Sun Ra - Super-Sonic Sounds (1974)

In 1972 Ed Michel, the producer of the recording Space Is the Place, offered Sun Ra and Alton Abraham a lucrative contract on behalf of ABC/Impulse to rerelease the bulk of the Saturn catalog and to go into the studio and make new records.  Thirty reissues were prepared for release, an introductory sampler called Welcome to Saturn, and four new albums were recorded, Astro Black (1972), Pathways to Unknown Worlds (1975), Crystal Spears, and Cymbals (both possibly 1972).  Over the next three years Impulse issued two of the new recordings, Astro Black (in quadraphonic sound) and Pathways to Unknown Worlds, and reissued Angels and Demons at Play, Super-Sonic Jazz (under the title Supersonic Sounds), Jazz in Silhouette, The Nubians of Plutonia, Fate in a Pleasant Mood, Bad and Beautiful, The Magic City, and Atlantis, all with new art work and press announcements.

But then ABC abruptly canceled the project, cutting out the records already issued and leaving the rest of the reissues and Crystal Spears and Cymbals unreleased.  With the records cut out and dumped into sale bins of record stores Sun Ra received no more  payment for sales:

I finally consented to make some for them and what did they do?  They cut the ends off so I don't get any royalties.  Impulse was going to spend almost a million dollars in publicity.  They were going to put out fourteen LPs at one time.  Something happened where they didn't keep their contract.

Nonetheless, Impulse was the one major label with a commitment to the new jazz, having recorded John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, and most of the major figures, so their embrace of Sun Ra saw to it that his records reached a much greater audience and gave him new press attention and reviews.Szwed - Space Is The Place - The Lives and Times of Sun Ra (1997) pp 333-334

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 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.

Le Sun-Ra and his Arkestra
Super-Sonic Sounds
Impulse AS-9271 (1974)

1.  India   4:48
2.  Sunology   5:39
3.  Advice to Medics   2:02
4.  Super Bronze   2:33
5.  Soft Talk   2:42
6.  Sunology, Part II   7:03
7.  Kingdom of Not   5:25
8.  Portrait of the Living Sky   1:50
9.  Blues at Midnight   6:30
10. El is a Sound of Joy   3:55
11. Springtime in Chicago   3:51
12. Medicine for a Nightmare   2:26

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You can find the Evidence CD reissue of Super-Sonic Jazz HERE.

Sun Ra - Destination Unknown (1992)

“Destination Unknown finds Sun Ra unbowed in spirit and still incisive on piano and synthesizer. The band is exuberant, romping through show tunes and moonwalks." Recorded in 1992 in Switzerland, this was Sun Ra’s last recording on this planet.
-The Jazzloft

Recorded late in Sun Ra's life in concert, this version of the Arkestra was a good one, but far from the band who could make worlds quake in its presence. Featuring Michael Ray, Marshall Allen, Buster Smith, Ahmed Abdullah, Bruce Edwards, and a few others, these 11 men took the music to the people with the usual impeccable arrangements, but without the improvisational fire that was indicative of Ra's band at its zenith. The program of ten tracks, about an hour in length, features well-known Arkestra favorites such as "Theme of the Stargazers," "Calling Planet Earth," "Interstellar Lo-Ways," and "Echoes of the Future," as well as the closer, "We Travel the Spaceways," and the standard nuggets "Prelude to a Kiss" and "S'Wonderful," along with Will Hudson's "Hocus Pocus." The feel is there, but the fire isn't; the groove is in place, but the fierceness of attack is absent; the playing is impeccable, but the chaotic edge has been rounded. There is certainly much to enjoy here if one is listening in a vacuum, but if one has to compare, as one can and should in a line of musical and historical continuity -- especially the one Sun Ra provided so willingly and insistently -- this album pales.
-AMG Review by Thom Jurek

739. [482]  Sun Ra and his Omniverse Arkestra

Destination Unknown

Sun Ra (p, syn); Ahmed Abdullah (tp, voc); Michael Ray (tp, voc); Tyrone Hill (tb, voc); Marshall Allen (as, fl, cowbell); James Jacson (bsn, fl, Inf-d, cowbell, voc); Bruce Edwards (eg); Jothan Callins (eb); Earl "Buster" Smith (d, announcement); Stanley Morgan [Atakatune] (cga); Elson Dos Santos Nascimento (surdo grande, perc).

Moonwalker Club, Aarburg, Switzerland,
March 29, 1992

Carefree (Ra)
Untitled (Echoes of the Future) (Ra)
Prelude to a Kiss (Ellington) [MR, AA voc]
Hocus Pocus (Hudson)
Theme of the Stargazers (Ra) [ens voc]
Interstellar Lo-Ways (Ra)
Calling Planet Earth
[Destination Unknown] (Ra) [ens voc]
[The] Satellites Are Scanning
[Spinning] (Ra) [ens voc]
'S Wonderful (Gershwin-Gershwin)
[Space Is the Place/]
We Travel the Spaceways (Ra) [ens voc]

Enja 7071, Destination Unknown, was released on CD in 1992.  There is also a Japanese CD issue, Enja CRCJ-1017.  All information from the CD leaflet.  Some of the titles are in error; corrections by Ralph Pleshar and rlc.  Also, Marshall Allen is incorrectly credited with a vocal.  The CD appears to consist of one complete set (or nearly so).

Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Phish performs 'Carefree' in Atlanta, April 26, 1994


'Carefree' from Destination Unknown

Destination Unknown (1992)
Sun Ra and his Omniverse Arkestra
Enja 7071 [CD]

1.  Carefree   10:19
2.  Untitled (Echoes Of The Future)   6:24
3.  Prelude To A Kiss   6:50
4.  Hocus Pokus   2:55
5.  Theme Of The Stargazers   6:08
6.  Interstellar Lo-Ways   4:40
7.  Calling Planet Earth   5:41
8.  Satellites Are Scanning   3:31
9.  S'Wonderful   4:56
10. We Travel The Spaceways   4:45

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Sun Ra - Sun Ra Sextet at the Village Vanguard (1991)

This recording presents the spiritual and musical explorations of the late Sun Ra in a rare (and relatively quiet and pensive) small group setting; the lone horn player is longtime Ra associate John Gilmore, on tenor sax; and the bassist is John Ore, whose career also included early stints with Cecil Taylor and Thelonious Monk. Recorded live at the Village Vanguard in November of 1991, Sun Ra’s playful synthesizer lines explore standards and originals including extensive versions of “Round Midnight” and “Sun Ra Blues.”

from rounder

The Sun Ra Sextet At the Village Vanguard is an important, if flawed, CD. Recorded in 1991--a mere two years prior to Ra's death--it documents some of Ra's first public appearances after a stroke that seriously limited his ability to play the keyboards, so much so that Chris Anderson was drafted to fill Ra's customary piano chair (succeeding quite nicely) here while Ra adds a sort of commentary on synthesizers atop the rest of the group. The actual gigs were booked under the name of Ra's legendarily underrated tenor saxophonist John Gilmore and, for obvious reasons, the date showcases his playing and reflects his leadership more so than Ra's.

The music captured here is for the most part not that of the freewheeling Ra Arkestra of the sixties and early seventies. Even before the stroke Ra began to include more songs from the standard repertoire alongside his own unique originals in his performances (though his and his band's interpretations were never exactly 'standard'), but this set goes even further, consisting of three standards and two original Sun Ra compositions, the latter including the relatively conventional "Sun Ra Blues." I love the earlier far-out Ra albums, but there's something to be said for this, too--Ra & Gilmore have their detractors who say they are too wild and not grounded in the jazz tradition, but Ra's perfect synth harmonies on "Autumn in New York," and the swinging contributions from the Arkestra's regular bassist John Ore and Gilmore's sumptuous playing on "'Round Midnight" and "'S Wonderful" put the lie to that kind of narrow minded thinking, while guitarist Bruce Edwards adds tasty solos, especially on "'Round Midnight" and "'S Wonderful".

'S Wonderful

I suppose a Sun Ra collection is incomplete without this recording from near the end of his life, but it is the excellent performance under the spotlight by John Gilmore who recorded sparingly outside of Ra's orbit that makes this an essential CD. Gilmore was simply one of the great saxophonists and this album gives his lyrical side a more extensive hearing than the typical Ra release. Ultimately how you feel about this CD will have a lot to do with how you aproach it. If you make allowances for Ra's physical condition, you will be surprised and touched by how much he can do in his compromised state. If you go into it expecting to hear prime Sun Ra, you may find his playing erratic and tired sounding, especially on "'Round Midnight." But just when you've counted him down if not out, he comes back on the set closing "Theme of the Stargazers" with some cosmic sounds that only he could've conjured while Gilmore recites some of his cosmic poetry for your edification.  

from epinionsdotcom

John Gilmore was slated to be the leader for a small band gig at the Village Vanguard in November, as Sonny thought Gilmore had earned it, but at the last second he turned it back to Sun Ra, and they appeared without costumes under the name of Sun Ra and his All-Star Inventions (Buster Smith, Bruce Edwards, John Ore, Jun Ra on synthesizers, and Chris Anderson, a blind pianist Sonny had known in Chicago).  It was a strange and slightly melancholy event.

John F. Szwed  Space Is The Place p. 375

727. [471]  Sun Ra and his All-Star Inventions [Sun Ra Sextet]

At the Village Vanguard

Sun Ra (Yamaha SY22 syn; Yamaha SY77 syn); John Gilmore (ts, voc, announcement); Chris Anderson (p.); Bruce Edwards (eg); John Ore (b); Buster Smith (d, announcement).

 The Village Vanguard, NYC,

 November 14, 1991

Rounder 3124, At the Village Vanguard, was released on CD in 1993.  There is also a German release on Zensor (ZS 135).  The group is really the All-Star Inventions; the "Sun Ra Sextet" designation is misleading.  The first edition of this discography gave the incorrect date of November 13 for this live recording.  Blass says that much of the material recorded by producer John Snyder suffered from poor sonics and wasn't suitable for release.

It is possible, though a good deal less likely, that some of the material on the Rounder CD was recorded on November 17.
from Campbell / Trent The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

This album was also released on CD in Germany in 1999 on the Jazz Door (JD 12125) label.

