Sun Ra - The Mystery of Being (3xLP) (2011)

 There have been several dodgy, grey-market reissues of the Horo records over the years and the latest is a vinyl-only box set, The Mystery of Being, released back in 2011 on the tiny French label, Klimt, which crams the two January 1978 double albums onto three LPs. Sound quality is actually pretty good – certainly better than my crackly needledrops—but at the same time, I suspect these are taken from vinyl sources and then (aggressively) de-noised. Moreover, the sides are excessively long, resulting in diminished dynamic range and susceptibility to noise. Sadly, one side of my copy has a nasty pressing flaw, which causes the stylus to skip—and they are now out-of-print, so it is not so easily replaceable. Bummer.

Although there are neither mastering credits nor any liner notes whatsoever, this set purports to present the music in chronological order, providing recording dates on the labels. According to them, the sessions occurred as follows:

Side One: January 2: My Favorite Things, Moon People, Rome at Twilight, When There is No Sun
Side Two: January 7: Sun Steps, Exactly Like You, Friend and Friendship
Side Three: January 8: The Horo, Sun Sky and Wind
Side Four: January 13: Springtime and Summer Idyll, Constellation
Sides Five and Six: January 2, 7, 8, 13: One Day in Rome, Bridge to the Ninth Dimension, Along the Tiber, Rebellion, The Mystery of Being

That makes some sort of sense until you get to the last disc, which could have been recorded on any one of those dates. Huh? This is less than helpful and just another indication of this set’s dubious provenance. I would guess that basic tracks for New Steps were recorded on January 2, with overdubbing taking place on January 7. Similarly, basic tracks for Other Voices, Other Blues likely took place on January 8, with overdubbing happening on January 13. That’s just a guess, but that would mirror the usual progression in a multi-track environment. Then again, such was a highly unusual practice for Sonny, so who knows how it went down? As with so much in the Sun Ra discography, not much can be known with certainty except that the music is fantastic.
(continue reading at NuVoid's Sun Ra Sunday)

And in Counterpoint:

Ra’s discography is so vast and daunting that at this point one needs to wonder how far down the dregs go. The answer can be found on this lifeless monstrosity of a release, a triple album representing his small ensemble recordings made in Italy circa January ’78. Conceptually, the album seems like a no brainer; you have the mythic Ra leading a remarkably small ensemble with right-hand sax master John Gilmore at his side, covering standards like “My Favorite Things” and “Exactly Like You”. The problem is two-fold. First, Ra picks perhaps the least flattering digital pre-80s tone on his keyboard heard thus far, leaving everything sounding just horribly flat and wonky. When it seems like only Gilmore can save the day, he’s mixed so freakishly loud that it’s nothing short of jarring. Many of the tracks are “ballads” and certainly not invoking the mood Gilmore was shooting for. Whoever was at the mixing board shoves him so far in front it almost makes one forget about the jittery failure of Ra’s choice in dynamic for the arrangements. If one seeks Ra and Gilmore tackling standards they do so with remarkable success on the Sun Sound Pleasure LP that can be purchased for less than the cost of a 3-D movie rather than break the bank on this expensive, ugly set, (which features no notes, pictures or information).  A release that only a Frenchman could enjoy, The Mystery of Being is perhaps the least necessary release in Ra’s bloated discography. Steer Clear!
online review from Swingset Magazine

Sun Ra Quartet
The Mystery Of Being
(3-LP Box Set)
Klimt MJJ316 (2011)

1.  My Favorite Things   8:11
2.  Moon People   7:43
3.  Rome At Twilight   5:06
4.  When There Is No Sun   4:37
5.  Sun Steps   11:29
6.  Exactly Like You   6:01
7.  Friend And Friendship   6:48
8.  The Horo   15:23
9.  Sun, Sky, And Wind   7:28
10. Springtime And Summer Idyll   13:25
11. Constellation   9:16
12. One Day In Rome   5:25
13. Bridge On The Ninth Dimension   13:50
14. Along The Tiber   4:03
15. Rebellion   12:18
16. The Mystery Of Being   10:20

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Sun Ra - The Paris Tapes - Live At Le Théâtre Du Châtelet 1971 (2010)

Surprisingly, this remarkable and magnificently captured performance has never been issued on LP or CD before. Sun Ra and his larger than usual Arkestra are caught live here – dancers and all – sometime during 1971 at the Théâter du Châtelet in Paris, France for what is surely one of the Arkestra's finest concert happenings – particularly during this period.

While Ra's Arkestra was recorded live several times during 1971, the personnel and the instrumentation presented here are closest to a October 14, 1971, performance that was captured in Helsinki, Finland and issued on a CD/DVD I have not heard called Helsinki 1971 – The Complete Concert & Interview (Transparency, 2009). So it's a reasonable guess that The Paris Tapes were probably made around the same time, even though the Helsinki disc dubs the Arkestra as "Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Solar Research Arkestra" while the Paris disc credits "Sun Ra and His Mythic Science Arkestra." (Notes writer Chris Trent indicates that the Paris concert came six weeks after the Helsinki concert, but that's probably not right.)

What is here is simply stunning. Ra's El Saturn Records must have had some intention of issuing this exceptional performance, or parts of it, at one time or another because the sound is stunningly well realized. The presumption is that someone in the Arkestra's camp recorded the concert. It surely doesn't sound like a bootleg. Someone recorded this music quite beautifully, stored it especially well and somehow, some four decades later, we can now hear what must have amazed that Parisian audience in 1971.

Here, London's Art Yard label collaborates beautifully with Amsterdam's Kindred Spirits to issue The Paris Tapes, a spectacular addition to the already massive Sun Ra discography. The Kindred Spirits LP features two Arkestra standards from the concert, "Space Is the Place" and "Watusi" and the rather too repetitive and dull Latin-based "Somebody Else's Idea" (an extremely obscure Ra number featuring June Tyson's lead vocal). The Art Yard CD presents the full two-hour and twenty-minute concert over two discs, jam-packed with some of the Arkestra's most compellingly captured and lively music.

