care," which both had music by Hobart Dotson and words by Sun Ra (James Wolf).

from Campbell/Trent The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Jazz in Silhouette

Evidence ECD 22012-2

1. Enlightenment   5:06
2. Saturn   3:41
3. Velvet   3:21
4. Ancient Aiethopia   9:09
5. Hours After   3:46
6. Horoscope   3:47
7. Images   3:53
8. Blues At Midnight   11:57

FLAC

RS

or

320k

RS

MF

Collection of Artwork from Various Releases

RS

MF

See Comments for a bonus flac rip.

Sun Ra - The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra (1961)

Sun Ra's only release for the Savoy label is a gem. Recorded in October of 1961, this is probably the first recording the Arkestra made after arriving in New York. As such, you're dealing with a smallish Arkestra (seven main instrumentalists, joined by vocalist Ricky Murray on "China Gate") that's still playing the boppish, highly arranged music characteristic of the Chicago years (1954-1961). Ra sticks to acoustic piano for the entire session, but various percussion instruments are dispersed throughout the band, giving a slightly exotic flavor to some of the tunes. John Gilmore plays bass clarinet on a couple tunes (as well as some great tenor solos), and Marshall Allen's flute playing is excellent, as always. This album was produced by Tom Wilson, who also produced the first Sun Ra LP, Jazz by Sun Ra (1956) for the Transition label, later reissued by Delmark as Sun Song (Wilson later went on to sign the Mothers of Invention to Verve and "electrified" Bob Dylan). With the exception of "The Beginning," all the tunes are very accessible. This is one to play for the mistaken folks who think the Arkestra did nothing but make noise. Excellent.

AMG Review by Sean Westergaard

The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra was the first album to be recorded by the Arkestra after relocating to New York;

    'The idea was just to play a few gigs, maybe some studio work, and then go back to Chicago and work at the Pershing [club] again. But as soon as they crossed the George Washington Bridge they collided with a taxi and bent one of the wheels of Ronnie Boykins's father's car. With no money to have it fixed they were stranded again. [Sun Ra] went to a phone booth and called Ed Bland and Tom Wilson to tell them they were in town, and the band moved into a couple of hotel rooms over the Peppermint Lounge on 45th Street. But after a few days of waiting, Strickland and Mitchell got anxiuos, called home for money, and left. The five who remained then moved to a room on 81st Street between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive, and after a few days found a cheaper place farther downtown in the seventies.

    'Though the band had no luck finding places to play, Tom Wilson came up with a recording session for them with Savoy Records. On October 10 they crossed the river to the Medallion Studio in Newark with a few musicians they added for the date... and they produced a record which could have easily represented their repertoire during an evening at a club there..... Despite a heavy title and a cover painting of a conga drum swirling like a tornado through a valley of piano keys against an orange sky, the record was plagued from the start. Tom Wilson's liner notes were filled with inaccuracies: Distribution was almost as poor as it was with the Saturn records, and there was no reviews for twenty-three years, when it was reissued in 1984 as We Are In The Future.' 

John F Szwed

The album was produced by Tom Wilson, who would later become famous for producing albums by the Velvet Underground, Frank Zappa and Bob Dylan. The sleeve was designed by 'Harvey', a secretive graphic designer who made over 190 album covers for Savoy and its subsidiaries throughout the 1960s;

    "Rev. Lawrence Roberts, long-time producer for Savoy Records... said that they never knew the identity of Harvey. Harvey lived in New York, and was very secretive. They would send him a title or concept and he would produce the painting. The paintings were not expensive, and they paid him in cash."
The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra was the fourth album to be released by Sun Ra, after Jazz by Sun Ra (also produced by Tom Wilson) and Super-Sonic Jazz, both released in 1957, and Jazz in Silhouette from 1959. The next album to see the light of day would be When Sun Comes Out, released on Ra's own label, Saturn Records, in 1963.