Sun Ra Sextet at the Village Vanguard (1991)
Rounder CD 3124

1. 'Round Midnight   21:04
2. Sun Ra Blues   16:11
3. Autumn In New York   11:01
4. 'S Wonderful   10:58
5. Theme Of The Stargazers   5:32

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2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Purple Night (1990)

Sun Ra's purple night is not only a great album, it is one of Sun Ra's Best, right up there with Heliocentric worlds, Space is the Place, and A Night in East Berlin. It is composed and it isn't. A track like track 3, Love in Outer Space is done as a straight song, but those harmonic touches only Sun Ra could add make it enchanting. A track like track 2 (Friendly Galaxy), on the other hand, is only based off a single bass line: A2, D2,C2,F2, played over and over as eighths (to give you an idea), and what the "arkestra" does with it, how it increases tension or not, and their self-interaction, it makes it a perfect and classic free jazz track. Everything you could ever want in an avant-garde jazz album, Purple Night is as good as it gets.
Amazon reader review

Friendly Galaxy

The album was the second in a short-term recording deal with major label A&M Records, who had a "Modern Masters Jazz Series" imprint going at the time. Sun Ra's profile had risen considerably in recent years, partially because of the support given to the master in interviews by avant-garde alternative rock band Sonic Youth around that time, who had both named him as an influence and opened shows for Ra and his Arkestra.

The album was recorded in one marathon session at BMG Studios in New York City, using a 22-piece group that included several Arkestra members or veterans, including three drummers and two bass players (one on upright bass and another on electric bass), plus fellow free jazz musician Don Cherry, who contributed his trademark pocket trumpet work. During the session, Cherry sat at the right of Ra and his piano.

Seven tracks were used for the Purple Night album; the remainder of the master multi-track tapes were given to Sun Ra and his manager Alton Abraham for future release on their own after the A&M deal concluded; much of these recordings were released three years later by Rounder Records on the album Somewhere Else, released shortly before Sun Ra's death. Currently the Purple Night album is out of print and the copyright on the original album is still believed to be held by A&M's current owner, Universal Music.
Wikipedia

At its best, Sun Ra's orchestra on this CD uses a simple repetitive riff as a basis for lengthy performances that vary dynamics and build up gradually in intensity. At its worst (the 19-minute "Of Invisible Theme"), the ensemble rambles on aimlessly, almost as if were creating a sound effects record. Unfortunately their versions of "Love in Outer Space" and "Stars Fell On Alabama" are quite silly with the former featuring a "glee club" vocal while the latter displays Ra's lack of a singing voice. Another minus is the sudden mood change during an otherwise lyrical piano-bass duet on "Journey Towards the Stars" caused by a surprise entrance from Marshall Allen's out-of-tune alto. Cornetist Don Cherry (always muted), James Spaulding on flute and alto, John Gilmore on tenor and trombonist Julian Priester get some solo space but most impressive is John Ore's busy and versatile bass playing and Ra's frequently Monk-ish piano. However the minuses easily outweigh the good points on this disc.
AMG Review by Scott Yanow

Mr. Yanow was certainly NOT in tune with the cosmos when he wrote this review, was he?!

639. [421]  Sun Ra

Purple Night /
Somewhere Else

Sun Ra (p, syn, voc); Don Cherry (pocket tp); Fred Adams (tp); Michael Ray (tp, voc); Ahmed Abdullah (tp, voc); Jothan Callins (tp); Al Evans (tp, flg); Tyrone Hill (tb); Julian Priester (tb); James Spaulding (as, fl); Marshall Allen (as, fl, perc); John Gilmore (ts, timb, voc); Reynold Scott (bars, fl); James Jacson (bsn, Inf-d); Rollo Radford (eb); John Ore (b); Earl C. "Buster" Smith (d); Samarai Celestial (d); Thomas "Bugs" Hunter (d); Elson Nascimento (surdo grande, perc); Jorge Silva (repinique, perc); June Tyson (voc, vln).

BMG Studios, NYC, mid-November 1989

A&M 75021 5324, titled Purple Night, was released on CD in 1990.  Rounder 3036 [CD], Somewhere Else, was released in 1993; there is also a German release on Zensor 136 [CD].  All information from the CD liner notes; Thomas Hunter is misrendered "Thomas Henderson" on both, and Callins' name is misspelled Collins.  The Rounder CD consists of outtakes from the two A&M sessions.
from The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.  Campbell / Trent

Purple Night (1990)

1. Journey Towards Stars   3:48
2. Friendly Galaxy   7:48
3. Love In Outer Space   7:18
4. Stars Fell On Alabama   10:33
5. Of Invisible Them   19:14
6. Neverness   13:19
7. Purple Night Blues   4:04

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Related Releases:

Blue Delight

Somewhere Else

2nd Chance: Continuation

Originally released in 1970, Continuation contains a handful of experimental small group tracks recorded at the Sun Studio in 1968 along with two tracks with the full Arkestra recorded live at The East in Brooklyn, New York in 1969.