Live in Paris is the Arkestra at its most percussive. From the very first notes of the generically titled "Introduction," we're on another aural plane of Ra's multi-visional musical multiverse. As Dusty Groove aptly notes, the effect is more spiritual than avant garde. Perhaps liner notes writer Knoel Scott's one-track script, which proposes among other things, that "Introduction" is the musical soundtrack to racial savaging, is one way to experience Ra's unique musical achievement here. I don't hear it that way at all and I don't believe it was formed or fashioned with that in mind. The pervasive percussion and spacey sounds probably had more to do with Ra's sci-fi positivity: lift yourself up and you can go to outer space.

There are three drummers credited here (Clifford Jarvis, Lex Humphries and Tommy Hunter) and percussionist Nimrod Hunter and nearly everyone else in the Arkestra doubles up on percussion when they're not doing their thing. Over nearly two and a half hours, the percussive force neither wanes nor wavers. It becomes hypnotically more compelling, grounding even the freest exchanges of Arkestra soloists in a rhythmic orgy that will make sense to jazz listeners who have trouble accepting or understanding music that goes somewhere out there ("Discipline 27," "Discipline Number Unknown").

A strong rock sensibility is present here as well that isn't as obvious elsewhere in Ra's music. It's as if Sun Ra – like Miles Davis – took in Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead and Santana and worked their thing into his own (The Paris Tapes even suggest that Miles Davis was listening closely to what Sun Ra was doing too). Part of that comes out of Ra's helming of the organ and Farfisa keyboard (to wit, the exciting two-part "Love in Outer Space" and the second of the two untitled pieces). But he's played those instruments elsewhere and the effect was not quite like this. Perhaps it's the combination of Ra's electric eclectics and the powerful surge of percussion that make The Paris Tapes feel like the Arkestra's "rock" album.

The entire concert is invigorating from start to finish, but there are several highlights that make The Paris Tapes an essential Arkestra listening experience. The tremendously performed "Third Planet," which the Arkestra also performed at the 1971 Cairo concert captured on Horizon (a Saturn LP also issued on CD by Art Yard), is one of Ra's best and, amazingly, very little known. As a composition, it harks back to the classics of Jazz in Silhouette and Supersonic Jazz. As a performance, it is a reminder of the section work this group was always capable of and, more importantly, the terrifically proficient soloing each and every one of these guys could do – particularly within the stratosphere.

"Watusi," a Ra favorite first heard on the 1970 Fondation Maeght Nights set as well as on the Helsinki and Cairo concert recordings, is an amazing percussion workout that – surprisingly – never gets tired or stale over its mind boggling 23-minute performance. This makes you wonder whether a DVD of this concert, like the Helsinki performance, wasn't somehow available. No doubt this would have been spectacular to watch. It makes for quite a listen as well.

Finally, there is the unusually and unapologetic African variation of "Angels and Demons at Play," where a lone flute floats magnificently for much of the time above layers of dense percussion that tells the story of the song's title better than nearly all of the variations ever waxed of this song. Things get livelier when Sonny comes out to play, blazing his electrified Farfisa organ for a brief respite. It's hard to say who the Farfisa represents. But maybe that's the point. It's a truly wondrous performance; one of the best on record.

The Paris Tapes: Live at le Théâter du Châtelet 1971 is an unexpected pleasure and a valuable addition to the many live Arkestra recordings out there. This is a side of the Sun that isn't very well known and stands among the Arkestra's best captured performances.

(Art Yard has very kindly provided an Adobe Acrobat PDF of the booklet from The Paris Tapes: Live at le Théâter du Châtelet 1971 CD containing Knoel Scott and Chris Trent's illuminating liner notes, the set's track list and musician credits as well as many of Jörg Becker's black and white pictures (presumably) from this performance.)

Album Review:
Nov 10, 2010
Doug Payne Sound Insights

Sun Ra and his Mythic Science Arkestra

The Paris Tapes - Live at le Théâtre du Châtelet 1971
Art Yard / Kindred Spirits KSAY-6N (2 x CD) (2010)

1.  Introduction   6:20
2.  Discipline #27   10:17
3.  Untitled Solo   0:53
4.  Love In Outer Space Part 1   9:33
5.  Love In Outer Space Part 2   6:58
6.  Third Planet   6:26
7.  Somebody Else's Idea   11:38
8.  Watusi   22:42
9.  Space Is The Place   16:42
10. Angels And Demons At Play   15:18
11. Untitled (keyboards)   2:18
12. Discipline # (unknown!)   15:32
13. Untitled (synthesizer solo)   14:48

Sun Ra and his Mythic Science Arkestra

The Paris Tapes - Live at le Théâtre du Châtelet 1971
Art Yard / Kindred Spirits KSAY-6N (LP) (2010)

1. A1 Space is the Place   14:48
2. A2 Somebody Else's Idea   11:37
3. B1 Watusi   22:38

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Sun Ra - New Space Poetry Release (2013)

Norton Records has just released Volume 4 in their Sun Ra Space Poetry series, 'My Way Is The Spaceways.'  I got my copy from Dusty Grooves - you should get one, too.  Give it a listen and you'll see what I mean.

No downloads this time - just some streams of encouragement.

Sun Ra - Mayan Temples (1990)

One of the finest Sun Ra recordings from his final years, this effort is particularly recommended due to the many Ra keyboard solos and John Gilmore features, the latter of which include a tenor showcase on "Opus In Springtime." Trumpeters Michael Ray and Ahmed Abdullah, altoist Marshall Allen and singer June Tyson also have their spots, and the repertoire consists of ten Ra originals (including a remake of "El Is the Sound of Joy") and three standard ballads. Overall, this is a fine all-around studio set. Recommended.