-Wikipedia

76. [65]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra

Sun RA (p, perc); Bernard McKinney [Kiane Zawadi] (tb, euph); Marshall Allen (as, fl, mor, perc); John Gilmore (ts, bcl, perc); Pat Patrick (bars, perc); Ronnie Boykins (b, perc); Willie Jones (d); Leah Ananda (cga); Ricky Murray (voc); Perc included bells from India, Chinese wind chimes, wood blocks, maracas, claves, scratchers, gongs, cowbells, Turkish cymbals, castanets.

Medallion Studio, Newark, NJ,
October 10, 1961

Recorded in stereo but released only in mono in 1961 on Savoy MG12169, The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra.  Bootlegged in France around 1970 on BYG 529.111 (mono).  Reissued in stereo on Japanese Savoy SV 0213 [CD] in 1993.

A 1984 LP reissue on Savoy SJL 1141 was retitled We Are in the Future; Japanese Savoy COCY 75440 [CD], released c. 1990, also used this title.

Also issued on Concert Hall I-1348 (French) under the title Sun Ra during the 1970s.  "New Day" and "China Gate" appeared on Side 3 of the bootleg double LP Monkey MY 40014 (French, 1970s).  "Where Is Tomorrow?" also appeared on the BYG album History of Jazz Volume 9, along with other material pirated from Savoy.  "Jet Flight" also appeared on Franklin Mint 098, a 4-LP collection called Greatest Jazz Recordings of All Time, in the "Contemporary Currents" volume.

On the label of the original issue, "Of Sounds" was misprinted "Of Wounds."  In a truly silly bit of literalism, Savoy SV 0213 [CD] retains the misprint. [this was later corrected - my copies do not retain the misprint.  yotte]

According to Phil Cohran, the morrow was an instrument Marshall Allen built in 1960, before leaving Chicago.  It grafted a clarinet mouthpiece onto a shakuhachi body, producing ancient reed-pipe sounds, bent notes, and siren-like glissandi.

Ricky Murray returned to Chicago after this session.  Willie Jones did not remain with the Arkestra; his place was quickly taken by Sunny's old associate from the early Chicago days, Tommy Hunter.
from Campbell/Trent The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra

1.  Bassism (Ra)   4:03
2.  Of Sounds And Something Else (Ra)   2:51
3.  What's That ? (Ra)   2:13
4.  Where Is Tomorrow (Ra)   2:48
5.  The Beginning (Ra)   6:26
6.  China Gate (Young-Adamson) [RM voc]   3:22
7.  New Day (Ra)   5:49
8.  Tapestry From An Asteroid (Ra)   3:01
9.  Jet Flight (Ra)   3:13
10. Looking Outward (Ra)   2:48
11. Space Jazz Reverie (Ra)   4:50

FLAC

RS

or

320

RS

MF

Many Thanks to I-) for sharing LP pics found on the web!

2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Horizon (1972)

In 1971, in Denmark, at the end of a tour, Sun Ra suddenly decided to take his whole band to Egypt. They had no concerts and no contacts there but Ra sold some recording rights to Black Lion to pay for the tickets and they flew out. They were stopped at customs and their instruments were temporarily impounded but they were let through as tourists. Then they booked into a hotel facing the pyramid at Giza. Word got to Hartmut Geerken, then working at the Goethe institute, and he quickly threw a concert together at his house in Heliopolis, for which Brigadier Salah Ragab borrowed  army instruments for the Arkestra to play (he was later disciplined for it). Ra’s Moog had made it through customs and a Tiger Organ was hired. One of the audience (of 25) booked the band in for a Cairo TV session the following day. Then Ragab persuaded the Ministry of Culture to book a concert at the Balloon Theatre (for another tiny audience: only the first 4 rows were occupied). Two more concerts followed – at the American University (for the cab fare) and the Versailles Club. They stayed for more than a fortnight, making a film while they were there and finally, by band-members selling various personal items, raised the money to fly home.

