Sun Ra Sundays

Selections from the NuVoid Blog
by Rodger Coleman

1Selections from Rodger Coleman's blog NuVoid (http://nuvoid.blogspot.com/),from 2008 to 2015, with selected comments. Minor edits and formatting by Sam Byrd,
2016. Entries have been rearranged chronologically, to match the order given in Chris
Trent's discography included in the 2nd edition of Omniverse Sun Ra (since it is more
up-to-date than RLC/Trent).
© Rodger Coleman

2

TABLE OF CONTENTSSpaceship Lullaby.................................................. 7
Music from Tomorrow's World.......................... 8
Bad and Beautiful.................................................. 10
Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow............... 11
Out There a Minute.............................................. 13
Secrets of the Sun.................................................. 16
What's New............................................................ 18
The Invisible Shield...............................................19
The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra, 2nd ed...... 21
When Sun Comes Out......................................... 23
Space Probe [1]...................................................... 24
Continuation [1].....................................................26
Continuation [2].....................................................28
Space Probe [2]...................................................... 30
A Blue One/Orbitration in Blue........................ 33
Janus........................................................................ 35
Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy.....................37
How Low Can You Go?...................................... 40
The Singles [1]........................................................42
When Angels Speak of Love............................... 43
Other Planes of There.......................................... 47
Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold..... 49
The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Vol. 1....... 52
The Magic City.......................................................55
Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 3: The Lost Tapes.... 57
The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Vol. 2....... 59
Impressions of "A Patch of Blue"...................... 61
Strange Strings....................................................... 63
Other Strange Worlds........................................... 64
Batman and Robin................................................ 65
Nothing Is.............................................................. 67
Immeasurable Equation....................................... 69
College Tour Vol.1: Complete Nothing Is........ 69
Monorails and Satellites........................................ 71
Monorails and Satellites Vol. 2............................ 72
Spaceways............................................................... 73
Outer Spaceways Inc. [Pictures of Infinity]...... 75
The Singles [2]........................................................76
Atlantis.................................................................... 78
Interlude: 1967-1970............................................. 80
The Solar Myth Approach, Vols.1 & 2.............. 82
The Electric Circus, 1968-04............................... 84
A Black Mass..........................................................86
Newport Jazz Festival 1969-07-03......................88
My Brother the Wind............................................91
My Brother the Wind Vol. II [1]......................... 93
My Brother the Wind Vol. II [2]..........................943

The Night of the Purple Moon........................... 96
The Red Garter 1970-07...................................... 98
Live at the Red Garter.......................................... 100
Nuits de la Fondation Maeght Vol. 2................ 101
Nuits de la Fondation Maeght Vol. 1................ 104
Black Myth/Out in Space [1].............................. 106
Paradiso, Amsterdam 1970-10-18...................... 108
Black Myth/Out in Space [2].............................. 111
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London 1970-11-09......113
Widney High School, L.A., 1971-06-12............. 116
The Creator of the Universe............................... 119
Intergalactic Research [1]..................................... 122
Universe in Blue.................................................... 124
Rehearsal, Oakland 1971-10................................ 126
The Shadows Took Shape................................... 129
Dramaten, Stockholm 1971-10-21..................... 131
Helsinki, Finland 1971-10-14.............................. 133
Aarhus, Denmark 1971-10-19............................. 135
Delft, The Netherlands 1971-11-11................... 136
Paris 1971-11-29.................................................... 140
The Paris Tapes..................................................... 141
Calling Planet Earth.............................................. 143
Horizon [1]............................................................. 145
Horizon [2]............................................................. 147
Nidhamu + Dark Myth Equation Visitation.... 150
Space Is the Place (film)....................................... 152
Space Is the Place (soundtrack)...........................154
Intergalactic Research [2]..................................... 156
Astro Black............................................................. 158
Slug's 1972-06-07...................................................160
The Universe Sent Me [1].................................... 162
Slug's 1972-08-19...................................................163
Life Is Splendid...................................................... 166
Space Is the Place (Blue Thumb)........................ 168
Discipline 27-II...................................................... 170
The Mystery Board................................................172
Unknown venue, ca. 1972.................................... 174
Cymbals & Crystal Spears.................................... 176
Pathways to Unknown Worlds/Friendly Love 180
The Singles [3]........................................................183
What Planet Is This?............................................. 185
Outer Space Employment Agency..................... 188
The Universe Sent Me [2].................................... 190
Live in Paris at the "Gibus"................................. 193
The Road to Destiny.............................................196
Concert for the Comet Kohoutek...................... 198
Flushing Meadow Park, Queens 1973-07-04.... 201
House of Ra (with Wilbur Ware) 1973.............. 202
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Out Beyond the Kingdom Of............................. 204
The Antique Blacks............................................... 208
Action figures......................................................... 211
It Is Forbidden....................................................... 212
Sub-Underground..................................................215
Cosmo Earth Fantasy........................................... 217
Jazz Showcase, Chicago 1974-09-08.................. 218
Dance of the Living Image.................................. 220
Civic Center, Santa Cruz 1974-12-11................. 223
Smiling Dog Saloon, Cleveland 1975-01-30......225
The Singles [4]........................................................227
The "New" Five Spot, NYC 1975-06-11...........229
Jordan Hall, Boston 1975-12............................... 230
Live at Montreux................................................... 233
Cosmos [1]..............................................................235
Cosmos [2]..............................................................237
Châteauvallon, France 1976-08-24......................238
Châteauvallon, France 1976-08-25..................... 240
Rehearsal, Unknown location 1976-09.............. 242
Jordan Hall, Boston 1976-11............................... 243
Jazz Showcase, Chicago 1976-11-27.................. 244
WXPN, U. Pennsylvania 1976-12-25.................246
A Quiet Place in the Universe............................. 248
1977..........................................................................250
Showboat Lounge, MD 1977-03-18................... 251
Smuckers, NYC 1977-04-17................................ 253
Empty Foxhole, Philadelphia 1977-04-29......... 254
Sun Ra & Friends.................................................. 257
Solo Piano, Vol. 1.................................................. 258
St. Louis Blues: Solo Piano, Vol. 2..................... 259
WKCR, Columbia, NYC 1977-07-08................ 260
Somewhere Over the Rainbow........................... 262
Fort Dupont, Washington, D.C. 1977-08-14....265
Some Blues But Not the Kind That's Blue....... 266
We Must Not Say No to Ourselves....................268
Unity........................................................................ 269
Notes on Vinyl....................................................... 271
The Soul Vibrations of Man................................ 272
Piano Recital, Teatro La Fenice, Venezia.......... 274
Taking a Chance on Chances.............................. 276
Bottom Line, NYC 1977-12-13.......................... 277
New Steps.............................................................. 279
Other Voices, Other Blues.................................. 281
Disco 3000............................................................. 283
The Complete Disco 3000 Concert................... 284
Media Dreams/Sound Mirror............................. 287
The Mystery of Being........................................... 290
On Jupiter/Sleeping Beauty.................................291
5

Sound Advice......................................................... 292
Living By Lanterns................................................ 294
Black Utopia........................................................... 295
The Will Come, Is Now....................................... 297
Sun Ra literature.................................................... 299
Happy holidays...................................................... 300
Space Is the Place (Szwed)................................... 303
From Ephrata (F-Ra-Ta) to Arkestra................. 305
Music and morality................................................ 306
El Saturn vinyl reissues......................................... 307
Prospects.................................................................308
The end................................................................... 309

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DECEMBER 7, 2008
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Spaceship Lullaby (Atavistic UMS/ALP243 CD)
The Vocal Groups Featuring Nu Sounds, The Lintels, & The Cosmic Rays Recorded in Chicago, IL 1954-1960
When Evidence released The Singles (ECD 22164) in 1996, it came as something of shock (to me,
anyway) to learn that Sun Ra had been actively involved with doo wop vocal groups prior to theestablishment of the Arkestra. In fact, the very first release on the fledgling El Saturn label in 1955
was a 45RPM single featuring the Nu Sounds covering Gershwin’s “A Foggy Day” on the A-side
and The Cosmic Rays contributing to a Sun Ra ditty entitled, “Daddy’s Gonna Tell You No Lie” on
the flip. Amazingly, Ra continued to record scattered singles with vocal groups up until about 1960.
Of course, vocal performance would go on to assume a significant part in the Arkestra’s Cosmo
Drama, especially in group space chants and the incantations of June Tyson and Sun Ra himself. But
this stuff is something different: an obvious attempt at commercial pop that some Ra aficionados
will find downright hokey. But, Sonny would likely reply, “This hokey shit is somebody’s hopes anddreams…don’t be so hip!” (Szwed p.352). In any case, this being Sun Ra, any pop sensibility is
decidedly skewed towards the weird and utterly lacking in the kind of vapid slickness that might haveaided any entry into the marketplace.
Released in 2003 on Atavistic, Spaceship Lullaby shed more light on this mysterious period in Ra’s
discography, gathering together several never-before heard rehearsal tapes of some of the various
vocal groups Ra worked with in the mid-to-late 1950s. The Nu Sounds and The Cosmic Rays wereboth (semi)professional groups and their repertoires are remarkably diverse: jazz standards, showtunes, pop numbers, and Ra compositions that range from the proto-space-chant,“ Spaceship
Lullaby” to the virtuosic “Chicago USA.” Apparently written for a contest to determine Chicago’s
new theme song, it’s a tour de force of rich imagery and onomatopoeia. The Lintels, on the other
hand, were clearly amateurs, probably just young kids taken in off the South Side streets and7introduced to disciplined arrangements and enforced self-respect by intergalactic community
organizer Sun Ra. You can hear Ra working with them, getting them to try some odd harmonies
before calling it a day. Nothing else is known about the Lintels beyond this snippet of tape – noteven their names. What remains is a tantalizing glimpse of the kind of street-corner doo wop culturethat has been long lost.
Most of the tapes are home recordings with only Ra’s prodding accompaniment on the piano.
Occasionally, some spare percussion joins in on the first Nu Sounds session (and Pat Patrick
contributes some bari-sax train sounds on the second take of “Chicago USA”). However, a few
tracks with The Cosmic Rays feature the entire Arkestra. “Africa” would appear in wordless form on
Nubians of Plutonia (El Saturn 406/Evidence 22066 CD) and here is a mere fragment, suggesting
an interesting alternate approach to this seminal Ra composition. The sound quality is rough overall,but somehow that only contributes to this record’s considerable charm. Perfect for a Sunday
evening.
DECEMBER 14, 2008
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Music From Tomorrow’s World (Atavistic UMS/ALP237)
The companion to last week’s disc, Music from Tomorrow’s World is another collection of neverbefore heard music from Sun Ra’s tenure in Chicago. The first thirty minutes of the disc consists ofan amateur recording of a live set at the Wonder Inn, where the Arkestra, stripped down to a sextet,
was in residency for much of 1960. The sound quality is remarkably good considering the era andthe less-than-ideal circumstances. Certainly it is full of delightful ambience: the cash register clinks,
folks are laughing and talking. But one woman is way into it, shouting encouragements like, “Play it,
Sun Ra, play it like you want!” And he does. The repertoire is pretty adventurous for nightclub work,
opening with three Ra originals: “Angels and Demons at Play,” a slinky 5/4 ostinato groove withsome pretty flute playing by Marshall Allen; “Spontaneous Simplicity” featuring more beautiful flute8

work over gently rolling rhythms (but who is the second flutist?); “Space Aura” swings hard and fastwith a typically brilliant tenor saxophone solo by John Gilmore. Next up are some earnestly goofy
vocal numbers, including a truly bent version of “It Ain’t Necessarily So.” It’s interesting to notethat Sun Ra plays both acoustic and electric piano in a live setting, using the Wurlitzer for color, notconvenience on the cramped stage. “How High The Moon” begins with a Sun Ra poem whichleaves the audience puzzled, but things heat up with a cooking Gilmore solo and by that time thecrowd is into it, calling out to the musicians, clapping hands, hooting and hollering. A spooky
rendition of “China Gate” concludes the set with metallic percussion clattering ominously behindwarbling, over-the-top vocals. Fascinating!
The remainder of the disc is given over to a forty-minute Majestic Hall studio session also recorded
in 1960. Transcribed from a lowly cassette tape several generations away from the now-lost masterrecording, it’s pretty rough going sonically compared to the Wonder Inn stuff. Nevertheless, it’s asparkling performance by an eight-piece Arkestra and includes three previously unheard originalcompositions by Ra. It’s well worth fighting through the murky sound quality to hear these
intriguing bits of music. What’s striking about this session is how polished and well-rehearsed theArkestra sounds, executing the variety of material with confidence and finesse, especially in theensemble sections where the rich orchestrations require precision and balance. Too bad it’s so hardto discern amidst the noise and distortion. Still, it’s listenable if you can acclimate yourself to therather gnarly sound.
Shortly after these recordings were made, Sun Ra and his most dedicated musicians would maketheir way to New York City (via Canada) and Philadelphia, never to return to Chicago for any
extended period of time. With Music From Tomorrow’s World, Atavistic has provided us withanother glimpse into Sonny’s working life prior to fulfilling his alter-destiny and is therefore a crucial
historical document for Sun Ra fans.

9

FEBRUARY 8, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Mr. Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Bad and Beautiful (Evidence ECD 22038)
Recorded at the Choreographer’s Workshop, NYC Nov.-Dec. 1961
Originally released as Saturn 532 (1972)
By 1961, Mr. Sun Ra and a diminished Arkestra had inadvertently relocated from Chicago to New
York City and, although gig opportunities were slim, Tommy Hunter had rejoined the band on
percussion. Hunter subsequently purchased an Ampex 601 reel-to-reel tape recorder at a pawn shop
in order to record the Arkestra’s frequent rehearsals. Hunter was also fortuitously employed, first at
Columbus Rehearsal Studio on 8th Avenue between 57th and 58th Streets and later at theChoreographer’s Workshop at 414 West 51st Street. Thanks to Hunter, the Arkestra was able torehearse and record rent-free on nights and weekends for the next three years (see Szwed, pp.186187). Ra had frequently recorded rehearsals back in Chicago, but 1961 would mark the beginning ofa particularly fruitful period.
Bad and Beautiful is the very first of a long series of wonderful Saturn records made at theChoreographer’s Workshop in the 1960s. This particular session was recorded in a room on thethird or fourth floor where the acoustics and the piano were “not to Ra’s liking” (Campbell, 1st ed.,p. 24). Sonny apparently preferred the basement where there was a good piano and better acoustics(Szwed, p.187). Indeed there is a noticeably hissy and tinny quality to the sound. But there is alsothat pleasantly reverberant atmosphere that characterizes all of the Choreographer’s Workshop
records: They have that Saturn Sound. Along with Ra and Hunter, the sextet includes Marshall Allenon alto sax and flute, John Gilmore on tenor sax, Pat Patrick on baritone sax, Ronnie Boykins on
bass. They sound supremely relaxed, languidly exploring hoary standards and show tunes along withsome rather conventional Ra originals. Gilmore is in his usual fine form throughout but his oh-sosmooth solo on “Search Light Blues” is truly deep and soulful. Pat Patrick plays the unwieldy
baritone saxophone with astounding grace on the riff-based “Ankh” and on the gently swinging“On the Blue Side.” But then “Exotic Two” points to the future with each Arkestra member
10banging away on percussion instruments in dense poly-rhythms while Ra punches out stiff chord
sequences on the piano. (Small percussion instruments can be heard chattering away on “SearchLight Blues” as well.) The album closes with a languorous ensemble arrangement of “And This Is
My Beloved.” In all, Bad and Beautiful is a transitional, historically important album and its
subdued atmosphere and sophisticated musicianship also makes for a simply pleasant Sun Ra
Sunday.
+++Evidence ECD 22038 also contains We Travel the Spaceways (Saturn 409), recorded at various
places in Chicago during the late-1950s; it will be considered separately.
FEBRUARY 15, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Myth Science Arkestra: Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow (Evidence ECD
22036) (1992)
Recorded at the Choreographer’s Workshop, NYC, 1961-1962
Originally released as Saturn 9956 (1965)
Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow tacks on two leftover tracks from 1961’s Bad & Beautiful
recording session but mostly consists of a 1962 rehearsal recorded in the basement of theChoreographer’s Workshop where there was a good piano and better acoustics. The sound quality is
notably improved even if the source tape for this CD is significantly degraded. More importantly,
Ra’s music is clearly moving in a new, exciting direction. Drummer/recordist Tommy Hunter had
been recording rehearsals on his Apex reel-to-reel and accidentally discovered the feedback/echo
effect that appears here for the first time. So while Bad & Beautiful was a somewhat traditional jazz
combo album full of show tunes and semi-conventional Ra originals, Art Forms of Dimensions
Tomorrow lives up to its title, moving forward into the kind of experimental avant garde music thatwould cement Ra’s reputation in the 1960s and 70s while also retaining a connection to the living
11

tradition that would continue to center the Arkestra’s aesthetic throughout its career. To paraphrase
Michael Shore’s comment in the liner notes to this Evidence CD, if Cosmic Tones for Mental
Therapy is a Rosetta Stone, then Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow is Ra beginning to carve itin earnest.
“Cluster of Galaxies” is a brief but portentous opening with its spacey “thunder drums,” “sun harp,”
and “spiral percussion gong” all drenched in thick cosmic echo and reverb. Afro-psychedelia starts
right here – in 1962! P-Funk mastermind George Clinton once remarked, “[Sun Ra] was definitely
out to lunch – the same place I eat at!” (quoted in Szwed, p. 264). Shifting gears, the next track isanother remake of “Ankh” which originally appeared in a more florid arrangement in 1956 on theDelmark LP, Sound of Joy and more recently on Bad & Beautiful. This composition was obviously
important to Ra and the various renditions are fascinatingly diverse. Here, baritone saxophonist Pat
Patrick shares solo space with a rare appearance by Ali Hassan on trombone. The mood is brighter,less ominous than usual with some funky gospel handclaps supporting the lumbering riffs. “Solar
Drums” is another brief space-out featuring echoing drums, small percussion, bells and faintly
tinkling piano. The hissing feed back ebbs and flows across the sonic landscape, sometimes
threatening to overwhelm everything until Tommy Hunter suddenly turns a knob, bringing thingsback into focus.
The next two tracks appear to be Ra’s earliest experiments with a new kind of form: loosely
structured, non-idiomatic, conducted improvisation. This is a form that Ra would expand andperfect as the decade proceeded, resulting in such masterpieces as Other Planes of There and The
Magic City (Evidence ECD 22069). With its total absence of drums, atonal piano, and knotty
contrapuntal horn lines, “The Outer Heavens” sounds more like contemporary classical chambermusic than big band jazz and points the way to the later music of the AACM and Anthony Braxton.
In contrast, a barrage of ceremonial drums and percussion dominates “Infinity of the Universe”
with Ra agitatedly rumbling around in the piano’s lowest registers. Michael Shore points out in theliner notes that: “his repeated bass-clef piano runs mark the first appearance of what would, in a few
years, turn into the launch pad for one of his greatest pieces, ‘The Shadow World.’” I think that’s
correct and a fascinating insight into Ra’s working methods. Towards the end, the horns enter withfleeting and plaintive cries over the increasingly pounding percussion before the track quickly fades
to silence.
The album closes with the two orphaned tracks from the Bad & Beautiful sessions and a return toits cool, swinging combo mode. “Lights on a Satellite” was originally recorded in Chicago in 1960
but unreleased until 1965 on Fate in a Pleasant Mood (Evidence ECD 22068). The version here
eschews the ornamental flute obbligato and becomes a soulful ballad vehicle for Ra’s Monkish
piano. Unfortunately, the track fades out prematurely just as Gilmore begins to blow. “Kosmos inBlue” is a typical Ra blues, bouncy and maybe a little old fashioned rhythmically, but full of
dissonant voicings and an unpredictable, disjointed harmonic structure. Gilmore’s tenor saxophonesolo stands out for its stately reserve and concise eloquence.
+++
As we proceed to move chronologically through the Choreographer’s Workshop recordings, next up
would be Secrets of the Sun , the first really mature work of the period. But from there to Cosmic
12

Tones, the discography get a little murky – Sam, I think I’ll need your help sorting these out! Please
drop me a line!
Sam said...
I'm here to help! :) I'll send you an email. As always, Rodger, another insightful Sun Ra Sunday. Yourwriting always sends me back to the music!
Sam said...
Did my comment ever make it through? I'm still getting a handle on this whole Internet thing.
Anyway, like I said, great job on the continuing series, and I'll drop you an email.
Rodger Coleman said...
Sam -- Due to an influx of spam, I moderate the comments. Sometimes it takes a while... Looks likethe next CD to examine is "Out There a Minute!"
FEBRUARY 22, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Out There a Minute (Restless/Blast First CD 71427)
Back in the early 1980s, when I was coming of age, hanging out with other weirdo musicians at the
New England Conservatory, and discovering Sun Ra’s music for the first time, Ra’s records were
extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find even in a big city like Boston. I managed to snag acouple of Saturn LPs while working at Strawberry’s Records circa. 1984 but they were totally
unlabeled, extremely poor pressings, and contained a mish-mash of material recorded at various
times and places. Or at least that’s how I remember them since I have no idea what the titles were;
sadly, I later sold them in a fit of self-induced poverty and poor judgment. As the CD era dawned,
contemporaneous recordings were issued on foreign labels like Black Saint (Italy), DIW (Japan), andLeo (France) while crummy-sounding bootlegs of the classic ESP recordings were also floatingaround the underground record shops. But for the most part Sun Ra’s vast body of work wasshrouded in mystery. When the U.S. major label A&M released the crisply produced Blue Delight13

in 1988, Ra was suddenly something of a commodity and a steady stream of archival material began
to flow in the 1990s.
In today’s instantaneous-information and media-saturated age, it might be difficult to imagine what arevelation it was when Out There a Minute appeared in 1989. Billed as “Sun Ra’s personal
selection of rare Arkestra recordings from the late 1960s,” this CD allowed a glimpse into thedarkest recesses of Ra’s most obscure period. But in typical Saturnal fashion, the packaging was
devoid of liner notes beyond some cryptic Ra poetry leaving any definitive information as to dates
and personnel merely inferred or totally unknown. That is until the efforts of Prof. Robert L.
Campbell to compile a definitive Sun Ra discography began to circulate on the nascent internet.
Thanks to Prof. Campbell (and the small but avid cyber-community of Ra fanatics), one could in the
coming years finally piece together the murky history of Sun Ra’s Arkestra and gain anunderstanding of the material that appears on Out There a Minute. The Earthly Recordings of
Sun Ra was subsequently published by Cadence Jazz Books in 1994 and a greatly enlarged second
edition (which I still need to purchase) was published in 2000.
So, it turns out that Out There a Minute contains several tracks that were later issued on CD in
their proper album context on Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow, When Angels Speak ofLove (Evidence ECD 22216), and Night of the Purple Moon (Atavistic ALP 264) along with
two tracks from the still-out-of-printContinuation LP from 1968. I will not consider any of thesetracks here except to say that Atavistic needs to reissue Continuation pronto. The remainder of the
CD consists of never released recordings, some of which derive from the Choreographer’sWorkshop era and therefore fits chronologically into our discussion of these crucial early/midsixties sessions.
“Somewhere in Space,” “Dark Clouds with Silver Linings,” and “Journey Outward” were allrecorded in 1962 and demonstrate Ra’s evolution from the more swing-based traditionalism of the
Chicago era to the experimental, avant-garde music that first appeared on Art Forms ofDimensions Tomorrow and was perfected on Secrets of the Sun. “Somewhere in Space” is alumbering two-chord march featuring Art Jenkins on “space voice,” actually wordless, improvisatory
singing through an inverted ram’s horn (see Szwed pp.192-193 for the whole story). After a while, thehorns enter with a simple, but affecting batch of riffs before each picking up small percussion
instruments in support of a string of rather meandering solos: Pat Patrick on baritone saxophone,John Gilmore on tenor, Marshall Allen on flute. “Dark Clouds With Silver Linings” is a moreconventional Ra original with a mid-tempo blues structure but with some typically unexpected
harmonic twists. Gilmore states the melody and his tenor solos glide effortlessly through the weirdly
bop-ish changes. Meanwhile, Ra explores some interesting two-handed counterpoint along with his
stabbed comping. The ensemble sounds a little unsure of itself when it enters with the restatementof the theme, which yields some mild inadvertent dissonance before the close. “Journey Outwards”
appears to be another early example of the conducted improvisations that would characterize thisperiod’s most important work. It opens with Gilmore on mellifluous bass clarinet over softly
mumbling drums. Then Gilmore drops out as the percussion builds into a polyrhythmic African
groove. Al Evans enters with some mellow, richly melodic flugelhorn statements and Ra joins inwith some angular piano figures before fading out. Very nice.
The title track, “Out There a Minute,” remains somewhat of a discographical mystery. According toProf. Campbell, it could have been recorded at any time between 1962 and 1964, but to my ears it
14

sounds very similar to the hissy, distant quality and subtly swinging combo feel of 1961’s Bad &Beautiful. In any event, it’s another patented off-kilter blues with some slippery piano work fromRa and a spirited Patrick solo on baritone saxophone. “Other Worlds” jumps ahead to the Magic
City (Evidence ECD 22069) sessions of spring 1965, with a larger Arkestra and more aggressively
avant-garde approach, but probably not recorded at the Choreographer’s Workshop (for one thing,it’s in stereo). Ra plays a quietly intense introduction on simultaneous piano and bell-like celeste
before the Arkestra bursts in with a hard-driving atonal workout. Throughout the piece, Ra’s piano
attack is every bit as ferocious as Cecil Taylor’s and the entire 11-piece Arkestra blows hot andheavy, tossing lines around with seemingly wild abandon. But repeated listens reveal a tightly
controlled compositional integrity that packs the whollop of John Coltrane’s “Ascension” into amere four minutes and forty-eight seconds. Incredible stuff. “Jazz and Romantic Sounds” probably
dates from about 1969 given Ra’s electronic organ. Also, Gilmore is notably absent, but Marshall
Allen and Danny Davis duke it out on alto saxophones while Ra conjures up the “space-age
barbeque music” vibe similar to My Brother the Wind Vol. 2.
These never-before-released tracks make Out There a Minute a must-have proposition for thehardcore Sun Ra fan while the whole disc is full of prime cuts and a suitable introduction for thenovice. Sadly, the CD is now out print although its widespread distribution means it’s readily
available in the secondary market and well worth the effort to track it down. Essential.
+++
Big thank you to Sam Byrd for helping me sort this stuff out!

15

OCTOBER 26, 2008
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra: Secrets of the Sun (Atavistic ALP266 CD)
Atavistic continues to make the rarest of the rare Saturn records available once again and to a massaudience all thanks to John Corbett’s “Unheard Music Series.” Rejoice!
In fact, Secrets of the Sun is so rare, that the CD had to be mastered from a vintage LP, with its
occasional (but inevitable) pops and clicks. But don’t let that stop you! This is primo Sun Ra,
recorded in rehearsal at the Choreographer’s Workshop in New York City, where the relaxed vibe
(free rent!) and pleasant acoustics inspired an amazing run of albums from 1962-1964. Many of
those titles were (thankfully) re-issued by Evidence in the 1990s but this nearly-lost 1962 session is amost welcome addition indeed.
Listened to chronologically, the Saturn LPs recorded during the Choreographer’s Workshop period
exhaustively document the evolution of the Arkestra from the tightly arranged big-band material
found on The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra (Savoy, 1962) to the adventurous and edgy avant-garde
weirdness ofHeliocentric Worlds, Vols.1-2 (ESP, 1965). As such, these Saturn records are some of
the most intriguing (and downright pleasurable) albums in all of Sun Ra’s vast discography.
Emerging from its decades-long obscurity, Secrets of the Sun presents a missing link in the historyof this period.
The smallish ensembles are simply recorded (in mono) in a lushly reverberant ambient space which
gives the recordings a suitably unearthly quality that epitomizes that “Saturn Sound” so unique to
Sun Ra’s home-brewed record label. The opening track, “Friendly Galaxy,” is typical in how it
constructs a whole other world in miniature: the unusual frontline instrumentation (bass clarinet,
flute, flugelhorn, and the rarely-deployed electric guitar) creates beautifully floating melodies andethereal textures while the agile and propulsive rhythm section of Ronnie Boykins on bass and16Tommy Hunter on drums combine with Sun Ra’s off-kilter piano to provide a buoyant and supple
ostinato accompaniment.
Individual solos briefly take flight before returning to the theme and ends, appropriately, after amere four minutes and fifty-three seconds. Brilliant!
“Solar Differentials” takes things a bit further out with “space bird sounds”, “space voice”, andprimitive electronic echo and feedback (remember, this is 1962!), all of which is punctuated by Sun
Ra’s percussive stabs on the piano. Ronnie Boykins once again shines with his rock solid bassanchoring the chaotic proceedings. “Space Aura” is slightly more conventional, beginning with amarch-like processional before giving way to a relaxed swing, with everyone contributing pithy but
exploratory solos – Pat Patrick’s honking and squealing baritone saxophone being a particulardelight. The following track, “Love In Outer Space”, went on to become a standard in the Ra
songbook but here is given a somewhat minimalist treatment: after a short allusion to the theme,
John Gilmore moans and wails on bass clarinet over some percolating bass and percussion before
the whole thing trails off inconclusively.
“Reflects Motion” points towards the future with its episodic construction: bass and drums duet andsolo before Ra’s enervated piano figures enter, which presages the spiky, atonal melody that is taken
up by the horns. This soon gives way to more bass/percussion grooving and the relatively succinct
and swinging solo sections are interspersed with yet more percussion interludes. John Gilmore’s
fleeting tenor saxophone solo demonstrates a breathtaking command of the instrument, from thegrowling lowest register to altissimo cries and multiphonic shrieks. John Coltrane acknowledged
Gilmore’s influence on the music he would go on to make a couple years later beginning with A
Love Supreme (Impulse!, 1964), and here you can hear that influence loud and clear. “Solar
Symbols” closes out the album proper with a two-minute-forty-two-second spaceout, featuringecho-y sleigh-bells and pitter-pattering percussion with Sun Ra essaying on “sun harp” and gong.
Very cool.
The bonus track, “Flight to Mars” was contemporaneously recorded for the B-side of an unreleased
LP and is previously unheard. Opening with a crude tape collage which culminates in the vocal
exhortation “all the way into space!” the rest of the piece is essentially a seventeen-minute blowing
session punctuated with further percussion blowouts. Marshall Allen shines with a sparkling flute
solo and, again, Ronnie Boykins demonstrates his extraordinary (and sadly unrecognized) genius
with a bowed bass solo that inspires juicy interjections from Pat Patrick’s baritone saxophone and alittle bit of bouncy Ra piano before the close. This is truly a bonus track that lives up to the name.
This lovingly produced reissue is a must for all Sun Ra fans and as good a place as any for the novice
to begin the interplanetary journey. Essential.
Sam said...
Hot damn, Rodger! You said better than I ever could. Yeah, this is a very special album and is a nicecompanion piece to "Art Forms". That special Choreographers Workshop ambiance is in fineevidence here.
Roddus said...
A good description that leaves me looking forward to hearing it sometime in the future when I getto it in my Sun Ra buying binge.
17