AMG review by Scott Yanow

677. [446]  Sun Ra Arkestra

Mayan Temples

Sun Ra (p, syn, voc); Michael Ray (tp, voc); Ahmed Abdullah (tp, voc); Tyrone Hill (tb, voc); Marshall Allen (as, fl, perc); Noël Scott (as, perc); John Gilmore (ts, timb, voc); James Jacson (bsn, Inf-d, voc); Jothan Callins (eb); Buster Smith (d); Clifford Barbaro (d); Jorge Silva (repinique, perc); Elson Nascimento (surdo grande, perc); Ron McBee (cga, perc); June Tyson (voc).

Mondial Sound, Milano, Italy
July 24-25, 1990

from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

I think Michael Ray did an amazing job of mixing this LP.  I can't remember hearing another studio album that sounds as detailed and carefully crafted yet fully maintains the feel and energy of a live performance.

 Sun Ra Arkestra
Mayan Temples (1990)
Black Saint CD Reissue 120121-OD
2009

1.  Dance of the Language Barrier   3:58
2.  Bygone   5:16
3.  Discipline No. 1   4:58
4.  Alone Together   7:02
5.  Prelude To Stargazers   5:17
6.  Mayan Temples   7:40
7.  I'll Never Be The Same   4:57
8.  Stardust From Tomorrow   3:39
9.  El Is The Sound Of Joy   5:26
10. Time After Time   4:21
11. Opus In Springtime   6:42
12. Theme On The Stargazers   14:10
13. Sunset On The River Nile   5:43

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 Sun Ra Arkestra
Mayan Temples (1990)
Mo'Smog Records - 124020-1
2 x Vinyl, LP, Reissue
2002  Italy

 1.  A1 Sunset On The Night On The River Nile   5:42
2.  A2 Opus In Springtime   6:40
3.  A3 El Is The Sound Of Joy   5:23
4.  B1 Stardust From Tomorrow   3:39
5.  B2 Alone Together   7:01
6.  B3 Discipline No.1   4:54
7.  C1 Theme On The Stargazers   14:05
8.  C2 Time After Time   4:20
9.  D1 Dance Of The Language Barrier   3:57
10. D2 Mayan Temples   7:40
11. D3 Bygone   5:14


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2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Solo Piano Volume 1 (1977)

Just as his reputation on he synthesizer was growing, Sun Ra began to play more piano again, and in a style that reached back further in jazz tradition than most would have suspected.  But those who had known him for years understood that his origins were in the blues, and assumed that side of his playing: "Sun Ra could play the blues for twenty four hours without repeating a phrase," they claimed.  Though many recognized him as capable of playing bombastically, and of using the piano for color, few thought of him as a major player.  But Paul Bley, one of the two or three leading pianists of free jazz, believed that Sonny was a great piano player, so great that he didn't need a band.  If anything, he felt, the band was a cover for his insecurity.  Early in 1977 Bley convinced Sonny to do a series of piano duo performances with him in New York and Europe and to record for Bley's new audio and video company, Improvising Artists.  In Europe Bley was surprised to see that once he was alone on stage, "Sonny was a ham who liked to clown and surprise the audience -- as at Lake Como, where he shocked them by playing a cake walk!"  On May 20 Sun Ra went into the studio to record Solo Piano, and played a mixture of his own compositions and some unusually conceived standards, such as a very freely played "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child," or "Yesterdays" done in a brisk stride.  On July 3 he was recorded solo (St. Louis Blues) while playing at Axis-in-Soho as part of the Newport Jazz Festival, and again there were surprises: his "St. Louis Blues" aluded to Earl Hines's famous boogie-woogie version and a cheerful little love song like "Three Little Words" got turned into a melodrama.  But there were modest experiments in keyboard resources as well, such as "Sky and Sun," which stayed almost entirely within a small range at the top of the keyboard.

from Szwed - Space Is The Place p. 342-343

Without his Intergalactic Space Research Arkestra to hide behind, Sun Ra recorded Solo Piano, Vol. 1, revealing a tender, gentle side always lingering but never entirely present in his days leading his large ensemble. Cutting a pair of standards -- the traditional "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" and Duke Ellington's "Yesterday" -- and filling the rest of the disc out with original compositions, Ra extemporizes with a surprising mix of restraint and abandon, often sounding as if he is going to play it straight before launching into a key thrashing salvo that would ordinarily be accompanied by a burst of horns. Here, though, with the use of pedaling, Ra lets the notes drift off to space by themselves, lonely and floating in the void. Unfortunately, the production is far below par and Ra's piano sounds flat and lifeless throughout. [I guess Jesse and I will have to agree to disagree on this last point -yotte].
AMG Review  by Jesse Jarnow

 247. [203]  Sun Ra

Solo Piano Volume 1

Sun Ra (p.).

Generation Sound Studio, NYC,
May 20, 1977

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (trade.)
Cosmo Rhythmatic (Ra)
Yesterdays (Kern-Harbach)
Romance of Two Planets (Ra)
Irregular Galaxy (Ra)
To a Friend (Ra)

Released in 1977 on Improvising Artists Inc. 37.38.50, Solo Piano Volume 1.  Another LP release was Japanese IAI RJ-7419.  All tracks reissued in 1992 on Improvising Artists Inc. 123850 [CD].  A video on IAI V003 was previously thought to have come from this concert, but in fact is from Sun Ra's second solo session for Improvising Artists.
from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

 

Sun Ra - Solo Piano vol. 1
Generation Sound Studio, NYC, May 20, 1977
 

1. Sometimes I feel like a motherless child    7:30
2. Cosmo rhythmatic    7:15
3. Yesterdays    4:14
4. Romance of two planets    5:14
5. Irregular galaxy    5:18
6. To a friend  7:39

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Thanks to Paul W. for his CD rip of this fine album.

Sun Ra
Solo Piano volume 1
IAI 37.38.50 (1977) (LP)

1. A1 Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child   7:29
2. A2 Cosmo Rhythmatic   7:13
3. A3 Yesterdays   4:17
4. B1 Romance of Two Planets   5:16
5. B2 Irregular Galaxy   5:19
6. B3 To a Friend   7:40

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2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Live in Paris at the "Gibus" (1975)

I believe most everyone agrees that this is an absolutely amazing album - stunning performances and great sound.