Horizon (also known as Starwatchers and Sun Ra in Egypt Vol. 2) contains a big chunk of the now legendary Balloon Theatre concert (it burned down soon after their visit, as did the hotel in which the Arkestra stayed while they were in Cairo). The Balloon extract is an uncut block (tracks 1- 4 on the CD, side 1 of the LP) and features a lot of Sun Ra’s all-hell-let-loose Moog soloing, as well as a great version of Discipline 2. The rest of Horizon is from the Heliopolis concert, kicking off with an instrumental version of Enlightment and Love in Outer Space  (neither are on the original LP) segueing slowly into Space is the Place - followed by drum orchestra, more Ra soloing on Moog, Tiger Organ and detuned piano (bloops, hoovering, whistles, concords taking off) leading to a first lurching, then wild, Discipline 8. Two bonus tracks, for the first time restored from the original concert, follow: We’ll Wait for You (with June Tyson) and The Satellites are Spinning – which ends in full-on percussion. A classic recording of a classic band in great form.

from Jazzloft

The Closet of Curiosities blog recently posted an LP rip and included this wonderful LP cover pic.

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Myth Science Solar Arkestra:
Horizon (Art Yard CD)

With the money obtained from Black Lion, the Arkestra was able to board the waiting plane and travel to Cairo, arriving in the evening of December 7, 1971. But they did not know anyone in Egypt and neither did they know where they were going to stay nor how they were going to pay for it. Szwed describes the scene:

When they landed they were held up at Egyptian customs because of the unlikelihood of an entire orchestra arriving as tourists and because of the name on Sun Ra’s passport. To be named after the sun god twice was really a bit too much. On the latter objection Sun Ra resourcefully suggested the guard call the curator of the National Museum of Antiquities with whom he was ready to discuss Egyptology. They let him in, but customs kept most of their instruments just in case. The band took cabs to the Mena House Hotel outside of Cairo, and they woke up the next day to see the morning fog slowly lifting to reveal the pyramid of Giza. A day later Tommy Hunter began taking motion pictures of members of the Arkestra as they faced the pyramids, while the wind made their costumes billow so it appeared they were flying. These were the films that Sun Ra would later project behind the band at Slug’s and at concerts (p.292).

Here is the film:

Thanks to Sun Ra fan, Hartmut Geerken, a German writer and free musician who was teaching at the Goethe Institute in Cairo, a series of performances were arranged, including an invitation-only concert at Geerken’s home in Heliopolis on December 12. While most of the Arkestra’s instruments were still being held by customs, they were aided by a most unlikely personage named Salah Ragab:

[He was] a brigadier general and the head of military music in the Egyptian army and himself a jazz drummer. Though he was later disciplined for the contact, he continued to meet with the band under various disguises, including once when he came with the son of [Egyptian President] Gamal Abdel Nasser, also a jazz musician. Musicians and dancers were jammed into the house with several dozen guests, but they still managed a light show and dancing, and a march throughout the house and into the garden (while the Egyptian secret police kept watch from outside) (pp.292-293).