MARCH 22, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: What’s New (side A) (Saturn 539) The discographical murkiness continues with this1975 LP containing four swinging Choreographer’s Workshop recordings from 1962 on the A-side
and a contemporaneous concert fragment on side B. Confusingly, later pressings substitute side A of
The Invisible Shield for the B-side (see below). In any case, the kind of hot jazz found here
probably represents a taste of the Arkestra’s working-gig repertoire during the lean early years in
New York. Of course, Ra came out of the big-band tradition of the 1930s and 40s and had vast
experience arranging standards and show tunes for various ensembles and his flair for instrumental
color (check out Marshall Allen’s flute!) and ornamental counterpoint are much in evidence on thetitle track -- even if the end result comes across as a mere blowing session. “What’s New” was, after
all, a staple of the Arkestra’s live sets throughout their career.
Curiously, two original compositions by Arkestra newcomers Al Evans and Calvin Newborn werealso recorded at this Choreographer’s Workshop rehearsal. Newborn’s “Wanderlust” is a rather
nondescript jazz waltz but it elicits strong solos by John Gilmore on tenor saxophone, Al Evans on
flugelhorn, Danny Davis on alto sax. The composer himself steps out with an aggressively electricguitar solo – a rarely heard timbre in the Arkestra’s recorded history. Ra then builds a solo arounddistant chordal substitutions before the head returns for the close. Evans brings out the funky sideof the Arkestra with his honky-tonk strut aptly entitled “Jukin’.” Evans’s tone is warm and bluesy,
while Newborn offers at times some near-psychedelic, noise-infused comping beneath the everriffing horns. These two tracks are perhaps a bit lightweight, but still a lot of fun. Evans continued
his association with the Arkestra off and on throughout the 70s and 80s while Newborn moved on
to moderate success in the blues world.
The Arkestra drops down to a quartet on the hoary old chestnut, “Autumn in New York.” But don’t
be fooled! After a lushly romantic opening piano statement, Gilmore plays one of the mostbreathtakingly heart-rending solos of his long, brilliant career! He starts out by teasing themelancholy melody with spacious, wide-open phrasing, slowly building to register-spanningexclamations, delicate filigrees, and pathos-filled one and two-note worryings. Every note is justexactly the right note at the right place and at the right time. As if awestruck by the sheer beauty of
Gilmore’s playing, the band drops out during the second chorus, leaving him to blow an acappella18

cadenza that miraculously holds the thread of the tune while overflowing with prodigious, risky
invention. Suddenly, Ra enters with an (almost) incongruous double-tempo section that slows down
just in time for Gilmore to re-state the theme with the kind of stately grace and tender emotion thatmarked his opening choruses. This track demonstrates that, despite his (well-deserved) reputation as
an altissimo-fueled avant-garde noisemaker, John Gilmore was truly one of the great post-bop
saxophonists of all time. This version of an over-familiar standard has to be heard to be believed.
Incredible!
+++
Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Research Arkestra: The Invisible Shield (side A) (Saturn 529)
Now things get even more confusing. This LP was originally released in 1974 with six 1962-63
Choreographer’s Workshop recordings on the A-side backed with some stray cuts from the latesixties and early seventies on the B-side. It has also been variously titled A Tonal View of Times
Tomorrow, Vol. 2, Janus, and Satellites are Outerspace. As mentioned above, these tracks also
appeared as the B-Side on most copies of What’s New (which is really where they belong given
their similarly straight-ahead feel). Some (but not all) of these tracks were sold to Black Lion in 1971,
but never issued. Finally, in 2000, some (but, bafflingly, not all) of those tracks were officially releasedon Standards (1201 Music 90192). Like I said: very confusing! It certainly would have been nice if allof these 1962-63 tracks were gathered in one place, but so it goes in Sun Ra’s Omniverse. That said,
the Standards CD does boast superior sound quality and includes a rare 1955 home recording of Ra
duetting with bassist Wilbur Ware on “Can This Be Love” and is therefore (grudgingly)
recommended.
Anyway, “State Street” is a sprightly Ra original that is omitted from Standards on the grounds that
it is, well, not a “standard.” Too bad since it’s a barn-burning big band outing with a full-blown
brass section consisting of the aforementioned Al Evans on flugelhorn, Ra’s childhood friend Walter
Miller on trumpet, and Ali Hassan on trombone. Michael White adds a gypsy element with somekeening violin while the virtuoso drumming of Clifford Jarvis drives the Arkestra with an infectious,
toe-tapping groove. The saxophones and brass exchange complex, interlocking lines at the head andriff away happily during the string of brief solos, all of which culminates in a brilliant flourish by
baritone saxophonist Pat Patrick before the final coda.
“Sometimes I’m Happy,” finds the Arkestra reduced to a quartet of Ra, Gilmore, Boykins, and themore subdued Lex Humphries on drums. This lightly swinging number is the perfect vehicle foranother eloquent statement by Gilmore, punctuated by Ra’s roiling piano and Boykins’s rock-solid
bass. Jarvis and Miller then return for the remaining tracks. Two takes of “Time After Time” exist,
but take one is inexplicably omitted onStandards. This familiar tune is taken at a briskly bebop-ish
pace and showcases Miller’s immaculate technique and burnished tone atop Jarvis’s smooth yet
hard-driving drums. On take two, Miller takes more chances, splitting tones into multi-phonics andallowing for more open, silent spaces between his phrases. “Easy to Love” is another hard bop
vehicle for Gilmore with Jarvis’s hyperactive bass drum and overlapping polyrhythms relentlessly
propelling the music forward. Boykins interjects with some sure-footed walking bass between
Gilmore’s increasingly abstracted choruses until, finally, Ra enters with the trumpet to (somewhat
raggedly) repeat the theme and end.
19

“Keep Your Sunny Side Up” is another uptempo number with Jarvis and Boykins swinging like mad
and Gilmore once again demonstrating his prowess as a post-bop genius. Yes, it’s another brilliant
Gilmore solo! But Miller reveals in one brief chorus what a formidable trumpet player he really was
and how sympathetic he was to Sun Ra’s vision – especially as it applied to the living tradition andthe so-called mainstream. While economic realities prevented Miller from committing full time to
the Arkestra, he remained an always welcome visitor throughout their existence. Unfortunately, Ra’s
brass sections would remain in flux during these early New York years.
Along with What’s New, this material reveals a part of the Arkestra’s history that was longconcealed by the vagaries of the Saturn enterprise (not to mention a genuine desire to promote Ra’s
original music over “standards”). Beyond the stellar musicianship on display, these tracks showcase
Ra’s bountiful gifts as an arranger and his Herculean work ethic. While the times were penurious, Ra
continued to compose, rehearse and record the Arkestra, and found paying work where he could.
Arranging and playing standards was (and still is) the lingua franca of jazz and Sun Ra was a master.
But he could also write a tune like “State Street” that sounded as if it had been composed during thegolden age of the big bands. This music may not be as exhilaratingly modern and original as, say,
Secrets of the Sun or Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy, but it is ebullient and supremely wellcrafted.
+++
Special thanks once again to Sam Byrd for his help with this post!
+++
Photograph of the Arkestra in rehearsal at the Choreographer’s Workshop by Tommy Hunter (fromSzwed). Left to right: Pat Patrick, Sun Ra, Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, and Ronnie Boykins.
Sam said...
Another great Sun Ra Sunday! A couple of things to note: --I completely agree with you on theunderrated Walter Miller. In addition to his affinity for the "standards" side of Ra's vision, he also
stood strong on the outside stuff, like "Magic City." He does pop up on concerts from time to time,even into the '80s. --You'll find that soon enough you'll run out of ways to say "yet another brilliant
John Gilmore solo"! His playing on "Autumn in new York" is truly sublime and is definitely in my
top ten Gilmore solo pantheon. --I had another brilliant insight on this period of Ra's music,
something to do with arranging, but it was so brilliant I forgot it :) Oh well, the Sun Ra Sundays
continue to be inspiring, and continue to send me back to the music.

20

MARCH 15, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra (2nd edition) By Robert L. Campbell & Christopher Trent Cadence
Jazz Books (ISBN: 1-881993-35-3)
This is an example of “amateur” scholarship in the best sense of the word. In an attempt to get ahandle on Ra’s vast (and vastly confusing) discography, Clemson psychology professor (and Sun Rafan) Robert L. Campbell began compiling a list of all known recordings, building upon the work ofHartmut Geerken and Dr. Tilman Stahl in the 1980s. In 1992, Prof. Campbell shared his findings
with the Saturn internet list-serv and the small but resourceful cyber-community of Sun Ra fanscontributed a wealth of new information. Sun Ra was notoriously vague about dates and personnel
and many Saturn LPs were issued in blank or hand-scrawled sleeves containing zero information –not even a title! Therefore, intensive forensic analysis was required to even attempt to ascertain
essential discographical details. The end result of this communitarian effort was the publication of
the first edition of The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra in 1994. Subsequently, further new
discoveries were made and, with the help of co-author and fellow Ra-fanatic, Christopher Trent, thissecond, massively enlarged edition was published by Cadence Jazz Books in 2000.
Campbell and Trent strive to document not only all of Sun Ra’s officially released recordings, bothas a sideman and a leader, but also all known live performances, unissued recordings, and rumoredsessions. They also attempt to trace the Ra’s footsteps around the globe where recordings are
unknown. Posthumous performances by the Marshall Allen-led Arkestra up through 1998 are also
included. Did I mention the discography is massive? The first edition included 501 items across 218
pages while the second edition lists 788 items and totals 847 pages, including several handily crossreferenced indexes. The 6” x 8” paperbound book weighs in at over three pounds!
It is a shame, however, that such a thick, heavy tome is so poorly bound. The signatures have beenbrutally chopped off and the three-inch-thick text block is merely glued to a flimsy cardboard cover.
21

With any prolonged use, the spine will surely fail and pages will begin to fall out. A somewhat
expensive purchase, I would have preferred that this monumental reference work had been more
sturdily constructed. Alas, The Earthly Recordings is a labor of love for a vanishingly small,
specialized audience and no doubt a library bound edition would cost upwards of $100.00.
Nevertheless, The Earthly Recordings is an essential resource for the serious Sun Ra fan. Now
almost a decade out of date, perhaps a hardbound, thousand-page third edition will be forthcoming.
+++
Another fabulous resource (that I forgot I even had) is Sun Ra Scores, another amazing bit ofscholarship compiled by ethnomusicologist James Wolf. From the years 1956 to 1973, Ra deposited
a couple hundred pages of sheet music to the Library of Congress for copyright purposes and Wolf
managed to retrieve and photocopy the collection during the mid-1990s. Subsequently, thecollection was made available to members of the Saturn internet community for a nominal copyingfee. Predictably, most of the “scores” contain only the barest information: a melody, lyrics, andperhaps some chord symbols. However, as I was flipping through them today, I was surprised tofind meticulously detailed scores for “And Otherness” and “Moon Dance,” two seemingly loosely
structured pieces from Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy. These appear to be not meretranscriptions, but fully realized compositions with additional elements not found on the record.
Fascinating!
+++With these tools at hand, we will continue the examination of the Choreographer’s Workshop
recordings next week (I hope).
Sam said...
I hear what you're saying about the binding of the 2nd edition--the spine on mine is cracked, andI'm worried that pages are going to start falling out. Admittedly, I've used it a lot--a lot!--but it prettymuch started falling apart as soon as I got it. Until (if) a new edition ever comes out, for the record
there's also the "Earthly Extension" at http://zxzy.narod.ru/extension.html which has some
updates, some listings not in the 2nd ed. Also, I have been compiling a list of corrections andamplifications, not very extensive, maybe 10-15 entries.

22

MARCH 29, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Myth Science Arkestra: When Sun Comes Out (Evidence ECD 22068)
Recorded at the Choreographer’s Workshop, NYC, 1962-1963
Originally released as El Saturn 2066 (1963)
When Sun Comes Out is truly a landmark record in Ra’s discography: it was the first New York
recording to be released on Ra’s own El Saturn label and it contains some of Tommy Hunter’s firststereo recordings made at the Choreographer’s Workshop – quite technologically advanced
accomplishments for a shoestring operation in 1963. Some years later, Sun Ra deposited amanuscript with the Library of Congress entitled, “When Sun Comes Out,” which contains a fairly
detailed score for most the tracks on the album assembled into a kind of suite. Clearly, Raconsidered this an important work – although it is impossible to tell from the score whether it was
produced before or after the recording. As with many aspects of Sun Ra’s work, this document
poses at least as many questions as it answers.
“Circe” opens the album with ominous, irregular strikes of a gong – loud and soft, ringing andchoked, fast and slow. Bells and hand drums enter with a stuttering rhythm while a mysterious
singer named Theda Barbara vocalizes wordlessly (and somewhat melodramatically) with a big,warbling vibrato. The mostly pentatonic melody is fully notated in the score with alternating
measures of 5/4 and 9/4 over the gong’s droning G. Subsequently, the bells, gong, and hand drums
coalesce into a steady rhythm before suddenly fading out. “The Nile” sets out with gently rolling
percussion with Ra and Boykins engaging contrasting three-note ostinato patterns to support abeautiful, Arabic-sounding flute melody scored for Marshall Allen. Allen takes considerable liberties
with the melody as it goes along, but always hits specified targets, indicating that the score might
predate the recording. “Brazilian Sun” features suitably Latin-sounding hand drums and claves with
Boykins holding down a circular riff on bass. Ra stabs out parallel chords to spell out a tense,
unresolved melody. The sunny percussion contrasts with the tonally shiftless piano to create a23

definite atmospheric tension – a bit of spiritual unease despoiling the fantasy of tropical paradiseperhaps?
The version of “We Travel the Spaceways” heard here is a bit more aggressive than on theeponymous LP (found on Evidence ECD 22038) – and it is also recorded in stereo. Teddy Nance
and Bernard Pettaway sit in on trombones, giving the tune a darker, more menacing tone. After the
opening space chant, the increasingly dissonant interplay between Gilmore’s energetic tenor solo
and Ra’s percussive piano gives this rendition a decidedly avant garde feel. Ra slides in some dreamy
celeste during the vocal sections, demonstrating his uniquely orchestral approach to keyboard
accompaniment. “Calling Planet Earth” benefits as well from the more spacious stereo recording. A
fully notated vocal ensemble urgently intones the title until Pat Patrick enters with some coruscating
baritone saxophone which is reinforced by Ra’s furious two-handed piano attack. Adding to thetumultuous assault, both Lex Humphries and John Gilmore are pounding away on drums. Yes, John
Gilmore on trap drums! And Ra sounds more like Cecil Taylor than Cecil himself did in 1963! Thisis some wild stuff!
The other stereo recording is “Dancing Shadows,” cut at the same session that yielded several tracks
on The Invisible Shield. It is a classic Ra-styled atonal bebop number full of strident tritones andbreathtakingly wide interval leaps, all driven hard by Clifford Jarvis’s frenetic drumming. Ra spins amesmerizing piano solo before giving way to yet another incredible Gilmore solo on tenor sax.
Walter Miller again demonstrates his prodigious technique with a bristling, angular trumpet solo
before the reprise. (Incidentally, the melody for “Dancing Shadows” is contained within theotherwise ultra-enigmatic “Twenty-First Century” suite in the Library of Congress manuscripts.)“The Rainmaker” is more dizzying, harmonically restless swing but with more polyphonic riffing
throughout. Ra peals off another excellent piano solo and Jarvis is at his Jarviest, bass drum
pumping away maniacally. Gilmore enters with yet another patented genius tenor sax solo
culminating in hair-raising, multiphonic blasts at the end. Holy crap!
“When Sun Comes Out” replaces Jarvis with the comparatively more laconic Lex Humphries, who
is bolstered with some busy hand percussion by the rest of the Arkestra. Ra plays slippery,
chromatically descending fourths atop an oscillating, two-note bass which is doubled by Boykins.
Marshall Allen and Danny Davis proceed to dance and duel on wailing alto saxophones with somepinched, emphatic Walter Miller trumpet interjected here and there. Meanwhile, the rhythm section
explores a subtly shifting harmonic landscape. Interestingly, the manuscript barely outlines the
opening piano figures which appear to be jumping off points for improvisation. Again, this makesme think that the score is something more than a transcription and possibly predates the recording.
Who knows?
+++
When working with the master tape to prepare this CD in 1993, Evidence discovered an unreleased
track running backwards in an unused stereo channel. On hearing the track for the first time in thirty
years, John Gilmore gave it the title “Dimensions in Time” and it appears here as a bonus track.
Echoing drums and tapping glass bottles underpin Gilmore’s seductively meandering bass clarinet.
His tone is dark, rich and gorgeous as he weaves delightful melodies around the pitter-pattering
percussion. Unfortunately, just as he reaches a climax, the track suddenly ends. As it turns out, thesecond part of this piece can be found on the 1974 Saturn LP entitled Space Probe (Saturn24

14200A/142000B) (confusingly, some copies were titled A Tonal View of Times Tomorrow
Vol.1). Here entitled, “Primitive,” the track cuts in exactly where “Dimensions in Time” ends, withthe last few notes of Gilmore’s bass clarinet statement after which the percussion vamp continues
for another couple minutes before fading out. As discrete fragments, these two pieces are a bit
frustrating to listen to (despite Gilmore brilliant playing); someday I’d like to digitally rejoin thesetracks to hear the complete piece in all its original glory.
Space Probe also includes another Choreographer’s Workshop recording from this period curiously
titled, “The Conversion of J.P.” Plopping drums create a feel similar to “The Nile” with Marshall
Allen’s expansive flute melody rising and falling amidst long spells of trance-inducing percussion.
Then, at about the eight-minute mark, Ra enters with some incongruously gospel-ish piano chords. I
guess this is the conversion happening! Ra then moves through a whole hymnal’s worth of plain,protestant harmonies before a final, insistently repeating cadence. Hallelujah! Now, who exactly is
J.P? And how are we to take all this apparent proselytizing given Ra’s complicated, if not downrightcontentious relationship with the Christian church? Indeed, the tension between the pagan
percussion/Pan-flute and the holy-rolling piano never quite comfortably resolves. Another curious
thing about this track is that, at almost fourteen minutes, it is by far the longest stretch ofcontinuous recorded music from this era. It makes me wonder if “When Sun Comes Out” was truly
conceived and recorded as an extended suite (as in the manuscript), with only selected excerpts
edited out for release on LP. Just another mystery of Mr. Ra to be infinitely pondered. Incidentally,
the B-Side of Space Probe contains an eighteen-minute Moog freakout from 1970 a la My Brother
the Wind Vol.2 -- an odd pairing, to say the least!
+++
The Evidence CD of When Sun Comes Out also contains Fate in a Pleasant Mood (El Saturn202) recorded in Chicago late-1960 to early-1961. I will examine it separately on another Sun Ra
Sunday.
+++Thanks once again to the indefatigable Sam Byrd for his help with this post!
Rodger Coleman said...
Of course, “Dancing Shadows” was a staple of UYA’s latter-day repertoire and can be heard on the
1995 Sun Ra Tribute CD titled Wavelength Infinity (Rastascan BRD 018). Astonishingly, it’s stillin print – you can even stream a sample of the track at Amazon! I just listened to the CD for the
first time in years. We were definitely onto something. (Too bad we let go of it.) Still, it amazes methat ours is the first track on the first disc – what an honor! I mean, there are some seriously heavy
hitters on that CD including Thurston Moore, The Residents, Eugene Chadbourne, Elliot Sharp and
Ken Vandermark – not mention NRBQ! Big thanks to Gino Robair for including us!
Sam said...
1. I actually listened again to that track a few months ago, and I didn't cringe. My favorite part is thelast 3-4 minutes where we really stretch it out. I'm definitely proud to be included on that disc!
2. "When Sun Comes Out" is a super-strong Ra LP. I am still just blown away by Clifford Jarvis's
bass drum playing on "Dancing Shadows." Ra gave Jarvis way too much drum solo space on too
25

many gigs, but when he's tight and in the pocket, like here, he really strengthens the groove.
Although overall I prefer the looser, less virtuosic feel of most of Ra's drummers (like Luqman Ali,
Lex Humphries, Bugs, and Roger Blank), it is nice sometimes to hear a real whiz like Jarvis lock inwith Boykins and kick seriously hard jazz butt (how's that for trenchant analysis?). Besides "Dancing
Shadows," my favorite track is "The Nile." I'd love to hear a connected version of "Dimensions inTime" with "Primitive" sometime.
AUGUST 9, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Astro-Infinity Arkestra: Continuation (Saturn ESR 520)
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 homerecording. After Ra’s piano introduction, Wayne Harris takes a nice solo on trumpet, his tone iswarm and mellow, his note choices exquisite. Next up, Ali Hassan takes a single tasteful chorus ontrombone. 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 biton 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 awonderfully strange piece.

26

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 askittering 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 andunwieldy 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 therequest of Sun Ra himself.
Side B contains the nearly continuous nineteen-minute live concert segment from 1969, and it’s acorker. “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 andscampering 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 thefall 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 theend 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 alengthy, super-intense tenor saxophone solo, full of “sheets-of-sound” flurries of notes, heroicallyover-blown honks and squeals, and impossible multi-register leaps. Sun Ra prods things along withmore furious piano, conducting brief entrances and exits of musicians while Gilmore continues towail. 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 freerhythm. 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.

27

MAY 19, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Continuation (Saturn LP/Corbett vs. Dempsey 2CD)
Announced way back in 2009, the two-CD reissue of Continuation (containing previously unissued
material) is now finally available—but not from Atavistic, who have apparently shuttered the“Unheard Music Series.” Instead, the set has been lovingly packaged in a deluxe, triple-gatefold
carboard sleeve and released in a limited edition by Corbett vs. Dempsey, John Corbett and Jim
Dempsey’s Chicago art gallery. It’s been well worth the wait.
Continuation has always been one of the rarest and most discographically obscure items in the El
Saturn catalog—and that’s saying something! Released in a single, miniscule edition in 1970, therecording dates have always been assumed to be 1968 or ’69 (with side two taken from a live
performance)—although Prof. Campbell expresses some doubts, suggesting that “”on stylistics
grounds an earlier date is possible” (Campbell & Trent p.148). It doesn’t help matters that theoriginal album jacket contains boatloads of inaccuracies and outright misinformation: neither Wayne
Harris nor Akh Tal Ebah are playing trumpet; it is, instead, Walter Miller on trumpet and Ali Hasan
on trombone. Moreover, Robert Barry does not play drums (“lightning" or otherwise) and you will
not hear Danny Thompson on “Neptunian libflecto.” To make matters even more confusing, thejacket places the recording place as “EL SATURN STUDIOS : Minneapolis, Minn.” but I don’t
think anyone ever took that too seriously. In my own review, I wrote: “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 ambiance (and massively
increased hiss) sounds like some of the Choreographer’s Workshop recordings (but this might justbe wishful thinking).”
As it turns out, that is exactly where these recordings were made, during a single session on March
10, 1963 which (according to Corbett’s liner notes) produced parts of the classic albums, Other
28

Planes of There(“Sound Spectra/Spec Sket”), When Sun Comes Out (“Calling Planet Earth”) andWhen Angels Speak of Love (“Ecstasy of Being” and “The Next Stop Mars”). Amazing! As longtime readers know, the Choreographer’s Workshop recordings hold a particular fascination for me
and were the original impetus for my starting Sun Ra Sunday in the first place: I wanted to try andunlock their mysteries, particularly as they were presented un-chronologically on the Evidence CDsof the 1990s. To have another piece of the puzzle firmly in place is reason enough for celebration—
but to have an additional 40 minutes of previously unreleased material from this period is truly
miraculous!
The album itself is a classic (and now that we know its provenance, we know why) and side two can
now be properly understood as another in a series of innovative, long-form conductedimprovisations in the same vein as “Other Planes of There” and “The Magic City.” Thespontaneous appearance of “The Second Stop Is Jupiter” amidst all the strangeness most likely
prompted discographers to assume this was recorded in concert circa.1968 but all the tracks areclearly from the same Choreographer’s Workshop session. In retrospect, it’s hard to believe that the
mellifluous Walter Miller could have ever been confused with the rough-edged Ebah—but now it allcomes together and makes sense. Not ’68, ’63!
The nine “bonus” tracks offer further revelations into the obscure history of the Choreographer’sWorkshop period. Several tracks (“Meteor Shower,” “Conversation of the Universe,” and “TheBeginning Of”) sound like experimental soundchecks, testing Hunter’s echo/reverb device withvarious instruments. The vibe is typically spooky and spacey but the music never really develops into
anything cohesive. Elsewhere, otherwise unknown compositions make their first (and perhaps only)
appearances: “Blue York” (a pun on their newly adopted hometown) is a wistful blues featuring abreathy, romantic lead from John Gilmore on tenor sax while “Ihnfinity” is a beautiful ballad form
for piano and Miller’s warm-toned trumpet. At less than three minutes each, these lovely pieces are
far too short—they’re over before you know it! “Endlessness” is more involved, pitting angular,
uptempo swing against a twisty, complicated head arrangement. Although the mix is woefully offbalance and Gilmore sounds unusually short-breathed and squeaky, it’s obviously an ambitious
composition. Similarly, “Red Planet Mars” evokes the splintered, frenetic pace of “The Shadow
World,” complete with full-bore saxophone battles and high-energy group improvisation—yet theband sounds somewhat tentative, as if this were just a one-off run-through. Was either of thecompositions ever played again? Who knows? The disc ends with “Cosmic Rays,” a vaguely familiarsounding construction of dissonant block-chords which gives way to more “New Thing”-styled freejazz. Gilmore sounds possessed, but leaves plenty of space for Miller and Hasan—and we even getsome tasty bass clarinet from Robert Cummings. But an overlong drum solo and a pointless coda ofuninspired group improv after "The Next Stop Mars" breaks the spell. As nice as it is haveadditional Choreographer’s Workshop material available, these “bonus” tracks reveal Sonny’s astuteediting skills more than anything else (especially during this period): he used only the best stuff for
the albums.
That said, the CD mastering is superb and Sun Ra fans will definitely need to have this long-overdue
reissue in their collections—but don’t hesitate! While there is nothing expressly indicating a limited
edition, this articlein The Chicago Reader states that “most” Corbett vs. Dempsey CDs are “strictly
limited to 1000 copies—once they’re gone, they’re gone.” Vinylphiles should also note that an LP
reissue (minus the bonus tracks and complete with erroneous information on the jacket) is alsoavailable on El Saturn Research (now a part ofUniversal Music Group). Interestingly, this one is not29

pressed on 180-gram vinyl—and perhaps that’s a good thing since several of the heavyweight Saturn
reissues I bought suffered from severe warping and non-fill problems. My copy of Continuation,
however, looks and plays fine. In either format, this one is essential!
+++
Corbett vs. Dempsey has also just released a slender monograph, Sun Ra + Ayé Aton: Space, Interiors
and Exteriors, 1972, a collection of color photographs of Ra taken on the set of the Space Is The
Place movie along with Poloroids of Aton’s futuristic house murals painted under the influence anddirection of Sun Ra during the late-‘60s and early-‘70s. Unfortunately, brief essays by Glenn Ligon
and John Corbett are marred by poor copy-editing, with the latter’s essay riddled with blank spaces
where additional information was clearly meant to be inserted. Oh well. Even so, the photos are
nicely reproduced and Corbett should be applauded for continuing to make available such printed
materials and other ephemera from the Saturn Research archives. Certainly, Space, Interiors andExteriors 1972 should elevate Aton's position in the pantheon of radical African-American visual
artists.
Sam said...
On the Saturn list, John Sudduth points out that "Endlessness" and "Red Planet Mars" have alreadybeen released, on "When Sun Comes Out." "Endlessness" = " The Rainmaker" and "Red PlanetMars" = the title track, "When Sun Comes Out." I did a spot check, and he's correct! Interesting.
APRIL 17, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Space Probe (Saturn 527/Art Yard CD 011)
Space Probe is another super-obscure Saturn release with a tortured history. Originally released in
1974, early discographies assigned a catalog number Saturn 527, although no known copies bear thisnumber (See Campbell & Trent, p.107, 158). Instead, matrix numbers 14200A /14200B appear on
most labels, although the sides are sometimes reversed (Id.). To make things even more confusing,
the album was sometimes titled A Tonal View Of Times Tomorrow, Vol.1 (Saturn 527!) and,worse, there are numerous hybrid versions ofSpace Probe with a completely different B-Side (See,30

Id. for all the gory details). And that’s just the beginning of the discographical weirdness. So it goeswith Sun Ra records! And that’s essentially why I feel compelled to write about this stuff—it’s the
only way I can make sense of it all. Thankfully, the Art Yard label has recently reissued the original
version of Space Probe in an expanded CD edition which includes unedited performances andseveral unissued outtakes from the era. Hooray!
The title track was recorded in August, 1969, shortly after Sun Ra purchased his first MiniMoogs,
making it one of the first epic synthesizer solos he ever recorded. And it is truly epic: almost
eighteen minutes of spaceship noises, cosmic bloops and bleeps and other electronic mayhem. While
not as hair-raising as later live performances would be, it’s still an adventurous solar voyage anddemonstrates his near-osmotic mastery of the complex technology. Michael D. Anderson, Executive
Director of The Sun Ra Music Archive, makes an interesting (if somewhat garbled) statement about
Ra’s electronic keyboards in his liner notes for this release:
Sunny was great in using the moog and other organs as an extension of himself reaching out into the outer spheres.
This is why later in the mid 80’s when the Moog, Farfisa and the Yamaha organs were stolen in the [sic] Sunnybegan to strictly play piano and more standard music material. I knew that this unnoticed by others [sic] pained him. I
would look at the expression on his face and you could see that he had so much more to say but was limited without
the organs.
I had never heard Sun Ra’s keyboards had been stolen and Szwed makes no mention of it in his
biography. I just figured he went digital like everyone else by the mid-80’s. In any event, it’s true: thebig multi-keyboard freakouts were eventually abandoned by that time.
Side B of Space Probe goes in a completely different direction, consisting of two tracks recorded at
the Choreographer’s Workshop in New York City on April 29, 1962. Originally, “Primitive” was justa couple of minutes of percussion jamming, but when Evidence was preparing the CD release of
When Sun Comes Out, they discovered the rest of the track. Previously, I wrote:
When working with the master tape to prepare this CD in 1993, Evidence discovered an unreleased track runningbackwards in an unused stereo channel. On hearing the track for the first time in thirty years, John Gilmore gave it
the title “Dimensions in Time” and it appears here as a bonus track. Echoing drums and tapping glass bottles
underpin Gilmore’s seductively meandering bass clarinet. His tone is dark, rich and gorgeous as he weaves delightful
melodies around the pitter-pattering percussion. Unfortunately, just as he reaches a climax, the track suddenly ends.
As it turns out, the second part of this piece can be found on the 1974 Saturn LP entitled Space Probe. . .Entitled“Primitive,” the track cuts in exactly where “Dimensions in Time” ends with the last few notes of Gilmore’s bass
clarinet statement after which the percussion vamp continues for another couple minutes before fading out. As discrete
fragments, these two pieces are a bit frustrating to listen to (despite Gilmore brilliant playing); someday I’d like todigitally rejoin these tracks to hear the complete piece in all its original glory.
Well, the engineers at Art Yard have done just that, retitling it, “Earth Primitive Earth,” and it’ssublime! The question remains: did Sun Ra deliberately edit out Gilmore’s solo, leaving only apercussion track? Or did the first half just go missing prior to 1974? If this track is compiled fromthe two known fragments, it is seamlessly well done—or is this the original, unedited master? Well,in my opinion, the inclusion of Gilmore’s rarely heard bass clarinet playing greatly improves the
track and the album as a whole, whatever Sonny’s intentions were. Maybe he was mad at him thatday…
31

More discographical mysteries: Originally titled, “The Conversion of J.P.”, Art Yard has retitled thistrack, “The Conversation of J.P.” Huh? I’m not sure if that’s a typo or if that is the real title but it
certainly changes the meaning considerably! I previously wrote:
Plopping drums create a feel similar to “The Nile” with Marshall Allen’s expansive flute melody rising and fallingamidst long spells of trance-inducing percussion. Then, at about the eight-minute mark, Ra enters with someincongruously gospel-ish piano chords. I guess this is the conversion happening! Ra then moves through a whole
hymnal’s worth of plain, protestant harmonies before a final, insistently repeating cadence. Hallelujah! Now, who
exactly is J.P? And how are we to take all this apparent proselytizing given Ra’s complicated, downright contentious
relationship with the Christian church? Indeed, the tension between the pagan percussion/Pan-flute and the holyrolling piano never quite comfortably resolves. Another curious thing about
this track is that, at almost fourteen
minutes, it is by far the longest stretch of continuous recorded music from this era.
Now if the real title is “The Conversation of J.P.”, well never mind. Either way, it’s a wonderfulpiece—but I think “The Conversion” is a more evocative and fitting title than “The Conversation.”
And we still don’t know who “J.P.” is. Oh, and while the liner notes claim this version is “complete”
and previously unreleased, it is actually the same as on the original album, except for perhaps asmoother fadeout at the end.
Art Yard generously fills out the rest of the CD with five previously unissued tracks recorded during
the Choreographer’s Workshop period, circa. 1962-63. Two of them are mere fragments: a fortyseven second alternate take of “Circe” featuring Thea Barbara’s dramatic vocalizing and “Destiny”,
thirty-three seconds of spacey piano and percussion bathed in Bugs Hunter’s reverb/echo device.
The rest are more substantive: “Solar Symbols II” is an extended alternate take from When Sun
Comes Out, featuring clankety cans and bottle percussion accompanying Ra’s dreamy, rhapsodic
piano while “Dance Of The Wind” works in a similarly tensile, polyrhythmic fashion, with theplodding hand drums pushing and pulling against Ra’s increasingly enervated keyboarding. Finally,“Recollections of There” again features Thea Barbara, who wordlessly intones a modal melody withSun Ra’s densely figured piano and sparse, eerie percussion. Ra is playing at an astonishing level ofvirtuosity here (albeit on a beat-up, out-of tune piano). At the core of the piece is a fleeting chord
sequence which appears just as quickly dissolves into controlled abandon, Sonny tossing off spiky,
ten-fingered polyphony across the entire range of the instrument. It’s quite a display and reminderthat he was an extraordinarily gifted and visionary pianist.
Ultimately, Space Probe is something of a mixed bag—a fact that is reflected in its unstablediscographical history. The title track is a wild synth space-out—but not something I want to listen
to every day. However, the Choreographer’s Workshop stuff is where it’s at for me. There is acertain vibe to those recordings—the sound, the ambience, the relaxed, experimental approach—that was never quite replicated as the Arkestra became more professional and routinized. Those
recordings are magical, even if they sometimes fail to cohere musically. Even the tiniest fragments
offered on this expanded CD reissue are tantalizing to listen to, full of promise. So for me, this is an
essential purchase (the complete “Primitive” and “The Conversion of J.P” are classic tracks,
whatever the titles). But the merely curious should consider starting elsewhere and go from there.