 Sun Ra (organ/electric vibraphone/space instruments/synthesizer/vocals) and his Intergalactic Space Research Arkestra are captured live in October of 1973 on this essential disc.  Not only are the sides uniformly inspired, but the track list bears a few interesting diversions, including seminal examples of Ra as both a performer and unequaled arranger. The mid-tempo dreamy and languid opener, "Spontaneous Simplicity," evolves around Ra's sublime organ and electric vibe runs. He places those against an unforced and otherwise limber wash of hand percussion as well as the understated yet solid pulse of Ronnie Boykins' bass. Ra's emphatic electric organ inflections herald the introduction to what is arguably the most haunting and poignant reading of "Lights on a Satellite" readily available. The flute section -- featuring Marshall Allen (alto sax/oboe/flute/piccolo), Danny Davis (alto sax/flute/alto clarinet), Danny Ray Thompson (baritone sax/flute), James Jacson (bassoon/flute/percussion), and Eloe Omoe (bass clarinet/flute) -- reel an edgy and trance-inducing melody into their sinuous lines. The entire affair simmers just below some glistens from Ra and a sax solo by John Gilmore (tenor sax/percussion). "Ombre Monde" (aka "Shadow World") dates back to the mid-'60s and allows Allen a platform for an extended lead that is sonically spurred on by Ra's motivated electric piano. Akh Tal Ebah's trumpet aggressions also make this version stand out. The truly phenomenal cover of Jelly Roll Morton's "King Porter Stomp" is a progressive score that builds on work done by Fletcher Henderson's definitive version. The Arkestra's compact presentation is stunning and Ra's complex score makes this flawless rendering all the more improbable. The bandleader offers up a vocal cosmic greeting on "Salutations From the Universe" which is swirled in an onslaught from the full ensemble. Ra's forceful keyboards are countered by some sharp and incisive contributions from the Arkestra. This segues into the benedictory "Calling Planet Earth" chant that is free jazz madness at its most effective. June Tyson's (vocals) voice can be picked out among the participants before Ra's brief solo conclusion. Although initially only pressed as a hard-to-find French import, Live in Paris at the Gibus was issued on CD in 2003 and is a highly recommended title for inclined parties.
AMG Review by Lindsay Planer

Sun Ra: Live In Paris at the “Gibus” (Atlantic—France/Universe CD)

Unlike the previous European tour (an extended sojourn which ranged widely across the continent, culminating in an impromptu trip to Egypt), the 1973 visit seems to have consisted of barely a handful of gigs in and around Paris. Also unlike the well-documented 1971 excursion, there were no high-profile radio broadcasts and very few amateur recordings survive. The tour likely began with the ill-fated Fête de l’Humanité at the end of September (possibly found on Transparency’s Lost Reel Collection Vol.5) and while Prof. Campbell mentions a 180-minute audience tape from the Nancy Jazz Festival on October 14, that’s about it (p.203) (and I haven't heard this tape). Otherwise, it seems the Arkestra settled into a multi-night stand at the famed Gibus Discotèque in Paris until their return to the states sometime in mid-to-late-October. Fortunately, the French division of Atlantic Records recorded a portion of this gig and released it as Live In Paris at the “Gibus” (Atlantic 40540) in 1975—but only in France (Id.). It remained an obscure collector’s item until 2003, when the Italian Comet label reissued it on CD on their Universe imprint in a deluxe, gatefold mini-LP package with excellent sound quality. Finally! This is one of the essential Sun Ra albums: an impeccable performance, well-recorded, documenting a crucial period in the Arkestra’s development.

It helps that the repertoire and sequencing is particularly inspired, possibly assembled by Sonny himself from several night’s recordings (he was, after all, a master of the razor blade and splicing tape). Who knows?—the liner notes are deliberately vague. The album begins with two of Ra’s most whimsically captivating compositions, both of which had been out of the setlists for a while and are now radically rearranged. “Spontaneous Simplicity” dispenses with the horn statements altogether and becomes a feature for Ra’s chiming organ and the “space-rhumba” groove is a bit looser, with Boykins leaning heavily on the riff. Suddenly, Ra goes into a frenetic double-time feel but the rhythm section keeps right with him to the end. An interesting re-imagining of this piece. The beautiful and tranquil “Lights On a Satellite” which follows is intricately through-composed, from the flute and trumpet harmonizations right down to the arco bass pedals and pitter-pattering percussion figures—and it is taken at a glacially slow tempo. The Arkestra sounds a little restrained but they deliver a note-perfect performance of this chamber-jazz masterpiece, one of my very favorite Sun Ra compositions.

A deft edit (indicative of Sun Ra’s hand) puts us smack in the middle of “The Shadow World” (mysteriously re-titled “Ombre Monde #2”), with Danny Ray Thompson’s baritone sax riffing just tailing off. John Gilmore comes in with another spine-tingling tenor solo, made all the more intense by Sun Ra’s insistently busy organ figuration. Kwami Hadi then solos on trumpet, easily holding his own against the rumbling thunderclouds and lightning flashes of electric organ but Sonny finally takes over with an apocalyptic fury before another surgically precise edit dramatically brings the track to an end. Wow! It would be nice to have the whole thing, but this is a powerfully edited fragment that stands alone as a coherent piece of music. Whether constructed by Ra or unknown French engineers, this is a bravura bit of record making.

(Continue reading at NuVoid: Sun Ra Sunday Album Review)

211. [185]  Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Research Arkestra

Live at the Gibus

Sun Ra (p, org, e-vib, space instruments, Mini-Moog syn, voc); Akh Tal Ebah (tp, flg); Kwame Hadi (tp, flg); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, picc, perc); Danny Davis (as, fl, acl); John Gilmore (ts, d); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, fl, perc); James Jacson (bsn, fl, Inf-d); Eloe Omoe (bcl, fl, perc); Ronnie Boykins (b); Alzo Wright (clo, vla, perc); Thomas Hunter (d); Odun [Russell Branch] (perc, cga); Roger Aralamon Hazoumé (perc, balafon, dance); Shahib (perc, cga); Math Samba (perc, dance); June Tyson (voc, dance); Space Ethnic Voices: Judith Holton, Cheryl Banks, Ruth Wright (voc, dance).