The Arkestra also performed at the famed Ballon Theatre in Cairo on December 17 courtesy of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, who had cancelled ballet previously scheduled for that date (p.293). The concert was recorded from the stage (in mono) by Tommy Hunter and released on various impossible-to-find Saturn LPs over the years (see Campbell & Trent, pp.180-183). Most of this material was finally compiled onto a CD entitled, Horizon, and released by Art Yard in 2008. It is a truly special performance: after the cold, grueling tour of Europe, the Arkestra sounds well-rested and inspired by the ancient, mystical-- and warm -- environment. Ra sets the stage with some ominous electronics before a brief “Theme of the Stargazers” and a howling a cappella solo from Danny Davis on alto sax. The band then launches into “Discipline 2,” a moody and mysterious piece that begins with throbbing, densely harmonized horns which give way to a twittering flute choir before returning with a somber coda. Sonny then signals “The Shadow World” and we’re off to the races. This is a spectacular, seventeen minute rendition, with Ra driving the band hard and the ensemble responding with near-perfect execution of the extraordinarily complicated melody lines. Ra takes the lead with a skittering organ solo before an energetic group improvisation section that yields to Gilmore’s furiously wailing tenor sax. Yes, it’s another incredible Gilmore solo! Kwami Hadi also takes a turn on trumpet and acquits himself well, ranging around from high-wire acrobatics to smeared, low-register noodling before Ra signals the reprise. After a brief pause, Ra lightens the mood by moving into “Enlightenment,” which is joyfully taken up by June Tyson and her male choir. “Love In Outer Space” predictably follows and while this version lacks the menacing darkness heard in Paris, there’s plenty of exciting organ work and another tasty solo from Hadi.

Continue reading at NuVoid's Sun Ra Sundays

190. [166]  Sun Ra and his Astro Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra
Horizon /
Nidhamu

(personnel list adapted from 187. [163])
Sun Ra (Tiger org); Kwame Hadi (tp, cga); Marshall Allen (as, fl, perc); Danny Davis (as, fl); Larry Northington (as, cga); John Gilmore (ts, perc, d); Pat Patrick (bars, eb); Danny Thompson (bars, fl); Eloe Omoe (bck, fl); Hakim Rahim (as, fl); Clifford Jarvis (d, perc); Tommy Hunter (d, as, announcement); Lex Humphries (d); June Tyson (voc, dance); prob. Cheryl Banks (dance, voc); prob. Wisteria el Moondew [Judith Holton] (dance, voc); Richard Wilkinson (light show).

Balloon Theater, Cairo,
December 17, 1971

Saturn 1217718 was issued in the mid-1970s on the Philadelphia label as Horizon.  It also appeared on the Chicago label as Saturn LP 849.  Some copies are titled Starwatchers; others had Live in Egypt Vol. III printed on the jacket by Danny Ray Thompson.  The band was identified on this release as "Sun Ra and his Arkestra."  A final LP release of Horizon took place in 1989; the serial number was Saturn 121771, there were red-and-green labels by the Hinds Brothers, and the press run was 300 copies (Geerken and Hefele).

The concert was taped by Tommy Hunter.  All titles from this album are also included on a 60-minute audience tape; Mark Webber points out that "The Shadow World" was edited on the LP.  A tape of "Starwatchers," "The Shadow World" (edited), and "Enlightenment" was played on WKCR-FM during the 1995 Sun Ra memorial broadcast.

The Ballon (sometimes called Balloon) was a huge inflatable tent, according to Geerken; Hunter confirms this.  Shortly after this concert, the theater burned to the ground.
from The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed. Campbell/Trent

Sun Ra - Horizon 
Art Yard CD (2008)

1.    Introduction / Theme of the Stargazers   1:22 

2.    Discipline #2    5:28 

3.    The Shadow World    16:42 

4. Enlightenment    2:37 

5.    Love In Outer Space    7:13 

6.    Third Planet    6:44 

7.    Space Is The Place    6:10 

8.    Horizon, Moog Solo    5:31 

9.    Discipline #8    11:22 

10. We'll Wait For You    1:38 

11. The Satellites Are Spinning    11:14

-FLAC-
RS

or

-320-
RS
MF

Click to Enlarge

Sun Ra - Super-Sonic Jazz (1957)

Sun Ra had only been heading his Arkestra for a couple of years when they recorded the 12 songs featured on this 1956 session. But while the arrangements, ensemble work, and solos are not as ambitious, expansive, or free-wheeling as they became on later outings, the groundwork was laid on such cuts as "India," "Sunology," and one of the first versions of "Blues at Midnight." Ra's band already had the essential swinging quality and first-class soloists, and he had gradually challenged them with compositions that did not rely on conventional hard bop riffs, chord changes, and structure but demanded a personalized approach and understanding of sound and rhythm far beyond standard thinking. You can hear in Ra's solos and those of John Gilmore, Pat Patrick, Charles Davis, and others an emerging freedom and looseness which would explode in the future.
AMG Review by Ron Wynn

31. [18]  Le Sun-Ra and his Arkistra

Sun RA (p.); Art Hoyle (tp); Julian Priester (tb); John Gilmore (ts); Laurdine "Pat" Patrick (bars); Wilburn Green (eb); Robert Barry (d).