32

MARCH 1, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra Featuring Pat Patrick: “A Blue One” / “Orbitration in Blue” (Saturn
SRA-999)
Recorded at the Choreographer’s Workshop, New York City, early-1962
Originally released late-1964
This super-obscure seven-inch 45-RPM single was discovered too late to appear on Evidence’s The
Singles(ECD 22164) (1996) and that’s too bad because it’s a stunner and it remains sadly out of
print. Note that Arkestra stalwart, Pat Patrick receives a rare co-billing on the disc’s label; well, his
spectacular baritone saxophone playing on these two Choreographer’s Workshop tracks suitably
justifies the honorific.
Laurdine “Pat” Patrick was born November 23, 1929 in East Moline, Illinois and was the first of
several graduates of Captain Walter Dyett’s DuSable High School who would fall in with Sun Ra in
Chicago after around 1950. (For more information on Captain Dyett, see Szwed, pp.87-89, 94 andGeorge E. Lews, A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental
Music (Chicago, 2008).) Ra biographer John Szwed aptly sums up the importance Ra’s early
association with the youthful Pat Patrick:
Pat Patrick [was] a baritone saxophonist of enormous resources, a prodigy; a humorous but highly organized person,
whose playing reflected both qualities: “He’d be playing and suddenly this note would come from nowhere, and soundwrong,” said bassoonist James Jacson, who played with Sonny many years later; “but as he went on you’d see how it
was deceptive…it fit perfectly.” […] Patrick was something special, a musician of the right spirit, intelligent, honest,
serious. He saw to it that Sonny was protected, and was quick to help any other members of the band in trouble.
Patrick was the best musician Sonny ever had in any of his bands. He got the point of ideas and music immediately(“You got it down, Pat,” Sonny always said). He had great hopes for him, and felt that with Pat he had the basis fora band capable of executing the music he had been working on for over ten years (pp. 87-88).
Patrick was a charter member of Sun Ra’s Space Trio, the Arkestra’s precursor, and a 1951 homerecording entitled, “Treasure Hunt,” documents Patrick’s already full-bodied sound and smooth,33

thoughtful invention. Patrick would remain committed to Sun Ra until the end of his life in 1991,
but he also worked with such luminaries as Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, andMongo Santamaria, with whom he co-wrote the 1963 hit, “Yeh Yeh.”
The A-side of this little gem, “A Blue One,” is a rollicking mid-tempo Ra blues, with a simple psshtap-bang rhythm and stolid walking bass that sets up a subtly killing groove. Ra takes a brief turn on
the piano before Patrick enters with a burbling bari-sax solo that ranges freely from the resonant
growls of the lowest registers to high-register wails and cries, with astonishingly fleet passagework
full of widely spaced intervals and intricate legato runs. Boykins takes the lead with some funky,
stop-start bass before fading out. This should have been a hit! The B-side, “Orbitration in Blue,” is a
bluesy, drummer-less ballad featuring another wild excursion on bari-sax. Incongruously opening
with some honking low notes, Patrick’s playing is simultaneously suave and smooth and rough andedgy. At about 1:44, he blasts out one of those seemingly “wrong” notes that Jacson mentions, fullof buzzing squeaks and harmonics that somehow manages to resolve itself beautifully as the pianoand bass navigate the lush chord changes. Patrick concludes his solo with a flourish and the track
quickly fades out. Far out!
Pat Patrick once said, “Sun Ra was another kind of being. He was educational, he helped you togrow and develop. He was a black self-help organization run on a shoe-string…If he could’ve had
the resources, the planet would be a better place. That’s all he’s done: tried to make life better”(quoted in Szwed, p. 89). This single is brimming with high-spirited and uplifting swing and inspired
improvisation. Listening to it does make the planet a better place -- for a few minutes anyway.
+++
Pat Patrick is also the father of Massachusetts’ Governor, Deval Patrick. The Governor discusses
the complicated relationship with his largely absent father in this Boston Globe article from March,
2007: [link broken]+++
Big thanks again to Sam Byrd for his assistance with this post!
+++
Photo of Pat Patrick, 1958, from The Cry of Jazz. (See From Sonny Blount to Sun Ra: The
Chicago Years.)

34

OCTOBER 4, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Janus (1201 Music CD)
Janus was apparently conceived by Sun Ra as a self-contained album around 1970, but it was neverissued. In 1971, the tapes were sold (along with a bunch of other recordings) to Alan Bates, but
Black Lion also failed to release any of this material. Eventually, some of these tracks were scatteredacross various obscure Saturn LPs of the seventies and eighties, such as Invisible Shield and Space
Probe and only on exceptionally hard to find, hybridized pressings at that. Thankfully, 1201 Music
rescued this long neglected album, releasing it essentially as Ra originally conceived it on this 1999
CD, complete with insightful liner notes from Prof. Robert L. Campbell himself. The music wasmostly recorded around 1967 to 1970, although there is a tantalizing expanse of music from themagical Choreographer’s Workshop period tacked onto the title track – a precocious bit of editingthat demonstrates Ra’s skills with a razor blade and splicing tape. Despite their variable soundquality and sometimes haphazard packaging, Sun Ra constructed his albums with great care andconsidered the LP as something more than mere documentation of his work, but as works of art inand of themselves. Janus is an excellent example of his craftsmanship.
In his liner notes, Campbell aptly describes “Island in the Sun” as “one of those relaxed, flowing
compositions with mildly exotic rhythms that are much beloved by Ra fans.” Indeed, it is beautiful
example of what I call Ra’s “space ballads.” Marshall Allen’s flute harmonizes so nicely with Danny
Davis’s alto clarinet on the lilting, sing-song-ing melody while Ronnie Boykins lays down a loping
bass line atop the cheerfully pitter-pattering hand drums. Sonny enters with a sparse solo consistingof floating piano chords before Allen returns to lead into the final, peaceful refrain. What a lovely
way to begin the album.

35

Despite the label text, the CD combines “The Invisible Shield” and “Janus” into one thirteenminute-long track, which makes sense in a way, since these two tracks are constructed from threedifferent performances and the one segues directly into the other. (Still, I’d rather have each title
separately indexed and the label is misleading.) Recorded live in 1970, “The Invisible Shield” openswith an outrageous alto saxophone solo by Marshall Allen, accompanied by Danny Ray Thompson
on the ghostly Neptunian Libflecto (a bassoon with French Horn mouthpiece) but Ra soon takes
over with a two-fisted organ/synthesizer solo that sounds like a mad scientist conjuring up
doomsday. Right at the apocalyptic climax, a tape edit slams us into “Janus,” the first thirty-fiveseconds of which are from a Sun Studio recording circa. 1967 or ‘68 with Ra on clavinet or gongs(or both), heavily amplified and distorted, creating ominous thunderclouds and sonic lightning. Then
another quick edit splices in a very spacey improvisation recorded at the Choreographer’s Workshop
circa. 1963, full of Tommy Hunter’s over-the-top reverb and echo effects along with Allen’s piccolo
and Art Jenkins’s eerie “space voice.” A final edit ends the piece with quietly chiming bell sounds.
Ra’s sequencing of this wildly disparate material into a satisfying whole is a perfect example of his
visionary, DIY approach to record-making.
The album closes with two live recordings from early 1968. “Velvet” is a swinging, big-band bop
number that dates back to 1959’s Jazz in Silhouette (Saturn 5786/Evidence ECD 22014). The
ensemble sections are a little shaky, but Pat Patrick turns in an exemplary performance with his
rumbling baritone sax solo, Robert Northern provides a couple of choruses on the rarely heard
French horn, and Ra delivers a typically terse statement on piano before the reprise. “Joy” is aconducted improvisation that begins with dissonant, braying horns over Ra’s cascading piano
clusters and pounding drums and percussion. The ensemble eventually drops out leaving Danny
Davis to extemporize a cappella on the alto sax before the rhythm sections returns to provide
frenzied support. After a while, the full ensemble resumes its scattering of contrary lines, honks, andsqueals and Ra plays rippling, romantic chords on piano along with pure-toned whines on theClavioline. The music gets slowly quieter while Jarvis takes over with a typically manic drum solothat abruptly cuts off after a minute or so. Did the tape run out? Or is this another deliberate edit?
Either way, I’m grateful; there is no doubt Jarvis went on and on for several more minutes!
Certainly, it is an odd ending to an otherwise very interesting piece of music.
Janus not only contains precious documentation of a crucial period in Sun Ra’s music, but it is alsoa supremely well-crafted album in its own right. Covering a wide range of material in a mere thirtyfive minutes, it would make an excellent introduction to Ra’s sixties era music for the novice; for the
connoisseur, it is absolutely essential.

36

FEBRUARY 1, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Myth Science Arkestra: Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy (Evidence ECD
2036)
Recorded at The Choreographer’s Workshop, NYC, late 1963
Originally released as Saturn 408 (1967) and Thoth Intergalactic KH 2272 (1969)
Of all the outlandish and evocative titles in Sun Ra’s discography, Cosmic Tones For Mental
Therapystands out in its audacious, baldly prescriptive claim. But, to be sure, the title is no idle puton. In fact, Ra had presciently been involved in what would nowadays be known as "music therapy”
back in the late-1950s:[Manager] Alton Abraham arranged through his medical contacts for Sonny to play for a group of patients at a
Chicago mental hospital…The group of patients assembled for this early experiment in musical therapy included
catatonics and severe schizophrenics, but Sonny approached the job like any other, making no concessions in his music.
While he was playing, a woman who it was said had not moved or spoken for years got up from the floor, walked
directly to his piano, and cried out, ‘Do you call that music?’ Sonny was delighted with her response and told the story
for years afterwards as evidence of the healing powers of music (Szwed, p.92-93).
While the term “music therapy” may conjure up some kind of dulcet, inoffensive, New-Age-ypabulum, the Cosmic Tones marshaled here are anything but easy-listening. Ra practices a kind ofelectro-shock treatment to the soul, seeking to, as with the catatonic mental patient, “touch the
unknown part of the person, awaken the part of them that we’re not able to talk to, the spirit”(Szwed, p. 257). Ra did not consider the Arkestra to be musicians so much as “tone scientists”(Szwed, p. 112) whose investigations and manipulations of musical phenomena could help mankind
37

in its earthly struggles. “People are disturbed and need your help 24 hours a day,” he would lecture
the band (quoted in Szwed, p. 374).
People are just like receivers, they’re like speakers, too, like amplifiers. They’re also like instruments because they got aheart that beats and that’s a drum. They’ve got eardrums too, and they some strings in there, so they actually got harps
on each side of their head. If you play certain harmonies, these strings will vibrate in people’s ears and touch different
nerves in the body. When the proper things are played in each person, these strings will automatically tune themselvesproperly and then the person will be in tune. There will be no discord, they will be tuned up perfectly, just like eachautomobile have to be tuned according to what kind of automobile it is. My music does have a vibration somewhere
within it that can reach every person in the audience through feeling (quoted in Szwed, p. 345).
Electro-shock treatment is also an appropriate metaphor in that electronic technology was always animportant tool in Ra’s medic bag. On Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy, Ra eschews the piano
altogether for the mewling whine of the Clavioline (an early keyboard synthesizer) and the swirly
Hammond organ. Further, electronic echo is slathered onto the proceedings byrecordist/percussionist Tommy “Bugs” Hunter, who had accidentally discovered the effect while
fooling around with the Ampex 602 tape recorder he had purchased at a pawn shop in 1962. By
plugging in a cable from the output jack into the input on the machine, massive reverberant echo
was produced.
I wasn’t sure what Sun Ra would think of it…I thought he might be mad – but he loved it. It blew his mind! By
working the volume of the output on the playback, I could control the effect, make it fast or slow, drop it out, or
whatever (quoted in Szwed, p. 187).
Astonishingly, all of this proto-psychedelia was created years before Timothy Leary and the hippies
discovered LSD and invented “acid rock.” While Ra sought the kind of change in consciousness thatpsychedelics promised (and, later, he certainly profited to some extent from the hippies’ taste forspacey freakouts), he abjured drugs and forbade his musicians from indulging themselves. And nomatter how outrageous his music might sound, it was never merely a free-form “freakout.” No, themembers of the Arkestra were sober, disciplined scientists conducting advanced research andrevealing their findings.
Much of the music on Cosmic Tones appears to be in the form of brief conducted improvisations(a form that would later be refined and expanded on Other Planes of There (1964) (Evidence ECD
22037, 1992) and The Magic City (1965) (Evidence ECD 22069, 1993). Unusual instrumentation(and a conspicuous absence of brass instruments) predominates: besides Ra’s electronic keyboards,
Marshall Allen concentrates on oboe and flute while John Gilmore plays bass clarinet andpercussion exclusively. Known for his prowess as a tenor saxophonist, Gilmore’s brilliant solo on
the quasi-rhumba, “Adventure Equation” demonstrates his remarkable virtuosity and inventivenesson the notoriously recalcitrant bass clarinet. Interestingly, the Arkestra rarely plays all at once, giving
the music a contemporary-classical, chamber music quality, albeit with that “Saturn Sound” that is so
unique to Sun Ra.
“And Otherness” opens the album with middle-eastern-sounding oboe and clip-clopping log drums
before throbbing, low-register “space chords” assert themselves amongst the horns and Clavioline.
Pat Patrick enters with herky-jerky blasts on the baritone saxophone before gently flowing,
antiphonal horn lines bring the piece to an open-ended close. “Thither and Yon” again features38

some snaky oboe, this time with echoey minimalist percussion tapping, scribbled flute
ornamentation, and Ronnie Boykins’s forceful pizzicato and delightfully singing arco bass. “MoonDance” stands out as an almost funky strut with its repetitive bass riff, lackadaisically propulsive
drums and small percussion, and Ra’s occasionally soaring, soulful organ. “Voice of Space” is a kindof an improvised concerto for Ronnie Boykins’s bowed bass, accompanied by stabbing organ
chords, clattering percussion, and thick, heaving echo. Danny Davis shines on alto saxophone,weaving wiggly filigrees in the background or more aggressively battling the hissing reverb feedback
that always threatens to overwhelm. At one point, Boykins’s bass tremolos merge imperceptibly with
Ra’s rumbling organ which then duets with Gilmore’s woody bass clarinet – a moment of groupmind at its most sublime.
So does Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy live up to its restorative claims? The usual disclaimers
apply: any medication can affect people in different ways and the potential side effects are
unpredictable. You may experience dizziness and disorientation, but this is normal. Thankfully,
overdosage is rarely fatal. In any case, if you find yourself suffering from psychic imbalances, thiscan be an effective cure.
+++This CD also contains Art Forms Of Dimensions Tomorrow, recorded in 1962 and tenuously
connected toCosmic Tones in venue and in the prevalence of Tommy Hunter’s echo machine.
Otherwise, it is its own thing and worthy of close examination. But that will have to wait for another
day.

39

APRIL 19, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Roz Croney, Queen of the Limbo: How Low Can You Go? (Dauntless DM 6309)
Recorded at Mastertone Studio, New York City, January or February, 1963
Released as Dauntless DM 4039 (mono) and 6309 (stereo) in 1963
While Sun Ra was extensively recording Arkestra rehearsals at the Choreographer’s Workshop and
exploring the outer realms of (im)possible music, there was little actual paying work in New York.
Fortunately, Ra had developed two important connections over the years: filmmaker/auteur Edward
O. Bland and (soon to become) legendary producer Tom Wilson, both of whom had worked with
Sonny in Chicago. As soon as Ra found himself stranded in the big city, Bland and Wilson helped
him out, resulting in the Savoy LP, The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra (1961). Often working intandem, Bland and Wilson continued to throw commercial work the Arkestra’s way during thiscrucial period – like, for instance, this limbo fad cash-in attempt rush-released in 1963.
Upon graduating from Harvard in 1954, Tom Wilson borrowed $900.00 to start the Transition
record label which was devoted exclusively to the most progressive jazz. In 1956, Wilson released
Cecil Taylor’s first record, Jazz Advance (CD on Blue Note 84462) along with Sun Ra’s first LP
under his newly assumed name,Jazz by Sun Ra Vol.1 (later titled Sun Song) (Delmark DD-411). A
second volume was also recorded and released as Sound of Joy (Delmark DD-414). As thenineteen-sixties progressed, Wilson eventually abandoned jazz for rock music went on to produce
landmark albums by Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, Simon & Garfunkel,
The Velvet Underground, Soft Machine and others. Wilson was one of the first and most successful
African-American record producers but died tragically young at 47 in 1978.
Edward O. Bland was a radical young Chicago disc jockey and early supporter of Sun Ra whoenlisted the Arkestra to participate in a short experimental film entitled, The Cry of Jazz (Atavistic
40DVD). Bland shrewdly convinced the band to work for free in exchange for whatever publicity thefilm might generate. The Cry of Jazz premiered at Roosevelt University in early 1959 and remains a
crucial document of black cinema. By 1961, Bland had relocated to New York City and was working
as a journeyman composer and arranger, sometimes (as here) in association with Tom Wilson.
Honestly, How Low Can You Go? is an example of the kind of imminently disposable, fashiondriven product that would appear to be the antithesis of Ra’s own (mostly unheard) music of thetime: it is simply work-for-hire without any artistic pretentions whatsoever. But what is remarkableabout the Arkestra’s (uncredited) performance is the complete lack of irony or condescension; it isprofessional to the point of anonymity. And upon close listening, one can confirm Gilmore’s raspy
bass clarinet on “It’s Limbo Time” and Ra’s slinky organ work on “Bossa Nova Limbo” and“Whole Lotta Shaking Going On.” Of course, the limbo originates from a Trinidadian funeral ritual
where the dancer moves to the rhythm under a stick held up by two persons without knocking or
touching the stick; if successful, the dancer repeats the maneuver again and again with the bar being
lowered each time. The symbolism of this triumphant dance of life over death surely appealed toRa’s sensibilities, even if this LP was ultimately destined for the trend-conscious cocktail parties of
the “space-age bachelor pad.” Sadly, little else is known about Roz Croney, Queen of the Limbo,
beyond this obscure recording and the limbo conceit is fleshed out to album-length proportions
with some truly dreadful material, including a limbo-ized take on “How Much Is that Doggie In The
Window?” Needless to say, How Low Can You Go? has never been (and never will be) releasedon CD and is not really worth seeking out unless you’re a totally committed Ra-fanatic.
+++
Again in 1963, Wilson and Bland hired the Arkestra for a pop/R&B session backing the (otherwise
unknown) singer Richard “Popcorn” Wylie. “Marlene” b/w “Do You Still Care for Me” wasreleased as a 45-RPM single on Epic Records (5-9663). According to Bland’s recollections at the
Jazz Institute of Chicago:
I was notified by his office only 24 hours before the session was scheduled to hit. I had to transcribe 4 lead sheets from
Wylie (who was musically illiterate) arrange and copy the 4 charts, and contract the musicians.
While I was working with Wylie (who was drunk) trying to transcribe the lead sheets, he vomited on me in theapartment of the Jazz trombonist / arranger / composer Tom McIntosh (who came to additional fame with the
Jazztet, James Moody and the Shaft [motion] pictures). [McIntosh (along with Bland and Wilson) was also
involved with the infamous Batman & Robin LP in 1966.]
Bland portrays Wylie as a helpless drunkard while Prof. Campbell describes Wylie as a “Sam Cookewannabe” but the session isn’t quite as bad as all that. “Marlene” is a pleasant mid-tempo soulgroove complete with crooning backup singers and Wylie’s own pleading vocals. Gilmore turns in
an inimitably pithy solo on bass clarinet during the break making this worth a listen. On the other
hand, “Do You Still Care For Me?” is a more pedestrian shuffle with some unremarkable horn parts
honking away in the background. Someone (is it Popcorn?) whistles aimlessly at the end. Anothercuriosity in the discography!
+++

41

Finally, another single was recorded in 1962 and eventually released by El Saturn sometime in the
mid-sixties. The label of El Saturn 144M reads: “Presenting Little Mack” with “Le Sun Ra: Music
Director.” According to Gilmore, Little Mack was an R&B singer who liked the Arkestra andfinanced this recording session which can be found on The Singles (Evidence ECD 22164). “Tell
Her to Come On Home” is a plaintive blues with an unsteady rumba beat. Gilmore and Ra conjure
up some cool riffing in support of Little Mack’s quirky but sincere vocals. On the other side, “I’m
Making Believe” is an old fashioned torch song full of maudlin emotion foreign to Ra’s usual vibe.
Even so, it’s a touching performance with Ra leading the way with some ornate piano, Gilmore
filling in orchestrally on saxophone. According to Ra, Little Mack was a virtuosic singer, who would
sing in different keys depending on the acoustic properties of the concert hall; but nobody seems toknow what happened to him. Too bad.
+++It’s hard to imagine that any of these records made much money for Ra or his musicians beyond aminimal payment upon performance. It was perhaps enough to buy some groceries. 1964 would bean especially difficult year with several key band members leaving the Arkestra (if only temporarily)
for greener pastures. The Arkestra would continue to perform commercial work here and there
through the nineteen-sixties in order to survive. But Sun Ra was also active within the short-lived
but crucial Jazz Composers Guild. The Guild, which included Bill Dixon and Cecil Taylor among
others, mounted a series high profile concerts in New York which planted the seed for theArkestra’s future. Attorney Bernard Stollman was in the audience in 1964 and he would shortly
thereafter sign Ra to his boutique label, ESP-Disk. Suddenly, things were looking up.

42

APRIL 12, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Myth Science Arkestra: When Angels Speak of Love (Evidence ECD 22216)
When Angels Speak of Love is one of the very rarest of the already exceedingly rare Saturn LPs.
Prof. Campbell estimates that two lots of seventy-five were pressed for a grand total of 150 LPs
circulated (p.108). Therefore, this music was virtually unheard by anyone but the most obsessed (andwell-heeled) when Evidence released it as part of their final installment of Saturn reissues back in
2000. Recorded in full-blown, down-home Saturn Sound at the Choreographer’s Workshop in 1963,
it is one of Ra’s most expansive, downright out-there recordings. Not surprisingly, it was not released
until 1966, at the height of the free-jazz Afrocentric radicalism that was, for a time, willing to accept
Ra’s most avant garde inclinations. Conceived way ahead of its time, When Angels Speak of Love
points the way forward to Heliocentric Worlds and beyond.
John Szwed singles out this album in his biography of Ra, Space is the Place: The Lives andTimes of Sun Ra (Pantheon, 1997):
It was considered a bizarre record when it was [released]…made more bizarre by extreme echo, horns straining for the
shrillest notes possible, rhythms layered, their polyhythmic effect exaggerated by massive reverberation (which was
abruptly turned off and on). “Next Stop Mars” is the centerpiece of the album, a very long work which opens with aspace chant, followed by Allen and Gilmore taking chances on their horns beyond what almost any other musician
would dare at that time. Sun Ra played behind them, again relentlessly spinning around a single tonal center with twohanded independence, then rumbling thunderously at the bottom of the keyboard against Boykins’s bass, a clangor
made heavier by electronic enhancement. (p. 199)
In the liner notes to this Evidence CD, the ever-astute John Corbett discusses how Tommy
Hunter’s fortuitous feedback discovery was as radically prescient as Ra’s music itself:43

Ra’s space…was alienated, de-naturalized, his use of echo more in common with pioneers of experimental electronic
music, and he anticipated much later developments in interactivity ranging from dub reggae to the live-electronics andcomputer improvisation projects of George Lewis, Phil Wachsmann and Evan Parker. At that time, as a recording
art, free jazz was still totally ensconced in the naturalizing concept (still really is), and the extreme use of echo on thesetracks is a significant indicator of how far Ra was willing to push the sonic envelope (to make a bad resonance joke) in
his own, unique electronic jazz maneuvers.
Szwed elaborates further on this aspect of Ra’s genius:
By the 1950s, commercial recording companies had developed a classical style of recording which assured that therecording process itself would be invisible,the machinery of recording being used like a picture window through which anillusion was created of “being there” with the musicians. But Sun Ra began to regularly violate this convention on the
Saturn releases by recording live at strange sites, by using feedback, distortion, high delay or reverb, unusual
microphone placement, abrupt fades or edits, and any number of other effects or noises which called attention to therecording process. On some recordings you could hear a phone ringing, or someone walking near the microphone. It wasa rough style of production, an antistyle, a self-reflexive approach which anticipated both free jazz recording conventions
and punk production to come. (p.188)
All of this is wholly correct, even though this is not the first appearance of Hunter’s reverb effectand, with the exception of “Celestial Fantasy” and “Next Stop Mars,” the rest of the album eschews
the radical displacements of the echo-machine for a (somewhat more) “naturalistic” recorded space.
But even where the echo and reverb effects are absent, this album is swathed with that charmingly
de-centered “Saturn Sound” that epitomizes the period. Significantly, both Corbett and Szwed touchon the importance of Ra’s use of new technologies as musical instruments and Ra’s visionary
engagement with the record-making process, despite near-zero budgets and ultra-limited
distribution. Ra embraced mediation on its own terms and deliberately created sonic objects whichtranscend the mere representation of some ideal performance. Imbued with a do-it-yourself, handmade authenticity, El Saturn LPs were works of art unto themselves.
“Celestial Fantasy” opens the album with gentle gongs and cymbals to introduce Walter Miller’s
jarring, high-register trumpet squeals. Marshall Allen then commences with a densely echoing, wildly
inventive oboe peroration while Boykins enters with plucked bass throbs. After Allen concludes his“fantasy,” Miller resumes his high-wire screeching before dropping down to the mellowest, lowestregisters to spar with the increasingly busy bass and drums, all of them echo-echo-echoing in the
lushly reverberant space. Miller is sadly underrated; yet he was such a thoughtful and thoroughly“complete” trumpeter, putting him in the category of a very select few. Anyway, the instruments
drift off to a pregnant moment of echoing near-silence before Miller and Allen return for further
exploration of their highest tessituras to end. This is a very intense beginning to a very intense album!
Thankfully, the next piece, “The Idea of it All,” is another patented Ra original: a crazy, atonal
bebop number driven by the madly swinging Clifford Jarvis on drums and which provides for yet
another killer Gilmore solo on tenor saxophone. What more needs to be said?
Things take a (re)turn for the strange on “Ecstasy of Being.” Opening with a meditation on theparadiddles of marching drums, Jarvis leads the Arkestra’s parade of joyously honking carryings-on.
After a while, the instruments drop out to allow for a shift to more subtle, sensuous rhythms -- anerotic dance between bass and percussion. The horns return with more ecstatic wailing until about
the nine minute mark when Ra signals a complexly-voiced, fortissimo “space chord” to end the44

piece. It would perhaps be too easy to interpret this piece as: ecstasy = being at war and being inlove. Nonetheless, it is interesting to ponder the wealth of symbolism in Ra’s oeuvre.
“When Angels Speak of Love” is a quirky, slow-tempo ballad featuring Pat Patrick’s most romantic
bari-sax crooning over Boykins’s half-time bass. Miller takes a graceful turn on trumpet, including
some precariously high, yet perfectly pitched notes. Meanwhile, Ra’s piano meanders while clickclackety percussion outlines a shaky beat. Gilmore and Robert Cummings (on bass clarinet) takebrief, somewhat tentative solos until Miller and Patrick return to restate the minimalist, dissonant
theme. The album closes with the epic “Next Stop Mars.” At almost eighteen minutes, this is by far
the longest recording of the Choreographer’s Workshop period. It is, as Szwed describes, full ofextended horn techniques producing “the shrillest notes possible” with Ra “relentlessly spinningaround a single tonal center with two-handed independence, then rumbling thunderously at thebottom of the keyboard.” Here and there, ticking and tapping percussion rise and fall but the texture
is chamber-like: piano, bass and horns. As Gilmore, Allen and Davis shriek and honk, Robert
Cummings weaves winding threads of virtuosic bass clarinet while Walter Miller punches holes inspace and glides effortlessly on his silvery trumpet. Ra’s piano is uncharacteristically voluble andaggressive. At first listen, the piece appears to be an anarchic free-for-all -- but that is hardly thecase. As Ra explains in the liner notes, “I can write something so chaotic you would say you know
it’s not written. But the reason it’s chaotic is because it’s written to be. It’s further out than anything
they would be doing if they were just improvising.”
In fact, there is a two-page score entitled, “When Angels Speak of Love,” deposited in the Library ofCongress that contains sketches for the title track, “Next Stop Mars” and “Ecstasy of Being.” They
are, alas, but sketches – perhaps hasty transcriptions at that – and they tell us little about the final
result as evidenced by the recording, although they are full of curious details (e.g. the cryptic
instruction to “play celestially”). Even so, the presence of such a manuscript is indicative of Ra’sfierce control over the musical material, despite its surface aural appearance. Even though his musicsometimes sounded “free,” it was not about freedom, it was about discipline.
+++

45This concludes our examination of the known Choreographer’s Workshop recordings. In sequence,these albums include: Bad & Beautiful, Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow, Secrets of the Sun,
Out There a Minute, "A Blue One (single), What’s New/The Invisible Shield, and When Sun
Comes Out. After When Angels Speak of Love, Ra recorded Cosmic Tones for Mental
Therapy and, finally, Other Planes of There. We will continue moving forward chronologically up
through Heliocentric Worlds and on into The Magic City in the coming weeks. But first we’ll
take a listen to some other super-obscure recordings Ra and the Arkestra made as unlikely sidemenin 1962-1963. Until then, here’s a poem by Sun Ra found in the liner notes to When Angels Speakof Love:
WHEN ANGELS SPEAK
When angels speak
They speak of cosmic waves of soundWavelength infinity
Always touching planets
In opposition outward bound
When angels speak
They speak on wavelength infinity
Beam cosmos
Synchronizing the rays of darkness
Into visible being
Blackout!
Dark Living Myth-world of being
Sam said...
What else can be said about "The idea of it all"? How about: why doesn't this show up in all the fakebooks? This is what they ought to be teaching to all those crackerjack bebop kids in jazz camps, orwherever the heck it is they go to play all those "charts." What a killer quintet! Could this be fromthe same sessions as the first version of "Dancing shadows"?
Sharief said...
An interesting side-note regarding Ra's song title 'The Ecstasy of Being': In Arabic the word for'being' (wujuud) and 'ecstasy' (wajd) are derived from the same root 'w-j-d'; they are inextricably
linked. Not only this, but 'wajad', also from the same root, means 'to find'. What this all means inIslamic and Sufi metaphysics is that once you discover (wajad) and realise the miracle and mysteriesof Being (wujuud) you find an ecstasy (wajd) which never leaves you (and which in fact increases ad
eternum). We were created to find this ecstasy! Ra, being of pure heart and spirit, definitely had
intuitive knowledge and perception of these types of spiritual realities, and of course we find thisreflected in his music and poetry. Let the intergalactic research continue! By the way thanks for thegood job you've been doing with all the Ra related posts! Peace!