The Gibus, Paris, October 1973

Spontaneous Simplicity (RA)
Lights on a Satellite (Ra)
Ombre Monde #2 [The Shadow World] (Ra)
King Porter Stomp (Morton)
Salutation from the Universe (Ra) [Mini-Moog only]
Calling Planet Earth (Ra) [ens voc]

All tracks on Atlantic 40540, Live at the Gibus, which was released in 1975 in France only (release date from Geerken and Hefele).  Information from the jacket.
from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Sun Ra L'Intergalactic Research Arkestra
Live in Paris at the "Gibus"
Universe UV 079 (1975) LP

1. A1 Spontaneous Simplicity   4:02

2. A2 Lights on a Satellite   5:30

3. A3 Ombre Monde #2   12:13

4. B1 King Porter Stomp   2:53

5. B2 Salutations from the Universe   14:50

6. B3 Calling Planet Earth   1:30

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Sun Ra L'Intergalactic Research Arkestra

Live in Paris at the "Gibus"

(Atlantic—France/Universe CD)

 

 1. Spontaneous Simplicity     4:05 

2. Lights On A Satellite     5:32 

3. Ombre Monde #2     12:18 

4. King Porter Stomp     2:53 

5. Salutations From The Universe     14:55 

6. Calling Planet Earth     1:29

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Rocket Number Nine?

I know, I know.  But it's better you learn this now than to hear about it on the street later...

2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Out Beyond the Kingdom Of (1974)

By 1974, the Impulse! deal was starting to bear fruit, with almost a dozen LPs coming out during the course of the year, including several reissues from the old Saturn catalog. In addition, the Saturn label had been resurrected and new releases were being pressed in tiny editions for sale at gigs and at select record stores. Given the fact that all this product was suddenly flooding the marketplace, it is not surprising very few new recordings were made during the year. Much like 1973, 1974 is rather sparsely documented (relatively speaking), but most of what’s there is worth a listen.

In Feburary, shortly before Sonny’s sixtieth birthday, the Arkestra travelled to Mexico for an extended tour at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture—an invitation which dated back to the Fête de l’Humanité fiasco in September 1973, where Sun Ra’s music quelled a near riot and allowed for a triumphant performance of Ballet Folklórico de Mexico. While the musicians were given “plush accommodations,” by the grateful Mexican government, the musician’s union protested and prohibited them from performing—as musicians. The Actors Union interceded and the shows went on as “Sun Ra and His Cosmo Drama.” Szwed writes: “Sun Ra told the band that an earthquake would even the score, and later it was said that the Union’s office building had been leveled [in 1985]” (p.338). The Arkestra stayed in Mexico two or three months, playing two concerts at the Pallacio de Bellas Artes, a two-week stand at the Teatro Hidalgo, as well as concerts at Chapultepec Park (“where they played on a little island while people rowed around them in boats”) (Id.), the University of Mexico, and in front of the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacán. The Arkestra also appeared on TV in Mexico City on Siempre en Domingo, “a variety show rather like Ed Sullivan’s” (Campbell & Trent, p.206). According to Francisco “Ali” Mora, a Mexican drummer who joined the band during the tour, concert tapes probably exist (Id.) but no recordings have surfaced to date.

On June 16, the Arkestra performed at Hunter College in New York City and the concert was recorded, possibly by the college itself (the sound quality is remarkably good). Portions were compiled by Ra for release as Out Beyond The Kingdom Of (Saturn 61674) later in the year (although some copies are titled Discipline 99) (Id.). The first thing you notice is the school has provided Sonny with a decent grand piano, and he relishes in the opportunity to tickle the ivories. “Discipline 99” is given a stately, confident reading by the band and features a long piano solo, alternating pretty harmonies with flurries of dissonant tone clusters. The following medley of old standards (an impossibly romantic ballad, “How Am I To Know?” and the up-tempo, “(Keep Your) Sunnyside Up”) allows Ra to show off his inimitable, inside/outside comping skills behind John Gilmore’s big-hearted, languorously swinging tenor solos. “How Am I To Know?” is a thing of rare beauty and the presence of Ronnie Boykins on bass and Clifford Jarvis on trap drums gives new life and humor to the old-fashioned rhythms of “(Keep Your) Sunnyside Up.” Good stuff!—and a harbinger of things to come: a mini-set of jazz standards would increasingly become a fixture of the Arkestra’s live sets as the ‘70s rolled on.

Side two shifts gears, with an emphasis on space chants and ensemble freak-outs and is, frankly, a lot less interesting to my jaded ears. But to be fair, this record must be considered in context, as a historical artifact. An obsessive collector in the year 2011 will have heard these routines many times before, but in 1974, live recordings were scarce. Sonny was shrewdly filling the gap, documenting the Arkestra’s current show for eager fans. Considered in that light, Out Beyond The Kingdom Of was exactly what it needed to be: a souvenir you could take home with you from the Cosmo Drama. As such, side two is fun, with June Tyson and Ankh Tal Ebah at their soulful, hortatory best and Boykins and Jarvis keep things grooving nicely. The highlight is “Cosmos Synthesis,” a wild group improvisation for horns and free-bashing rhythm section which stays heavy longer than usual. But Sun Ra himself is inaudible for most of the side until the very end of “Journey To Saturn,” when some spooky organ chords fade up and fade down.