Side A begins with “Biosphere Blues,” a typically spaced-out blues, taken at a relaxed, almost somnambulant tempo. Interestingly, John Gilmore is probably playing drums on this home recording. After Ra’s piano introduction, Wayne Harris takes a nice solo on trumpet, his tone is warm and mellow, his note choices exquisite. Next up, Ali Hassan takes a single tasteful chorus on trombone. Then, Pat Patrick jumps in with an incongruously aggressive solo on baritone saxophone before giving way to Ra’s jaunty piano. A swelling space chord ends the piece with an odd dissonance. “Intergalaxtic Research” sounds as every bit as alien and forbidding as its title. Robert Barry plays the booming “lightning drum” with James Jacson on log drum and other unidentified percussionists who construct throbbing, asymmetrical cross-rhythms while Art Jenkins does his bit on space voice. Ra twiddles with his space organ and clavinet like a mad scientist, emitting random blasts of noisy timbres, dense, lurching chords, or rapidly spinning constellations of notes. This is a wonderfully strange piece.

The presence of Tommy Hunter and his echo-echo-echo machine on “Earth Primitive Earth” and “New Planet” makes me think these tracks were recorded prior to 1968. In fact, the overall ambience (and massively increased hiss) sounds like some of the Choreographer’s Workshop recordings (but this might just be wishful thinking). Both pieces pit Ra’s echoing piano against a skittering flute choir. On “Earth Primitive Earth,” Hunter plays some kind of metal scraper quite near the microphone, making for an unsettling, spooky atmosphere. “New Planet” takes the echo thing to a whole other level and Robert Cummings turns in another spectacular solo on bass clarinet (I am really starting to appreciate what a great player Cummings is on that most difficult and unwieldy instrument). Incidentally, both of these tracks appeared on the 1989 compilation CD, Out There a Minute (Blast First), although “Earth Primitive Earth” was slightly edited and re-titled “Cosmo Enticement” and “New Planet” was re-titled “Song of Tree and Forest,” presumably at the request of Sun Ra himself.

Side B contains the nearly continuous nineteen-minute live concert segment from 1969, and it’s a corker. “Continuation To” opens with the Arkestra already in full flight over sultry African percussion but Ra soon takes over with a roiling piano solo, full of booming left hand chords and scampering right hand clusters. After bringing things back down a bit, Akh Tal Ebah extemporizes on trumpet while Ra hints at ballad forms and hand percussion gurgles nervously in the background. Suddenly Ra produces a bouncy, repetitive figure and bass and drums join in for some good, old fashioned swinging. Ebah, a newcomer to the band since Sun Ra’s relocation to Philadelphia in the fall of 1968, manages to hold his own amidst the shifting musical landscapes and things really start to heat up when the Arkestra enters with big angular space chords, full of wiry clarinets and blatting trombones. But just as Boykins begins to solo, the track cuts off. “Jupiter Festival” picks up with the end of Boykins’s bass solo and he quickly moves to the fast walking to introduce “Second Stop is Jupiter.” Ra joins in and the Arkestra chants, climaxing with “all out for Jupiter!” A massive space chord erupts which melts into manic group improvisation. Gilmore emerges from the din with a lengthy, super-intense tenor saxophone solo, full of “sheets-of-sound” flurries of notes, heroically over-blown honks and squeals, and impossible multi-register leaps. Sun Ra prods things along with more furious piano, conducting brief entrances and exits of musicians while Gilmore continues to wail. The music finally simmers down a bit with the various horns exhaustedly sighing and moaning but with Boykins agitatedly scraping away with the bow. At one point, there is a tense, held note before the return of the busy piano figures after which screaming clarinets provide contrast against some sweetly melodious alto sax and rippling brass, with Jarvis propulsively pounding away in free rhythm. This deliciously complex texture continues on for some minutes before abruptly cutting off. Argh!

Nevertheless, Continuation is another fascinating album from a fertile, if spottily documented, period in Ra’s career and well worth hearing.

Review from NuVoid, home of Sun Ra Sundays.

Biosphere Blues

149. [132]  Sun Ra and his Astro-Infinity Arkestra

Continuation

Sun Ra (p.); Wayne Harris (tp); Ali Hassan [Al Wardlow] (tb); Pat Patrick (bars); Ronnie Boykins (b); poss. John Gilmore (d).

Sun Studio, NYC, 1968

Biosphere Blues (Ra)

The collective personnel on the Saturn jacket gives Wayne Harris and Akh Tal Ebah as the trumpet players and Ali Hassan as the trombonist (Danny Thompson is not sure who the trumpet player on this track was).  Harris and Hassan were there during the late New York period; Ebah was not.  No bass  player is credited on Saturn, but it sounds like Boykins.


150. [133]  Sun Ra (space org [Gibson Kalamazoo org]; galactone space instrument [Hohner Clavinet]; prob. Robert Barry (lightning drum); James Jacson (log drum, perc); unidentified (perc); Art Jenkins (space voice, perc).

Sun Studio, NYC, 1968

Intergalaxtic Research (Ra)

Personnel from the Saturn jacket, except Art Jenkins, whose presence was pointed out by Jacson.


151. [134]  Sun Ra (p innards, sun harp, gong -1; p -2); Marshall Allen (picc -1; Jupiterian fl -2); Danny Davis (strings -1; fl -2); Robert Cummings (bcl -2); prob. John Gilmore (bells -1); poss. Tommy Hunter (scraper, perc -1; reverb).

Sun Studio, NYC, around 1968

Earth Primitive Earth (Ra) -1
New Planet (Ra) -2

Both tracks also released in 1989 on British LP and CD Blast First BFFP 42, Out There a Minute, and on Restless 71427 [CD] and Torso 33132 [LP].  On these releases, the titles were changed from "Earth Primitive Earth" to "Cosmo Enticement" (this was also edited and is shorter on the Blast First releases than on Saturn) and from "New Planet" to "Song of Tree and Forest" (slightly edited on Blast First).