46

NOVEMBER 30, 2008
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra: Other Planes of There (Evidence 22037 CD)
Recorded in New York City, 1964
Originally released as El Saturn LP 206 (1966)
My music is the music of precision…Actually, I don’t play free music, because there is no freedom
in the universe. If you were to be free you could just play no matter what and it doesn’t come backto you. But you see, it always does come back to you. That’s why I warn my musicians to be careful
what you play…every note, every beat, be aware that it comes back to you. And if you playsomething you yourself don’t understand, then that’s bad for you and for the people too. -- Sun Ra(quoted in Szwed, John, Space is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra (Pantheon) (p. 235-236)
The title track to Other Planes of There marks the first recorded appearance of extended group
improvisation by the Arkestra but, as indicated above, this is anything but “free jazz.” Sun Ra wasdeeply suspicious of the notion of freedom, remarking that the only free person was in the graveyard(id. p.309). In all of his work, he stressed the importance of discipline over freedom. At the height ofthe civil rights movement in 1968, he flatly stated: “Don’t be fooled, talking about revolutin’…what
the white race got to revolute against? They got everything. That’s not for you. Not no revoluting
for black people, no freedom, no peace. They need unity, precision and discipline” (id. p.100).
The twenty-two minute piece opens with a long, portentously held space chord declaimed by theentire ensemble but then immediately gives way to a series of small sub-group and solo episodes
whose entrances and exits are cued by Ra at the piano; his own ruminations vary from lushly
harmonic voicings that vaguely hint at some forgotten jazz standard to interlocking atonal arpeggiosthat foreshadow Cecil Taylor’s work a couple years later. At one point, a trombone choir improvises
antiphonally amidst pealing trumpet and honking baritone sax. The next minute, Marshall Allensolos on his snake-charming oboe. Heat and energy levels increase as John Gilmore’s squalling tenor
saxophone rides waves of skittering percussion and roiling piano figures but then subsides, leaving a47

stuttering trombone to solo before the return of massed space chords that herald the climaxing
ensemble improvisations. With a flourish, the piece decisively ends. While lacking any overt themesor chord progressions beyond the thickly voiced space chords, “Other Planes of There” isorganically structured, contemplative, and at times sounds more like modern chamber music thanthe unrelenting “energy music” that was/is propagated by many proponents of “free jazz.” For Sun
Ra, meaningful freedom meant the imposition of severe limits.
“Sound Spectra/Spec Sket” is another, less ambitious attempt at group improvisation. Afterestablishing a chugging drumset groove over which Walter Miller’s trumpet lazily sings, Sun Ra’s
piano abruptly enters with a contrary and agitated rhythm that is extended with the addition of bass
and yet more percussion. Before anything else is able to happen, all the instruments drop out and areverb-drenched drum solo pitter-pats thoughtfully until the piece comes to a sudden, inconclusive
end.
“Sketch” brings us back to the world of straight-ahead, bop-influenced jazz with a small-grouprhythm section backing John Gilmore’s throaty saxophone. But things are not quite what they seem,
having returned from an interplanetary voyage. Artificial reverb ebbs and flows across thesoundfield, giving the proceedings a constantly shifting, otherworldly sheen. Sun Ra’s first pianosolo quickly turns disjointed and dissonant and Gilmore’s subtly explores the shrieks and howls ofmultiphonics over the rapidly modulating chord progression. Then, the almost hokey ching-ching-aching of the cymbal signals a conventionally old fashioned solo from Ra before the reverb retreats
and the Arkestra finally enters to state the theme behind Gilmore’s lead. Fascinating.
“Pleasure” seems even more old-timey with Pat Patrick’s breathy baritone saxophone sounding as
buttery smooth and romantic as Harry Carney. Yet an element of strangeness pervades. As Neil
Tesser puts in his liner notes: “Very odd, very peaceful, the piece seems to have wafted out of somehip but unpretentious lounge on, say, Venus.” Quite so. Also quite beautiful.
“Spiral Galaxy” concludes the album with a loping space waltz, full of pounding percussion andbraying horns, all slathered with a hefty helping of artificial reverberation. Solos come and go,sometimes forcefully, sometimes merely lurking in the background. At times, the distortion
threatens to overwhelm the music altogether but then the reverb knob is suddenly dialed back,revealing the naked Arkestra, choogling along comfortably. So it goes for ten or so minutes, leaving
the listener quietly unsettled. Of course, this kind of electronically driven disorientation would betaken up years later in the “dub” music of Jamaican reggae but, again, Sun Ra was truly ahead of histime – a man from the future.
Other Planes of There is a landmark album in Sun Ra’s considerable discography. For the firsttime, Sun Ra combined pure freedom with rigorous discipline while also maintaining a genuine
connection to a deep tradition and thereby producing music of startling originality. Essential.

48

APRIL 26, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Herald (ESP 4054)
Recorded live at Judson Hall in New York, NY on December 31, 1964
Portions originally released as Saturn JHNY-165 in 1976
With little paying work for the Arkestra, John Gilmore quit the band in August 1964 to tour theworld with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. This could have been a crushing blow to Sun Ra, if not for
his involvement in the short-lived Jazz Composers Guild and its predecessors.
Trumpeter/composer Bill Dixon had been putting on performances at the Cellar Café on West 91st
Street and these efforts developed into the legendary “October Revolution in Jazz.” These concerts
drew large crowds to hear the cream of the “New Thing,” including Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Paul Bley,
Jimmy Giuffre, Andrew Hill, Steve Lacy, and others who would go on to define the cutting edge ofavant garde jazz. Shortly thereafter, Dixon and Taylor decided to form a cooperative called the Jazz
Composers Guild which would promote the new music while seeking an economic alternative to the
exploitive nightclub system. Sun Ra and the Arkestra were quick to join and two months later, theGuild mounted series of concerts at Judson Hall called “Four Nights in December,” the last ofwhich featured Sun Ra’s Arkestra. Portions of that concert are presented on this recently re-issued
CD on ESP-Disk.
Sonny had known Farrell “Little Rock” Sanders since 1962, when Sanders was working as a waiter at
the Gene Harris Playhouse (where the Arkestra was playing to miniscule audiences). Ra took him inand gave him some clothes and suggested he take on the name, “Pharoah.” By the time Gilmore
split, Sanders was ready to join the band and you can hear that he’s already developed the blisteringly
intense sound quality that would make him famous with John Coltrane’s band. Not much is known
about Black Harold a/k/a Harold Murray a/k/a Sir Harold a/k/a Brother Atu a/k/a Atu Murray,etc. except that he played flute and a big, hand-carved drum with Sun Ra during this brief period.
This recording is the only known document of Pharoah’s and Black Harold’s tenure with theArkestra.
49

The rest of the personnel for this concert are kind of a mystery. The liner notes to this new CD givethe following: Sun Ra: piano, celeste; Pharoah Sanders: tenor sax; Black Harold (Harold Murray):flute, log drum; Al Evans: trumpet; Teddy Nance: trombone; Marshall Allen: alto sax; Pat Patrick:baritone sax; Alan Silva: bass; Ronnie Boykins: bass; Cliff Jarvis: drums; Jimmhi Johnson: drums;
and Art Jenkins: space voice. Prof. Campbell (2d ed.) adds Chris Capers on trumpet; Bernard
Pettaway on trombone; Robert Northern on French horn; Danny Davis on alto sax, flute, andpercussion; and Robert Cummings on bass clarinet but he omits Boykins. It is definitely a largish
Arkestra, though they rarely all play at the same time, so it’s hard to tell. I do hear Cummings’s bass
clarinet and, after repeated listening, I believe there are two bassists on this gig.
The CD starts out with nearly forty-five minutes of previously unissued material from this New
Year’s Eve concert recorded in stereo. The brief “Cosmic Interpretation” opens the proceedings
with some frenetic solo piano that outlines a vague tonal center. Ra then moves to the chiming
celeste while the arco bass gets increasingly busy. Solo bass plays a jagged ostinato figure to
introduce “The Other World” where Pharoah is well into his fire-breathing modus operandi. The
first several minutes features some intense “New Thing” styled group improvisation. Pat Patrick
takes brilliant accapella baritone sax solo, until trumpet joins in for a duet. After a less-thanconvincing return to the pummeling free-jazz feel, things just sort of peter out at about the six
minute mark yielding an incredibly lengthy, and rather pointless drum solo. At about the nineteen
minute mark (!), trombone leads the horns back in for some honking and shrieking to introduce thespace chant, “The Second Stop is Jupiter,” while the bass returns to the jagged ostinato figure. Someone emphatically declaims: “All out for Jupiter!” and the cacophonous horns return with trombone
once again leading the way. After a while, all drop out for, yes, more drums! Thankfully, the trackfades out after only another minute or so.
“The Now Tomorrow” begins with a lovely setting for piano and flutes in bittersweet harmony.
Bowed bass enters and then things start to get weird when Marshall Allen takes a labyrinthine turnon oboe along with what sounds like a second oboe or soprano saxophone joining in along the way.
And perhaps there are two basses sawing away here? I think so! Ra enters with rumbling piano to asmattering of applause. Ra plays intricate, contrasting figures on piano and celeste simultaneously
until the horns (including bass clarinet) play fragments of the original harmonies to end. This is a very
interesting piece of music.
On “Discipline 9,” Ra starts out with a twisty piano intro for some yearning horn figures that hoverand glide over a stumbling ballad tempo. Two altos and bass clarinet twirl around the meanderingrhythm while trombone interjects clipped statements here and there. Ra then establishes thebrooding three-note vamp of “We Travel the Spaceways” which the rest of the band takes up insong. The horn break in this version is particularly loose, fragile, and hauntingly beautiful. The
rhythm section settles into a comfortable groove while Art Jenkins does his “space voice” thing. The
rest of the Arkestra takes up percussion instruments before the reprise of the singing and horn
break. Someone blows ceremonially into a large conch shell while sleigh bells jingle…someapplause…is it over? Then the bass riff returns and the applause dies down. Gentle percussion
pitter-patters until a big conducted “space chord” charges in full of honking and wailing andpounding drums. Then the bass riff starts up again with flutes and trumpet dancing around. It
sounds like they’re marching off the stage leaving only bass to end.

50

The original Saturn LP (recorded in mono) follows. “Gods on a Safari” showcases some furious
two-handed piano action from Ra and some abstract ensemble figures all which quickly subsides
leaving some slip-sliding arco bass(es?) and the quiet tinkling of bells. Ra takes over with some slyly
dissonant piano solo that launches into the roiling up-tempo drive of “The World Shadow.” Thepiano and rhythm section build up the agitated feeling similar to “The Shadow World” with Pharoah
approximating the knotty melody, but it sounds tenuous. Eventually, he glides into more of hisleather-lunged multi-phonics and extreme over-blowing. Pealing trumpet takes over as the rhythm
becomes ever more intense and abstract. Suddenly, there is a relaxation of tension, leaving somepolyrhythmic percussion and a droning conch shell. More space voice warblings from Jenkins follow
until Ra enters on the toy-like celeste. Bass then sets up the groove for “Rocket Number 9” and off
they go. Ra and the bass(es?) outline the skittering chord sequence while the ensemble chants,“Rocket Number 9 take off for the planet Venus! Venus!” A brief drum solo follows until the horns
enter in full polyphonic force, culminating a big, blasting “space chord.” Pharoah then wails somemore on tenor sax over the scattered, enervated rhythms, Ra stabbing out angular chords on piano.
Pharaoh takes one last turn before giving way to some bass and drum grooving that quickly fades
out.
A quick edit cuts into “The Voice of Pan.” As befitting the title, Black Harold’s breathy, vocalized
flute soars over tippy-tapping percussion and subtle bass figures. This has a similar in feel to someof the Choreographers Workshop material and even shares some of that echo-y ambience – added,
perhaps, after the fact. Harold’s schtick is pretty amusing and gets a rise out of the audience. Then, awidely-spaced ensemble chord introduces “Dawn Over Israel,” a lurching ensemble piece with singsong-y bowed basses, fleeting horn figures and Ra’s convoluted piano. Ra suddenly takes over with afuriously pounding piano solo that eventually breaks up into some really nasty (unintended)distortion. Ra brings things down with some gentle chords to introduce “Space Mates.” Mellow flute
melodies float over piano and celeste while bass(es) and percussion murmur in the background until
the horns offer some supporting harmonies for a gentle close.Nice.
The Jazz Composers Guild shortly disintegrated due to the inevitable bitterness and acrimony thatarises in such leaderless, ad hoc groupings of ambitious people. Dixon himself would be the first to
leave and Ra abandoned ship shortly thereafter, complaining that the Arkestra was doing all thework. Despite its failings, the Guild’s efforts continued to resonate throughout the sixties andseventies with the Jazz Composers Orchestra, the Black Artists Group, the AACM and others. Moreimmediately, Bernard Stollman, a local attorney who represented musicians, was inspired enough by
the music he heard at these Guild-sponsored concerts to sign many of the performers, including Ra,
to his ESP-Disk label. Stollman had previously established ESP-Disk to promote his otherobsession, the “universal language” of Esperanto, so he knew how to make records with minimal
expense. Stollman gave the musicians free reign (if limited budgets) to produce their music: “Theartists alone decide what you will hear on their ESP-Disk” was the motto. These records became
exemplary documents of the era and the label helped to establish Ra’s reputation as the cosmic
messenger of out jazz. This expanded re-issue of an obscure Saturn LP is definitely a welcome
addition to the Ra discography.
Sam said...
Nice write-up, Rodger! As if I didn't know it already, this reissue really sounds like a must-have. I
was really sorry to read that Clifford Jarvis was given yet another long drum solo in the middle of anotherwise interesting long piece. 13 minutes! Arg. I love Jarvis's playing with the rest of the group(his playing is especially understated and appropriate on "Strange Strings," of all things), but Ra gave
51

him far too much solo space on live gigs. Ra must have liked it enough to continue to allow him tojust wipe away whatever musical mood had been established by the band, with his grandstanding
pyrotechnics that sound more like showing off than like making a meaningful musical contribution.
To me, this was perhaps Ra's most serious aesthetic misstep throughout Jarvis's tenure in what wasan otherwise brilliant span of composition, arrangement, and presentation. This was indeed (otherthan a known recording of a rehearsal--one I've never heard) the first "official" recording of "The
Shadow World," a signature Ra composition. It's rough and ready, and doesn't have the aggressive
authority of the first released version on "The Magic City" (the Pharaoh LP didn't come out the'70s). I think this piece came into its own with Gilmore leading the horn section through theincredibly complex 7/4 head. Over the years, it became a showcase for some of Gilmore's most"out" solos and high-register explorations.
MAY 3, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Vol.1 (ESP-Disk’ 1014)
Recorded at RLA Studio, New York, NY on April 20, 1965
By March of 1965, Gilmore was back in the fold and in April the Arkestra headed into RLA Studioto record their first LP for ESP-Disk’. Buoyed by the modest successes of the October Revolution
and the prospect of wider recognition offered by the fledgling but ambitious record label, Ra
expanded upon the experimentation of the Choreographer’s Workshop period to makeHeliocentric Worlds Vol.1 a defining statement.
Consisting mostly of the kinds of conducted improvisations that Ra had been developing over the
past year or so, Heliocentric Worlds Vol.1 retains a similarly ultra-modern chamber music feelthroughout. Often the highest and lowest registers of the ensemble are emphasized with piercing
trumpet and piccolo set off in stark relief against the rumblings of trombone, bass trombone,baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, tympani, bass, and Ra himself on bass marimba (!). At other52

times, Ra plays piano and electric celeste simultaneously with stunning two-handed polyphony or thehorns improvise wildly swinging anti-bop figures. But the music is more about contrasting textures
than solos and accompaniment and there is a remarkable diversity of material approaches in eachpiece: densely orchestrated “space chords” rise and fall, percussion pounds or falls back, horn solos
come and go in an instant. The music is dissonant and intense one minute, serene and contemplative
the next. Even so, the music sustains a consistently mysterious mood, an air of tense expectancy thatmakes the diverse strains of out-and-out weirdness cohere into a enormously compelling, vibrantwhole.
While the music appears to be totally improvised, Ra is clearly in control. Regarding these sessions,
Marshall Allen described Ra’s approach to conducted improvisation:
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 stopit, and he’d give the drummer a particular rhythm, tell the bass he wanted not a “boom boom boom” but somethingelse, and then he’d begin to try out the horns, we’re all standing therewondering what’s next… I just picked up the
piccolo and worked with what was going on, what moods they set, or what feeling they had. A lot of things we’d berehearsing and we did the wrong things and Sun Ra stopped the arrangement and changed it. Or he would change theperson 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 (quoted in Szwed, p. 216).
Despite Gilmore’s brief defection and return, the Arkestra executes Ra’s vision of disciplined
freedom with dedication and astonishing precision. As Szwed points out, “[t]he Arkestra at thispoint had such confidence in what they were doing that the rest of the group could suddenly dropaway in the moment to reveal a cymbal solo or a bass and tympani duo” (Id.). Horns resolutely enterand exit with succinct, emphatic statements that move the music inexorably forward (or outward)
while the rhythm section ebbs and flows in natural reaction (or in deliberate opposition).
Throughout it all, Ra provides deft direction, through his playing and by signaling his intentions to
the musicians. No note is wasted. There are no empty gestures or tossed off cliches. The music is
not merely episodic as Ra builds complex yet satisfyingly unified edifices upon the accretion of
discrete, semi-autonomous events. As many times as I’ve listened to this record, it always sounds
fresh, revealing deeper insights with each listen. All of my attempts at a track-by-track analysis havebeen woefully inadequate to elucidate the elusive magic of The Heliocentric Worlds. The music
simply defies my meager descriptions and must be experienced to be even remotely(mis)understood.
Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 1 is rightfully considered a landmark recording and belongs in every
serious record collection. It has remained pretty much consistently available (either legitimately or on
bootleg editions) since the day it was released and its appearance transformed Sun Ra from the
obscure Lower East Side eccentric into his rightful role as the globe-trotting emissary ofinterplanetary music. Heliocentric Worlds, Vol. 1 is, in a word, a masterpiece, but just one of aseries of extraordinary recordings that Ra would make during this period.
+++

53

COSMIC EQUATION
Then another tomorrow
They never told me ofCame with the abruptness
Of a fiery dawn
And spoke of Cosmic Equations:
The equations of sight-similarity
The equations of sound-similarity
Subtle Living Equations
Clear only to those
Whose wish is to be attuned
To the vibrations
Of the Outer Cosmic Worlds.
Subtle living equations
Of the outer-realms
Dear only to those
Who wish fervently the greater life.
-- Sun Ra, 1965
Sam said...
Yes! A strange, brooding masterpiece. I love this comment: "Horns resolutely enter and exit withsuccinct, emphatic statements that move the music inexorably forward (or outward) while therhythm section ebbs and flows in natural reaction (or in deliberate opposition)"--like the universe
expanding and contracting.
Here's what I wrote for the album-by-album thread: "Yes, Heliocentric vol. 1 is particularly dark,brooding, and oblique, almost impenetrable in its foreboding mystery. It can be really hard to get ahandle on just what you're listening to, and when it's over, you wonder where you've been. I think
this is a major aspect of its beauty. It's a dark, ominous tone poem on the emptiness of outer space.
The album as a whole is an excellent example of Ra's method of guided improvisation, and he takes
full advantage of the studio setting to utilize the dark, low tones of the tympani, bass clarinet, andbowed bass, using those elements to evoke deepest space. A sea of darkness, where there is no sun.
Abstraction taken to a new level."
Particular highlights for me include:--John Gilmore's beautiful lonely space solo in "Outer Nothingness"--Sun Ra's Cecil-mode piano playing in "Other Worlds"--Gilmore's solo in the final short track, "Dancing in the Sun," as the album's journey ends as weenter our solar system again, and see the sun

54

MAY 10, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra: The Magic City (Evidence ECD 22069)
Recorded somewhere in New York City, NY April/May/September 1965
Originally released as El Saturn LPB 711 in 1966
Sun Ra often claimed he was not from this planet but from Saturn, sent to Earth on a mission to
help save humanity from itself. But in 1914, Herman “Sonny” Poole Blount was born in
Birmingham, Alabama. Nicknamed “The Magic City” for its booming economic growth at the turnof the century, Birmingham was, of course, also the scene of harsh racial injustices which eventually
erupted into violence and protest during the civil rights movement. Sonny left Birmingham for
Chicago in 1946, legally changed his name to Sun Ra, and never looked back. Yet Sun Ra retainedsome affection for his hometown, composing such homages as “Magic City Blues,” “The Place ofFive Points,” and “West End Side of Magic City” and regularly performed “Stars Fell on Alabama”
and “Alabama” in concert. Sonny admitted to MTV’s Michael Shore that “The Magic City” wasindeed about Birmingham and listening to it, one can sense Ra’s conflicted ambivalence towards his
subject. At almost thirty minutes, it is Ra’s magnum opus and, while comparable in scope and ambition
to Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz (Atlantic) (1960) and John Coltrane’s Ascension (Impulse!) (1965),“The Magic City” sounds nothing like either of them. Disavowing the churning rhythms and firebreathing onslaughts typical of “The New Thing,” “The Magic City” maintains a chamber-musiclike intimacy and reserve with horn duos and trios forming and dissolving around Boykins’s arco
bass, Ra’s fleet piano work and the reedy whine of the Selmer Clavioline. Only near the end does thefull ensemble briefly engage in some full-throated, high-energy group improvisation. Szwed astutely
points out that “Sun Ra’s Music often attempts to completely integrate the soloists with theensemble to make a single statement” (p. 214) and “The Magic City” is a perfect example of thisattempt. Gilmore stated that the piece was never performed in concert because it was“unreproduceable, a tapestry of sound” (Id.).
55

Ra had been working with the material that would become “The Shadow World” at least as far backas “The Outer Heavens” (on Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow) and it appears in rough formon Sun Ra Featuring Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold (there titled, “The World Shadow”).
Here, the fiendishly difficult composition gets its first complete performance. A complex unison
melody for saxophones is set off against a 7/4 rhythm and Ra’s contrary, angular piano. After a brief
series of solos, saxophones return with the melody while trumpet states the counter-melody
originally intimated by the piano. Szwed writes: “Sun Ra took considerable pleasure from theagitated difficulty of the piece, and noted that once during a rehearsal for a French TV show the
producer was so disturbed by it that he threatened to cancel the show if they insisted on playing it”(p. 215). “The Shadow World” would become a fixture of the Arkestra’s live sets going forward,
often performed at impossibly fast tempos.
“Abstract Eye” and “Abstract I” appear to be different takes of the same piece and, according to thediscography, there is a twelve-inch test-pressing from Variety Recording Services in existence where
the pieces are entitled, “Abstract Experiment Take 1” and “Abstract Experiment Take 2”(Campbell, 2nd ed, p. 119). This reinforces my suspicion that these tracks might be rehearsals forwhat would become “Heliocentric” and “Outer Nothingness” on Heliocentric Worlds Vol.1. They
share the same, bottom-heavy instrumentation of bass, bass marimba, tympani, and braying
trombones with piccolo and trumpet providing extreme high-register contrast. The feeling here is alittle more extroverted with the saxophones taking a more prominent role in the proceedings, butthey are notably similar in structure with flittering solo statements set against rumbling bass
marimba, pounding tympani, and singing arco bass. Very interesting.
+++
Another track from these sessions entitled, “Other Worlds,” is available on the 1989 Blast First
compilation,Out There a Minute.
Sam said...
The two "Abstract" pieces on the CD are definitely conceptually related to "Heliocentric." Theyboth share the opaque, mysteriously dark quality of "Heliocentric" and "Outer nothingness." Whatreally intrigues me about them is their relationship to each other. They are really hard pieces to write
about, or even think about, because they're so abstract, and yet it's really fun to listen to them.
There's a flute motif that seemingly appears in both versions. How much of a blueprint did Ra givethe musicians before they started? And how could they tell when it was over? One piece is over aminute longer than the other, but both go through the same distinct passages--they just walk a little
faster through one?

56

MAY 31, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Heliocentric Worlds Vol.3: The Lost Tapes (ESP-Disk’ 4002)
In 2005, ESP-Disk’ released Heliocentric Worlds Vol.3: The Lost Tapes, purported to beunreleased material recorded at the November 16, 1965 session that produced Heliocentric Worlds
Vol.2. After some close listening, I am pretty certain this date is incorrect, although some of thismaterial might have been recorded at the April 20th session for Heliocentric Worlds, Vol.1 (butthen again, maybe not). Confusing? Yes! But these are the eternal mysteries of Mr. Ra! Nevertheless,the discovery of previously unheard music from the nineteen-sixties makes this CD essential
listening for the Ra-fanatic.
“Intercosmosis” is another expansive, 18-minute conducted improvisation wherein Gilmore
establishes a terse melodic cell that is subsequently passed around the Arkestra in small concertinogroupings punctuated with acappella horn solos and cued “space chords.” Meanwhile, the rhythm
section lays down a propulsive free-tempo groove that enters and exits on cue – but the percussion
is mostly held in reserve so that the relentless motion is internalized and carried forward by thechamber-music-like instrumentation. Ra plays densely arpeggiated piano throughout and the piececlimaxes with an extended alto saxophone duel between Marshall Allen and Danny Davis which
gives way to an almost-pretty piano interlude, with Pat Patrick blowing beautiful, breathy baritone
saxophone. The rest of the ensemble enters with an improvised coda before a conducted ending.
Was this recorded on November 16th? Admittedly, the piece shares a conceptual similarity to “TheSun Myth,” but the unmistakable presence of Danny Davis is troubling since he is not audible on
the other Heliocentric Worlds Vol.2 material. Also conspicuously absent is the Selmer Clavioline,
whose electronic whine defined the sound of that album. Finally, the presence of subtle reverb
effects suggests the presence of Tommy Hunter, which would require an earlier recording date.
Some have speculated this track was recorded at one of the When Angels Speak of Love sessions
57

and, further, that When Angels Speak of Love was recorded later than 1963 as posited by Prof.
Campbell. Who knows? Regardless, it is classic long-form Ra material.
It is plausible that the remainder of the CD was recorded at the April 20th session, with Ra on bass
marimba, piano, and electric celeste and the prominence of trombones and tympani. The
fragmentary “Mythology Metamorphosis” opens with tumultuous trap drums and hand percussion
to which Boykins adds some thrumming bass. Ra enters on the bass marimba while Marshall Allen
plays sinuous oboe. The instruments drop out leaving Ra to rumble around on the bass marimba
until Boykins enters with an insistent bass figure to which Allen replies with a brief oboe phrase. At
the four-minute mark, clattering percussion re-enters just before the track cuts off. “HeliocentricWorlds” is a showcase for Ra’s orchestral piano and electric celeste playing with only bass, trap
drums and booming tympani to provide intermittently dramatic accompaniment. “World Worlds” isan interesting ballad form, obviously rigorously composed (if somewhat raggedly performed). Aftera piano/celeste introduction with bowed bass pedal, thick blocks of dissonant chords blare forthfrom the full ensemble, rich with trombones, saxophones, flute, and trumpet. Over a gently
swinging pulse, brief solo statements hew closely to the weirdly shifting chord changes until the big,held ensemble chords return with a brassy trumpet lead to end. After repeated listenings, this piecesounds vaguely familiar – was it ever recorded again under a different title?
The final track, “Interplanetary Travelers” is actually an alternate take of “Other Worlds” from
Heliocentric Worlds Vol.1 which first appeared on the 1989 Blast First compilation, Out There a
Minute. However, Prof. Campbell dates this to the April-May 1965 session that yielded side-2 of
The Magic City, creating yet more discographical confusion. In any event, this track is a stunner, afull-throttled New Thing-style blowout with lots of two-fisted piano/celeste action, intensely wailinghorns, and hard-driving drums. Is it possible thatHeliocentric Worlds Vol.1, side-2 of The Magic
City and tracks 2-5 of Heliocentric Worlds Vol.3 were all recorded at the same session on April
20, 1965? For that matter, is it possible that When Angels Speak of Love was also recorded during
this time period? The stylistic resemblances are striking and, taken together, all of this music
demonstrates how intently Ra was developing his composed improvisational approach in the midnineteen-sixties. Heliocentric Worlds Vol.3 adds another fascinating piece to the puzzle, yetultimately raises more questions than it answers.
Sam said...
Excellent analysis of this superb release. The record seems to have raised many questions regarding
dating, style, personnel, etc. But there's no question that the music is brilliant. It boggles my mind
that it took this long to be released--better late than never!

58

MAY 17, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra: Heliocentric Worlds, Vol.2 (ESP-Disk’ 1017)
Recorded at RLA Sound Studios, New York, NY November 16, 1965
Originally released in 1966
Less than seven months after recording Heliocentric Worlds Vol.1, a smaller, eight-piece Arkestra
returned to RLA Sound Studios to record Volume 2. “The Sun Myth” is another epic-length
directed improvisation based upon a two-note figure that is freely extrapolated by the ensemble
across eighteen highly variegated minutes. Anchored throughout by Boykins’s sliding, microtonalbass, Ra starts out by banging on tuned bongos and a cymbal before moving to the piano/Clavioline
combo. Energy and intensity levels rise and fall with brief horn solos, duets, and trios that come andgo, always yielding to the buzzing Clavioline and singing arco bass. According to Campbell, thistrack has been mastered three different ways:(1) The original release (mono and stereo) had African singing throughout the piece, mixed as loud as the instrumental
parts […] (2) The original release was quickly withdrawn and replaced with a more common variant in which the
African voices are mixed way down and can be faintly heard at the beginning and end […] (3) The final remasteringremoved the African voices entirely (2nd ed. p. 122).
Interesting! Were these vocals added in some kind of primitive overdub? After all, this album wasrecorded in a low-budget studio in 1965! I have only ever heard the final, instrumental version and I
can’t even imagine what this track would sound like with “African vocals.”“A House of Beauty” is a strangely beautiful piece. It opens with Marshall Allen on silvery piccolo
and Ra on the monophonic Clavioline. Boykins enters with the bow while Ra adds a fourth voice on
piano. Eventually, piano and pizzicato bass improvise a lushly tonal ballad form supported by some
soft percussion. Clavioline and piccolo return with some busy free-tempo counterpoint until a held59

Clavioline tone and arco bass figures bring things to a gentle close. The album ends with the aptlytitled “Cosmic Chaos,” a fifteen-minute New Thing-styled group improv punctuated with virtuosic
acappella turns by Pat Patrick on baritone saxophone, Gilmore on tenor saxophone and Robert
Cummings on bass clarinet. Ra is back on tuned bongos and cymbal, generating complex
polyrhythms against Roger Blank’s roiling trap drums while Walter Miller blows some exciting postbop trumpet. Curiously, what sounds to me like electronically processed bells peal in the backgroundthroughout. What is making that sound?! Is it Tommy Hunter’s echo-machine? The piece decisively
ends with a grouping of obviously conducted “space chords.”
Ultimately, Heliocentric Worlds Vol.2 is a bit less focused and not quite as compelling as either
Vol.1 or The Magic City, but it still retains an air of mysterious discovery. The album cover, on
the other hand, is a classic of the period with an antique illustration of the solar system perchedabove pictures of archaic scientists: Leonardo, Copernicus, Galileo, and Tycho Brahe. In the middle
are portraits of Pythagoras and Sun Ra himself, “calling attention to Sun Ra’s links to the Greek
astronomer-mathematician-musician who studied in Egypt, and who formed a brotherhood whichattempted to purify their souls to allow the initiates to escape the ‘wheel of birth’ and to aid them inthe transmigration of the soul after the death of the body” (Szwed p.217).Perfect!
Sam said...
Actually, when it comes down to it I think I prefer Vol. 2 to Vol. 1, precisely because of its higher
level of energy and intensity. I love Boykins' work on the opening of "The Sun Myth," andGilmore's solo about 5 minutes in is Gilmore at his spaciest--very abstract, and very beautiful. I've
never heard either version with the African voices (were they actual Africans, or members of theArkestra a la "Ancient Aethiopia"?). Overall, Boykins is the clear standout of both volumes, and his
work here, along with "Astro Black," remains his finest playing. I'll have to go back with theheadphones for a closer listening to the bell sounds in "Cosmic Chaos"--not sure what you'rereferring to.