(continue reading at NuVoid's Sun Ra Sunday)

215. [188]  Sun Ra and his Outer Space Arkestra

Out Beyond the Kingdom Of

Sun Ra (p, org, Mini-Moog syn, recitation); Akh Tal Ebah (tp, flg, mell, voc); Kwame Hadi (tp, perc); Marshall Allen (as, fl, picc, ob, perc); Dany Davis (as, fl, acl, perc); John Gilmore (ts, perc, voc); Danny Ray Thompson (brs, fl, libf, perc); Pat Patrick (bars, eb); James Jacson (bsn, Inf-d, voc); Ronnie Boykins (b); Clifford Jarvis (d); unidentified (d); June Tyson (voc, dance).

Hunter College, NYC, June 16, 1974

1st set:
unidentified improvisation [freakout ens; d]    audience tape 1
Outer Space (Is Such a Pleasant Place) (Ra)
[JT voc]
Astro Black (Ra) [JT voc]
Tapestry from an Asteroid (Ra) [JT voc]
untitled improvisation [freakout ens; Allen, as]
Discipline 27 (Ra)
untitled improvisation [syn; ens]
Enlightenment (Dotson-Ra) [JG, JT voc]
Love in Outer Space (Ra)
The Satellites Are Spinning (Ra) [JT, ATE, ens voc]
The Shadow World (Ra) [inc]

2nd set:
Solar Ship (Ra)                   
unidentified title [Gilmore, ts,
with p accompaniment; inc]
What Planet Is This? (Ra) [SR, ATE, ens voc]
Discipline 27-II (Ra) [dirge tempo] /
I Roam the Cosmos (Ra) [SR, JT, ens voc]
If You're the Truth, You're a Bad Truth (Ra) /
Right Road, Wrong Direction (Ra) /
Take Me to Your Leader (Ra) /
This Is Not Life (Ra) /
I Use Planets for Stepping Stones (Ra) /
Where'd You Come From? (Ra) /
Immeasurable (Ra) [SR, JT, ens voc] /
Out Beyond the Kingdom Of (Ra)
[SR, JT, ATE declamation;
incl. You've Lost Your Right and
It's After the End of the World]
Cosmos Synthesis (Ra) /
Outer Space Employment Agency (Ra)
[SR, JT, ATE voc] /
Why Go to the Moon? (Ra) [SR, ATE, JT voc] /
Neptune (Ra) [JT, ens voc; inc]
Journey to Saturn (Ra) [JT, ens voc]
Rocket Number Nine (Ra) [ens voc] /
Second Stop is Jupiter (Ra) [ens voc]
Angels and Demons at Play (Boykins-Allen)
[inc]
How Am I to Know? (King-Parker)
(Keep Your) Sunnyside Up (DeSylva-Brown)
unidentified title (Ra)
[bars riff; p; ts; Hadi, tp]
Sun Ra and his Band from Outer Space (Ra)
[ens voc]
closing announcement       

Saturn LP 61674, Out Beyond the Kingdom Of, was released on the Philadelphia label in 1974.  Some copies are titled Discipline 99.  Location courtesy of Glenn Jones.

At least three different Saturn labels were used on Out Beyond the Kingdom Of.  There is a Purplish Chicago Saturn label with a 1974 copyright date; these were sold in a generic "Acropolis" cover (Peter Roberts).  There is a  photocopied Chicago label (black on white) with typed-in titles; on this label, "Outer Space Employment Agency" has been truncated to "Outer Space Em."  These recycled Chicago labels are probably of Philadelphia origin!  In later years the prevailing label was a yellow Philadelphia with titles typed in a script typeface (see Geerken and Hefele's book for photos of the second and third labels).

There is a 95-minute audience tape that includes most of the first set, then (as we now realize) jumps to the end of the second set.  This is referred to as "tape 1" above.  A second audience tape ("tape 2"; this one is 105 minutes long and was obviously taped by a different person) was brought to our attention by Roy Morris after the first edition was published.  It reveals that "Angels and Demons at Play" through "Sun Ra and his Band from Outer Space" come from the end of the second set, not the first set.

"Solar Ship" was the introduction to the second set (it includes the emcee announcing the band's reappearance), but, as it appears only on the Saturn release, our placement of the untitled number and "Discipline 99" immediately after it, at the beginning of the second set, is somewhat conjectural.  They could have been from the end of the first set.  By contrast, the long sequence that begins with "What Planet Is This?" and "Discipline 27-II" is material that was almost always used at the beginning of a set.

Tape 2 shows that "Cosmos Synthesis" was edited on the Saturn release.  Both tapes reveal that "(Keep Your) Sunnyside Up" was faded at the end of John Gilmore's solo (solos by Kwame Hadi, Pat Patrick, Ra on piano, and Ronnie Boykins, plus the final ensemble, were cut, probably because Hadi was off-mike during his solo).  We previously identified the baritone sax soloist on this number as Charles Davis, but the electric bass line on "Angels and Demons" would indicate Pat Patrick.  A long, bowed bass solo on "Discipline 27" is the work of Ronnie Boykins, and Danny Thompson can be heard on the Neptunian libflecto during "The Shadow World."  A second trap drummer is audible on "Angels and Demons."  All unissued titles identified by rlc and ct; personnel rlc and ct.

"Angels and Demons at Play" (an arrangement called "Pre-Egyptian March" at several other points in the first edition) was incorrectly identified in the first edition as "Watusi."  Thanks to Ahmed Abdullah for correcting us.

from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Sun Ra and his Outer Space Arkestra
Out Beyond the Kingdom Of
(Discipline 99)
Saturn 61674 (1974)

1. Discipline 99   12:12
2. How Am I to Know? - Sunnyside Up   9:35
3. Solar Ship   1:50
4. Out Beyond the Kingdom Of ...   4:32
5. Cosmos Synthesis   5:40
6. Outer Space Employment Agency   4:27
7. Journey to Saturn   10:26

-FLAC-

Mega

RS

HF

or

-320-

Mega

RS

HF

Many Thanks to Paul W for sharing his rip of this rare album.

Sun Ra on WNYC and at Old Waldorf, San Francisco, October 11, 1980

Great mention of Ra on Halloween by WNYC archivist John Passmore.  Check it out.  It includes a short interview segment and this performance from Whitney Hall on January 7, 1981.

