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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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

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

Sun Ra - It's After The End Of The World (1970)

 
Recorded live at the Donaueschingen Music and Berlin Festivals in 1970, this gem ideally captures Sun Ra and His Intergalactic (Research) Arkestra at its most otherworldly self. Individual and collective sounds reach for ears at times beyond human comprehension. The 21-member Arkestra is anchored by its leader captaining keyboards of various frequencies of inter-planetary communication and fresh audible sensations—from his Farfisa organ, “roc-si-chord,” “spacemaster,” Mini- Moog synthesizer, Hohner clavinet and electra, to acoustic piano. Soundscapes vary from Twilight Zone-ish scores (the Moog-heavy “Out in Space”) to African ritualistic percussive escapades (“Watusi”).

Ceremoniously opening with June Tyson’s heavily breathed words spoken as if serenaded from a tropical bird—“dream,” “blackness,” and lastly “a world” swirl into the rumbling and gathering of percussion, brass, and reeds. Flutes, oboe, and a modified bassoon (with a French horn mouthpiece!) performed by Leroy Taylor (aka Elo Omoe) create a modern classical orchestral atmosphere before the swinging beats of drums and trumpet-like scorching alto sax lines carry the momentum elsewhere.

A bass-driven piano introduces dozens of different meters performed on drums and percussion instruments of all shapes and sizes over the Egyptian march of “Watusi.” A near twenty-minute suite culminates in the closing “Duos,” featuring the avant alto sax vocabulary of Marshall Allen and Danny Davis followed by the burly baritone dialogue of Pat Patrick and Danny Thompson. One of the singular and unfortunate drawbacks are several abridged versions either subtly fading into segments or, as with “Duos,” more abruptly. Nonetheless, such a recording as this offers the next best thing to but a sampling of what it must have been like to experience the path that Ra offered his listeners in a live concert, perhaps the most uninhibited platform for his musical message.
from All About Jazz

172. [153]  Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Research Arkestra

It's After the End of the World / Black Myth / Out in Space

Sun Ra (Farfisa org, Hohner Clavinet, p, Rocksichord, Spacemaster org, Mini-Moog syn, Hohner Electra, voc); Kwame Hadi [Lamont F. McClamb] (tp, perc); Akh Tal Ebah [Douglas E. Williams] (tp, sp-mell); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, picc, perc); Danny Davis (as, fl, acl, perc); John Gilmore (ts, perc, voc); Absholom Ben Shlomo [Virgil C. Pumphrey] (as, cl, fl); Danny Ray Thompson (as, bars, libf, fl, perc); Pat Patrick (bars, ts, as, cl, bcl, fl, eb, perc); Augustus Browning Jr. [Al Batin Nur] (Eng hn); Alan Silva (vln, vla, clo, b); Alejandro Blake Fearon [Alex Blake] (b); Lex Humphries (d); James Jacson (large drum, perc, ob, fl); Nimrod Hunt (hand drums); Roger Aralamon Hazoumé (dance, fire eating, balafon, African perc); Math Samba (dance, perc); Gloristeena Knight [Ife Tayo] (dance, perc); June Tyson (voc, dance); Richard Wilkinson (light show). 

Stadhalle, Donaueschingen,
West Germany,
October 17, 1970

Black Forest Myth (Ra) /
Friendly Galaxy No. 2 (Ra)
Journey Through the Outer Darkness [Duos] (Ra)
Strange Worlds (Ra) [JT, SR voc]
Black Myth (Ra) [JT voc]
It's After the End of the World (Ra) [JT voc]
I'll Wait for You (Ra) [SR, JT, ens voc]

This performance was part of the Donaueschingen Tage für Neue Musik.  The concert reportedly lasted three hours; 47 minutes were broadcast over the SWF radio network in West Germany, and only these items survive.  Some tracks then appeared in 1971 on German MPS 2120748, It's After the End of the World.  This LP was also issued on MPS CRM 748, CTM 748, 654482, and in the United States on MPS BASF 21589.  Excerpts also on the second album of Monkey MY 40014.

In September 1998 all surviving material was released on the first CD of a two-CD set on Motor Music 557 656, under the title Black Myth / Out in Space.  "Black Forest Myth" and "Friendly Galaxy No. 2" are separately titled on Motor Music, instead of being conflated into one title as they were on the MPS LP.