60

JUNE 7, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Walt Dickerson Quartet: Impressions of “A Patch of Blue” (MGM/Verve CD)
While the record deal with ESP-Disk’ (and a concomitant flurry of releases on the El Saturn label)would eventually establish Sun Ra’s reputation within the burgeoning subculture, the nineteen-sixties
would remain penurious times for the Arkestra. Even Sun Ra himself would find it necessary to takepaying gigs here and there as a sideman – especially if his old friend, Tom Wilson, made the call. In
late-1965, Wilson came up with the idea for quickie movie-tie-in LP to be led by vibraphonist Walt
Dickerson and he summoned Ra and sometime Arkestra drummer Roger Blank to participate in therecording sessions. Impressions of “A Patch of Blue” was billed as an “interpretation” of Jerry
Goldsmith’s soundtrack to “A Patch of Blue,” the Sidney Poitier film that boldly addressed
miscegenation at a volatile moment in the Civil Rights period. Wilson had previously recorded
Dickerson in a moderately successful jazz interpretation of the “Lawrence of Arabia” soundtrack for
Audio Fidelity in 1963, so it probably made sense to try to repeat that formula – with the added
benefit of timeliness and topicality. Unfortunately, Goldsmith’s score is unremarkable and the film
itself overwrought. Although the movie enjoyed tremendous box office success, Impressions of “A
Patch of Blue” sold poorly and was promptly deleted. It was finally reissued on CD by Verve in
1999, but only in an extremely limited edition that quickly disappeared.
Walt Dickerson was a phenomenal vibraphonist, but he never got his due as an important andinnovative musician. He was a graduate of Morgan State College (and, according to the original liner
notes, the Peabody Conservatory), made several records for Prestige and Audio Fidelity in the earlynineteen-sixties, winningDown Beat’s “New Star” award in 1962 and “Innovator of the Year” award
in 1963. Dickerson radically broke away from the Lionel Hampton/Milt Jackson tradition by playing
the vibraphone with small, rubber-tipped mallets, gripping them near the head and using the motorand damper with the utmost restraint, resulting in a dry, clear, almost staccato articulation even at61

swift tempos. Sadly, and perhaps due to its commercial failure,Impressions of “A Patch of Blue”
was the last record Dickerson made before withdrawing into a decade-long exile from music,
thereby ceding the mantle of Great Modern Vibraphonist to Bobby Hutcherson virtually by default.
Dickerson resurfaced in 1975 and made a number of records for the Danish Steeplechase label,including a lovely duet recording with Sun Ra (Visions) in 1978. Sadly, Dickerson once again
dropped from sight in the early nineteen-eighties and died, unjustly un-famous, in 2008.
Despite its apparent status as a (failed) cash-in attempt, Impressions of “A Patch of Blue” is a veryfine album and well worth hearing – even beyond the novelty of Sun Ra’s presence. According tosession bassist Bob Cunningham, any connection to Goldsmith’s actual score was tenuous at best: “I
don’t think there was any music there to refer to. Or if there was, we didn’t necessarily follow it”(quoted in the CD liner notes). The resulting music has a loose, late-night feel, but this is not thekind of cheese-ball commercial pabulum you might expect in such a work-for-hire situation; there issome adventuresome musicianship on display within these mellow grooves. In fact, the musicians
approached their work with a solemn dignity appropriate to the film’s subject. Francis Davis writes
in the liner notes for the Verve CD:
Along with Dickerson’s genuine admiration for the movie, the philosophical underpinning of Impressions of “A Patchof Blue” was provided by the lengthy discussions about race and other matters he had with Sun Ra. “Ourconversations were not the norm,” Dickerson told me. “Sometimes it was a conversation without periods or commas,
and we would extend that into the musical realm, with no musical composition as such. Music was part of ourextended conversation.”
This conversational tone is part of the record’s relaxed, yet scintillating presence. On four of theeight tracks, Ra spins gossamer spiderwebs of notes on a tinkling harpsichord (of all things) while
his piano playing is deftly virtuosic, with a particularly daring solo on “A Patch of Blue – Part 2.” Raalso lays down some tasty, bluesy funk on “Bacon and Eggs” and, sometimes, he plays piano andharpsichord simultaneously, creating a delicate, weirdly polyphonic texture. Dickerson himself
displays his innovative technique at the bars, especially on the expansive “Alone in the Park – Parts
1 and 2” and his quadruple-time swinging on “Selina’s Fantasy” is truly astonishing, yet far frommere empty showboating. Cunningham and Blank make for a sensitive rhythm section, with
Cunningham’s solid pizzicato and arco bass complementing Blank’s singularly impressionistic (rather
than overtly propulsive) trap drums. Blank also plays some darkly Arkestral tympani on the spooky
set-piece, “High Hopes.” Impressions of “A Patch of Blue” is not just an obscure historical
document, of interest only to obsessive record collectors; it is a transcendently beautiful work of art
in its own right, an overlooked gem.

62

NOVEMBER 2, 2008
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra and his Astro Infinity Arkestra: Strange Strings (Atavistic ALP263 CD)
Recorded NYC 1966-1967
Strange Strings is one of the most obscure and downright weird recordings in all of Sun Ra’s
immense (and weird) discography. By 1966, Ra had acquired a selection of odd stringed instruments– ukuleles, kotos, zithers, etc. – to be played exclusively here by members of the Arkestra. That themusicians did not how to play them was the whole point, it was, according to Ra, “a study inignorance.” Structurally, the music builds on the kind of conducted-improvisation found on The
Magic City (1965) (Evidence CD), but the unfamiliar instruments create a truly otherworldly din.
Homemade metallic instruments clatter and thrum while strings are plucked, bowed, struck andscraped; sometimes drums and tympani pound ominously. Thick reverb saturates or, at other times,
dries up the acoustic, creating shifting and distorted sonic perspectives. Sounding more likeIannis
Xenakis than Fletcher Henderson, this stuff is definitely not for the faint of heart! The bonus track,“Door Squeak” features Sun Ra on, yes, a loudly squeaking door (which actually sounds very much
like the MiniMoog, which he would take up years later) while more strange strings chatter in the
background. Detailed liner notes by Hal Rammel and super deluxe packaging make this CD a musthave for the connoisseur of Sun Ra’s furthest interplanetary journeys. Thank you, Atavistic, for anotherfine Sun Ra Sunday!

63

MARCH 2, 2014
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Astro-Infinity Arkestra: Other Strange Worlds (Roaratorio LP)
Just released from Roaratorio Records is Other Strange Worlds, containing previously unheard
recordings from May 1965 from the Sun Ra Archive. While only available on limited-edition vinyl, italso contains a coupon for a free MP3 download—so, whether or not you even have a turntable,
every Sun Ra freak needs to jump on this quick!
According to archivist Michael D. Anderson’s brief liner notes, the recording was intended as a“second volume” to the wonderfully weird Strange Strings album but, for whatever reason, neverreleased. Certainly, the approach is similar, with an arsenal of exotic instruments deployed in what
Sunny called “an exercise in ignorance.” But on Other Strange Worlds, the Arkestra is substantiallyreduced, down to a quintet of Sun Ra, John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Ali Hasaan and Art Jenkins.
Along with the koras, zithers, kalimbas and fiddles, Gilmore and Jenkins stick mostly to percussion
while Allen takes keening leads on oboe and Hasaan adds warm trombone. Occasionally, Ra willbrighten the texture by tinkling on the celeste; but, most of the time, he is subtly guiding theimprovisations, turning them into challenging and sublime pieces of space-age chamber music.
Recorded in Sun Ra’s apartment on the Lower East Side of New York (you can hear the telephonering several times during the proceedings), Other Strange Worlds actually sounds quite clear andclean—especially compared to the noisy and distorted Strange Strings. The smaller ensemble
obviously contributes to the transparent sound quality yet Sun Ra’s mastery of effective lo-fi
recording techniques is quite in evidence here. Thankfully, Roaratorio has done an excellent job withthis vinyl pressing: my copy is flat as pancake, quiet as a ghost and sounds flipping fantastic.
Officially out this Tuesday, run—don’t walk—to your nearest record store and grab yourself a copy.
Or do what I did and order it direct from their website. Other Strange Worlds is another essential
addition to the Sun Ra discography and should not be missed!
64

JUNE 14, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

The Sensational Guitars of Dan & Dale: Batman and Robin (Universe UV016 CD)
Originally released as Tifton S-78002 LP (1966)
In a discography defined by indefinable strangeness, this has to be, on the surface anyway, theweirdest record of them all. In January, 1966, producer Tom Wilson cooked up yet another quickie
cash-in attempt, this time based on the campy hit television show and aimed squarely at thechildren’s market. Wilson again enlisted Edward O. Bland to churn out some slapdash arrangements
to be played here by the Greenwich Village-based acid-rock band, The Blues Project (billed as “TheSensational Guitars of Dan & Dale”), plus Sun Ra on occasional Hammond organ, John Gilmore on
tenor sax, and Pat Patrick on baritone sax. The band is filled out with studio session stalwarts,
Jimmy Owens on trumpet, Tom McIntosh on trombone along with some anonymous female
vocalists. Sounds like a sure thing, right? What do you mean, “No?”The Blues Project consisted of Danny Kalb on lead guitar and harmonica, Steve Katz on rhythm
guitar, Andy Kuhlberg on bass, and Roy Blumenfeld on drums. They were hailed as New York’s
answer to The Grateful Dead, after picking up organist Al Kooper during their short-lived stint on
Columbia Records. Kooper, of course, was originally a guitarist, but became better known as anorganist after his impromptu appearance on Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” – a session, notcoincidentally, produced by Tom Wilson in 1965. The Blues Project made a couple records for
Verve before disbanding in 1967. But in 1966, they were at the height of their powers and hungry
enough to take a gig making a pseudonymous, one-off kiddie record.
It is puzzling why Wilson felt the need to add Sun Ra and his core musicians to the mix – on first
listen you would never know it’s them. On the other hand, they do provide a certain big-band, jazzyélan that The Blues Project could never have pulled off on their own. Ra can be heard playing some65bumptious organ on four of the twelve tracks, his “space-age barbeque” style contrasting with Al
Kooper’s more conventionally rock-ish approach. Gilmore and Patrick are clearly audible in theensemble passages and Gilmore even takes an appropriately glib solo on “The Riddler’s Retreat.” (Itis unclear who is playing the loopy slide-whistle on “Flight of the Batman” or the boing-boing-ing
jaw harp on “Joker is Wild.”) Kalb peals off a number of stinging electric guitar solos that might
have seemed pretty groovy in a different context but, despite the musical firepower at Wilson’s
disposal, Bland’s “compositions” are nothing but laughable arrangements of material lifted
wholesale from the public domain (and elsewhere). As Prof. Campbell explains:
Except for the Batman theme [composed by Neil Hefti], nearly all of the music on this album was plundered fromvarious sources. “Batman’s Batmorang” uses the slow movement of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, “Penguin’s
Umbrella” takes over Chopin’s A-flat Polonaise; “Batman and Robin Swing” is based on the love theme fromTchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet; and “Batmobile Wheels” makes do with Bach’s Minuet in G, already recycled as “I
Hear a Symphony” by the Toys. “The Riddler’s Retreat” lifts its guitar licks from “She Loves You” by the Beatles.
(Campbell & Trent, p. 125)
One can only imagine a child’s disappointment when, after begging his parents for the Batman andRobinrecord, he discovers only a raggedy, ersatz rendition of his favorite TV theme and a bunch of
hokey tunes punctuated with incongruously psychedelic guitar solos. Needless to say, the record soldpoorly and only became a pricy collector’s item due to Sun Ra’s (un-credited) involvement and theconnection to The Blues Project and Al Kooper. In 2001, the Italian label, Comet/Universe, issued
the album on CD, complete with deluxe, gatefold mini-LP packaging, along with several other graymarket Ra reissues. While Batman and Robin is a fun bit of commercial ephemera of interest to
hard-core Sun Ra fanatics, Blues Project aficionados (and, I suppose, comic book geeks), it is prettymuch worthless musically beyond its value as pure sixties kitsch, a strange and curious artifact froma far-gone era.
Sam said...
Yeah, this one's a bit hard to listen to, although I do take a perverse pleasure in slogging through"Robin's Theme." Yes, pity the poor kids' disappointment.

66

JUNE 28, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Nothing Is (ESP-Disk’ 4024 CD)
In May of 1966, the fledgling ESP-Disk’ managed to book a package tour for some of its artists
under the auspices of Bernard Stollman’s Esperanto Foundation, who had somehow finagled
financial support from the New York Council for the Arts to spread the ESP musico-philosophy tothe denizens of various New York State public colleges and universities. The musicians included Sun
Ra and the Arkestra, Ran Blake, Patty Waters, Giusseppi Logan and Burton Greene and much of themusic was recorded and later released on ESP-Disk’. Nothing Is, released in 1969, captures thelarge-format Arkestra at the top of its game during this tour, bravely navigating conductedimprovisations while also swinging hard on the jazzier numbers and otherwise bursting into spacechanting and polyrhythmic percussion freakouts ¬ it is the perfect soundtrack for the inspirational
but imminently doomed counter-cultural revolution then at its peak in the wake of the Summer ofLove, Woodstock, and widespread demonstrations of dissent. On the surface, Sun Ra’s music seems
to fit right in with the outrageous sounds of the psychedelic era, but as has been noted, Ra’s politics
were more complicated and quasi-authoritarian than might be expected. Ra’s ideal was not freedom,
but discipline. Even John Sinclair had to admit: “We knew he was a dictator, but at least he was abenign dictator” (quoted in Szwed, p. 245).
Perhaps that is why, unlike much of the music of this period, Nothing Is still sounds fresh and not
like a hopelessly nostalgic curio from a distant past. In fact, it still sounds like music from the future.
One can only imagine what those college students thought about it at the time; surely many minds
were blown. Nothing Isbecame a defining album for Sun Ra and, as with the Heliocentric Worlds
albums, Nothing Is was widely bootlegged after ESP-Disk’s dissolution. I’ve owned various
versions of this record: an Italian boot CD in the late eighties; the heavily No-Noised German ZYX
CD circa. 1990; the better-sounding Dutch Calibre CD released in 2000; and now, the expanded
2005 edition on the resurrected ESP-Disk’. While the 2005 reissue includes almost thirty minutes of67

bonus material (and improved sonics), the tracks are disconcertingly rearranged. This album is
indelibly etched into my brain through decades of repeated listening, so it was something of a shock
the first time I heard the new CD. Upon reflection, it does seem likely that this rearrangement betterreflects the running order of Ra’s sets of the time, but somehow the intensely visceral impact of theoriginal is slightly diffused. Ra took great care in the construction of his albums and while additional,
previously unreleased music is always welcome, I will probably keep my older CD containing therecord as it was originally released, just for reference.
Be that as it may, Nothing Is is definitely one of the all-time great Sun Ra records and an essential
document of the period. Highlights include a jaw-droppingly stunning Gilmore solo on the twisty
post-bop composition, “Dancing Shadows,” the definitive performance of the insanely complicated“Shadow World,” and an evocative rendition of “Exotic Forest” featuring Marshall Allen’sserpentine oboe over that menacing 5/4 ostinato. Interspersed are brief space chants and songs(“Theme of the Stargazers,” “Outer Spaceways Incorporated,” “Next Stop Mars” and “Second Stop
is Jupiter”), enormous, universe-engulfing space chords, and terse, densely compacted group
improvisations. As for the bonus tracks, “Velvet” is an old-timey swing vehicle for Pat Patrick’s
honking, squealing, and growling baritone saxophone, with pithy trombone and piano solos snuck in
before the closing reprise. “Outer Nothingness” is fifteen-minutes of delirious, “New Thing” styled
free jazz, marred only by an overlong drum solo by the irrepressible (and overindulged) Clifford
Jarvis. (N.B. In a lazy bit of titling, this track bears little to no relationship to “Outer Nothingness”
as found on Heliocentric Worlds, Vol.1.) A truncated “We Travel the Spaceways” ends the discwith a premature fadeout that feels somewhat anticlimactic. With or without the bonus material,
Nothing Is is a must-have album for any Sun Ra fan and, truthfully, it belongs in any serious
collection of post-war jazz.
NOVEMBER 28, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Lucky me! I received a couple of gifts for my birthday which had been on my want list for a while
and will help further my Sun Ra research project. Today, I want to take the time to briefly discussthem and thank my kind benefactors: Thank you so much!

68

+++
Sun Ra: Collected Works, Vol.1: Immeasurable Equation was published by Phaelos Books &Mediawerksin 2005 and collects 260 of Sun Ra’s poems and a 1968 prose piece entitled, “Music Is
My Words” in a handsome 226 page volume along with a handful of black and white photographs.
Edited by Alton Abraham’s son, Adam, the book provides a comprehensive selection of Ra’s literaryworks, including numerous, side-by-side alternates and revisions along with introductory essays byJames L. Wolfe and Hartmut Geerken which seek to contextualize these idiosyncratic writings
within the otherworldly, messianic persona Sun Ra constructed. As Wolfe points out:
[Ra’s] poems are so bravely and unabashedly un-poetic. I know of no other poet who uses fewer concrete nouns thandoes Sun Ra…Wisdom, dimensions, endlessness, potentials, blackness, source, word, world, etc…abstractions all.
Two barely concrete words reappearing every now and then are bridge and crossroads, signals of what Sun Ra ispresenting to us in his volumes, crossings from one place to another, points of intersection where changes of direction
become possible. Beyond these two, there are almost no moments in his entire written corpus that could be called“images” which suggest visual, sonic, or tactile scenes or experiences.
The question arose, and will again for others, is this really poetry? Is this philosophy disguised as poetry, just as Sun
Ra’s music is “Images and forecasts of tomorrow/Disguised as Jazz?” (p.xiv)
Geerken focuses on the mutable materiality of Ra’s poetic language and, drawing upon ancient
mythology and western metaphysics, suggests that he achieves “a kind of cosmic formula about life
and the world which can be employed to harmonize the individual, society, science, politics andart”(p.xxv):
Sun Ra’s poems untie language following the recipes of the Dadaists, the structuralists, the lettrists, the futurists andthe cosmologists. Above all, his poetic texts consist of energies. Sun Ra did not write because he wanted to communicate
thoughts but because he cultivated particular vibrations and frequencies from which the texts emerged more or lessautomatically and spontaneously. The reader of Sun Ra’s poems “enters a while and free world, a world without apope, without kings, without religion, and without refuge. He becomes a tree, a bird, a dancer, a barque, a wave—
parts of a cosmos which creates all possibilities and destroys all certainties” (p.xxvi). [Quotation from Gerhard
Penzkofer, Introduction to Poésie Spatiale/Raumpoesie, Bamberg 2001.]
Sun Ra may have been a shaman or he may have been a charlatan—or likely he was a little of both.
He was a man born Herman Poole “Sonny” Blount, who reinvented himself as Sun Ra from theplanet Saturn. The transformation was total: he legally changed his name to Le Sony’r Ra anddisavowed his earthly mortality. This was decades before Prince! Sun Ra created his own reality—atleast while he was alive—and his written works are keys to his mind. These Collected Works makefor fascinating reading and will be a great resource for future Sun Ra Sundays. Thank you, Steve &Katie!
+++
ESP-Disk’ recently unearthed over ninety minutes of unreleased material from the May 18, 1966
concert at St. Lawrence University in Potsdam, New York and has released the whole shebang on a
two-CD set entitled,College Tour Vol.1: The Complete Nothing Is…The discovery of previously
unreleased Sun Ra music from the ‘Sixties is reason enough to celebrate, but this release exceeds all69

expectations. Of course, Nothing Is…is a perfect album in itself, but it was skillfully edited toshowcase the more out-there extremes of the Arkestra’s live act. This expanded edition restores theconcert’s proper sequence, including some of the old-timey swing numbers and groovy space chants
which were omitted from the original album; to hear this edition of Arkestra rip through some ofthe ‘Fifties-era material such as, “Advice for Medics” and “Space Aura,” is a rare delight indeed! And
the second disc is truly revelatory, opening with an unusually expansive, contemplative version of“The Satellites Are Spinning” and going on from there.
This was one of the best bands Sonny ever assembled: Ronnie Boykins and Clifford Jarvis in therhythm section (along with James Jacson and Carl Nimrod on percussion); John Gilmore, Marshall
Allen, Pat Patrick, and Robert Cummings filling out the reeds; and, instead of the more usual
trumpets on top, there are the trombonists, Teddy Nance and Ali Hasan, who give the ensemble
sections are darker, mellower tone while also being strong soloists in their own right. My only
complaint is the interminable drum solos—why, oh why, did Sun Ra indulge Jarvis so? It’s not that I
have anything against drum solos per se (although I generally think they’re a bad idea); it’s just that
Jarvis always just plays a bunch of flashy bullshit. Excuse my language, but it’s the most appropriate
term. Every time he goes off like that, he abandons the truth of the music for the lie of empty
technical displays. Usually, Sonny has to finally cut him mid-paradiddle so as to get things back on
track. Left to his own devices, I swear he would go on forever.
But I quibble. Disc two includes almost thirty-five minutes of the evening’s soundcheck/rehearsal
featuring two previously unknown compositions: “Nothing Is,” a floating, rhapsodic kind of blues,
propelled by Ra’s wandering piano, is sometimes countered by long-toned horns while “Is Is
Eternal” sets angular piano chords amidst cascading, rubato rhythms over which the horns heaveand sigh in densely orchestrated harmony. Brief solo statements break the surface here and there,
but this is very much a through-composed ensemble piece that was, apparently, never performed.
Interesting. A leisurely romp through the riff-happy “State Street” follows, featuring dueling bari-saxes
in the lead and “The Exotic Forest” concludes the disc in what sounds like a rehearsal but, curiously,applause can be heard at the end. Is it merely tacked on? Who knows? Regardless, College TourVol.1 is a most welcome addition to the Sun Ra discography, an essential document from this mostfertile period. The Arkestra played five concerts on this tour, all of which were supposedly recorded
by ESP-Disk’. Could this mean more volumes will be forthcoming? One can only hope. In themeantime, this will certainly do! Thank you, Kath & Justin!
Sam said...
I'm glad you finally got the complete "Nothing Is." The new material throughout is devastatingly
gorgeous and absolutely essential (well, except for the 500 minutes of Clifford "drum solo totally outof context Buddy Rich style" Jarvis that ruins "Space Aura"). I haven't seen the Phaelos edition yet. I
wonder how it compares to the James Wolf-edited volume that came out on Waitawhile? That's theone I read.

70

JULY 5, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Monorails and Satellites (Evidence ECD 22013-2)
Recorded at Sun Studio, New York, NY prob. 1966
Originally released as El Saturn SR 509 in 1968
While Sun Ra is highly regarded as a pioneer of electric keyboards in jazz, his prodigious gifts as a
pianist have largely been overlooked, obscured by and subsumed within the Arkestra’s overall
musical activities.Monorails and Satellites is one of the very few solo piano recordings Ra evermade and it is a fascinating document of his instrumental technique and singular musical thinking.
Ra does not possess a dazzling virtuosity, but he approaches the piano as an immense orchestra, fullof vibrant colors and contrasting timbres. Like a child at play, Ra delights in the resonant rumblingof the lowest octaves and the plinking, chattering chimes of the highest notes above. But Ra’s twohand independence is sometimes truly astonishing: each hand in a different meter, in a different key,ten fingers layering multiple outer and inner melodies to create complex rhythmic/harmonic webs.
Ra’s touch is aggressive yet supple, achieving illusionistic “bent” note effects. In a 1991 interview
with Keyboard magazine, Ra was asked if he could hear quarter tones, the notes “between thenotes” on a piano:Oh, yeah, I’m using these intervals. You see, the way you attack a note can create those effects. Depending on how
hard you hit the key, you can hear the third or the fourth or the fifth – those sounds in the cracks – coming out. So thetouch, the attack, is very important. When I hit a note, the undertones also sound. With the undertones and overtones
blended, I can get quarter-tones. Not too many piano players have that touch. […] I sing that way too, dividing theoctave into 24 or 36 steps, just like the Indian singers do. I’m doing world music (quoted in Szwed, p.240).
Aside from the delightfully swinging standard, “Easy Street,” all the compositions are Ra’s and you
can hear him using the piano as a sketchbook for the Arkestra’s larger canvas. “Space Towers” pits
an agitated bass ostinato against jumping chords and horn-like riffing. “Cogitation” spills out
71

tumbling blocks of clashing harmonies. “Skylight” is a beautiful ballad form spiced with intensely
pungent dissonances. “The Alter Destiny” begins with an ominous roar and builds up a brittle,
herky-jerky rhythm only to melt into sentimental tunefulness. “Blue Differentials” is a classic Ra
blues, bright, uptempo, maybe a little old fashioned. The rhapsodic “Monorails and Satellites”
contrasts gently rolling arpeggios and glissandos with enervated, multivoiced counterpoint. Finally,“The Galaxy Way” sounds more through-composed than wholly improvised as it maps the entire
compass of the instrument through a sequence of descending chords and fleeting melodies. In theend, this is far from your usual jazz piano album but it offers a rare glimpse into Ra’s most intimate
music-making.
+++It’s too bad Evidence was unable to secure the rights to reissue Monorails and Satellites Vol.2(released as El Saturn SR 519 in 1969), which contains additional solo piano music recorded at thesame session (and would have easily fit on CD). Interestingly, “Astro Vision” opens with a bit ofmusique concrete with Ra’s sprightly piano set against sheets of howling electronic noise, generated bycontact microphones and overdriven, distorted reverb (Boykins and Hunter are the likely suspects).
It sounds to me like the effect was overdubbed after the fact, since Ra does not interact with it in
any way and the noise eventually subsides some time before he finishes. Curious. The remainder of
the album consists of four piano solos that are more expansive than on Vol.1, but also more diffuse.
Several of the longer pieces reply upon an improvised, episodic construction that moves fromambiguous chordal statements through gentle ballad forms until finally evolving into furiously
dissonant two-fisted attacks. “Solar Boats” is a little different and sounds more pre-arranged: Ra’sleft hand sets up an off-kilter 5/4 groove while his right hand tosses off pan-tonal melodies andstrident, widely-spaced chords. Vol.2 contains a great deal of dynamic pianism, but lacks Vol.1’s
compact cohesiveness. Even so, it is well worth seeking out, if only for another opportunity to hear
Sun Ra alone at the piano with his musical thoughts.
+++
The radically experimental Strange Strings was also recorded around this time period; I wrote
aboutAtavistic’s excellent reissue of this bizarre masterpiece above. Ra’s discography gets very
confusing at this point, with various albums containing material recorded at different times andplaces, with a slew of singles thrown in to boot. This sort of confusion continues until well into thenineteen-seventies! I would like to continue my chronological examination of Sun Ra’s albums, but I
fear that a weekly schedule will be almost impossible to maintain. Just sorting out what is where willtake some time. So expect some more YouTube videos in lieu of writing as I sort things out!

72

July 12, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Spaceways (Freedom CD741047)
This record certainly has a tortured discographical history! In December, 1971, Sun Ra sold a cacheof tapes to the Black Lion label so as to pay the Arkestra’s traveling expenses from Denmark to
Egypt. Sadly, much of this music was never released. In 1974, El Saturn released this album as
Outer Spaceways Incorporated(143000A+B) – although it was sometimes entitled A Tonal
View of Times Tomorrow, Vol.3. Inexplicably, some of this music also appeared on numerous
hybrid pressings of later Saturn albums such as Primitoneand Invisible Shield among others.
Finally, in 1998, the German DA Music label released a three-CD box set entitled Calling Planet
Earth (Freedom 7612), containing some (but not all) the Black Lion holdings, wherein this album is
stupidly re-titled Spaceways. I say stupidly because another disc in this otherwise fine box set isinanely titled Outer Spaceways Incorporated, making an already confusing discography needlessly
opaque. This is the kind of thing that makes Campbell and Trent’s Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra
so absolutely necessary!
In any event, Spaceways (or whatever you want to call it) is a great companion piece to the classic
Nothing Is. Most of the music appears to have been recorded around 1966, given the presence ofthe trombonist Teddy Nance (who died in 1967) and Ra’s distinctive piano/Clavioline combo.
Recorded in stereo, it offers remarkably good sound quality for the period. The first track, “Prelude
and Shadow-Light World” (originally titled “Chromatic Shadows” on the El Saturn LP), opens witha long, dramatic piano introduction which prepares the way for the ensemble chant, “Sun Ra and
His Band from Outer Space.” Then comes the notorious “Shadow World,” which is marked by aslightly more relaxed tempo than usual and a honking, wailing bari sax solo from Pat Patrick. Ra
takes a solo turn before giving way to burbling percussion. Finally, Ra conjures up a mammoth
space chord to bring things to a close. The second track, “The Wind Speaks,” appears to be from73the same concert and is another beautiful Ra ballad featuring a choir of flutes and piccolo.
Eventually, Boykins takes a solo turn with the bow and Ra enters to duet on the electric Clavioline.
Ra then returns to the piano for some frenetic variations on the theme before an elegiac, full
ensemble re-statement. This composition was later re-titled “Somebody Else’s World” after
acquiring lyrics.
June Tyson’s unmistakable voice singing the end of “Satellites Are Spinning” opens “We Sing This
Song,” indicating a probable 1968 recording date (the sound quality is also noticeably inferior to therest of the album). Her singing gradually trails off leaving the stage to Sun Ra’s rhapsodic,
thunderous piano. “Outer Space Incorporated” [sic] returns to the previous concert, with thebouncy space chant setting the stage for a swinging piano solo. Ra suddenly holds down a deep bass
tremolo causing the rhythm section to die down, leaving Nance and Bernard Pettaway to engage in afriendly trombone duel, sometimes joined by Ra’s Calvioline or some jib-jabbering percussion. Ra
then lays down a heavy piano chord which signals another lengthy drum solo from Clifford Jarvis.
Now, Jarvis is a technically brilliant drummer (check out that bass drum!), but drum solos are almost
never a good idea, in my opinion. Thankfully, after a few minutes, the rest of the Arkestra takes up
various hand-percussion, giving things are more interestingly pan-African, poly-rhythmic feel(despite Jarvis’s continued show-boating). Ra shuts things down with a startling piano entry,
signaling another heaving space chord. Some deft editing surreptitiously launches us into “We Travel
the Spaceways,” which is clearly taken from a different concert, given the subtle change insoundstage (Boykins is suddenly stage left!). This version retains the original arrangement, featuring
the prominent metallic clanging on the fours but, unfortunately, the Arkestra only sings the refrain a
few times before the track fades out. Despite the anomalous titling on this reissue, Spaceways is adelightful album and an important live document of the Heliocentric-era Arkestra. The Calling
Planet Earth box set is currently out of print, but can found on the secondary market for a modest
premium. It is definitely worth seeking out, even with its myriad documentary flaws.