"Cosmo Enticement" also appeared under that title on David Toop's "ambient" compilation Ocean of Sound, a two-CD set released by Virgin in 1995.  Other tracks on this anthology include an excerpt from Peter Brötzmann's "Machine Gun," along with pieces by Brian Eno, David Toop with John Zorn, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Velvet Underground, My Bloody Valentine, Erik Satie, and others (Peter Gianakopoulos).

Hunter is not credited on the Saturn jacket but his trademark reverb indicates that he was at least engineering the session.  Continuation is normally dated 1968-1969, but on stylistic grounds an earlier date is possible for these tracks.

Jupiter Festival

152. [135]  Sun Ra (p.); Akh Tal Ebah [Doug E. Williams] (tp, mell); poss. Charles Stephens (tb); Marshall Allen (as); Danny Davis (as, acl); John Gilmore (ts, cl); Danny Ray Thompson (as, libf); Pat Patrick (bars, cl); Ronnie Boykins (b); poss. Clifford Jarvis (d); Carl Nimrod [Carl S. Malone] (space drum); James Jacson (log drum); unidentified (perc).

The East, Brooklyn, NY, 1969

Continuation To (Ra)
Jupiter Festival (Ra)

Saturn ESR 520, Continuation, was issued in 1970.  Matrix numbers: ESR37363NP (Side A) and ESR29691 (Side B).  Both tracks were recorded at the same live concert.

The collective personnel from the original Saturn jacket was used as a guide.  Robert Barry is credited with drums, but the drummer sounds more like Clifford Jarvis.  No clarinets are credited; it is possible that Robert Cummings was present on clarinet as well.  Akh Tal Ebah is credited with playing trumpet, and his mellophone can be  heard in the ensembles.  If Ebah (who joined after the move to Philadelphia) is on trumpet, then the trombonist cannot be Ali Hassan as stated on the jacket.  Bass player is also uncredited but sounds like Boykins.  According to Danny Ray Thompson, the Neptunian libflecto was a modified bassoon constructed by Marshall Allen.  It came in two models, one with a saxophone mouthpiece, the other with a French horn mouthpiece.  Thompson has a recollection ("not 100 percent") of performing this piece at The East. 
From Campbell / Trent The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Please enjoy another Saturn rarity LP rip complements of our friend, Paul W.

Continuation (1970)

Side A:
Biosphere Blues   5:07
Intergaxtic Research   8:14
Earth Primitive Earth   3:15
New Planet   3:09
Side B:
Continuation To   8:42
Jupiter Festival   11:08

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Sun Ra - The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Vol 3 (1966 rel. 2005)

This previously unreleased recording is taken from the record session for Heliocentric Worlds Volume II, on November 16, 1965, at the RLA Studios in New York City.  Lost for over 35 ears, it has now been found by the Good Doctor, who brought it to ESP.  Deterioration of a portion of the tape required the deletion of about one minute of music, but you won't notice it. 
During this period, Sun Ra joined other ESP artists on a six concert tour of New york State colleges.  Sun Ra kept all of the tapes, except for NOTHING IS, ESP 1045, which he delivered to ESP.
From the CD Liner Notes

Volume 3, subtitled “The Lost Tapes” offers material not previously available in any of ESP-Disk’s earlier incarnations. The centerpiece is a seventeen-minute episodic adventure that cycles through solo segments for Gilmore, Patrick and Allen, each in intense and exemplary form backed only by Ra, Boykins and Blank in various combinations. Eruptions of layered horn polyphony bracket the fulminating improvisations. Mid-piece the energy folds into a splenetic two-fisted improvisation from Ra as the horns circle in for a final rocket-fueled blowout and reverie-structured coda. The remaining four tracks form a microcosm of interests. The moody percussion thicket of “Mythology Metamorphosis,” serves as a return vehicle for Ra’s tuned bongos and marimba. Allen’s nasalized oboe and a strong pizzicato undercarriage by Boykins flesh the piece further. “Heliocentric Worlds” and “World Worlds” arrive like outtakes from an earlier 60s Arkestra album (say Fate in a Pleasant Mood or The Nubians of Plutonia) with structured themes and solos threaded by the horns and the Ra’s bright acoustic and electric chords between washes of cymbal-heavy percussion. “Interplanetary Travelers” employs Ra’s various keyboards as the cynosure of a grand, if brief, saturnalia of dissonant horn voicings and thickly boiling interplay. 

via Dusted Reviews

The recording opens with a sparse "Intercosmosis, where John Gilmore shapes his boat-horn of a tenor around around some abstraction. Sun Ra and bassist Ronnie Boykins enter with a repeated line that further highlights the energy. Pat Patrick's baritone enters, and he and Gilmore twist solos around each other.