What Hartumut Geerken (in the Motor Music notes) calls "Journey Through the Outer Darkness" was edited down to the opening five minutes (duos by Allen and Davis and by Patrick and Thompson) for the MPS release; the excerpt was titled "Duos."

What is called "Strange Worlds" on the Motor Music CD is divided into two tracks called "Strange Dreams" and "Strange Worlds" on the MPS LP.  Around 30 seconds of dialogue were edited out of the MPS issues.

Personnel from the MPS album jacket, supplemented by Victor Schonfield's program book for the London concert on the same tour.  The Neptunian libflecto is referred to in the semi-English-language MPS album notes as a "fagot" (German for bassoon), and Danny Thompson is not credited with playing it; instead, Eloe Omoe is credited with playing oboe and bassoon.  Omoe can be seen playing the libflecto Cent And du Jazz.  It appears that both he and Thompson played the libflecto on this tour.  (Thompson's baritone sax was not mentioned by MPS despite his participation in the second of the two "Duos.")  Thanks to Julian Vein and Hartmut Geerken for information about the radio broadcast.



174. [154]  Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Research Arkestra

It's After the End of the World /
Black Myth / Out in Space

same personnel.

Kongresshalle, West Berlin,
West Germany, November 7, 1970

Out in Space (Ra) [JT voc]
Discipline Series (Ra)
Walkin' on the Moon (Ra) [JT voc]
Outer Space Where I Came From (Ra) [SR recitation]
Watusa [Watusi, Egyptian March] (Pitts-Sherrill; arr. Ra)
Myth vs. Reality (Ra) [SR, JT voc]
Theme of the Stargazers (Ra) [JG, JT voc]
Space Chant Medley:
Second Stop is Jupiter (Ra) /
Why Go to the Moon? (Ra) [JT, ens voc]
We Travel the Spaceways (Ra) [ens voc]

The Arkestra's appearance was part of the Berlin Jazz Festival, and a radio broadcast was done at the time.  Some tracks were subsequently issued in 1971 on German MPS 2120748, It's After the End of the World -- which also appeared (depending on the country) as MPS CRM 748, MPS CTM 748, MPA 654482, and (in the United States) on MPS BASF 21589.

All that remains from the concert (nearly 80 minutes out of two hours) was issued in September 1998 on the second CD of Motor Music 557 656, a two-CD set titled Black Myth / Out in Space.  (See the notes from the Motor Music set by Hartmut Geerken.)

Despite its resemblance to slow, somber, through-composed numbers like "Discipline 15," the unidentified Ra composition from this concert cannot actually be from the Discipline series; according to James Jacson and Tommy  Hunter, Ra didn't start writing the Discipline pieces until early 1971.

Editing on the German radio broadcast, and even more elaborate editing on the MPS issue, makes comparisons with the Motor Music release tougher than they should be.  ("Watusi, Egyptian March" was included on the MPS LP and the Motor Music CD, but not used on the broadcast.)

Part of "Out in Space" was broadcast on German radio, about 25 minutes in all; the uncut Motor Music CD edition runs to 37:45.  The broadcast version omits everything before June Tyson's vocal and edits out various sections of Omoe's solo, some ensembles, and the closing piano improvisation.  To confuse matters, excerpts from "Out in Space" were incorporated in the MPS LP version of "Myth vs. Reality."

The MPS LP includes three items bundled together into a suite: "The Myth Science Approach: Myth vs. Reality / Angelic Proclamation / Out in Space."  The entire LP tracks lasts 18:22.  It consists of an edited first section of the Motor Music CD version of "Myth vs. Reality," with about 14 minutes of the middle section of "Out in Space" spliced onto the end of it!  The Motor Music CD contains the most complete, unedited "Myth vs. Reality," lasting 14:33.

Geerken lists each planet mentioned in "Why Go to the Moon?" as though it were the topic of a separate chant (then "Saturn" is mistakenly equated with the 1956 composition!).  But "Why Go to the Moon?" normally mentioned all of these other planets, concluding with "Why not go to Pluto, too?"  So the superfluous titles that appear in the notes to the Motor Music release are omitted here.