74

SEPTEMBER 27, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Outer Spaceways Incorporated [sic] (Freedom CD741085)
This is yet another record with a horribly tortured history. In 1971, Sun Ra sold a stash of tapes to
Alan Bates of the German label, Black Lion, who shortly thereafter issued this album under the title,
Pictures of Infinity. A 1994 CD reissue added a previously unreleased bonus track (“Intergalactic
Motion”) and all cuts were again reissued in 1998 on the three-CD box set, Calling Planet Earth(Freedom 7612), but there the album is stupidly re-titled Outer Spaceways Incorporated. I say
stupidly because a 1974 album originally titled Outer Spaceways Incorporated (Saturn 14300A+B)
was also re-issued in the same box set and inexplicably re-titled Spaceways, thereby creating all
kinds of unnecessary discographical confusion. Be that as it may, this album (whatever its title) isdrawn from an excellent stereo recording of a live performance in New York City circa. 1968 andprovides a rare, hi-fi glimpse of the newly evolving “cosmo drama.”
The Arkestra declaims, “Somewhere There!” and immediately blasts off into full-blown, New Thingstyled energy music, Gilmore taking the lead with an astonishingly fleet tenor solo. Unfortunately, agood half of the track’s fifteen minute duration is taken up with more pointless drum solos by
Clifford Jarvis and his hyperactive bass-drum pedal. When the Arkestra finally interjects someaimless space chords and free-jazz squealing and honking, it all seems a bit anticlimactic. Maybe you
just had to be there. “Outer Space Incorporated” [sic] opens with some rubato free improv until Ra
introduces the bouncy chord progression, taken at a bright tempo. The Arkestra chants the words inincreasingly dissonant harmony before brief, quiet solos from piano and bass. The free rubato
section returns with braying horns, busy percussion, and cacophonous piano before quickly fadingout to modest applause. “Intergalactic Motion,” whose correct title is actually “Ankhnaton,” is ajaunty big-band number that dates back to the 1960 album, Fate in a Pleasant Mood (Saturn
202/Evidence ECD 22068). The composition alternates a hugely catchy riff with a swinging bridge
section. Bernard Pettaway and Ali Hassan dominate with dueling trombone solos before giving way
to Ra’s nimble piano, where he explores the nooks and crannies of odd harmonic inversions.
Boykins and Jarvis provide a solid foundation of joyous swing and Boykins eventually takes overwith a typically virtuosic bass solo before the horns return for a ragged reprise to end. “Saturn” is75

another classic Ra composition dating all the way back to 1956. The A-section sets a serpentine,
atonal melody atop an agitated up-and-down rhythm while the B-section suddenly unleashes
contrastingly fast and furious swing changes. It is the perfect vehicle for Gilmore’s prodigious
talents and he does not disappoint here. Ra adds a pointed statement on piano before Gilmore leads
the ensemble through the complex head to end. Some pitter-pattering percussion segues directly
into “Song of the Sparer,” a slow modal ballad introduced by Ra’s piano. Held notes on saxophones,
piccolo, flute, and trumpet outline subtly shifting, suspended harmonies over Ra’s restless chord
progression. It’s an interesting piece, somewhat tentatively performed (apparently only this onetime). The final track, “Spontaneous Simplicity,” is possibly from an earlier concert (perhaps 1967),
given the slightly different ambience and a noticeably smaller Arkestra. Prof. Campbell also suggests
this is Gilmore on drums rather than Jarvis and, after close listening, I think that might be right. (Ifit’s Jarvis, he is playing with uncharacteristic restraint!) In any event, Marshall Allen plays
scrumptiously delicious flute along with Ra’s delicate piano filigrees while Boykins holds down the
two-note bass-line over a bed of gently percolating percussion. A beautiful example of one of Ra’spatented “space ballads.”
Despite the anomalous titling and sometimes ragged ensembles, this album is definitely worth
hearing for the opportunity to hear the Arkestra in a live setting during this crucial (yet sparsely
documented) period of transition.
JULY 26, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Released in 1968, Saturn 3066 is a seven-inch 45rpm single consisting of two tracks recorded at Sun
Studio in 1967 and is available on The Singles (Evidence ECD 22164). “The Bridge” is anaccompanied recitation of Sun Ra’s poem, “The Fire and the Dry Weeds,” which was later publishedin the 1972 edition of The Immeasurable Equation. Ra begins with spindly, echoing chords onelectric organ and tremulous Clavioline until the horns and percussion enter with squalling, distorted
space chords, tautly controlled by Ra’s conducting. Mobarak Mahmoud (an aspiring actor then76

residing with the Arkestra) dramatically declaims the poem, his voice swathed in claustrophobic,
bathroom reverb. At the climactic line, “They must walk the bridge of the cosmic age!” the rest of
the band joins in staggered, variously impassioned exclamations of “They must walk the bridge!
They must walk the bridge!” Hmm. Some more keyboard noodling and a final, blasting space chordwraps things up in suitably enigmatic fashion. Curiously, “The Bridge” was reissued as a one-sided
single in 1982, indicating that Ra considered the work to be of some inscrutable, talismanic
importance. The flip-side, “Rocket #9,” finds the Arkestra re-tooling the all-purpose space chantwith a radically slowed tempo, transforming it into a kind of funky march from the boiling, big-bandswing of the original version heard onInterstellar Low Ways (Saturn 203/Evidence ECD 22039).
Ra leads the Arkestra from the delicate electronic celeste, spelling out melodic figures to be taken up
by the horns. Unfortunately, the track abruptly cuts off before the bridge or solo sections.
Incidentally, Terry Adams claims that he was given a copy of this single by Sun Ra himself and it is
this riff-happy arrangement of “Rocket #9” that was adapted by NRBQ on their debut album in
1968.
+++
Song of the Stargazers (Saturn 487 or sometimes 6161) was released in 1979 and is mostly ahodgepodge of various live recordings from the nineteen-seventies. But one track was obviously
recorded much earlier, probably in 1967 or 1968, according to Prof. Campbell. Performed in a large,
reverberant space in front of a sizable and enthusiastic audience, “Cosmo Dance” is an interesting
quasi-modal composition featuring some evocative flute and oboe. Clacking wooden sticks set up a
simple, repetitious rhythm with Boykins's bass and Pat Patrick’s “space lute” plucking out a droning
three-note groove. Low horns and bowed bass enter with convulsively heaving whole-note fourths
while flute and oboe and bass clarinet dance a medieval round. Flute and then oboe embark on
expansive, Middle-Eastern sounding solos over the clacking sticks and throbbing bass/space lute,the audience bursting into spirited applause after each. Finally, the low horn/bowed bass whole-note
fourths return, repeating several times before ending to more justifiably hearty ovation. Ra himself is
not heard playing on this track, but the murky sound quality makes it hard to clearly make out who
is doing what. Campbell says Marshall Allen is playing both flute and oboe, but that is impossible
since both instruments are heard simultaneously during the ensemble section. So, is it Danny Davison flute? It certainly sounds like him. There is also some talking barely audible throughout – is that
Sun Ra lecturing the crowd or just random audience noise? In any event, this is a beautiful,prototypical Sun Ra composition of the period, perfectly realized by his Arkestra.
Sam said...
That's by far my favorite version of "Rocket #9"--I love the slightly dissonant horn lines, and all the
drum breaks (Jarvis, right?) are ingenious. A classic!

77

JULY 19, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Astro Infinity Arkestra: Atlantis (Evidence ECD 22067)
After a flurry of recording activity that began with the Arkestra’s arrival in New York City in 1961
and culminated with the ESP-era recordings of 1965-1966, the following years (until about 1970)
are, by comparison, sparsely documented with individual tracks spread across various compilations,
singles, and only a very few self-contained albums. So it seems to make sense to continue ourchronological investigation with the albums proper (along with contemporaneous singles) before
doubling back with the miscellaneous compilations that fill in the blanks. In other words, I’m
putting off dealing with The Solar Myth Approach Vols.1 & 2 until all else has been examinedfrom this time period!
Which means we jump ahead a year to Atlantis, recorded in 1967 and originally released as Saturn
ESR 507 in 1969. There are changes afoot in the band’s sound: always an early adopter oftechnology, Ra can be heard on side one playing exclusively a Hohner Clavinet, a recently released
electronic keyboard that was later popularized by Stevie Wonder (see e.g. "Superstition” in 1972). Ra
renames it the “Solar Sound Instrument” and plays it in his own inimitable fashion. Recorded inrehearsal at the Sun Studio (the Arkestra’s rented townhouse located at 48 East Third Street in
Manhattan’s Lower East Side), these tracks feature a bare-bones Arkestra: Gilmore can be heard
from time to time on tenor saxophone, but these pieces mostly feature Ra’s clavinet over beds ofpercussion and sound more like sonic experiments than full-fledged compositions. But what
interesting experiments!
“Mu” is a slow, 5/4 clavinet vamp with Gilmore tentatively outlining an up and down melody.
“Lemuria” is another 5/4 boogie with Gilmore laying down some heavy duty riffing on top of Ra’s
extra-funky clavinet. “Yucatan” is a dreamy, modal ballad wherein Ra demonstrates his remarkably
sensitive touch on the primitive electronic keyboard. Hartmut Geerken points out in the78discography that what sounds like electric bass us actually “two tightly interlaced African drum
patterns!” (2nd ed., p.136). “Bimini” consists of roiling polyrhythmic percussion with Ra interjectingsome jabbing chords on the clavinet. The Evidence CD also includes an alternate version of“Yucatan” that mistakenly appeared on the 1973 reissue of Atlantis on Impulse! Actually, this track
has nothing to do with the other composition of the same name, but is rather another noisy
percussion-fest interspersed with Ra’s distinctive clavinet chording. A telephone rings signaling aquick cadence to end.
The side-long title track was recorded live at the Olatunji Center of African Culture sometime afterMay, 1967 and is essentially one long Ra solo on the other new keyboard in his arsenal: a Gibson
Kalamazoo organ. The Kalamazoo was a lower-priced copy of the Farfisa portable organ madefamous by rock musicians of the time (think “96 Tears”). Ra attacks the instrument with unrelenting,two-fisted zeal, summoning forth a tsunami of sound that duly evokes the mythical flooding of
Atlantis. It is a hair-raisingly terrifying performance and as menacingly psychedelic as any music of
the period. After about fifteen assaultive minutes, an eerie calm sets in and the Arkestra plays an
aching, moaning, richly voiced ensemble passage while Ra’s screeching organ threatens to
overwhelm. The tension continues to mount until it is almost unbearable – then suddenly Ra cues
the space chant: “Sun Ra and his band from outer space have entertained you here…” Holy moly!
As Michael Shore puts it in his liner notes on the Evidence CD, “Atlantis” is “frightening,fascinating, enthralling, and finally overpowering music…[It] is one of the most monumental
achievements of an artist who was always working in super-colossal terms.” Essential.
+++
The Sun Studio session(s) also yielded a single (Saturn 911-AR) released in 1969 and is available on
The Singles (Evidence ECD 22164). “Blues on Planet Mars” is a typically spaced out blues, thistime scored for the boing-ing clavinet and some lurching, cross-rhythmic percussion. The B-side,“Saturn Moon,” is something else entirely: Ra sets up some droning, guitaristic accompaniment on
the clavinet for the Arkestra’s quietly majestic, harmonized humming while drums tap awayominously in the background. Interesting! Neither of these tracks would have conceptually fit on
Atlantis, but are intriguing works in themselves and I can understand why Ra thought them worthyof release as a single.
Sam said...
A couple of quick comments: --the band entrance at the end of "Atlantis" has always reminded meof Guy Lombardo (and that's not a criticism). --I agree that side 1 sounds more like undeveloped
studies than finished pieces; perhaps for that reason, I haven't warmed to it as much as other stuff
from this period. But of course when I'm in the right mood, the music suits me just fine.

79

SEPTEMBER 13, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Interlude: 1967-1970 Although the Arkestra was finding an increasing amount of paying work
during the late nineteen-sixties, maintaining a residence in Manhattan was becoming untenable.
Szwed describes the situation:
As New York City became aware of the shift in demographics taking place in the East Village, the police began to
pay more attention to the area, and the Arkestra was regularly warned about the noise at rehearsals. So when thelandlord decided to put the house up for sale Sun Ra saw that it was time for a move. Marshall Allen’s father owned
some property in Philadelphia and offered to rent them a row house at 5626 Morton Street in Germantown. So in thefall of 1968 Sun Ra moved to what he called ‘the city Brotherly shove,’ the ‘worst place in America,’ ‘the headquartersof the devil in disguise.’ (p.266)
Philadelphia was perhaps not quite as bad as all that; the Morton Street house remained Ra’s
headquarters for the rest of his life and, to this day, Marshall Allen still lives there where hecontinues to conduct the posthumous Arkestra’s business. Szwed goes on to inform us:
Rehearsals created a few complaints from their new neighbors, but when the police arrived, Sonny told them they weremerely making a joyous noise to the Lord in the city as the Good Book required. And gradually they became known
as good neighbors, especially liked by the kids. Within a year there was a record by the Arkestra on the juke box in
the neighborhood Laundromat and Sonny was listed in the Philadelphia phone book as ‘Ra, Sun.’ (the phone wassometimes answered by an ominous voice which proclaimed, ‘You have reached Outer Space…’) (p.267-268)
Nevertheless, the move to Philadelphia was disruptive. In 1968, Ra’s music was still virtually
unknown outside of New York (and perhaps Chicago) so recruiting competent musicians was moredifficult and, with much of the Arkestra scattered across the eastern seaboard, the more intricate
ensemble pieces and swing-era showpieces of the old repertoire suffered from inadequate rehearsal
time. Philadelphia also lacked a thriving jazz scene so any paying work would entail travelling backand forth to New York City. Soon, relentless travelling would come to define the Arkestra’s
existence: first out to California, then to Europe and beyond.
80

By mid-1970, everything was in place for the next phase of Sun Ra’s earthly journey, a great
adventure that would take him around the planet as the intergalactic cosmic messenger of space-age
jazz. Always an early-adopter of new technology, Sonny had acquired the latest electronic keyboards:a Hohner Clavinet, a Gibson Kalamazoo organ, a more deluxe Farisa, the RMI Rocksichord electric
piano, and a Moog Minimoog monophonic synthesizer. Along with the acoustic piano, these
instruments would comprise his arsenal throughout the nineteen-seventies. On stage, Ra appeared tobe piloting a spaceship from behind his cockpit of keyboards with their myriad knobs, switches andtwinkling lights. The core members of the Arkestra were by now wholly committed to Ra’s
expansive vision; brass players and rhythm section members would come and go, but thesemusicians would remain stalwart accomplices to the end. Sonny was refining his compositional
approach, writing specifically for these core musicians and incorporating conducted improvisations
into the structure of his compositions. Soon he would embark on his ambitious “Discipline” series(which eventually numbered well over one hundred titles) each of which builds insanely complex
structures out of the simplest materials. With the addition of June Tyson and other singer/dancers
along with a full-blown light show, Sun Ra was transforming live performances into a ritualized“cosmo drama” full of theatrical choreography, sanctified exhortations, elaborate space chants, andmaniacal percussion workouts — perfect for the psychedelic-ized audiences of the time. But at thesame time, Ra could now rely on his “micro-Arkestra” consisting of John Gilmore, Marshall Allen,
and Danny Davis to realize any new music, asThe Night of the Purple Moon so ably demonstrates.
Aside from the handful of albums we’ve just discussed, this transformative period from 1967 to1970 is (relatively speaking) sparsely documented and various and sundry tracks only appear on a
handful of compilations which were issued in later years. Interestingly, a decent-quality audience
recording from the Electric Circus in 1968 also circulates amongst collectors, giving some crude
indication of the state of the “cosmo drama” during this period. Sorting all of this material out willbe the focus of the next several Sun Ra Sundays.

81

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Solar-Myth Arkestra: The Solar Myth Approach, Vols.1&2 (Charly 2CD)
The French record label BYG/Actuel was founded in March 1967 by Fernand Boruso, Jean-Luc
Young, and Jean Georgakarakos (a/k/a “Karakos”) as an outgrowth of Actuel magazine, anunderground arts journal active in the student protest movements of the time. In July, 1969, the
Pan-African Arts Festival attracted a number of American musicians to Algiers and photographer
and hardcore jazz fan, Jacques Bisceglia was enlisted to attract some of the expatriate Americans toParis with a promise of paying work and the opportunity to record. A number of studio recordings
were made that summer by such luminaries as Don Cherry, Archie Shepp, Anthony Braxton, The
Art Ensemble of Chicago, and Dave Burrell. The label also planned an Actuel Festival to be held inParis, but the French government denied them permission given their (tenuous) connection to theriots of 1968. The festival finally occurred in October, 1969 in the Belgian town of Amougies andwhile it was an economic disaster, the music was excellent and provided further material for thefledgling label. By 1972, BYG/Actuel had released almost fifty LPs documenting the cream ofAmerican and European free jazz and experimental musicians, but financial difficulties caused thepartnership to disintegrate into acrimonious litigation and eventual bankruptcy. The original albums,with their striking graphic design by Claude Caudron, quickly fell out of print and remain valuable
collector’s items today. Accusations of impropriety have tainted the label ever since its dissolution
and bootlegged editions of certain titles (including this one) have been widely available over theyears, lending credence to these allegations. Georgakarakos went on to found Celluloid while Youngstarted Charly, small record labels with their own reputations for questionable business practices.
Nevertheless, in 2002, Charly commissioned Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and journalist Byron
Coley to curate Jazzactuel, a three-CD box set of highlights from the BYG era and, for a few years
thereafter, legitimate (and, later, not-so-legitimate) reissues of the catalog started appearing on themarket. (Currently, the BYG/Actuel label has been seemingly resurrected and is re-releasing titles on82

LP only, but I haven’t heard any of them.) Ethical issues aside, the music is uniformly wonderful andwell worth seeking out.
Sun Ra himself was unable to personally attend the festivities in Europe, but instead compiled two
LPs worth of music for the label entitled Solar Myth Approach Volumes 1 and 2, which werereleased as BYG/Actuel 529.340 and 629.341 in 1972, toward the end of the label’s existence.
Consisting of various recordings made between 1967 and 1970, each volume is carefully sequenced
to highlight the most avant garde, experimental and downright trippy elements of the Arkestra’s music
while remaining a satisfyingly coherent pair of albums. “Spectrum” sets the mood, opening Volume
1 with thick, dissonant chords that rise and fall over the ominous heartbeat of Ra’s clavinet.
Meanwhile, Gilmore blows tightly controlled overtones on tenor with Patrick asserting angularcounter-figures on baritone sax. The drummer-less texture sounds more like contemporary classicalmusic than any kind of “jazz” but the following track, “Realm of Lightening,” features clattering
clouds of trash-can percussion and blatting trombones over a hypnotic, repeated bass line. Things
briefly settle down with a lovely rendition of “The Satellites Are Spinning,” taken at a lugubrious
tempo with June Tyson and Gilmore singing in unison over Ra’s rhapsodic clavinet and some softly
supportive hand drums. “Legend” is the centerpiece of the album, an astounding ten-minuteexcursion for straining trombones and frenzied oboes, with Gilmore and Ra engaged in pitchedbattle, Sonny attacking the clavinet with an unusually Cecil Taylor-ian aggression. “Seen III, Took 4”
is another inventive Minimoog solo from 1970. By de-tuning the oscillators and with a call andresponse form, Ra simulates polyphony on the monophonic instrument, adding creative volume
swells, filter and ring modulator effects, and ending with swooning pitch bends. “They’ll ComeBack” is a short but tantalizing composition that calls to mind both Bélá Bartok and Duke Ellington
with its interlude of fiercely rumbling piano and ringing, childlike celeste before a dramatic full stopand beautifully rendered coda. Volume 1 closes with “Adventures of Bugs Hunter,” which starts out
as a groovily choogling number for Ra’s funky clavinet and Boykin’s rock-solid bass. But thenMarshall Allen intercedes with some ear-piercing piccolo, in a deliberately contrary key and rhythm,
all of which is swathed in Hunter’s patented echo/reverb effect. Far out, man! A perfect ending to an
adventurous LP.
Volume 2 is perhaps even more intense, opening with “The Utter Nots,” another minimalist
composition for maximalist Arkestra, consisting of an insistent one-note figure interspersed withblasting space chords, Jarvis pounding away on drums. A series of energetic, wide ranging solos(buttressed by Ra’s crazy, out-of-tune piano) builds up cresting waves of tension and release acrossthe track’s eleven minutes, culminating in Danny Davis’s achingly overblown alto clarinet. The lilting
space chant, “Outer Spaceways, Inc.,” offers a bare minute of respite, with droning trombone andbassoon combined with Ra’s twanging clavinet while Tyson and Gilmore enticingly sing: If you find
Earth boring, just the same old same thing/Come on sign up with Outer Spaceways, Incorporated. “Scene 1, Take
1” is another epic Minimoog solo, over eight minutes of thoughtful knob-twisting, wah-wah-ing
filter effects, buzzing noise, and farting, sustained pitches. The piece ends with an almost Vangelislike swirling fade-out. Ra turns to clavinet solo on “Pyramids,” at times sounding more like aharpsichord or Spanish guitar on this moody, harmonically shiftless set-piece. “Interpretation”
presents another delightful Strange Strings session, recorded in spacious and spacey stereo. Sadly,
the fragile instruments were destroyed when the Arkestra’s van careened off the road on the way
back from their second trip to California in 1969, making this the last known recording of Ra’s own“scratch orchestra.” Up next is a ponderous re-make of “Ancient Ethiopia” (originally titled“Ancient Aiethiopia” on the 1959 Saturn LP, Jazz in Silhouette), with Allen musing on low-register83

flute and Ra scattering chords around the piano’s tinkling, uppermost range. Volume 2 ends with
“Strange Worlds,” a live recording from around 1969 or 1970. Ra’s organ and Akh Tal Ebah’s“space dimension mellophone” conjures up a spooky atmosphere and the music moves throughvarious moods and feelings leading up to Tyson’s solemn declamations regarding the strangeness of
the world. Suddenly, big, high-tension space chords unleash torrents of squalling horn solos, Ra
furiously assaulting the Gibson Kalamazoo with his fists and elbows. Then, everything stops cold. Is
it live or a deft edit? Either way, it’s a powerful conclusion to another mind-blowing album. Essential.
OCTOBER 18, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: The Electric Circus, New York, NY, April 1968 (AUD 2CDR)
I do not intend to write very much about the myriad audience or soundboard tapes, FM broadcasts,
videos or other bootleg-type material which circulates amongst Ra collectors because, for one thing,
I do not have it all and, for another, I do not really want it all! Let’s face it, I'm already feelingoverwhelmed by Ra’s official discography! And so while such recordings (and I do have quite a few)
are sometimes of extremely high quality, they are simply outside the scope of what I’m trying to dowith Sun Ra Sunday. Be that as it may, this ninety-minute concert fragment is worth a mention here.
The Electric Circus was a hippie hang-out located on St. Mark’s Place in New York City and theArkestra’s appearance at this venue (and the fact that some unknown fan decided to make thisaudience recording) demonstrates how Ra’s music and its audience were changing during this period.
Recorded in mono, likely with a single microphone to a reel-to-reel machine, the sound quality is not
too bad, all things considered, and it provides a singular glimpse into an Arkestra in transition circa.
April 1968.
The tape fades in with “Lights on a Satellite,” already in progress. Horns and flute choir play thesing-song-ing melody a few times over the sensuous rhumba rhythms before giving way to afrenetically twanging and clanging clavinet solo by Ra — his attack is so ferocious, the instrument's
delicate tines quickly drift out of tune. Nevertheless, Ra charges into the bouncing ostinato of“Friendly Galaxy.” The largish Arkestra sounds a bit tentative on the twisting, asymmetricalensemble section, but once a solid groove is established, a lengthy sequence of solos and percussion
jams is absolutely mesmerizing withAlan Silva’s cello giving this section an eerie, almost “Strange84

Strings” feeling. After bringing things to a full boil, Ra reintroduces the up-and-down bassline while
the Arkestra gracefully elides the slip-sliding melodies ending with an exquisite, extended ritardando.
After some polite applause, Ra introduces “The Satellites Are Spinning” and the Arkestra takes up
the chant over a slinky groove. Sadly, it fades out after only a couple of minutes.
An untitled improvisation follows, fading up mid-oboe solo, sailing over throbbing African
percussion, Silva’s cello singing along with Ronnie Boykins’s bowed bass. The piece moves throughvarious moods and instrumental groupings (notably more oboes and French horn, of all things),
climaxing with an aggressively apocalyptic organ solo by Ra. As the sonic fallout subsides, a child’s
wailing and screaming perfectly blends with the moaning and sighing horns. Unfortunately, the tapecuts off just as things start to heat up again. With a hearty chant of “Calling Planet Earth!,” theArkestra rips into some full-bore group-improv energy-music which, unfortunately, gives way to an
overlong drum solo from Clifford Jarvis. Oh well. Next up, an early version of “Somebody Else’s
Idea” is chanted rather than sung by an unidentified female vocalist —definitelynot June Tyson. Thisis very interesting as it suggests that Ra was looking to add a female vocalist to the Arkestra prior to
Tyson’s appearance on the scene later that summer/fall. After choogling along for several minutes,
Ra signals the ending with some emphatic, churchy organ chords that lead into the gentle “spaceballad,” “Spontaneous Simplicity,” a vehicle for Marshall Allen’s mellifluous flute. But as thepercussion gets heavier and Ra’s organ gets more dissonant and distorted, the music verges on thekind of dark funk Miles Davis would get to later on the nineteen-seventies. And from there it
disintegrates into a caustic noise fest that brings to mind primal Sonic Youth before returning to theburbling exotica of the theme. Incredible! Then Ra’s quivering organ tones introduce the whacked-out
big-band number, “Space Aura” wherein John Gilmore is finally given an opportunity to shine on
tenor saxophone, engaging in a fiery duo with Jarvis a la Interstellar Space before launching into an
astonishingly virtuosic a cappella solo which elicits some enthusiastic cheering from the audience. Rathen re-enters with the theme just as the tape begins to fade out.
Despite the sometimes rough sound quality and some unfortunate edits, this “bootleg” tape isdefinitely worth seeking out for the opportunity to hear an expanded Arkestra performing at one of
New York’s grooviest nightclubs at the height of the psychedelic sixties. Here is the blueprint for the
wildly expansive “Cosmo Drama” that would expand and evolve throughout the nineteen-seventies.
Fascinating stuff!
Sam said...
Thanks once again for doing a great job of putting this stuff in context. This recording is anotherstellar example of just how far ahead of his time Ra continues to be.

85

AUGUST 2, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Amiri Baraka/Sun Ra & His Myth Science Arkestra: A Black Mass (Son Boy 1 CD)
The controversial writer/activist LeRoi Jones was a fellow denizen of Greenwich Village and an
early, influential supporter of Sun Ra’s music in New York. After the assassination of Malcolm X on
February 21, 1965, Jones changed his name to Imamu Amiri Baraka, moved to Harlem and founded
the Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School (BARTS). Sun Ra remained downtown, but he wasintensely active in the short-lived institution, making the trip to the Harlem office “almost daily”(Szwed, p. 210). However, BARTS quickly disintegrated and Baraka decamped to his hometown in
Newark, New Jersey where he established The Spirit House in a rented one-family dwelling. The
first floor’s interior walls were removed to create performance/work space that would also come tohouse a book store and a record label, provocatively named Jihad.
A Black Mass was written in 1965 and published in Four Black Revolutionary Plays (BobbsMerrill, 1966). It was first performed at Procter’s Theater in Newark in May, 1966 with Sun Ra’s
Myth Science Arkestra supplying incidental music. The Arkestra shared the stage with the actors andimprovised its parts by following cues in the script such as “Sun-Ra music of shattering dimension”
or by interjecting music or percussion amidst the actors’ speaking lines. For Jihad’s first LP in 1968,
Baraka enlisted members of the Black Arts troupe and the Arkestra to record the play, loosely based
upon the Muslim myth of Yacub, wherein an evil white monster is accidentally created by an overly
curious black magician. Despite the overt (reverse) racism inherent in the work, Szwed helpfully
points out that, “in Baraka’s re-telling, it is the aesthetic impulse gone astray which is at center, … aviolation of the spirit of the black aesthetic” (p. 211). Baraka reinforces this message in the liner
notes to this CD reissue: “Art is creation and … we must oppose the ‘creation of what does notneed to be created.’” Even so, the play presents a number of problems for white listeners such as
me!
86The work begins with a brief guided improvisation by the Arkestra which introduces the actors, whoenter humming and singing the melody to “Satellites Are Spinning,” a theme which runs throughout
the play as a kind of leitmotiv. Unfortunately, the recording is crude and the acting is stagy and way
melodramatic. Here is a representative declamation: “What we do not know does not exist. We
know beyond knowing. Knowing there is nothing to know. Everything is everything.” A chorus of
women screeches and screams when the while devil is unleashed. Meanwhile, the Arkestra keeps arunning commentary varying from splattery percussion and the plinking of “strange strings” toalternatively aggressive and spacey organ/clavinet workouts or dissonant, massed space chords.
Occasionally, horns make succinct solo statements or engage in vocalized call and response with theactors. Despite the ponderous, heavy-handed rhetoric, Baraka’s play surely appealed to Sun Ra’sown black sci-fi mythology, even if Ra’s musico-philosophy was more ecumenical than insurgent.
Interestingly, Szwed takes pains to demonstrate Ra’s influence on Baraka’s thinking during thisperiod: “[Ra] is there in [Baraka’s] historical allusions, in the tone and pitches of his reading, in his
sense of the importance of language, and in his consciousness of the possibilities of playing the
spoken word against the written, unleashing the phonetics buried in the printed word” (p. 209).
Baraka would continue to be an important advocate for Sun Ra and his music. In Eulogies (1996),
Baraka wrote: “Ra was so far out because he had the true self consciousness of the Afro American
intellectual artist revolutionary…” (quoted in Szwed, p. 209). Yes, but A Black Mass seems to me adangerously incendiary piece of sixties countercultural history and a difficult, painful listen, despite
the sometimes interesting music.