The percussion-laden "Mythology Metamorphosis features a brief bit of Marshall Allen's snake-charming alto before Boykins' solo takes it home. The three remaining pieces, each clocking in around five minutes, hint at Ra's elusive live performances. "Heliocentric Worlds has him switching from piano to one of his early electric keyboards, as does "World Worlds, where he does an alternating hands electric/acoustic combination. The final "Interplanetary Travelers" has an all-too-brief Sun Ra energy jam.
By MARK CORROTO,
Published: May 21, 2005
All About Jazz

119. [106]  Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra

Sun Ra (Clavioline, p, tuned bgos); Walter Miller (tp); Marshall Allen (as, fl, picc); John Gilmore (ts); Pat Patrick (bars, fl); Robert Cummings (bcl); Ronnie Boykins (b); Roger Blank (d, perc).

RLA Sound Studios, NYC,
November 16, 1965

The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Volume 3 - The Lost Tapes
Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra

1. Intercosmosis   17:03
2. Mythology Metamorphosis   4:15
3. Heliocentric Worlds   4:16
4. World Worlds   5:07
5. Interplanetary Travelers   5:06

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In 2010 ESP Disk' reissued all three Heliocentric Worlds volumes in a single 3-CD package.  The reissue includes several photos, critical writings, and the 1968 documentary "Spaceways."

Heliocentric Bonus Material

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Heliocentric Worlds Vol 1
Heliocentric Worlds Vol 2

2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Somewhere Else (1989)

Four different groups led by Sun Ra are featured on this intriguing if generally ragged set. Although Ra's usual band members of the period appear on most of the cuts (including singer June Tyson, trumpeter Michael Ray, altoist Marshall Allen and tenor saxophonist John Gilmore), this CD also has many musicians one would not expect in this setting during 1988-89: drummer Billy Higgins, trombonist Julian Priester, Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, altoist James Spaulding and (briefly out of retirement) trumpeter Tommy Turrentine. The ensembles perform some typically eccentric Ra compositions, including "Stardust for Tomorrow," "Love In Outer Space" and "Hole In the Sky," in bands ranging from four (the unusual quartet of Cherry, Spaulding, Ra and singer Tyson) to 22 pieces. Due to the variety and very interesting personnel, plus many examples of the keyboardist/leader stretching himself, this somewhat obscure effort is easily recommended to Sun Ra collectors. 

AMG Review by Scott Yanow

This CD is or should be significant to Sun Ra listeners. It constitutes one of Sun Ra's last studio sessions prior to his first in a series of strokes which ended his earthly life on May 30, 1993.  While one can quibble with such fancifully detached notions as whether this represents the best value for the money, the true worth of the album resides in several other non-material dimensions.  For example, the arrangement of "Somewhere Else" played here is very different in feeling and tone than that offered on the album My Brother the Wind, Vol. II. 

Apart from this, the tone, touch, and strength that Sun Ra displays in his piano playing, illustrates why he must be considered among the very greatest innovators, composers and arrangers ever produced by the music. His versatility and accessibility in a number of different "idioms" of so called Jazz is completely unparalleled by anyone in Jazz history including the Titans like Ellington, Henderson, Monk, Mingus, Coltrane, and others.

The real Treasure of this release however is "A Hole in the Sky". Don Cherry (Pocket Trumpet), Marshall Allen (Alto), Pat Patrick (Alto) [incorrect, see below] complemented and spurred by Sun Ra's energy and drive on synthesizer really paint a vivid picture of the range of new energies and new possibilities that might positively and supra-energetically flow into our lives if a figurative "Hole in the Sky" were opened. By the way listen carefully to the propulsively energetic ensemble drumming (Bugs Hunter, Luqman Ali, Lex Humphries or Samarai Walker) in this composition, it is among the very best you are likely to hear for quite a while.

Another sleeper here is "Everything is Space". This tune was previously released on a limited addition printed by the band during the mid-seventies. As with Somewhere Else it represents a very different treatment than the initial release.

On a bottom line basis, this CD not only contains histroical and artistic treasures, but also illustrates the fact that Sun Ra NEVER did a composition the same way twice. Among his many other musical virtues this characteristic places him in a class by himself. 

Amazon review by "Astro-Black" 

Somewhere Else Parts 1 and 2

597. [398] Sun Ra

Blue Delight /
Somewhere Else

Sun Ra (p, syn); Fred Adams (tp); Tommy Turrentine (tp); Ahmed Abdullah (tp); Al Evans (flg, Fr hn); Tyrone Hill (tb); Julian Priester (tb); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, cl in A); Noël Scott (as, perc); John Gilmore (ts, cl, timb); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, fl, bgo); Eloe Omoe (bcl, as, cacl, perc); James Jacson (bsn, fl, Inf-d); Bruce Edwards (eg); Carl LeBlanc (eg - all solos); John Ore (b); Billy Higgins (d); Earl "Buster" Smith (d); Elson Nascimento (surdo grande, perc); Jaribu Shahid [Ben Henderson] (voc -1); Tani Tabbal (voc -1).