At this time, James Jacson was playing a single-headed drum made from an Indian double-headed drum shell.  The Motor Music notes incorrectly identify this as the "Lightning drum" (in its full nominal splendor, the Ancient Egyptian Infinity Lightning with Thunder Drum), which Jacson would not build for another few months.

from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Research Arkestra

It's After The End Of The World - Live at The Donaueschingen and Berlin Festivals

MPS BASF Stereo 20748 (1972)
Universe UV 070 (2003 reissue)

1. Strange Dreams / Strange Worlds / Black Myth / It's After The End Of The World   14:29
2. Black Forest Myth   9:15
3. Watusi, egyptian march   2:41
4. Myth Versus Reality (The Myth-Science Approach) / Angelic Proclamation / Out in Space   18:07
5. Duos   4:35

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If you are interested in the expanded release Black Myth /Out in Space,  check the comments in this 2011 post for new links. I would also encourage you to read the insightful reviews of Black Myth and Out in Space on the always fantastic Sun Ra Sundays.

2nd Chance: Sun Ra - The Invisible Shield (1974)

Most of The Invisible Shield was reissued on the 1201Music label and divided between the CDs Janus and Standards.  Two tracks, however, "State Street" and "Time After Time 1" were not reissued and are only found on this 1974 LP.

Saturn LP 529, The Invisible Shield, was first issued in 1974.  At various times, it has also been titled A Tonal View of Times Tomorrow volume 2, Janus, and Satellites are Outerspace... (the last is a Saturn re-pressing from Blast First, available in 1989 and 1990).  The band was identified as "Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Research Arkestra."  There are many hybrid pressings in which this Side A replaces the original Side B of Saturn 539, What's New?

97. [84]  Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Research Arkestra

The Invisible Shield

Sun Ra (p.); Walter Miller (tp); Al Evans (flg); Ali Hassan (tb); Marshall Allen (as, fl); John Gilmore (ts); Pat Patrick (bars); Michael White (vln); Ronnie Boykins (b); Clifford Jarvis (d).

Choreographers Workshop,
NYC, late 1962

State Street (Ra)

This track appeared on Side A (matrix 144000A, 14400A on some labels) which has also appeared as side B on most copies of What's New?  The violinist has been mistakenly identified as Stuff Smith; Richard Wilkinson says Michael White.  Al Evans identified on then label as soloist; Boykins, Miller, and Jarvis also mentioned on the label.  Date given by Saturn merely as "'60s."

102. [89]  Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra

The Invisible Shield

Sun Ra (p.); Walter Miller (tp); John Gilmore (ts); Ronnie Boykins (b); Clifford Jarvis (d).

Time after Time 1 (Cahn-Styne)
Time after Time 2 (cahn-Styne) [no ts]
Easy to Love (Porter)
Sunnyside Up (DeSylva-Brown)

According to [Julian] Vein, a batch of tracks including "Sometimes I'm Happy" (from another session) and "Time after Time" through "But Not for Me" were sold to Black Lion in 1971 but not issued at that time.


102a. Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra

Sun Ra (p.); John Gilmore (ts); Ronnie Boykins (b); Lex Humphries (d).

Choreographers Workshop, NYC,
late 1962 or early 1963

Sometimes I'm Happy (Caesar-Youmans)

Careful listening to this track indicates that the drummer is not Clifford Jarvis as previously thought (Jarvis had a heavy and characteristic emphasis on the bass drum at this point in his career, and it is absent on this track).  The drummer appears to be Lex Humphries…

Invisible Shield - Side B

165. [147]  Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Research Arkestra

The Invisible Shield

Sun Ra (p.); Marshall Allen (fl); Danny Davis (acl); prob. Ronnie Boykins (b); John Gilmore (perc); poss. Pat Patrick (perc).

Variety Recording Studio, NYC,
1968-1970

Island in the Sun (Ra)

The date for this session is not firm.  The Saturn jacket merely says "1970s" and gives Philadelphia as the location.  The instrumentation is also compatible with a 1968-1969 date.  This composition is also known as "Islands in Space," and has been recorded under that name by Michael Ray and the Cosmic Krewe.

166. [148]  Sun Ra (org, Mini-Moog, syn); Marshall Allen (as); poss. Danny Davis (as); Danny Ray Thompson (libf); prob. Clifford Jarvis (d).