Will anyone with a copy of the January 7, 1981 show please share?  I would love to hear the entire broadcast.  Seeing the Waldorf poster in the article reminded me that Nikos shared a recording of the October 11, 1980 Old Waldorf concert with us back in 2011.

329. [258a]  Sun Ra Omniverse Arkestra

Sun Ra (p, syn, voc); Michael Ray (tp); Craig Harris (tb); Marshall Allen (as, fl, perc); Noël Scott (as, perc); John Gilmore (ts, cl, timb); James Jacson (bsn, fl, Inf-d, voc); Amo Chip (eb); June Tyson (voc); others unidentified.

Old Waldorf, San Francisco,
October 11, 1980

radio broadcast

untitled improvisation [tb]
Tapestry from an Asteroid (Ra) [JT voc]
untitled improvisation
[Scott, as; tbs and perc; Ray, tp]
The Sun Has Something to Say (Ra) [JT, ens voc]
The Sound Mirror (Ra) [SR, ens voc]
I, Pharaoh (Ra) [SR, ens voc]
Keep Your Sunnyside Up (Ra) [ens voc]
The Space Age Is Here to Stay (Ra) [ens voc]
unidentified title (Ra) [syn only]
Big John's Special (H. Henderson)
Limehouse Blues (Braham-Furber)
unidentified Swing tune
Why Don't You Do Me Right? (McCoy) [JJ, MR voc]
'Round Midnight (Hanighen-Monk-Williams)
Lady Bird (Dameron) / Half Nelson (Davis)
We'll Be Together Again (Fischer-Laine)
The Shadow World (Ra)

According to Graham Connah, an audience tape of excerpts from this concert was subsequently broadcast by KZSC-FM in Santa Cruz.  The audience tape is 75 minutes long; the whole concert lasted two to three hours.  All information from Connah.  Amo Chip (formerly Amo Dabney) states in the April 1995 issue of Cadence that he sat in on several of Ra's 1980 Bay Area concerts.  He has confirmed that he played electric bass at this concert.

"Why Don't You Do Right?" presumably comes from the repertoire of Lil Green; Sunny was in her band in 1946 and 1947. 

from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed. 

Sun Ra Omniverse Arkestra

Old Waldorf, SF
1980-10-11

audience recording

(NOT complete show, but all that is in circulation. Earthly book states
this was subsequently broadcast on KZSC-FM, Santa Cruz)

aud > ? > cdr in trade > EAC > FLAC

disc one:
01.  untitled improv
02.  untitled improv
03.  Tapestry From An Asteroid > improv
04.  The Sun has Something to Say
05.  The Sound Mirror
06.  I, Pharoah
07.  Keep Your Sunny Side Up
08.  The Space Age is Here To Stay
09.  untitled improv (SR syn solo)

disc two:
01.  Big John's Special
02.  Limehouse Blues
03.  Why Don't You Do Right ?
04.  'Round Midnight
05.  Lady Bird/Half Nelson
06.  We'll Be Together Again
07.  unidentified title
08.  The Shadow World


 
-FLAC-
Mega
RS

Sun Ra: Strange Worlds (2005)

Strange Worlds includes all of the music originally recorded between 1967-1970 as released on two separate albums: The Solar Myth Approach, Vol. 1 and The Solar Myth Approach, Vol. 2.

The music presented here is fascinating and often intense.  Check out the excellent Sun Ra Sunday article for a synopsis of both volumes.  Strange Worlds offers a unique track arrangement, successfully blending the two releases into a single album.

One of Sun Ra's more experimental sets (and that's saying something), 1970's The Solar Myth Approach, Vol. 1 is an eclectic set of tapes from sessions that date back to 1967 and include some of Sun Ra's earliest experiments with Moog synthesizers (the clatteringly primitive solo "Scene III, Took 4" sounds like it could have come from the very first time he experimented with the machine) and evidence of his increasing interest in dissonance and repetition. For example, the opening "Spectrum" sets various horn and reed players against each other in such a fashion that they sound woozily out of tune, even though they're playing in the same key; like most of the rest of the album, this piece is built on the most minimal compositional skeleton, with little in the way of melodic development or counterpoint. The pieces are also recorded with typically eccentric instrument groupings; most of the ten-minute "Legend" is an extended duet for trombones, and only the rollicking "They'll Come Back" has a typical small-combo lineup. Those who are into Sun Ra's most non-traditional musical ideas should look no further.

AMG Review by Stewart Mason

Recorded between 1970-1971, The Solar Myth Approach, Vol. 2 is comprised of solo keyboard explorations by Sun Ra, couched in between two free-form workouts by his whole Arkestra. Kicking off the set is the first band workout "The Utter Nots," which, amidst a relentless Afro-percussion backdrop, features a loose mix of fiery and mild statements by most of Ra's main soloists (alto saxophonist Marshall Allan, oboe player James Jackson, tenor saxophonist John Gilmore, et al.). The more frenetic of the two Arkestra features, "Strange Worlds," alternates between full band outbursts and cryptic keyboard and vocal interludes. The high points of the album, though, are Ra's wonderfully strange excursions at the keys. Evoking a child's outer-space play land, Ra produces a dizzying whirl of celestial noises on the Moog synthesizer for "Scene 1, Take 1" while switching the keyboard to harpsichord mode for a hauntingly beautiful meditation of baroque proportions on "Pyramids." The final solo finds Ra running amok over both the piano keyboard and the strings inside, producing a ghostly haze of sound. Balancing out the momentous proceedings are two brief and whimsical numbers, "Ancient Ethiopia" and "Outer Spaceways, Inc.," the last of which includes a pleasant vocal request to join Sun Ra and the Arkestra on a journey to world beyond, an invitation implied throughout the disc.