Variety Recording Studios, NYC, December 5, 1988

Love in Outer Space (Ra)
Everything is Space (Ra) -1

598. [399] Sun Ra

Somewhere Else

Julian Priester (tb -1); Sun Ra (p, syn); John Ore (b); Jaribu Shahid [Ben Henderson] (b); Billy Higgins (d); Earl "Buster" Smith (d). 

same session

Priest (Ra) -1
Tristar (Ra)

639. [421] Sun Ra

Purple Night /
Somewhere Else

Sun Ra (p, syn, voc); Don Cherry (pocket tp); Fred Adams (tp); Michael Ray (tp, voc); Ahmed Abdullah (tp, voc); Jothan Callins (tp); Al Evans (tp, flg); Tyrone Hill (tb); Julian Priester (tb); James Spaulding (as, fl); Marshall Allen (as, fl, perc); John Gilmore (ts, timb, voc); Reynold Scott (bars, fl); James Jacson (bsn, Inf-d); Rollo Radford (eb); John Ore (b); Earl C. "Buster" Smith (d); Samarai Celestial (d); Thomas "Bugs" Hunter (d); Elson Nascimento (surdo grande, perc); Jorge Silva (repinique, perc); June Tyson (voc, vln).

BMG Studios, NYC, mid-November 1989

Discipline/Tall Trees in the Sun (Ra)
'SWonderful (Gershwin)
Hole in the Sky (Ra)
Somewhere Else Part 1 (Ra)
Somewhere Else Part 2 (Ra)
Stardust from Tomorrow (Ra) [JT voc]

from The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

S o m e w h e r e   E l s e

1.    Priest                    4:07
 2.    Discipline / Tall Trees In The Sun    8:29
 3.    'S Wonderful                5:36
 4.    Hole In The Sky                7:34
 5.    Somewhere Else, Part 1            8:42
 6.    Somewhere Else, Part 2            2:41
 7.    Stardust For Tomorrow            4:59
 8.    Love In Outer Space            12:04
 9.    Everything Is Space            4:00
10.    Tristar                    3:33

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Purple Night
Blue Delight (2nd Chance)

2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Blue Delight (1989)

Blue Delight is a great late-period Arkestra recording, notable for several reasons: 1. This is a very large, impeccably recorded Arkestra featuring special guests Tommy Turrentine and Don Cherry* AND a number of Arkestra alumni returning for the date. 2. Although synthesizers are present, the majority of Ra's solos are on piano. 3. John Gilmore solos on nearly every cut. 4. The band swings mightily from start to finish. Blue Delight also features a program of a handful of standards mixed with Ra originals that don't head too far into outer space. Although this recording is out of print, it is well-worth seeking out.
AMG Review by Sean Westergaard

*There is no reference to Don Cherry playing on this release in either the CD liner notes or in Campbell / Trent.

 
Sunrise

597. [398] Sun Ra

Blue Delight / Somewhere Else

Sun Ra (p, syn); Fred Adams (tp); Tommy Turrentine (tp); Ahmed Abdullah (tp); Al Evans (flg, Fr hn); Tyrone Hill (tb); Julian Priester (tb); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, cl in A); Noël Scott (as, perc); John Gilmore (ts, cl, timb); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, fl, bgo); Eloe Omoe (bcl, as, cacl, perc); James Jacson (bsn, fl, Inf-d); Bruce Edwards (eg); Carl LeBlanc (eg - all solos); John Ore (b); Billy Higgins (d); Earl "Buster" Smith (d); Elson Nascimento (surdo grande, perc).

Variety Recording Studios, NYC, December 5, 1988

Blue Delight (1989)

1. Blue Delight   11:13
2. Out Of Nowhere   5:29
3. Sunrise   11:51
4. They Dwell On Other Planes   14:45
5. Gone With The Wind   5:53
6. Your Guest Is As Good As Mine   5:56
7. Nashira   4:11
8. Days Of Wine And Roses   6:58

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Purple Night

Somewhere Else

Sun Ra - The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Vol 1 (1965)

HELIOCENTRIC WORLDS VOL. 1 charts a period in the Sun Ra Arkestra's development (the mid-1960s) when Sun Ra was experimenting with orchestral improvisation, conducting sections of his ensemble both into and away from an expressionistic whole. Here Ra's music is completely stripped of its swing and bop roots, and even of the solid rhythmic principles that defined it in the early '60s. Working instead with atonality, silence, delicate ambient passages, and bold swaths of noise, Ra builds an increasingly abstract and wholly unprecedented sound here.

There are seven compositions on HELIOCENTRIC WORLDS VOL. 1, and each is characterized by Sun Ra's feel for contrasts. Low-end instruments (tympani, bass, baritone sax and other low-end horns, and bass marimba) bounce off high-end instruments (trumpets and saxophone) in a sometimes-delicate, sometimes-violent teeter-totter. Pieces like the "The Cosmos," though full of jittery, frantic passages, are restrained by a soft dynamic (a feeling heightened by the presence of electronic celeste--played by Ra)... the music on HELIOCENTRIC WORLDS is challenging, beautiful, and totally engaging.

from Oldiesdotcom

The album is a notable example of the radical break which Sun Ra's music of that time had made with "previous notions of melody or harmony". Although heavily percussive, the music also dispenses with a continuous beat; instead Ra's music is reconstructed around "interweaving compositional and improvisatory creative principles with programmatic affects". 

The album was originally released as The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, with a B/W sleeve designed by Ra himself. This was replaced with a new orange and red sleeve by Howard Bernstein & Baby Jerry - showing Sun Ra with the third eye - and the appendage Vol. 1 added when The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two was released in 1966.

Gene Tyranny describes the album in his review as "The astonishing sessions that went light years beyond "free jazz" improvisation to create a music of deeply felt explosive and gentle gesture made from sound itself without reference to previous notions of melody or harmony."