Live recording, 1970

The Invisible Shield (Ra)

This one can be more confidently dated because of the synthesizer.

167. [149]  Sun Ra (Clavinet or gong -- intro only; dir); John Gilmore (ts, bells); Danny Davis (as, perc); Marshall Allen (picc, perc); poss. Robert Cummings (bcl, perc); Ronnie Boykins (b); Art Jenkins (voc, space voice); Tommy Hunter (perc, reverb); prob. Pat Patrick (bgo, perc).

Choreographers Workshop, NYC, 1963/
Sun Studios, NYC, 1967-1968

Janus (Ra)

1970 was given as the date for all three tracks by Tilman Stahl (and it is listed on the labels of some copies of The Invisible Shield.  We have recently obtained indisputable evidence that "Janus" was done earlier.

In fact, careful listening to the CD remastering of "Janus" indicates two recordings from different dates that were spliced together by Ra later on.  The 35 seconds of loud low banging sounds that open the piece were produced by Ra on his Hohner Clavinet or perhaps on a gong (with deliberately distorted recording); the recording location was the Sun Studios, New York City, and the probable date 1967-1968.  The main body of "Janus" (over 6 minutes of music) were recorded in Sunny's psychedelic year, 1963.

"Island in the Sun," "The Invisible Shield," and "Janus" were sold to Alan Bates of Black Lion in December 1971, along with two tracks, "Velvet" and "Joy," which stem from an early 1968 concert.  Black Lion never released them (Julian Vein).  They were first issued (without "Velvet" and "Joy") as  Side B of the LP The Invisible Shield, Saturn LP 529 or 144000/144000B, which was initially released in 1974 (some labels misrender the matrix number as 14400.  Urs Berger's copy has yellow Philadelphia labels on both sides (with a 1973 date) and was sold in white porthole sleeves, but many other varieties exist.

These tracks also appear on a hybrid Invisible Shield on which Side A is replaced by 14200B from Space Probe.

Still another hybrid Invisible Shield carries 144000B as Side A and 143000B (from Outer Spaceways Incorporated) as Side B.  Urs Berger's copy has bluish labels from Philadelphia (with a 1973 release date) on both sides and was sold in a plain white porthole sleeve.  This hybrid was sold at concerts in Britain in 1990 and 1991; copies had a blue-purple Chicago-style El Saturn label and a plain white sleeve.

The complete package that was sold to Alan Bates was finally brought together in October 1999 as Janus, 1201 Music CD 90122.
from The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Remarks that Art Jenkins made when "Janus" was played over radio station WKCR-FM, New York City, on April 17, 1987 - Sun Ra had challenged Jenkins to "sing about Africa." Among other things Jenkins said, "So after several rehearsals, we were ready... This time, my spirit took me back to Africa. And it was like in a dreamworld sense, but I was back in an African village, with African musicians, singers, and dancers. It was like, 'It's your time to sing.' One singer moves to the next singer, and so forth, just like the (universal) voice moves."

The Invisible Shield

1. State Street   3:45
2. Sometimes I'm Happy   6:42
3. Time after Time 1   2:18
4. Time after Time 2   3:30
5. Easy to Love   3:27
6. Sunnyside Up   3:36

7. Island in the Sun   5:41
8. The Invisible Shield   5:37
9. Janus   7:09

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Many Thanks to Marc E of Philly for his LP rip and to I-) for his patience & clean-up capabilities!

 

Sun Ra - The Invisible Shield (1974)

Most of The Invisible Shield was reissued on the 1201Music label and divided between the CDs Janus and Standards.  Two tracks, however, "State Street" and "Time After Time 1" were not reissued and are only found on this 1974 LP.

Saturn LP 529, The Invisible Shield, was first issued in 1974.  At various times, it has also been titled A Tonal View of Times Tomorrow volume 2, Janus, and Satellites are Outerspace... (the last is a Saturn re-pressing from Blast First, available in 1989 and 1990).  The band was identified as "Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Research Arkestra."  There are many hybrid pressings in which this Side A replaces the original Side B of Saturn 539, What's New?