AMG Review by Steven Cook

Sun Ra and his Solar Myth-Arkestra
Strange Worlds
Atom 2036 (2005) (CDx2)

Disc 1
1.  Ancient Ethiopia   2:49
2.  Pyramids   2:29
3.  Scene 1, Take 1   8:20
4.  Outer Spaceways Incorporated   1:21
5.  Interpretation   7:42
6.  Strange Worlds   8:32
7.  The Utter Nots   11:20

Disc 2
8.  Legend   9:55
9.  Seen 3, Took 4   3:28
10. The Satellites Are Spinning   3:32
11. Realm of Lightening   12:24
12. They'll Come Back   3:50
13. Adventures Of Bugs Hunter   6:38
14. Spectrum   4:59

-FLAC-

RS1 + RS2

HF1 + HF2

FF1 + FF2

or

-320-

RS

HF

FF

2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Song of the Stargazers (1979?)

Song of the Stargazers (Saturn 487 or sometimes 6161) was released in 1979 and is mostly a hodgepodge of various live recordings from the nineteen-seventies. But one track was obviously recorded much earlier, probably in 1967 or 1968, according to Prof. Campbell. Performed in a large, reverberant space in front of a sizable and enthusiastic audience, “Cosmo Dance” is an interesting quasi-modal composition featuring some evocative flute and oboe. Clacking wooden sticks set up a simple, repetitious rhythm with Boykins's bass and Pat Patrick’s “space lute” plucking out a droning three-note groove. Low horns and bowed bass enter with convulsively heaving whole-note fourths while flute and oboe and bass clarinet dance a medieval round. Flute and then oboe embark on expansive, Middle-Eastern sounding solos over the clacking sticks and throbbing bass/space lute, the audience bursting into spirited applause after each. Finally, the low horn/bowed bass whole-note fourths return, repeating several times before ending to more justifiably hearty ovation. Ra himself is not heard playing on this track, but the murky sound quality makes it hard to clearly make out who is doing what. Campbell says Marshall Allen is playing both flute and oboe, but that is impossible since both instruments are heard simultaneously during the ensemble section. So, is it Danny Davis on flute? It certainly sounds like him. There is also some talking barely audible throughout – is that Sun Ra lecturing the crowd or just random audience noise? In any event, this is a beautiful, prototypical Sun Ra composition of the period, perfectly realized by his Arkestra.
from NuVoid's Sun Ra Sunday (July 26, 2009)


135. [229d]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

Song of the Stargazers

Marshall Allen (fl, ob); Robert Cummings (bcl); Pat Patrick (space lute); Ronnie Boykins (b); poss. John Gilmore (perc); unidentified (perc).

Live, 1967 or 1968

Cosmo Dance (Ra)

This is a late 1960s number; the bass clarinetist is not Eloe Omoe!  Personnel identified by rlc and Larry Nai.

Saturn LP 487, Song of the Stargazers, was the last new Saturn release on the Chicago label.  It was issued before 1981, most likely in 1979.  Some copies bear the serial number 6161 (NMY).  Mark Webber calls it a "mystery album."

289. [229]  Sun R and his Arkestra

Song of the Stargazers

Sun Ra (p, syn, org); prob. Michael Ray (tp); unidentified (tp); Craig Harris (tb); Tyrone Hill (tb -1); poss Vincent Chancey (Fr hn); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, picc, perc); Danny Davis (as, perc); John Gilmore (ts, perc); Eloe Omoe (bcl); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, perc); James Jacson (bsn, Inf-d); Damon Choice (vib); prob. Dale Williams (eg); poss. Luqman Ali [Edward Skinner] (d); unidentified (d); unidentified (cga); unidentified (sticks).

Live, 1979

The Others in Their World (Ra)
Galactic Synthesis (Ra) -1

…The only known copies of the LP are in Europe: "Maybe Saturn produced it in a very limited edition and they sold it while touring through Europe" (Geerken).  And all known copies are defective; Julien Vein says that the LP may have been mastered on only one stereo channel.

These particular items seem to be from the same live concert, and are similar in sound and conception to the free improvisations on the Soundscape sessions from November 1979.

The first discographical listing came from Tilman Stahl, who apparently took the misleading title "The Others in Their World" (which is not the 1960 composition) and the serial number 6161 to indicate that the album was recorded in Chicago in 1961!  Geerken and Hefele place the album in the late '60s and claim a 1970 release date.  The label, however, is a rather tattered El Saturn that was characteristic of the last Chicago pressings in the late 1970s.

290. [229a]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

Song of the Star Gazers

Sun Ra (p.)

Studio recording, unknown date

Somewhere Out (Ra)

This rather unusual solo piano piece could have been recorded anywhere between the mid-1960s and the late 1970s.  No further information is available.

291. [229b]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

Song of the Stargazers

Sun Ra (p.); unidentified (eg); unidentified (b); unidentified (perc).

Live, mid-1970s

Distant Stars (Ra)

This fragment from a live concert has a mid-1970s feel to it.  There is no connection with the 1960 or 1961 composition called "Distant Stars."

292. [229c]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

Song of the Stargazers

poss. Atakatune [Stanley Morgan] (perc, voc); poss. Odun [Russell Branch] (perc, voc); poss. Chiea (perc, voc -1).

Studio recording, prob. 1970s

Duo (Ra)
Seven Points (Ra) -1 [ens voc]

These two numbers feature the same percussionists, playing in a manner that is unusual for Arkestra members.  On "Seven Points" they contribute some vocalizing as well.  "Seven Points" as a title is reminiscent of "The Place of Five Points," which was recorded in 1979.  If the percussionists are in fact Atakatune, Odun, and Chiea, a recording date in 1972 or 1973 is most likely.
from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Duo

Sun Ra and his Arkestra
Song of the Stargazers
Saturn 487 or 6161 (unknown year, poss. 1979 - 1980)

1. The Others In Their World   10:14
2. Somewhere Out   4:40
3. Distant Stars   1:01
4. Duo   3:04
5. Seven Points   4:49
6. Cosmo Dance   6:31
7. Galactic Synthesis   9:52

-FLAC-

RS

HF

FF

0r

-320-

RS

HF

FF