Marshall Allen described the recording of the album in John F Szwed's biography of Ra, Space Is The Place:

    "Sun Ra would go to the studio and he would play something, the bass would come in, and if he didn't like it he'd stop it; and he'd give the drummer a particular rhythm, tell the bass he wanted not a "boom boom boom," but something else, and then he'd begin to try out the horns, we're all standing there wondering what's next...

    "I just picked up the piccolo and worked with what was going on, what mood they set, or what feeling they had. A lot of things we'd be rehearsing and we did the wrong things and Sun Ra stopped the arrangement and changed it. Or he would change the person who was playing the particular solo, so that changes the arrangement. So the one that was soloing would get another part given to him personally. 'Cos he knew people. He could understand what you could do better so he would fit that with what he would tell you."

From Wikipedia

These seven sides became the first of what many free and avant-garde jazz enthusiasts had heard from Ra. At the heart of his post-bop performances is the flexibility of the support from the Arkestra, whose percussive talents were equal only to their unquestionable abilities on other respective instruments. The probing nature of longer selections such as "Outer Nothingness" and "The Cosmos" contrasts "Of Heavenly Things," providing Ra a chance to steer the combo's intrepid excursions from the all-too-rare perspective of a percussionist. His tympani leads motivate the cut, which is also highlighted by Ronnie Boykins (bass) and John Gilmore (tenor sax). All the more impressive is the consistent level of improvisational skills that each member brings to the ensemble. Jimmy Johnson's (drums) timekeeping ranges from appropriately propulsive and bombastic to a spurious foil for Ra's seemingly maniacal prodding. Indeed, this material solidifies the progression that the bandleader had made from his former tuneful, yet ever intricate big-band type of arrangements.

From the AMG Review by  Lindsay Planer

114. [101]  Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra

The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Volume 1

Sun Ra (bass marimba -1, 2, 5; e-celeste -3, 4, 6; tymp -2); Chris Capers (tp -3, 4); Teddy Nance (tb -1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6); Bernard Pettaway (btb -1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6); Marshall Allen (picc -1, 3, 5; as -2, 3, 6; bells -1, 5; spiral cymbal -4); Danny Davis (fl -2, 3; as in ens -3, 4, 6); John Gilmore (ts -2, 3, 4, 6; tymp -1, 5); Pat Patrick (perc; bars -3); Robert Cummings (bcl -1, 2; wood blocks -5); Ronnie Boykins (b); Jimmy Johnson (d -1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; perc -2; tymp -4).

RLA Studio, NYC, April 20, 1965

Heliocentric (Ra) -1
Outer Nothingness (Ra) -2
Other Worlds (Ra) -3
The Cosmos (Ra) -4
Of Heavenly Things (Ra) -5
Nebulae (Ra) [p, e-celeste only]
Dancing in the Sun (Ra) -6

These tracks were first issued in 1965 on ESP-Disk' 1014, The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra volume 1, in mono and stereo editions.  The original cover was a black-and-white drawing by Sun Ra; most reissues have used a purple-and-yellow drawing of Sun Ra instead.  There was an 8-track tape issue by ESP in the 1970s (thanks to Henry Weld for this information).  Reissues: Fontana STL 5514 in the 1970s, Japanese Phonogram BT-5055, Japanese ESP SMF-7455, and Japanese ESP TKCZ-79107 [CD], Base ESPS-1014 [German CD, 1992].  Bootlegs: ESP Explosive 538.110 from France (c. 1970; different cover art from the ESP releases); Happy Bird B 90131, German bootleg issued in 1983 under the title Other Worlds; German Tobacco Road 111 and Magic Music 30011 [CD, 1990] under the title Cosmic Equation.  Thanks to Hartmut Geerken, Marco Melaragni, and Tom Lord, as well as Tilman Stahl's discography, for guidance through the thicket of secondary releases.

An allegedly 180-gram LP reissue of Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 1 appeared on an italian bootleg, Get Back GET 1004.

Jimmy Johnson's first name spelled "Jimhmi" on all releases.

A 4:39 excerpt of "Outer Nothingness" appeared on the CD accompanying Barry Kernfeld's book What to Listen for in Jazz (Yale University Press, 1995).  The CD number is Yale University Press DIDX 024157.

The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Volume 1

(LP Rip)

1. A1 Heliocentric   4:21 

2. A2 Outer Nothingness   7:37
3. A3 Other Worlds   4:35

4. B1 The Cosmos   7:30
5. B2 Of Heavenly Things   5:46
6. B3 Nebulae   3:21
7. B4 Dancing in the Sun   1:59

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The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Volume 1

(CD Rip)

1. Heliocentric   4:19
2. Outer Nothingness   7:40
3. Other Worlds   4:37
4. The Cosmos   7:32
5. Of Heavenly Things   5:46
6. Nebulae   3:21
7. Dancing In The Sun   1:56

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In 2010 ESP Disk' reissued all three Heliocentric Worlds volumes in a single 3-CD package.  The reissue includes several photos, critical writings, and the 1968 documentary "Spaceways."

Heliocentric Bonus Material

RS

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Heliocentric Worlds (Vol 2)

Many Thanks to I-) for scouring the web and sharing the following images!