87

NOVEMBER 1, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI 7-3-69 (AUD CDR)
The Arkestra’s transformation from obscure, local oddballs into the restlessly world-touring
juggernaut it eventually became was a long time coming. From the mid-fifties until 1961, Sun Ra was
known (if at all) only in around Chicago and a doomed excursion to Montreal left the Arkestra
stranded in New York City, impoverished and almost virtually unknown. Yet Sonny persevered withthe small group of musicians that remained, rehearsing, recording, and picking up gigs here andthere around the city, barely eking out a precarious existence. It really wasn’t until ESP-Disk released
Heliocentric Worlds Vol.1 in 1965 that Ra’s reputation slowly began to spread beyond theconfines of New York (and Chicago) and allowed for larger ensembles and the growth of his
homegrown Saturn record label, which would proceed to document a lot of previously unheard
music. Heliocentric Worlds Vol.2 appeared in 1966, followed by a brief tour of New York State
colleges (which yielded Nothing Is, released in 1969). Significantly, the Arkestra began a long-term
Monday night residency at Slug’s Saloon in 1966 and the regular paying work attracted fresh young
musicians to Sun Ra’s interplanetary big-band concept. With an enlarged band of more or lessdedicated musicians with which to work, Ra began to develop his unique stage show, which hedubbed, “The Cosmo Drama” or “Myth-Ritual.”
Ra believed music could change the people of Earth and that myth was “something greater thantruth” (quoted in Szwed, p.256). The truth is something too horrible to contemplate; but throughmyths about the future told with music, Ra hoped to demonstrate that the impossible could become
possible. Szwed sums up Ra’s musico-philosophy thusly: “The future that people talk about is no
good; we need to do the impossible, for everything possible has been tried and failed. Truth (thepossible) equals death; myth (the impossible) equals immortality…Music could be used tocoordinate minds. It could touch the unknown part of the person, awaken the part of them that88

we’re not able to talk to, the spirit” (Id.) The Cosmo Drama would often begin with the “thunderdrum” alone with the staggered entry of the ensemble, dancing and banging on percussion
instruments, leading into a group improvisation before Ra himself would make his dramatic
appearance. Various original compositions, conducted improvisations, big-band rave-ups, solos andduos, space chants and oracular proclamations would proceed across sometimes vast expanses oftime, ending with an extended, dancing exit, everyone joyfully singing “We Travel the Spaceways.”
While the overall structure of the Cosmo Drama would remain relatively fixed, the sequence of
events was finely tailored to the venue and audience vibe: according to Danny Thompson, theArkestra had “as many as fifteen different arrangements of the same piece – such as “El is theSound of Joy” – and any one might be used. It was adjusted to the time, the city, to what people
need to hear” (quoted in Szwed, p.259). The astounding, wide-ranging music, the musician’soutrageous theatricality and fanciful costumes, combined with colorful stage lights, films, andslideshows could make for an over-stimulated, multisensory “happening” that suited the times.
By 1968, the United States found itself suffering from violent convulsions as the civil rights and antiwar movements gathered momentum and self-styled intellectuals, college students, Black
Nationalists, hippies, and Yippies alike were all drawn to Ra’s spaced-out mysticism, the Arkestra’s
high-spirited musicianship, and the accompanying quasi-psychedelic spectacle, although themainstream “jazz” community remained mystified and dismissive. Sun Ra made his Carnegie Hall
debut in April and The New Yorker dismissed it out of hand: “It wasn’t a good movie, and it wasn’t agood concert, and it wasn’t good Dadism. It wasn’t even adept put-on” (quoted in Szwed, p.254).
Despite such withering condescension, Sonny was finding his audience. In June, the activist/agitator
John Sinclair brought the Arkestra to Detroit to open for the radical, proto-punk rock band, MC5, atWayne State University. The MC5 so revered Sun Ra, they co-credited “Starship” with him on theirdebut album, Kick Out the Jams (Elektra). In August, the Arkestra was invited to Washington, D.C.
to perform in the atrium of the Corcoran Gallery where The Washington Post ambivalently described
Sun Ra as “a kind of black John Cage” but not "pitiful and dull" (quoted in Szwed, p.255).
Singer/dancer June Tyson had joined the Arkestra by the fall of 1968 and in December, the Arkestra
made its first trip to California, playing concerts at the College of Marin, San Jose State College, theOakland Auditorium Theatre, and the San Francisco Art Institute. They made a second, more
successful, journey to west coast in April, 1969 where they appeared at the University of Santa Clara,
two nights at Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, U.C. Davis, and the suspiciously named Maryjane
Coffeehouse in Sacramento. However, on their way back east the Arkestra’s van overturned on
Route 80 between Fernely and Lovelock, Nevada. Thankfully no one was injured, but most of thefragile Strange Strings instruments were completely destroyed. Sinclair again hosted the Arkestra
for the Detroit Rock and Roll Revival at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in May, where they shared abill with MC-5, The Stooges, Ted Nugent, The Amboy Dukes, and Chuck Berry.
In a measure of the Arkestra’s new-found prestige, they were invited to appear before four thousandpeople at the famed Newport Jazz Festival on July 3, 1969. However, the Arkestra’s interplanetary
extravaganza must have seemed comically out of place amidst the staid conventionality of Phil
Woods and Kenny Burrell, with whom they shared the bill. It also didn’t help that it rained all day at
the outdoor festival and the audience’s reaction to Ra’s performance was lukewarm at best.
However, a thirty-six minute audience tape survives and shows the Arkestra in full flight, making noconcessions whatsoever to the elitist, patrician atmosphere. To be sure, the sound quality is pretty
dreadful, but an approximation of the music can be discerned amidst the murk.
89

The tape opens in the middle of one of those roiling dark funk jams with piercing shards ofdissonant organ and braying horns. Suddenly, the ensemble plays a sweet-sounding sectional rightout of the nineteen-forties — until the ending fermatas swell into universe-shattering space chords.
This is a very interesting composition (whose title is presently unknown); perhaps it is a precursor to
the famous “Discipline” series of compositions Ra would begin in the nineteen-seventies (seeCampbell & Trent, p.151). Ra then wrestles the band into a blistering rendition of the fiendishlycomplicated “Shadow World” which quickly segues into a gospelish space chant, “Prepare for the
Journey to Other Worlds,” which quotes liberally from “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” A crazed
keyboard intro summons up a quick rendition of “Velvet,” with Ra’s distorted organ sound adding a
grating, industrial texture to this otherwise swinging, big-band number, which elicits some rather
tepid applause at the end. June Tyson then sings “Outer Space (Is a Pleasant Place)” in a pure,soulful tone over a skittering, atonal accompaniment. Soon, however, the instruments take over withsome raging sonic chaos which gives way to a mad-scientist organ solo. Ra then introduces theloping groove of “Exotic Forest,” a vehicle for Marshall Allen’s intensely scurrying oboe and Ra’s
apocalyptic organ. A quick blast through the fanfare and percussion fest of “Watusi” leads to thecartoony group sing-along, “Enlightenment” and the Tyson-led space chant, “Somebody Else’s
Idea,” which cuts off after a minute and forty-eight seconds. This tape is a fascinating glimpse of
one of the Arkestra’s first high-profile gigs, but the atrocious sound quality will repel everyone but
the most committed fan.
Besides their continued intermittent residency at Slug’s, a few gigs at the Red Garter, and theirinfamous Carnegie Hall debut, the Arkestra played some of the more luxurious New York venues in1968 and 1969, including a month-long run at the Garrick Theatre, a stint at the Squat Theater, andeven a performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Opera House. No matter what theestablishment critics and jazz traditionalists thought about Sun Ra, it was becoming apparent that heknew how to put on a show and could draw a paying audience. The Arkestra would be on the road
constantly from this time forward and would make their first trip to Europe in 1970, beginning an
era of non-stop traveling of the world, bringing the Cosmo Drama and Myth Rituals to the peopleof the Earth. After a period of scant documentation, the discography begins to overflow with live
albums, radio broadcasts, and, yes, audience recordings. Sorting out the seventies is the task ahead
here on Sun Ra Sunday.

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AUGUST 16, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Astro-Solar Infinity Arkestra: My Brother the Wind (Saturn 521)
The advent of the transistor enabled Robert Moog (1934-2005) to develop the first modular
synthesizer in the early nineteen-sixties and by late-1969, a truly portable synthesizer, the now
legendary Minimoog, was already in development. Sun Ra was naturally intrigued by the instrument,with its cutting edge technology and ability to make truly otherworldly sounds. But in a 1970 Down
Beat interview, Ra emphasized that synthesizers were not just weird noise machines or souped-up
organs:The Moog synthesizer in its potential and application to and for the future is tremendous in scope, particularly for
those who are creative naturals. It most certainly is worthy of a place in music. There are many effects on it which atpresent are not upon any other instrument. On one of my compositions, “My Brother the Wind,” the Moog is a perfectprojective voice. Of course, like other electronic keyboard instruments, it will require a different technical approach,touch and otherwise in most efforts of behavior. It is a challenge to the music scene…The main point concerning thesynthesizer is the same as in all other instruments, that is, its capacity for the projection of feeling. This will not be
determined in a large degree just by the instrument itself, but as always in music, by the musician who plays the
instrument (quoted in Szwed, p.277)
Indeed, Ra’s approach to the Moog synthesizer was altogether different than the instrument’s later
popularizers. In late 1969, and with the financial support of T.S. Mims, Jr., Ra obtained two
prototype models (in order to achieve two-voice polyphony from the monophonic instruments) andbooked time at Variety Recording Studio in New York City. He brought along only Gilmore (whomostly plays drums), Marshall Allen, and Danny Davis for the occasion. In addition,
pianist/synthesist, Gershon Kingsley, was hired to program the synthesizer according to Ra’s
wishes. According to Mims, “It was a duel between Kingsley programming and Sun Ra playing”(quoted in Campbell, 2nd ed., p.152).
91

The title track consists of two wildly contrasting Moog voices: a breathy whistle in the high registerand a thick, reedy interval in the bass with Gilmore supplying some credible free drums. Ra’s twohand independence and control of the highly differentiated textures is really quite remarkable.
“Intergalactic II” pits the boing-boing-ing Moogs against braying horns. Gilmore turns in anothertypically riveting solo before hopping back on the drums to propel a dual alto sax extravaganza.
Hypnotic synthesizer interludes set up some misty textures for the horns at the end. “To Nature’sGod” features resonant, bell-like sounds on one Moog while the other rumbles around with arounded, woody bass tone. Meanwhile, Allen and Davis twirl around on piccolo and flute andGilmore lays down lurching, asymmetrical funk beats.
While the preceding pieces sound a bit like interesting but tentative experiments, “The Code ofInterdependence” is more fully realized; a well-considered, conducted improvisation. Clocking in at
a near-epic sixteen minutes, Ra explores the outer limits of the Moogs’ expressive ability while
Gilmore’s drumming provides a remarkably supple, shape-shifting drive. Gilmore is not only a tenor
saxophone colossus but a better-than-serviceable drummer as well! Davis sounds great on the rarely
heard alto clarinet as he interweaves the sinewy horn with Ra’s spiraling synthesizers. Later on,
Davis takes up the alto saxophone and again duets with Allen. Amazingly, Ra’s Moog textures subtly
evolve over the course of the piece – whether by his own knob twiddling or Kingsley’s, who knows?
He builds up the variegated intensities until Allen breaks through with a taut but assertive solo on
alto sax. As the pressure subsides, Ra spins delicate webs of unearthly tones to end. According toCampbell, this piece was deliberately speeded up and mastered out of phase, lending it a sort ofhumanly-impossible quality that only adds to its considerable mystique. My Brother the Wind isessential Sun Ra and a great example of his innovative artistry on early electronic keyboards. The
Minimoog would remain a staple of Ra’s arsenal for the next decade and beyond.

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NOVEMBER 9, 2008
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Astro Infinity Arkestra: My Brother the Wind Volume II (Evidence 22040)
Recorded NYC 1969-1970 Originally released as El Saturn LP 523
Tracks one through six consist of what discographer Robert L. Campbell aptly describes as “spacedout barbeque music” with Ra playing the warm and woody Hammond organ and featuring two
exquisite vocal performances by June Tyson on “Somebody Else’s World” and “Walking On theMoon.” The remainder of the LP is something of a suite for solo MiniMoog synthesizer, wherein Ra
conjures up apocalyptic clouds of cosmic noise. I’m reminded of this enlightening exchange withSun Ra in Graham Lock's wonderful book,Forces in Motion (Da Capo, p.17):
GRAHAM LOCK: Were there any particular sounds that first attracted you to the synthesizer?
SUN RA: I like all the sounds that upset people, because they’s too complacent. There are somesounds that really upset ‘em and I like to shock them out of their complacency ‘cause it’s a very bad
world in a lot of aspects. They need to wake up to know how bad it is, then maybe they’ll dosomethin’ about it.
GRAHAM LOCK: You think music can spur people into action?
SUN RA: Of course it can. It’s just…you have a lot of commercial folks on this planet who took themusic and used it to make money, but now people have heard so much of that music they’ve beensated with sound. But the spirit, it gets very little food I’d say. And the spirit needs something too. It
says, ‘What about me? I need some beautiful music or beautiful poetry.’ I think the people on thisplanet are starving their spiritual selves. See, music is a spiritual language, ‘n’ that’s what I have tooffer, so I’m gonna put it out there and maybe people will do somethin’ right. They may not wantto, but they be compelled to (chuckles).

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Sam said...
I have always wished Ra had recorded more on organ, in the same vein as this LP. "Somewhere
Else" is one of my all-time favorite Ra tunes. Love it when he rides that low chord during the head.
The mini-moog stuff is just beautiful, and says so much about Ra: as early in the moog's
development as these recordings are, it sounds like the instrument was tailor-made for him.
AUGUST 23, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Astro Infinity Arkestra: My Brother the Wind Vol. II (Evidence CD)
In early 1970, Sun Ra returned to Variety Recording Studio with an enlarged Arkestra, including
vocalist June Tyson. Tyson (b. 1936) had begun working with the band in 1968 at therecommendation of Sonny’s part-time manager, Lem Roebuck, but this is her first appearance on
record. While Tyson was an integral feature of the Arkestra’s live concerts, with her lush singing
voice and flowing dance movements, a woman’s full-time presence in the band posed someproblems. Sonny considered her family since she was married to the Arkestra’s lighting designer,
Richard Wilkinson, but Ra was patriarchal, if not downright chauvinistic in his attitudes: “I can’t
create with women in my environment” (quoted in Szwed, p.250). Nevertheless, Tyson became aclose confidant to Ra and remained a steadfast member of the Arkestra until her death in 1992.
She sings beautifully on the lilting space chant, “Somebody Else’s World” and on the slinky, jazzfunk number, “Walking on the Moon,” obviously written in response to Apollo moon landing in
July, 1969. Ra also has another new keyboard in tow, a mellow-toned Farfisa organ (not a
Hammond as I previously thought) which gives these tracks that “space-age barbeque” sound.
“Otherness Blue” is another mid-tempo, off-kilter blues, featuring some tasty trumpet work from
Kwame Hadi. “Pleasant Twilight” starts out as bright, swinging big-band tune, but a rubato section
opens up space for Gilmore to blow sweetly on tenor saxophone before the melody returns at halftempo to end. “Somewhere Else” begins with a fat, lurching riff over a stiff rhythm section, which
eventually launches into some medium swing. Short solos come and go while the Arkestra tosses
around variations on the opening riff. “Contrast” opens with some squeaking, honking baritone
saxophone from Pat Patrick with Alejandro Blake jumping in with furiously plucked bass. Then Ra
enters with some sustained, suspended chords and Marshall Allen wails away on oboe, the soundwrapped in think reverb (was Tommy Hunter present?) until fading out.
The remainder of the album is taken up with five brief synthesizer experiments, Ra having
purchased a brand new Minimoog of his own. “The Wind Speaks” explores white noise and94

fluttering filter effects while “Sun Thoughts” focuses on sour intervals and swooping, sea-sickportamentos. “Journey to the Stars” uses the ADSR envelope filter to create wah-wah-ing attacks
and swelling sustained notes while “World of Myth ‘I’” consists of knob-turning pitch-shifting.
Finally, “The Design – Cosmos II” conjures up some resonant, bell-tone sounds, with increasingly
busy atonal melodies scattered over a repeating bass note. While these tracks may sound a bit
tentative, the Minimoog would become a fixture of Ra’s keyboard arsenal in the nineteen-seventies
and most concerts would feature a lengthy synthesizer solo full of apocalyptic bombast.
Unfortunately, My Brother the Wind, Vol. II comes across as kind of schizophrenic: some of thismaterial is the most toe-tappingly accessible in all of the discography, but the Moog experiments are
tough-going for even the most committed fan. Even so, this is an essential album and a necessary
companion to Vol. I.
+++
UPDATE: I neglected to mention another track found on Out There a Minute (Blast First CD)
which was likely recorded at this session (or shortly thereafter). Entitled, “Jazz and Romantic
Sounds,” it fits right in, with Ra’s bluesy, juke-joint organ, Marshall Allen’s impassioned solo andPatrick interjecting a honking riff here and there. It unexpectedly ends with a weird cadence andminute or so of spaced-out bliss before fading out. Nice.

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SEPTEMBER 6, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra: The Night of the Purple Moon (Atavistic CD)
In mid-1970, Sun Ra reentered Variety Recording Studio, this time with a bare-bone Arkestra andyet another new electronic keyboard in tow, the RMI Rocksichord. In his perceptive liner notes tothis CD, John Corbett describes the sound of the Rocksichord as an “unforgettable nasal quack,”
and that’s a pretty accurate description of this primitive, transistorized electric piano. In anotherperson’s hands, this would sound cheesy and (now) hopelessly out of date. But Ra builds solid,
evocative compositions around the instrument and it is, inexplicably, just exactly perfect.
Unfortunately, the original tapes were unsalvageable, so this reissue had to be sourced from a clean
LP. There’s plenty of surface noise present, so at least we can be thankful the producers didn’t get
carried away with the noise reduction and de-clicking, which can often just make things worse.
Although Impulse! was prepared to reissue this album in late-seventies, it has remained an ultra-rare
artifact until Atavistic released this CD in 2007. Despite the less-than-perfect sound-quality, The
Night of the Purple Moon is one of the great Sun Ra albums – and one of my favorite albums of
all time.
Gilmore plays mostly drums throughout, only pulling out the tenor saxophone for “Impromptu
Festival,” where Danny Davis sits in on the drum stool. While neither were virtuoso drummers, they
were more than adequate and, most importantly, well understood the unique rhythmic feel of Ra’s
music. Stafford James produces a beautiful, rounded tone on the electric bass, at times almost
sounding like an upright acoustic. Sadly, this was James’s only recorded appearance with theArkestra. “Sun Earth Rock” sets the tone with the quacking Rocksichord changes over a medium
groove and a simple, bluesy head. After a bouncy keyboard interlude, Davis peals off a brief, but
astonishingly fluent alto sax solo. “The All of Everything” is a pretty ballad with Davis adding somemellifluous flute to Ra’s gently rippling chords. Gilmore’s tenor solo on “Impromptu Festival” is96another example of his sheer genius: opening with a sort of fanfare, he bends and twists the twonote melody and massages the stiff, pre-bop rhythms to construct a trenchant, incisive statement.
The next three tracks feature Sonny alone with two Minimoogs and the Rocksichord, but unlike theexperimental improvisations found of My Brother the Wind Vol.II, the pieces are tautly controlled
compositions orchestrated for electronic keyboards. “Blue Soul” is a typically moody, down-tempo
blues while “Narrative” sets a loping, asymmetrical bass line on synthesizer against stabbing chords
and busy melodic figures on the Rocksichord. “Outside the Time Zone” takes a rubato ballad form
and puts the melody in the bass synthesizer, embellished with buzzing, quivering Rocksichord.
The ensemble returns with “The Night of the Purple Moon,” which sets up a blues-rock vamp forbass and drums while Ra noodles around in a quasi-Egyptian mode. A tremolo effect gives theRocksichord a fluttering, psychedelic tinge. “A Bird’s Eye View of Man’s World” pits lurching bass
and Rocksichord unisons against Davis’s squealing alto, while Gilmore drifts in and out of time withfree abandon. “21st Century Romance” is another lilting ballad with James holding down athrobbing pedal point with Gilmore’s simple, but effective drumming. Meanwhile, Davis
extemporizes on the richly woody alto clarinet along with Ra’s thrumming Rocksichord. “Dance of
the Living Image” choogles along with a repeating ostinato and Davis tapping away on bongos. The
album closes with a relaxed performance of “Love in Outer Space,” a tune which was by now astaple in the Arkestra’s songbook. Davis alternates between alto clarinet and bongos, leaving most of
the musical space to Ra’s percolating Rocksichord.
For this CD reissue, Atavistic has conveniently added the alternate version of “Love in Outer
Space” that was previously issued on Out There a Minute. Taken a slightly faster tempo, thisversion follows a similar contour, but is perhaps a more satisfying performance due to Ra’sinterestingly varied electronic timbres. Three additional bonus tracks are also included, derived froma 1964 home recording of Sonny soloing on Wurlitzer electric piano and electric celesta. The
Wurlitzer sounds a little worse for wear, but the damaged instrument creates interesting percussive,
overtone-laden effects which mesh nicely with the ringing, bell-like celesta. While these tracks aremostly inconsequential, they are conceptually similar to the Minimoog and Rocksichord solos foundon the album proper, and serve to further demonstrate Ra’s brilliantly coloristic approach toelectronics. An appropriate appendix to a near-perfect album.
Sam said...
Another brilliant write-up, Rodger. "Purple Moon" is also one of my all-time favorite Ra albums,
although it's hard for me to say why. I love Gilmore's drumming, loose and flexible, fitting justperfectly. I love the relaxed feel of the performances, and the album as a whole sustains this mood.
One small question: check the discography (don't have it with me now) but I'm fairly sure this may
have been, if not the first, then a relatively early, appearance of "Love in Outer Space." It had not
yet become a staple in Ra's repertoire, although it certainly would after this. It sort of evolved into a
more aggressively waltzy percussion feature, also acquiring vocals along the way, but he neverreturned to the placid peacefulness of these versions.
Rodger Coleman said...
Sam, I agree that it is difficult to convey what makes this album so special. But I think you hit on it:
relaxed feel, consistent mood of peacefulness..."Love in Outer Space" first appeared on SECRETS
OF THE SUN in 1962, so I kind of assumed it was part of the repertoire by 1970, although, as you
97know, the discography is spotty from 1967-1970. I need to dig out what I have from the period.
Thanks for commenting!
NOVEMBER 8, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: The Red Garter, New York City circa. July, 1970 (AUD CDR)
According to photographer Lee Santa, Sun Ra’s Arkestra played a three-night engagement at The
Red Garter (now known as The Bottom Line) in Greenwich Village in early July, 1970. The
nightclub’s “obtrusive Gay ‘90s décor” can be seen in Santa’s photograph (above) which appearedon the original cover of The Solar Myth Approach, Vol.1. Santa recalled that “the first nightfeatured six hours of continuous music; the second and third nights slacked off to a mere five hours,
without a break” (see Campbell & Trent, p.161-162). It must have been something to behold.
Fortunately, an intrepid fan surreptitiously recorded a seventy-five minute segment one night
utilizing a very primitive recording device and, while the sound quality is typically horrid, the music
itself is terrific. How bad does it sound? Well, the volume levels fluctuate wildly while consistently
retaining a significant amount of distortion; there’s some serious wow and flutter issues; and themonophonic, single-microphone recording is boomy, muddy, and generally indistinct. It doesn’tsound quite as bad as the 1969 Newport Jazz Festivalrecording, but it also doesn’t sound nearly as
good as the 1968 Electric Circus tape. Let’s face it: your cell phone could make a far bettersounding recording. Nevertheless, the large-ish ensemble sounds particularly well-rehearsed (perhaps
in preparation for their upcoming trip to France) and the free-wheeling performance goes to somevery interesting places. For the hardcore Ra fanatic, this is well worth hearing as a rare historical
document but most people will be understandably repulsed.
Caveats aside, the performance captured on this amateur recording is really quite stunning,
beginning with a long unidentified title that alternates between a spacey, mellow groove and fullblast assaults of New Thing-styled energy music. Solos by John Gilmore on tenor sax and Ra on
mad-scientist organ keep things interesting, ending with Danny Davis’s woody alto clarinet
interweaving with the Arkestra’s antiphonal calls and responses. “Love in Outer Space” follows: aloping bassline holds down the jaunty groove while the entire Akestra gleefully bangs on myriad
98percussion instruments, with Ra stating the simple, joyful melody and soloing on electric organ.
After a brief pause, Ra segues into a quiet, spooky organ improvisation accompanied by Alan Silva’s
distinctive cello. After about five minutes, the horns enter with a curiously old fashioned, rubato
ballad composition (title unknown) that eventually settles into a gentle swing. Kwame Hadi takes anadventurous turn on trumpet, with Ra rumbling away on organ. Pat Patrick follows with a typicallyferocious bari-sax solo while the rhythm heats up and shifting horn sections provide riffing
punctuation. After settling back down, the horns return with the old-timey ballad to end. Interesting.
What follows is one of the strangest bits of musical-theater in all of Ra’s discography. John Gilmore
recalled the title as “Ladies and Gentlemules” (Id. p.162) and, while the recording is incomplete, thepiece appears to be structured like a sanctified church service, with Ra fervently imploring the“gentlemules” to heed his message. The Arkestra plays some bluesy swing and ecstatically chants,
but much of the preaching and carrying on is difficult to hear. However, the loud, unison refrain of“another jackass is going to take your place” is clear enough to get the point across. After about six
minutes of holy-rolling chaos, the tape abruptly cuts off. Up next is “Somewhere Else,” a thenrecent composition which would appear on the studio recording,My Brother the Wind Vol. II, in1971. Not much happens beyond several repetitions of the lurching, block-chord melody over agospel-ish vamp, but the effect is hypnotizing. After a brief organ and synthesizer solo (with somebarely audible spoken incantations), Ra launches into the nineteen-twenties-era chestnut,“Sometimes I’m Happy.” The Arkestra sounds a little tentative in the ensembles, but Gilmore’ssure-footed tenor solo demonstrates his unique synthesis of pre-war swing, hard bop grit, and avantgarde extended techniques.
The tape concludes with a spectacular, thirteen-minute rendition of another My Brother the Wind
Vol. II composition, “Pleasant Twilight,” According to Campbell and Trent, there are no otherknown live performances of this piece, which is unsurprising given its subtle complexity. Ra begins
with a rhapsodic, rubato introduction on organ before the Arkestra enters with the brightly swinging
composition. The tempo then slows down by half and, while the ensemble gently rocks back andforth between two lushly sustained chords, Gilmore peals off a starkly contrasting, barn-burner of asolo on tenor sax. Holy smokes! The Arkestra plays their parts with incredible restraint while
Gilmore wails away with a terrifying fury. After a honking, emphatic conclusion, Gilmore leads theArkestra through a half-time run through of the head before returning the original tempo for a highspirited trumpet solo from Akh Tal Ebah. The Arkestra adds complementary horn riffs and, as theintensity builds, the tempo speeds up again for an enervated reprise and a big finish. Whew! The
much abbreviated studio recording, while sparklingly polished, ultimately sounds downright staid
compared to this expansive and inspired live performance. It’s a shame this tune fell out of therepertoire.
Given the atrocious sound quality, I cannot recommend that anyone but the most fanatical seek thisrecording out. But given the exceptionally high quality of the performance and the sheer rarity of
tracks like “Pleasant Twilight,” it is nevertheless worth hearing. As the seventies wore on, live
recordings would become more and more plentiful and one might pick and choose without missing
too much. But given the paucity of material from this particular time period, this one is worth
having for that reason alone.

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Sam said...
Wow--I didn't think the sound was that bad! I think I have a high tolerance for bootiness. At any
rate, I love this set--I certainly wish more had been recorded. Who knows what will turn up fromthis era? I'm sure there's more out there. "Pleasant Twilight" is easily the highlight. You think that's
Ebah at the end? I would have guessed Kwame Hadi. I'll go back and listen again with that in mind.
Rodger Coleman said...
I only assumed it was Ebah at the end since Hadi solos on the opening piece and this second solo
sounds like a different person to me. Keeping up with the trumpet players is difficult!
FEBRUARY 2, 2014
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra Arkestra: Live At The Red Garter (Transparency 0319) (3CD)
The latest release from the Transparency label presents an expanded version of the Red Garter
taperecorded in July 1970 across two CDs along with a third disc containing 82 photographs of theband by Lee Santa—a really nice bonus. The cool thing is that the liner notes are written by the oneand-only Sam Byrd!
The Transparency edition is taken from a slightly better source than the circulating CDR as it is a bit
longer and appears to present the music in its proper sequence. Certainly, the sound quality ismarginally improved. But make no mistake: this is rough going. Derived from a monophonicamateur recording made from the audience, all the attendant noise, distortion and balance problems
remain intact. While the music is great (featuring the great Alan Silva on cello), the sound quality is
still pretty dreadful.
Even so, Transparency should be commended for making some of the rarest Sun Ra material
available to the masses. And kudos to Sam for his astute liner notes. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it
again: he is the one who should be writing Sun RaSunday! As for me, I am just now trying to getback into it. Stay tuned…

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Sam said...
No way, Rodger....you are the Sun Ra Sundays King! All things considered, this recording isn't
THAT rough....plus you get a ton of really amazing Gilmore. Once your ears get to that special
place, this really is an amazing set.
NOVEMBER 22, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Nuits de la Fondation Maeght vol.2 (Universe UV081 CD)
While Sun Ra was struggling to find an audience stateside, Willis Conover had enlisted Sonny(amongst others) into Uncle Sam’s Cold War cultural army, broadcasting the Arkestra’s records
regularly on Voice of America and, by 1970, Europe had become a more welcoming environment
for American jazz musicians than their native country. Conover and his wife had been instrumental
in securing Sonny’s Carnegie Hall debut in 1968 and had been urging him to travel to Europe eversince. When they offered to arrange for the Arkestra to appear at the prestigious Fondation Maeght
in the south of France for three concerts in August 1970, Ra eagerly accepted.
The only problem was: how does Sun Ra, a being from the planet Saturn, go about obtaining a
passport? Szwed describes the impossible scene:
When they filled out the forms at the passport office in New York City, the clerk at the desk said to Sun Ra, “Sir,you’re going to have to give us better information that this. We need your parents’ names, your birth date…” [Dancer]
Verta Mae Grosvenor recalled that Sun Ra said, “‘That *is* the correct information.’ After a few minutes, the clerk
went back to speak with her supervisor. The supervisor was no-nonsense, but after talking to Sun Ra she said, ‘Sir,
why don’t you come back in a few hours.’ When we came back there was another person there and he knew about it,
and he said, ‘We’ll just give you the passport.’ It just got so out that they just gave it to him!”

101

That passport gained talismanic force over the years, and musicians shook their heads when they saw it. Talvin Singh,
an English tabla player, said: “His philosophy was that either you be part of the society or you don’t. And he wasn’t
part of it. He created his own. I mean, I actually saw his passport and there was some weird shit on it. It had somedifferent stuff.” (p.278)
Passport in hand, Ra and a nineteen-member Arkestra traveled to St. Paul de Vence and performed
three concerts on August 3, 4, and 5, 1970. The Fondation Maeght is one of the finest small
museums in the world and, with its focus on blue-chip modernism, Ra’s appearance in such a venue
indicated a certain acceptance into the privileged domain of the European avant garde. The concerts
were professionally recorded for broadcast by the state-sponsored radio station and portions werelater released on LP as Nuits de la Fondation Maeght Volumes 1 and 2 by the French Shandarlabel in 1971. These records have been widely bootlegged ever since and my CDs on the Italian
Universe label are probably “gray market” bootlegs as well, but they sound fine and are sumptuously
packaged in heavyweight, gatefold mini-LP sleeves. As of this writing, they remain in print and are
well worth seeking out.
Campbell (p.162) insists that Volume 2 comes from the August 3rd concert (Volume 1 is from
August 5th) and having no reason to disagree, we will begin with Volume 2. Campbell also lists a
number of tracks contained on the original radio broadcast and an audience tape, but I have notheard this material. Again, Szwed provides a vivid description of Sun Ra’s outrageous presentationand the decidedly mixed reaction it generated:
The audience had little or no knowledge of Sun Ra’s music, since his records weren’t widely distributed in France, andwhen they arrived they saw the Arkestra spread out before them like elaborate décor: musicians in red tunics, seated ina forest of instruments on stage, dancers in red dresses. On a screen behind them was projected a sky full of stars, thenplanets, children in Harlem, Indians on hunting trips, and newsreel footage of protests; a ball of “magic fire” rose
slowly up to the ceiling; saxophonists began to battle like Samurai, then came together like brothers; and in the still
center of it all, Sun Ra sat behind the Moog, creating the sounds of gales, storms, and waves crashing. From the very
first note, an agitated woman stood up and cried out, “What is this?” Afterwards, she came up and insisted on seeing
the written music. Europeans seemed to want to know whether there was music behind what they were hearing, as if itwould assure them that this was rational activity, and Sonny was always happy to show them the scores. A man once
blurted out that his “five-year-old daughter could play that!” Sun Ra readily agreed: “She could play it, but could she
write it?” (p.279)
The album opens with “Friendly Galaxy No.2,” a fascinating piece only tangentially related to thefirst “Friendly Galaxy,” which originally appeared on Secrets of the Sun in 1965. After a burblingorgan introduction, the composition moves to a choir of flutes improvising over Ra’s languid piano,
Alan Silva’s whining cello, and with a simple but rhythmically insistent trumpet motif recurring
throughout. Meanwhile, the rest of the band establishes an exotic space-groove on bass, drums,
tympani, and hand percussion. The effect is otherworldly and quite mesmerizing. In an interview
with Jazz magazine in November 1970, Sun Ra described how he tailored this piece to the uniquequalities of the venue:
One of the things which most impressed listeners at the Fondation Maeght is the passage for six flutes ad lib, six flutes
playing in harmony. I could say improvising in harmony. I’m inspired by it to do something else which would be totallydifferent. I believe it’s a musical idea which would be totally different. I believe it’s a new way of using flutes. It’s atonce both very melodic and harmonious and at the same time so distant, as if the music was heard in the distance102

through a sort of mist. It’s so “out of this world.” Curious thing, the flutes had never played this passage with the
piano, but because of the peculiar acoustics in the room I knew that it would be absolutely necessary that I play at thesame time because the flutes would be bothered by an echo that the audience fortunately wouldn’t hear at all. So above
this the trumpets entered in, played a sort of ad lib riff because this light echo didn’t allow them to understand therhythm. (quoted in Szwed pp.279-280)“Friendly Galaxy No.2” would be performed several times over the next couple of years only todisappear from the repertoire. Too bad as it is truly a unique work, with the massed flutes and brass
technique demonstrating Ra’s audacious genius at orchestration. “Spontaneous Simplicity” follows(out of sequence, according to Campbell) and although this version doesn’t devolve into the kind of
proto-No Wave skronk heard on theElectric Circus tape from 1968, this a fine performance withthe massive ensemble sections sounding particularly powerful and precise. After the opening
statement, Sun Ra leads the way with a buzzing Rocksichord solo as the rest of the Arkestra picks up
percussion instruments to buoy the hypnotic, one-note bassline. The music grooves along for adelirious eleven minutes, ending to some genuinely enthusiastic applause.
“The World of Lightning” picks up in the middle of some crashing gongs and cymbals, the audience
clapping in slow rhythm until Ra takes over with one of his patented mad-scientist organ solos.
Afterwards, Marshall Allen engages Alan Silva in a duel between alto saxophone and cello, withother horns joining in the fray at its screaming climax, the entire Arkestra wailing away with utter
abandon until Sonny cues a cataclysmic ending that feels like the cosmos collapsing in on itself. The
audience reacts with stunned silence which perfectly sets the stage for “Black Myth,” a solemn bit ofmusical theater featuring June Tyson’s dramatic and evocative vocals. Tyson intones two Sun Ra
poems (“The Shadows Took Shape” and “The Strange World”) over spacey noises, fleeting flutes,
and ominous percussion. Ra then launches into a typically apocalyptic organ/synthesizer blast thateventually crossfades to some overloud applause. The album ends with a fragmentary piece entitled,“Key,” which starts off with some intertwined oboe (possibly James Jacson) and cello but is sooninterrupted with an explosion of cacophonous horns and bashing drums that quickly subsides, only
to fade out with some gentle percussion taps. Interesting.
What a great album! It is so nice to hear the Arkestra recorded in such high fidelity and this is anespecially riveting live performance. The band is well-rehearsed and everyone is more than happy to
be feted by French cultural elites. Nuits de la Fondation Maeght Vol.1, which documents theAugust 5th concert, might be even better. We’ll take a listen next week.
Sam said...
Excellent analysis, Rodger! Judging by the intermittent whoops and hollers, I suspect the longpercussion sequence in "Spontaneous Simplicity" was the background for an extended dance
sequence. Funny enough, that very song came on my shuffle this morning on the way to work. Likesome extended parts of "Watusi" or "Love in Outer Space," the long percussion section didn't do
too much for me. Maybe if I were dancing myself...