 RCA Studios, Chicago,
around February 1956

Super Blonde (Ra)
Soft Talk (Priester)

Both of these tracks appeared in 1957 on the first Saturn LP, Super-Sonic Jazz.  The serial number of this LP was originally H7OP0216 (thanks to Alden Kimbrough for this information; the matrix numbers were H7OP0216 and H7OP0217).  The serial number was subsequently changed to SR-LP 0216; in 1967, the LP was given the catalog number 204.  All tracks from this LP were reissued in 1974 on Impulse AS-9271, under the title Super Sonic Sounds.  "Super Blonde" was retitled "Super Bronze" on the Impulse release only.  All tracks reissued on Evidence 22015 [CD] in 1992 under the original title.

It seems likely now that everything on 29, 30, 31, and 32 was recorded at one session.  Unfortunately, only "Urnack" and "Medicine for a Nightmare" carry their original RCA-derived matrix numbers.  Julian Priester copyrighted "Soft Talk" and "Urnack" in late 1955.  Sun Ra (still using the name Herman Blount as well as Le Sony'r Ra) began copyrighting his compositions in earnest with "Satana and Saturn" on February 1, 1956.  "Satana" was never recorded; "Saturn Interlude" and "Saturn: Chorus" are the piece that is familiar to us.  On February 6, 1956, Sunny copyrighted "Super-Blonde" and "A Call for All Demons."  "Snomed Yballul (English pronunciation: Demon's Lullaby)" didn't get copyrighted till April 24, but sounds as though it came from this session.  Sunny also copyrighted "East of Uz" on February 1, and "Velvet" and "Beta-Beta" on February 6.
"Velvet" was subsequently recorded by the Arkestra; the other two were not, so far as we know, though "East of Uz" got its belated premiere on record in 1976, when Pat Patrick's Baritone Retinue included it in Patrick's only Saturn LP under his own name.

32. [20]  Sun Ra Arkestra

Super-Sonic Jazz /
The Singles

Sun Ra (Wurlitzer ep, p); Art Hoyle (tp); Julian Priester (tb); John Gilmore (ts); Laurdine "Pat" Patrick (bars); Wilburn Green (eb); Robert Barry (d); Jim Herndon (tymp, timb).

RCA Studios, Chicago,
around February 1956

Medicine for a Nightmare (Ra) [2nd version]
Medicine for a Nightmare (Ra) [alt.]

The previously unreleased alternate was discovered in 1993 during research on the Saturn singles; it was issued for the first time in September 1996, on the Saturn singles collection from Evidence (The Singles, Evidence 22164 [2 CDs]).  On the alternate take, Ra plays piano throughout.  Herndon was usually credited on Saturn jackets with playing "timbali"; according to Allan Chase, these were timbales tuned lower than usual.

These two performances of "Medicine" could [ital] have come from the next sessions in April or May, but they sound similar to the other February material.  Copyright dates provide no clues because Sunny did not register "Medicine for a Nightmare."

33. [19]  Sun Ra Arkestra

Super-Sonic Jazz

Sun Ra (p, Wurlitzer ep); James Scales (as); Wilburn Green (eb); John Gilmore (space bells, perc).

RCA Studios, Chicago, April-May 1956

Springtime in Chicago (Ra)

"Chicago in Springtime (Springtime in Chicago)" was copyrighted on May 21, 1956.  The later copyright date and the presence of James Scales (who was not in the "8 Rays of Jazz" earlier in the year) suggest a different recording date.