97. [84]  Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Research Arkestra

The Invisible Shield

Sun Ra (p.); Walter Miller (tp); Al Evans (flg); Ali Hassan (tb); Marshall Allen (as, fl); John Gilmore (ts); Pat Patrick (bars); Michael White (vln); Ronnie Boykins (b); Clifford Jarvis (d).

Choreographers Workshop,
NYC, late 1962

State Street (Ra)

This track appeared on Side A (matrix 144000A, 14400A on some labels) which has also appeared as side B on most copies of What's New?  The violinist has been mistakenly identified as Stuff Smith; Richard Wilkinson says Michael White.  Al Evans identified on then label as soloist; Boykins, Miller, and Jarvis also mentioned on the label.  Date given by Saturn merely as "'60s."

102. [89]  Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra

The Invisible Shield

Sun Ra (p.); Walter Miller (tp); John Gilmore (ts); Ronnie Boykins (b); Clifford Jarvis (d).

Time after Time 1 (Cahn-Styne)
Time after Time 2 (cahn-Styne) [no ts]
Easy to Love (Porter)
Sunnyside Up (DeSylva-Brown)

According to [Julian] Vein, a batch of tracks including "Sometimes I'm Happy" (from another session) and "Time after Time" through "But Not for Me" were sold to Black Lion in 1971 but not issued at that time.


102a. Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra

Sun Ra (p.); John Gilmore (ts); Ronnie Boykins (b); Lex Humphries (d).

Choreographers Workshop, NYC,
late 1962 or early 1963

Sometimes I'm Happy (Caesar-Youmans)

Careful listening to this track indicates that the drummer is not Clifford Jarvis as previously thought (Jarvis had a heavy and characteristic emphasis on the bass drum at this point in his career, and it is absent on this track).  The drummer appears to be Lex Humphries…

165. [147]  Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Research Arkestra

The Invisible Shield

Sun Ra (p.); Marshall Allen (fl); Danny Davis (acl); prob. Ronnie Boykins (b); John Gilmore (perc); poss. Pat Patrick (perc).

Variety Recording Studio, NYC,
1968-1970

Island in the Sun (Ra)

The date for this session is not firm.  The Saturn jacket merely says "1970s" and gives Philadelphia as the location.  The instrumentation is also compatible with a 1968-1969 date.  This composition is also known as "Islands in Space," and has been recorded under that name by Michael Ray and the Cosmic Krewe.

166. [148]  Sun Ra (org, Mini-Moog, syn); Marshall Allen (as); poss. Danny Davis (as); Danny Ray Thompson (libf); prob. Clifford Jarvis (d).
Live recording, 1970

The Invisible Shield (Ra)

This one can be more confidently dated because of the synthesizer.

167. [149]  Sun Ra (Clavinet or gong -- intro only; dir); John Gilmore (ts, bells); Danny Davis (as, perc); Marshall Allen (picc, perc); poss. Robert Cummings (bcl, perc); Ronnie Boykins (b); Art Jenkins (voc, space voice); Tommy Hunter (perc, reverb); prob. Pat Patrick (bgo, perc).

Choreographers Workshop, NYC, 1963/
Sun Studios, NYC, 1967-1968

Janus (Ra)

1970 was given as the date for all three tracks by Tilman Stahl (and it is listed on the labels of some copies of The Invisible Shield.  We have recently obtained indisputable evidence that "Janus" was done earlier.

In fact, careful listening to the CD remastering of "Janus" indicates two recordings from different dates that were spliced together by Ra later on.  The 35 seconds of loud low banging sounds that open the piece were produced by Ra on his Hohner Clavinet or perhaps on a gong (with deliberately distorted recording); the recording location was the Sun Studios, New York City, and the probable date 1967-1968.  The main body of "Janus" (over 6 minutes of music) were recorded in Sunny's psychedelic year, 1963.

"Island in the Sun," "The Invisible Shield," and "Janus" were sold to Alan Bates of Black Lion in December 1971, along with two tracks, "Velvet" and "Joy," which stem from an early 1968 concert.  Black Lion never released them (Julian Vein).  They were first issued (without "Velvet" and "Joy") as  Side B of the LP The Invisible Shield, Saturn LP 529 or 144000/144000B, which was initially released in 1974 (some labels misrender the matrix number as 14400.  Urs Berger's copy has yellow Philadelphia labels on both sides (with a 1973 date) and was sold in white porthole sleeves, but many other varieties exist.