37. [23]  Le Sun Ra and his Arkestra

Super-Sonic Jazz

Sun Ra (p, Wurlitzer ep, space gong); Art Hoyle (tp, perc); Pat Patrick (as, perc); John Gilmore (ts, perc); Charles Davis (bars, perc); Victor Sproles (b); William Cochran (d); Jim Herndon (tymp, perc).

RCA Studios, Chicago,
around October 1956

India (Ra)
Sunology (Ra)
Advice to Medics (Ra) [ep only]
Sunology part II (Ra)
Kingdom of Not (Ra)
Portrait of the Living Sky (Ra) [no horns]
Blues at Midnight (Ra) [tp, ts, p, b, d only]
El Is a Sound of Joy (Ra)

H7OP)216, Super-Sonic Jazz, was the first album to be issued by Saturn (1957).  Its original matrix numbers, according to Alden Kimbrough and Peter Roberts, were H7OP0216 and H7OP0217; these indicate that the album was pressed by RCA Victor, and the H prefix stands for a 1957 pressing.  Alton Abraham says that this and other early Saturn albums were initially issued with blank covers (some may have been hand-decorated).  The first Saturn cover was made for this album; according to Abraham, it was silk-screened without printing.  Kimbrough, however, owns a copy with artwork by the same artist who did the original covers for Rocket Number Nine and Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy [Claude Dangerfield].

Subsequent issues of the album carried the serial number SR-LP 0216.  There are two later covers.  The first is pink-purple (or pale yellow) Bauhaus style with keyboard.  The second and more common is a blue or green view of the Void with solar symbols (this last was in circulation by the early '60s -- Kimbrough owns two copies with this cover and yellow labels -- and remained the cover of choice thereafter).  In 1967, this LP was gin the catalog number 204.  Around 1970, the album was reissued on Thoth Intergalactic, still with the catalog number 204 (Stephen Ramirez).

All tracks from the Saturn album were reissued in 1974 on Impulse AS-9271, under the title Super Sonic Sounds.  All tracks were reissued on Evidence 22015 [CD] in 1992 under the original title.  "Kingdom of Not" as also included in a 1997 Evidence-derived Sun Ra sampler on Japanese Paddle Wheel Records, KICJ 315.

Location from the Saturn liner notes.  Personnel based on Saturn credits.  The dates for these sessions can be pretty closely bracketed because Patrick is playing alto sax, Sproles is on bass, and no trombonist is present.  Julian Priester (who did not play with Sproles) departed from the Arkestra in September 1956.  Art Hoyle, in turn, left in December 1956 or soon thereafter to join Lionel Hampton's band (the latest date he has given is March 1957).  Moreover, several of the Ra tunes (everything but the keyboard improvisations and "Blues at Midnight") from this session were copyrighted on December 7.  The original title of "Kingdom of Not" was "Big Charles," and "El is a Sound of Joy" was originally called "El (House of Joy)."

The version of "El Is a Sound of Joy" from this session sounds embryonic compared to the more polished one found on Sound of Joy, which suggests that this session took place earlier.
from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings, 2nd ed.

Sun Ra and his Arkestra
Super Sonic Jazz
Evidence CD

1.  India   4:52
2.  Sunology   5:43
3.  Advice To Medics  2:05
4.  Super Blonde   2:39
5.  Soft Talk   2:44
6.  Sunology Part II   7:09
7.  Kingdom Of Not   5:35
8.  Portrait Of The Living Sky   1:51
9.  Blues At Midnight   6:33
10. El Is A Sound Of Joy   4:00
11. Springtime In Chicago   3:54
12. Medicine For A Nightmare   2:25 


-FLAC-
RS
MF1 + MF2

or

-320-
RS
MF

 Thanks to I-) for finding more web pics!