These tracks also appear on a hybrid Invisible Shield on which Side A is replaced by 14200B from Space Probe.

Still another hybrid Invisible Shield carries 144000B as Side A and 143000B (from Outer Spaceways Incorporated) as Side B.  Urs Berger's copy has bluish labels from Philadelphia (with a 1973 release date) on both sides and was sold in a plain white porthole sleeve.  This hybrid was sold at concerts in Britain in 1990 and 1991; copies had a blue-purple Chicago-style El Saturn label and a plain white sleeve.

The complete package that was sold to Alan Bates was finally brought together in October 1999 as Janus, 1201 Music CD 90122.
from The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Remarks that Art Jenkins made when "Janus" was played over radio station WKCR-FM, New York City, on April 17, 1987 - Sun Ra had challenged Jenkins to "sing about Africa." Among other things Jenkins said, "So after several rehearsals, we were ready... This time, my spirit took me back to Africa. And it was like in a dreamworld sense, but I was back in an African village, with African musicians, singers, and dancers. It was like, 'It's your time to sing.' One singer moves to the next singer, and so forth, just like the (universal) voice moves."

The Invisible Shield

1. State Street   3:45
2. Sometimes I'm Happy   6:42
3. Time after Time 1   2:18
4. Time after Time 2   3:30
5. Easy to Love   3:27
6. Sunnyside Up   3:36

7. Island in the Sun   5:41
8. The Invisible Shield   5:37
9. Janus   7:09

FLAC

or

320

Many Thanks to Marc E of Philly for his LP rip and to I-) for his patience & clean-up capabilities!

 

Sun Ra - Black Myth / Out In Space (1970)

After a three-week layover in Paris, the Arkestra was well-rested (if hungry) when they appeared at the Berlin Jazz Festival at the Kongresshalle on November 7, 1970. Like the Donaueschingen concert on October 17th, it was recorded for broadcast by Südwestrundfunk (SWF) and some of the music appeared on It’s After the End of the World (MPS 2120746) in 1971. (See Campbell & Trent, p.168 for the gory details of how that album is cobbled together from the two concerts.) The extant eighty-minute broadcast reels were issued for the first time on this Motor Music CD and it is another fantastic performance from this first European tour preserved in truly extraordinary sound quality. However, Szwed describes this concert as a tense confrontation with a dour and skeptical crowd:

The audience on November 7 at Berlin Jazz Days at the Kongresshalle in West Berlin was not ready for what they saw. The Arkestra opened for the premier European-based free jazz big band Globe Unity Orchestra, led by Alexander von Schlippenbach, a German pianist. Globe Unity had established itself as a grimly serious representative of the new jazz, but one which also owed less to American musical tradition than European groups of the past. The audience was not sure that what they were witnessing with the Arkestra wasn’t a parody. The sermonizing and call-and-response declamations on outer space were unsettling to begin with, but the final blow came when Sun Ra peered through a telescope aimed at the roof of the hall, and claimed he could see his native Saturn. When some of the crowd began to boo, Sonny stunned them into silence when he told them that the noise they were making was the sound of the “subhumans” (the English equivalent of the word used by the Nazis to describe the Jews): “I don’t see any subhumans in the hall, but I hear them.” Then he turned back to the band “with fire in his eyes and signaled for a kick-ass space chord,” said [James] Jacson. “And he hit the same chord on the organ. Blam!” Then he called out to Pat Patrick, and baritone screams echoed through the theater, growing wilder with each chorus, producing the essence of what New York musicians were calling “energy music,” until the audience was subdued, if not entirely overcome (p.283).

That particular altercation is not documented on this recording (as far as I can tell), but there is certainly a lot of the usual “sermonizing and call-and-response declamations,” “kick-ass space chords” and New York-style “energy music” on display, but presented with deep roots in pre-and-post-war American swing and his sense of high-camp sci-fi infused theatricality. This stuff is far from the “grimly serious” and Eurocentric approach of Globe Unity and their ilk. I like their music OK, but let’s face it, Sun Ra’s is a lot more fun! In time, the Europeans of all stripes would catch on in a big way and the Arkestra would tour The Continent regularly for the remainder of Sonny’s life, even if many critics continue to dismiss him as a charlatan, a fake.

The CD opens with Alan Silva playing some brooding bass over tinkling percussion. June Tyson sweetly sings, “Out in space is such a pleasant place…a place where you can be free, truly free, with me.” After a while, Sun Ra signals a swelling space-chord and we’re off on an almost forty-minute conducted improvisation, centered around a long, dramatic synthesizer solo, punctuated with frenzied group improv, and ending with a series of unaccompanied solos by Silva (on cello), Eloe Omoe on Neptunian libflecto and finally John Gilmore on rip-roaring tenor sax. After this tumultuous journey into outer space, Ra moves to the piano to introduce another performance of one of the “Discipline” series compositions first heard on the Paradiso tape from October 18. The improved sonics of the Berlin recoding allows one to really hear the detailed orchestration of this beautiful, through-composed work. Utilizing a somber, quasi-ballad form, the piece moves through a series of richly voiced harmonies, sometimes sweet in an almost Guy Lombardo (or rather Duke Ellington) fashion, other times sour and dissonant, with a tonally vague conclusion. Very interesting. Ra moves to the twangy clavinet to introduce “Walking on the Moon,” which features a honking bari sax solo by Pat Patrick and some additional (perhaps improvised?) lyrics by Tyson (“If you fall down, get up and walk some more; You’re like a little a baby who never walked before; So take your first step into outer space…” etc.) The super hi-fi sonics make this rare live performance of this short-lived tune a real treat.

(continue reading at NuVoid's Sun Ra Sundays)

172. [153]  Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Research Arkestra
It's After The End of the World/
Black Myth/Out In Space

Sun Ra (Farfisa org, Hohner Clavinet, p, Rocksichord, Spacemaster org, Mini-Moog syn, Hohner Electra, voc); Kwame Hadi [Lamont F. McClamb] (tp, perc); Akh Tal Ebah [Douglas E. Williams] (tp, sp-mell); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, picc, perc); Danny Davis (as, fl, acl, perc); John Gilmore (ts, perc, voc); Absolom Ben Shlomo [Virgil C. Pumphrey] (as, cl, fl); Danny Ray Thompson (as, bars, libf, fl, perc); Pat Patrick (bars, ts, as, cl, bcl, fl, eb, perc); Leroy Taylor [Eloe Omoe] (bcl, ob, libf, perc); Robert Cummings (bcl, perc); Augustus Browning Jr. [Al Batin Nur] (Eng hn); Alan Silva (vln, vla, clo, b); Alejandro Blake Fearon [Alex Blake] (b); Lex Humphries (d); James Jacson (large drum, perc, ob, fl); Nimrod Hunt (hand drums); Roger Aralamon Hazoumé (dance, fire eating, balafon, African perc); Math Samba (dance, perc); Gloristeena Knight [Ife Tayo] (dance, perc); June Tyson (voc, dance); Richard Wilkinson (light show).

Stadhalle, Donaueschingen,
West Germany,
October 17, 1970

174. [154]  Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Research Arkestra
It's After the End of the World/
Black Myth/Out in Space

same personnel.

Kongresshalle, West Berlin,
West Germany, November 7, 1970

-from The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Black Myth / Out In Space

 includes complete scans

1.    Black Forest Myth    3:58
2.    Friendly Galaxy No.2    5:25
3.    Journey Through The Outer Darkness    12:58
4.    Strange Worlds / Black Myth / It's After The End Of The World    15:19
5.    We'll Wait For You    10:13
6.    Out In Space    37:45
7.    Discipline Series    3:28
8.    Walkin' On The Moon    9:02

9.    Outer Space Where I Came From (Recitation)    0:23
10.  Watusa    2:45
11.  Myth Versus Reality    15:00
12.  Theme Of The Stargazers    0:42
13.  Space Chants Medley (Second Stop Is Jupiter / Why Go To The Moon / Neptune / Mercury / Venus / Mars / Jupiter / Saturn / Uranus / Pluto)    5:43
14.  We Travel The Spaceways    3:03

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Sun Ra - Live in Paris at the "Gibus" (1973)

 

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)

 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

Live in Paris at the "Gibus"

 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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