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NOVEMBER 29, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Nuits de la Fondation Maeght vol.1 (Universe UV080 CD)
Recorded at the third and final concert on August 5, 1970, Nuits de la Fondation Maeght Volume
1 was originally released on the French Shandar label in 1971. Often bootlegged, it was also
legitimately reissued on 12-inch 45RPM LP by the British label, Recommended Records, in 1981.
(My copy sounds superb, but it’s plain black sleeve omits all relevant discographical information!)
This CD issue on the Italian Universe label from 2005 is probably a “grey-market” bootleg as well,
but it sounds fine and is packaged in a deluxe mini-gatefold LP sleeve. As of this writing, these
Universe editions are in print and readily available.
The album opens with a spirited performance of “Enlightenment,” a composition co-written withtrumpeter Hobart Dotson which dates all the way back to 1958’s Jazz in Silhouette. But by 1969,
Sun Ra had abandoned Dotson’s counter-melodies and added typically Saturnalian lyrics. Here, Ra
sets up the bouncy vamp on organ for John Gilmore and June Tyson, who chant in a call andresponse fashion, imploring humanity to join the Arkestra on its cosmic space voyage:
The Sound of Joy is Enlightenment
Space, Fire, Truth is Enlightenment
Space Fire
Sometimes it's Music
Strange Mathematics
Rhythmic Equations
The Sound of Thought is Enlightenment
The Magic Light of Tomorrow
Backwards are those of Sadness104Forward and Onward Are those of Gladness
Enlightenment Is my Tomorrow
It has no planes of Sorrow
Hereby, my Invitation
I do invite you be of my Space WorldThis Song is Sound of Enlightenment
The Fiery Truth of Enlightenment
Vibrations come from the Space WorldIs of the Cosmic Starry Dimension
Enlightenment is my Tomorrow
It has no planes of Sorrow
Hereby, our Invitation
We do invite you to be of our Space World.
This infectious little ditty elicits some enthusiastic applause and, not surprisingly, “Enlightenment”
would become a fixture of the live repertoire in coming years. Then, after a quick piano
introduction, Gilmore and Tyson sing “The Star Gazers” in a lovely unison melody:
This is the Theme of the Star Gazers
Star Gazers in the Sky
This is the Theme of the Star Gazers
Star Gazers in the Sky
This is the Song of Tomorrow’s WorldOf Cosmic Paradise.
After that plaintive vocal statement, Sonny launches into a gorgeous ad lib piano solo while small
percussion instruments tinkle and clatter and Alan Silva provides some complementary figures on
bass. Gradually, Ra builds up the intensity with cascading waves of chords and then bringing it backdown to a gentle, quiet ending — until a crashing chord signals the beginning of the notorious“Shadow World.” Right off, it is obvious that the band is a well-oiled machine: the insanely
complex, hocketed melodies are performed flawlessly, setting the stage for Gilmore’s utterly hairraising solo on tenor saxophone, complete with a squealing and wailing a cappella cadenza. Ra thentakes over with a skittering, swirling organ solo until cueing the horns for a huge, pulsating space
chord. The braying and howling horns eventually subside, leaving Ra to sketch out the dramaticchord sequence on organ to end. This is a truly stunning performance of one of Ra’s mostsignificant compositions and must be heard to be believed!
The album closes with an epic, twenty-minute-long MiniMoog/organ solo entitled, “The Cosmic
Explorer” wherein Ra conjures up all kinds of incredible sounds from his electronic instruments:from spacey noodling to woozy portamentos, and blasts of white noise to apocalyptic torrents ofdissonant tone-clusters. Meanwhile, cymbals, gongs and percussion rumble ominously in the
background while a few horns add spare punctuation. After about seventeen minutes, the fullArkestra enters with a few minutes of high-energy, New-Thing-styled free-jazz which comes to asatisfyingly resolute climax before quickly fading out. I only wish we could hear the music that
followed…

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Like its companion volume, Nuits de la Fondation Maeght Volume 1 is an essential item in the
discography, notable for its exceptionally good sound quality and superlative performances.
Certainly, those in attendance were suitably impressed: the Arkestra had barely arrived back in
Philadelphia when a group of European promoters offered to bring them back for a full-fledged
tour only two months later, in October of 1970. I will be examining the surviving recordings fromthis momentous tour over the next few weeks here on Sun Ra Sunday.
DECEMBER 6, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Research Arkestra: Black Myth/Out in Space (Motor Music
2CD)
After the success of the Fondation Maeght performances in August, a hastily conceived “tour” ofEurope was put together by Victor Schoenfield and Joachim Berendt (among others) with support
from radio station Südwestrundfunk (SWF) and record labels Black Lion in the UK and
SABA/MPS in Germany. The “tour,” which began in early October 1970, was something less than atotal success. But at the time, Ra was excited to return to the Old World -- there was even talk ofgoing to Africa. The Arkestra was enlarged to twenty musicians and Ra rehearsed them extensively
right up their departure time. To add to the spectacle, two more dancers and a fire-eater were added
to the entourage soon after their arrival in Paris. Sonny packed up his entire arsenal of electronic
keyboards and all manner of lighting equipment, slide and film projectors, and trunks of glittering
costumes and stage props for the trip; Sun Ra and his Arkestra were embarking on the next great
phase of the Cosmo Drama.
The Arkestra appeared without incident at the Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre on October 9th
and in Lyons on the 12th, but their Paris debut turned into a near riot. Just days prior to theirscheduled appearance at Les Halles, a nightclub fire had killed a number of people and at the lastpossible minute, the police mandated that only half of the 4,000 ticket-holders for Sun Ra’s
performance would be allowed into the venue. As tempers began to flare, riot squads werepositioned between the crowd and the theatre entrance. The mob began chanting “Libérez Sun Ra”
106and demanding that Sun Ra join his embattled comrades outside the theater. Szwed eloquently
describes the precarious situation:
Sun Ra considered the situation, then grabbed the sign of the Sun, held it above his head, and started toward the exit,
the Arkestra and the audience following the leader.
Out of the theater they came, shedding heat as they walked, banners streaming, Sun Ra, the Solar Arkstra, and thechosen few, marching straight through the police phalanx and down the street. And the crowds followed as they all
circled around the block. When the procession returned to the front of the theater the police officals gave Sun Ra asalute as he passed their shattered ranks and marched into the theater, this time with the Les Halles 4,000 (now plus
fellow travelers and cops), and the Arkestra mounted the stage once again (p.282).
The concert itself was apparently plagued with technical difficulties and a jittery and oppressive
police presence, although the audience clearly appreciated Ra’s charm and charisma and thetheatrical, multimedia extravaganza of the Arkestra’s performance.
On the 17th, the Arkestra performed at the prestigious Donaueschingen Musik Festival, thehomefront of the stars of post-war European avant-garde composers including Karlheinz
Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, Luigi Nono, and others. This year, Joachim Berendt managed tointegrate modern jazz into the festival’s programming and Sun Ra’s three hour set did notdisappoint. Recorded for broadcast by SWF, some of this material originally appeared on the MPS
release entitled, It’s After the End of the World in 1971 and the entire forty-eight minute broadcast
was issued on CD by Motor Music in 1998. (The Motor City issue also contains a second discrecorded in Berlin later on in the tour, which we will consider separately.)
According to Berendt (via Hartmut Geerken's liner notes), Sun Ra composed “Black Forest Myth”
especially for this concert, its title referring to the legendary forest which surrounds the small townof Donaueschingen. The piece was performed only on this one occasion and it is a tension-filled
four minutes for piccolo, electronic keyboards, and scraping, clanging percussion which sounds justas abstract and forbidding as the “contemporary classical” music for which the Donaueschinger
Musiktage was made (in)famous. Another rendition of “Friendly Galaxy No.2” immediately follows,
but this version differs markedly from the massed flute choir and trumpets orchestration found on
Nuits de la Fondation Maeght Vol.2. Here, the rhythms are heavier and Ra plays much moreaggressively on both piano and electric organ. In addition, Eloe Omoe (or possibly DannyThompson) plays a riveting solo on the Neptunian libflecto (a bassoon with a trumpet mouthpiece)
and the entire Arkestra enters toward the end with some spirited group improv before Ra closes thepiece with some spacey synthesizer tones.
What follows is some of the most bracingly challenging music in Sun Ra’s enormous discography.
“Journey Through the Outer Darkness” pits various duos and trios against Ra’s cataclysmic organ
and battalions of drums and percussion in an unrelenting barrage of music until an astonishing solo
bass clarinet (Pat Patrick? – or is the Neptunian libflecto again?) finds a way to end the piece tostunned applause. The “Strange Worlds – Black Myth – It’s After the End of the World” sequence
features the heavenly-voiced June Tyson declaiming Ra’s poetry alongside constantly shifting
instrumental combinations. These evolving concertinos create wildly differentiated textures andcolors, from the keening wail of oboes, saxophones and libflecto to the staccato brassiness of
trumpets to the microtonal whine of Alan Silva’s viola. After about eleven minutes, Sun Ra
107introduces a clangorous space chord on the piano which is picked up by the Arkestra. In its
aftermath, Tyson and Gilmore exclaim: “It’s after the end of the world! Don’t you know that yet?!”The Arkestra then launches into some more ecstatic free-jazz skronk just as the track fades. What ashame! “We’ll Wait for You” concludes the recording with a quick space chant followed by a longseries of thoughtful solos over a deliberately murky and mumbling rhythm section, deftly conductedby Ra from behind his bank of keyboards. Ra summons up the whole panoply of electronic sounds
from chiming bells to swooning synthesizer to chattering organ while each soloist explores both
ensemble and a cappella territories, concluding with a brief but devastating Gilmore outing thatbrings down the house.
Szwed states that “[t]he audience received them well, but the German critics dismissed them”(p.283) while Geerken’s liner notes to this Motor Music CD allude to a review in Der Spiegel “thatwas abound with ignorance and rubbish.” Clearly Sun Ra was not immediately accepted into therarified realm of the European cultural elite despite his appearance at Donaueschingen.
Nevertheless, the Arkestra’s performance was a landmark event. Critics still debate the genuinenessof Sun Ra’s music, but the proof is in the listening. Listening to the Donaueschingen performance
reveals a large band at the height of its powers, playing Sun Ra’s most cutting edge musicalconceptions with razor-sharp precision and prodigious invention while Ra himself displays his
unequaled mastery of electronic keyboards. I know I say it all the time, but this is another essential
Sun Ra disc that belongs in every fan’s collection.
DECEMBER 13, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Research Arkestra: Paradiso, Amsterdam 10-18-70 (FM 2CDR)
After the (semi) triumphant appearance at the Donaueschingen Musik Festival, the Arkestra traveled
to Amsterdam to perform at the famed Paradiso on the following evening, October 18, 1970. The“Cosmic Relaxation Center Paradiso” was opened in a decommissioned church on March 30, 1968
as a publicly-sponsored cultural institution which, amazingly enough, continues to function in thatcapacity to this very day. The significance of this formerly-sacred now publicly-funded venue was no
doubt meaningful to an exhausted Arkestra who managed to deliver a ragged yet truly inspired
performance. Campbell lists a thirty-five minute audience recording (p.166), but ninety minutes ofthe original VPRO radio broadcast has recently surfaced in fairly decent sound quality and it isdefinitely worth seeking out.
108

The recording begins with the radio announcer introducing the musicians (in Dutch, of course) anda spirited rendition of the strutting “Watusi,” including a long percussion segment featuring thebooming “thunder drum.” No doubt all of this accompanied dancers and parading musicians, film
clips and slide projections -- perhaps even some fire-eating as well. While not much seems to behappening musically, the audience is clearly enjoying the visual spectacle. Up next is perhaps the first(or rather a prototype) of what would later be called the “Discipline” series of compositions. Both
Szwed (p.285) and Campbell (p.170) state that Sun Ra did not begin work on the “Discipline” series(which numbered over one-hundred compositions) until the Arkestra’s brief move to California inearly 1971; but this (and another two works performed at Paradiso) is conceptually similar enough toindicate that the idea was germinating at least as early as the fall of 1970. Szwed describes the“Discipline” series as “tightly conceived exercises using minimal material […] built on hocketedhorn lines, with each horn playing within a two- to three-note range, a cyclical melody developingout of the fragments, each person playing his parts scrupulously with no deviation whatsoever”(p.285). Sun Ra told journalist Robert Palmer in 1974 that “the slightest variation would destroy thewhole thing” (Id.), emphasizing that these pieces are completely through-composed, the epitome of
the kind of freedom-through-discipline Sonny constantly espoused to his musicians and to anyone
else who would listen. This particular example is slow and stately, building monumental edifices of
strange and beautiful harmonies, reaching toward the heavens and ending with a tension-filled
chord, straining at the limits of the instrumentalists’ ranges.
After that arresting prelude, Ra introduces the bouncing bassline of “Enlightenment” on an ultradistorted keyboard and the whole group chants the lyrics with June Tyson providing her echoing
response. Suddenly, there’s a short outburst of free-jazz skronk before Ra and Tyson urgently
announce to the audience that “It’s After the End of the World!” This version is taken at a fasterclip than at Donaueschingen, with the voices dropping down to a stagey whisper, the tempo
maniacally accelerating until a final, dramatically slowed down exhortation of “don’t you know thatyet?!” This signals another blast of high-energy group improv which quickly segues into the lilting“We Travel the Spaceways,” complete with clanging bells and gongs and some nice Xenakis-likeportamento bowing from Alan Silva while the Arkestra moves about the audience, chanting thetheme.
A wave of applause swells over the continued chanting while another Afro-percussion groove sets
up a squealing, multiphonic tenor solo from John Gilmore – by now, the audience is way into it,
whooping and hollering with pure delight! Trumpet and Neptunian libflecto spar over crazypolyrhythmic percussion and free drumset pummeling, until Ra enters with a dissonant organ chord,grinding over and over until moving direction into some two-handed polyphony. A wheezysynthesizer signals the band to drop out, leaving Ra to improvise a wandering, descending keyboard
solo, full of white noise generators and melodramatic organ chords. Just as things start to get crazy,
percussion enters along with some swooping trumpet. More horns enter the fray only to beinterrupted by the radio DJ who once again introduces the band personnel. Obviously, things
continued in this vein for some time; oh well! Applause fades up and Sun Ra has moved to theacoustic piano for a series of duets with Silva’s cello, (possibly) Eloe Omoe on Neptunian liblfectoand (probably) Akh Tal Ebah on trumpet. Sonny is at his most aggressively avant-garde at times,
bringing to mind the ferocity of Cecil Taylor’s piano attack, but with his own “old-timey” rhythmic
sensibility and romantically rhapsodic lyricism. After about six minutes, this directed improvisationcoalesces into what appears to be another “Discipline” series composition, with Ra leading the way
109with a series of harmonically ambiguous piano chords. The ensemble sounds a bit tentative, but thehaunting beauty of the composition is affecting nonetheless.
The impossibly difficult “Shadow World” gets a rather perfunctory reading here (compared to thehair-raisingly intense performance the night before), but opens up for a series of exciting a cappellasaxophone solos from Gilmore, Danny Davis and Marshall Allen and some edgy, “Strange-Strings”styled bowings from Silva. Ra interjects a crashing organ chord to introduce the infectiously
swinging, “Walking On the Moon,” one of those “space-age barbeque” numbers first heard on My
Brother the Wind, Vol.II. Unfortunately, this song was only performed a handful of times in 1970
and 1971, presumably because the Apollo moon landings were still fresh in the cultural memory, andthereafter permanently dropped from the repertoire. Too bad, as it was clearly a fun tune live, full of
joyous riffing by the Arkestra and, of course, June Tyson’s soulful vocals. Ra brings it to an end witha rubato solo on the buzzing Rocksichord, concluding with a weirdly unresolved chord. The DJ theninterjects a quick announcement over a smattering of applause.
After a tinkly Rocksichord introduction, another “Discipline”-type composition follows, a sequenceof richly orchestrated, contrapuntally derived chords, sometimes sweet, sometimes sour, ending
ambiguously with a dense block of widely-spaced pitches. A spacey, conducted improvisation arises
within the harmonic space established by the composition, featuring a massed oboe choir, of allthings. You don’t hear much jazz oboe, but its pinched, exotic-sounding wail is an integral elementof Sun Ra’s Arkestra and this is great example of its surprising versatility. Later, Ra takes over with
one of his lengthy, “mad scientist” organ/synthesizer solos which is overlaid here and there withfull-blown ensemble freak outs. Out of the murk, the Arkestra chants, “The Second Stop is Jupiter!”in crazy antiphony, leading to further free-jazz skronk that is eventually reined in by Ra’s sing-songyorgan, prompting Gilmore and Tyson to sing the “Theme of the Star Gazers.” After a quick
recitation of the song, another quiet, spacey improvisation follows with some more lovely arco
playing from Silva. Sadly, the tape abruptly runs out.
This recording is clearly several generations from the master, so it’s possible a better-sounding (andmore complete) tape will surface in the future. It’s also possible the original pre-FM reels still exist at
VPRO and would make for a welcome official release some day. In the meantime, this will have to
suffice.
+++
The Arkestra returned to Paris but promised gigs in France never materialized due to the failure ofFrench drummer Claude Delcloo to line them up. Adding insult to injury, a planned recording
session for BYG/Actuel also fell through, leaving the Arkestra stranded without work (paying ornot) for almost three weeks. The situation was so dire that Gilmore wound up playing his lastsession date as a sideman outside the Arkestra, recording with Dizzy Reece, Siegfried Kessler,
Patrice Caratini and Art Taylor on Futura LP 23 (Campbell p.166). The Arkestra barely managed tohang on until their next scheduled performance at the Berlin Jazz Festival on November 7th (seeSzwed p.283). We’ll take a listen to that concert next week.

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DECEMBER 20, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Research Arkestra: Black Myth/Out in Space (Motor Music
2CD)
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 Donaueschingenconcert on October 17th, it was recorded for broadcast by Südwestrundfunk (SWF) and some of themusic 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 isanother fantastic performance from this first European tour preserved in truly extraordinary soundquality. 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 theysaw. The Arkestra opened for the premier European-based free jazz big band Globe Unity Orchestra, led byAlexander von Schlippenbach, a German pianist. Globe Unity had established itself as a grimly serious representativeof 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 calland-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, andbaritone screams echoed through the theater, growing wilder with each chorus, producing the essence of what New Yorkmusicians 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 iscertainly 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-andpost-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 music111

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, withme.” After a while, Sun Ra signals a swelling space-chord and we’re off on an almost forty-minuteconducted improvisation, centered around a long, dramatic synthesizer solo, punctuated withfrenzied 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 thistumultuous 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 thisbeautiful, through-composed work. Utilizing a somber, quasi-ballad form, the piece moves througha 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 falldown, get up and walk some more; You’re like a little a baby who never walked before; So take yourfirst step into outer space…” etc.) The super hi-fi sonics make this rare live performance of thisshort-lived tune a real treat.
Sun Ra takes to the microphone to briefly talk about “Outer Space Where I Came From” before
launching into the Afro-urban strut of “Watusa” which ends with some grafted on applause. Ra andTyson then recite “Myth Versus Realty,” which poses the central questions: (1) if you are not reality,
whose myth are you? and/or (2) if you are not a myth, whose reality are you? Sonny then elaborates
his concerns amidst cued free-jazz freakouts:
I don’t expect to be a citizen of this planet.
It takes too long.
So I hereby proclaim you citizens of my greater universe!
In my greater universe there is no equality.
It’s according to what you are.
That is why we don’t have walls in our universe.
Because everyone is allowed to be themselves,
But on this planet you don’t have time to be yourself.
Hence, what you are & what you do!
Ra informs the audience: “this is Danny Thompson to tell you how Jupiter looks” and “this is
Danny Davis, who’s going to tell you about my home planet, Saturn,” each soloist unleashing atorrent of notes while the whole thing climaxes with a bashing group blowing blowout completewith Silva’s wiry “Strange Strings”scraping and the furiously pounding Thunder Drum. Whew! Ra
states the “Theme of the Stargazers” on the clavinet and Gilmore and Tyson sing the verse once
before Ra signals the group space chant “The Second Stop is Jupiter” which quickly moves to somejaunty swing with “Why Go to the Moon?” which suggests a number of alternative destinations,
including but not limited to the various planets -- or alternatively, why not “just be your natural
self?” This was certainly a pertinent question in 1970, as it is today. A quick edit moves us to the112concluding “We Travel the Spaceways,” sung by the Arkestra and Tyson as they parade out throughthe audience to warm but less than totally enthusiastic applause.
The next day, the Arkestra would travel to the British Isles for concerts in London and Liverpool
before returning to the United States.
JANUARY 10, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Research Arkestra: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London 11-9-70(AUD 2CDR)
Following their appearance at the Berlin Jazz Festival, the Arkestra traveled to London, arriving justin time for their scheduled performance on November 9, 1970. Unfortunately, the logistics of thisconcert were vexed from the beginning. Originally to be held at the glamorous Rainbow Theatre, theshow was moved at the last minute to the much smaller Queen Elizabeth Hall, which again resulted
in an angry mob of people outside the theater, unable to enter. Thankfully, a full scale riot did not
erupt as in Paris. And although Black Lion intended to record the concert for release, the soundtechnicians arrived three hours late, resulting in unacceptably bad sound quality (even for Black
Lion!). (See Szwed p.283-284 and Campbell & Trent p.169.)
Nevertheless, the performance itself was apparently a resounding success. David Toop wrote about
this landmark concert in his thought-provoking book, Oceans of Sound: Aether Talk, Ambient Sound andImaginary Worlds (London: Serpents Tail, 1995):[Sun Ra’s] first UK performance…was one of the most spectacular concerts ever held in this country. Not spectacularso much in terms of effects, which were low on budget but high on strange atmosphere, spectacular in terms of presenting
a complete world view, so occult, so other, to all of us in the audience that the only possible responses were outrightdismissal or complete intuitive empathy with a man who had chosen to discard all the possibilities of a normal life, evena normal jazz life, in favour of an unremitting alien identity. Fire-eaters, a golden-robed dancer carrying a sun symbol,
tornadoes of percussion, eerie cello glissandi, ferocious blasts and tendrils of electronic sound from Sun Ra on Farfisa
organ and Moog synthesizer, futuristic lyrics of the advertising age sung by June Tyson – “If you find earth boring, justthe same old thing, come on sign up for Outer Spaceways Incorporated” –saxophone riffs repeated over and over by Pat
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Patrick and Danny Thompson as they moved down the seating aisles towards the stage while John Gilmore shredded
and blistered a ribbon of multiphonics from his tenor, film images of Africa and outer space…As depictions of archaic
futures, shamanistic theatre, imaged of divined worlds, these devices of cumulative sensory overload were regarded at thetime as distractions from the music. But those who concentrated solely on the music ignored Ra’s role as politicalmessenger. (pp.23-24; quoted in Szwed p.284.)
What exactly Sun Ra’s political message might be is a topic I’d rather not delve into at the moment
except to say that Toop touches upon a profound truth regarding Ra’s “unremitting alien identity,”
which was already fully evolved by 1970. The large scale Cosmo Drama he witnessed was perhaps
the very peak of the Arkestra’s gonzo, multi-media theatricality and cutting edge, out-jazz intensity.
Too bad Black Lion blew it on the recording.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your tolerance for poor sound quality), a 118-minuteaudience recording of this concert circulates amongst Sun Ra fanatics. And believe me, this one isonly for the irredeemably fanatical. During quiet passages, it is barely listenable; but when the music
gets loud, it is nothing but a distorted roar of undifferentiated white noise. Maybe it’s not quite that
bad, and after a while, you do get used to it, yeah, yeah, yeah – but, sheesh! That said, our intrepid
recordist did manage to preserve a nearly complete performance from this first European tour and alittle perseverance offers intermittent rewards. A blow-by-blow description would be even moretedious than usual, but I want to point out a few highlights. First of all, Ra seems to have been
provided with a decent concert grand piano, upon which he spends more than his usual, obligatory
amount of time and he sounds truly inspired by the instrument throughout. The first set features
one of the final performances of “Walking on the Moon,” sporting a slightly different arrangementwith more high-octane big-band riffing and fewer overt solos, further omitting Ra’s usual wandering
keyboard at the end and instead segueing immediately into the swinging space chant, “Outer
Spaceways Incorporated.” “The Shadow World” is its usual, mysterious, shape-shifting self which
breaks down into a lovely piano duet with Silva’s arco bass, interrupted here and there by Kwame
Hadi’s daredevil high-wire trumpet act. This maneuver prods Ra and Silva to even more delirious
flights of fancy before the full Arkestra lurches into another one of those dirgey, old-fashionedsounding compositions that brings to mind the “Discipline” series to come. The first known
performance of “Life is Splendid” opens with the massed flute choir effect similar to “Friendly
Galaxy No.2,” before the incantatory vocals by Tyson and Ra. Tyson then chants with the Arkestra
about “somewhere in outer space” where “we’ll wait for you… in tomorrow’s world” until an
eruption of free jazz skronk and a spacey synth drone brings things to a dramatic close.
The forty-six minute fragment of the second set is even more interesting, cutting in on what at firstsounds like a conducted improvisation featuring Ra on piano and Silva on bowed cello. But uponcloser listening, it sounds to me like Ra is outlining a pre-conceived harmonic structure that comesto a definite conclusion. After a brief pause, Ra launches into a piano solo that also sounds throughcomposed. Is this a suite? Or does the bewildered audience just not have the opportunity to react?
Ra’s playing becomes more rhythmically agitated, each hand playing in different keys, punctuated by
the Arkestra’s braying space-chords whose inner voices suggest the harmonic movements of the
piano. After a cued stop, dueling alto saxophones take over amidst intermittent Arkestra blasting
and churning percussion. The poor quality of the recording makes it difficult to hear what exactly isgoing on here, but it is certainly intense! A crashing gong introduces a chiming electric keyboard solo
to end. Next up is a medley of compositions that date back to the early years in Chicago: “Planet
Earth” has by now gained lyrics for an ensemble of vocalists and “El is the Sound of Joy” gets an
expansive arrangement featuring a swirling, roller-rink organ solo by Ra. Despite the poor sound114

quality, you can still hear that the Arkestra is tight and well-rehearsed on both of these swinging bigband numbers. The first known performance of “Pleiades” begins with a brief statement of thetheme on the reedy Rocksichord before a lengthy electric keyboard solo full of whooshingsynthesizer and terrifying, pile-driving organ cluster-bombs that anticipate the industrial noisemaking of Einstürzende Neubauten. Clearly, Sonny was very much ahead of his time. All of thisbuilds up to a frenetic group improvisation featuring Silva’s viola, Pat Patrick bass clarinet, Eloe
Omoe on Neptunian lipflecto, and (perhaps) Akh Tal Ebah on long-breathed trumpet. Finally, afteralmost twenty minutes, things quiet down and a flute choir plays the liltingly beautiful composition
in its entirety, accompanied by some weirdo chords from Ra’s piano. The tape cuts off just as Ra
begins to solo, which is too bad since I was just starting to get used to the bad sound quality!
+++
On November 11, the Arkestra performed at the Liverpool University Students’ Union to a wildly
enthusiastic, rock-star-like reception:
Toward the end of this concert, a greater part of the audience simply abandoned the seating and danced in front of thestage, chanting “Ra, Ra, Ra.” This mass movement was catalyzed by one guy in a business suit, who leapt to his feetwaving an umbrella, totally involved in the music. On this night, fire-eaters performed on stage during the concert, andthe light show featured projected photos, ciné film of Sun Ra in the Sun Studio, starry backdrops, and rock-stylelighting effects – a truly multimedia performance. The music ranged from percussion ensembles in which the whole
Arkestra seemed to participate, to unaccompanied solos by John Gilmore and Sun Ra, Alan Silva cello features, spacechants, and Dukish themes. There was plenty of all-in ensemble playing, too. During the second set many of the hornplayers, who had gone offstage, made a coordinated reappearance at various doorways at the back of the auditoriumand drifted forward through the audience to rejoin the Arkestra, playing as they went. An old Melody Maker
advertisement indicates that Tyrannosaurus Rex appeared there the week before, and in subsequent weeks the hallfeatured Fleetwood Mac, Charles Mingus, Frank Zappa, and Colosseum (Campbell & Trent p.171).
The Arkestra returned to London for the final concert of the tour at Seymour Hall, on a bill with
Chris McGregor’s Quintet from South Africa and Osibasa, a rock group from Ghana. In the end,promoter Victor Schonfield lost money on the Arkestra’s first European tour, but as Szwed points
out, “Sun Ra was now a world musician” (p.285).
Sam said...
Re: sound quality --there's much worse out there! How about Widney? heh heh --Frankly, I didn't
think this one was THAT bad. It's an amazing concert any way you look at it (or listen to it, I guess).
Rodger Coleman said...
Well, you know, Widney starts off sounding pretty OK. The microphones' position on the stage
brings some clarity to the instruments that is lacking here. But as things get loud, it gets really really
distorted. Oh well. But, yes, the performance here is amazing.

115

JANUARY 17, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra: J.P. Widney Jr. High School, Los Angeles,
CA 6-12-71 (AUD 2CDR)
After their (semi)triumphant tour of Europe, the Arkestra’s return to the United States must havebeen something of a letdown, with paying work still somewhat hard to find and the musicians once
again scattered between Phildelphia, New York and Chicago. Szwed mentions a gig at the beginningof 1971 at the Village Vanguard as well as a concert at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s prestigious“Composers in Performance” series in February (p.285). According to Campbell and Trent, theArkestra also played Sunday and Monday nights at The East Village In in March (and perhaps atother times later in the year) (p.170). But the West Coast beckoned once again and in April, theArkestra headed out for an extended stay in California appearing at the first UC Jazz Festival at the
Greek Theatre in Berkeley on April 23 and a two-night stand at San Francisco’s Harding Theater on
April 30 and May 1 (Id.). Tommy Hunter had once again rejoined the group and remembers Sun Ra
writing the "Discipline" series of compositions during this time, rehearsing a new one with the bandevery day (Id. and see also Szwed, p.285).
After a stint in Berkeley, the Arkestra accepted Bobby Seale’s invitation to move into a house in
Oakland owned by the controversial Black Panthers. Sonny had generally positive feelings about theBlack Panthers’ goals but was skeptical of their incendiary politics; not surprisingly, this movebrought the Arkestra some unwanted attention from the authorities:
Sonny was impressed by the practical side of the Panthers -- their ideas for schools, a breakfast program for children,
providing groceries for the needy, building a community – and though he did not share their theoretical underpinnings
and their violent implications, he thought they had the best program he had heard of for black people. The Arkestra
was now at least remotely connected to the group that J. Edgar Hoover declared the biggest threat to American internal
security. So as benign as the Arkestra’s activities were – they played a local mental hospital, performed at the wedding
at the Rosicrucian Museum in San Jose, worked at clubs like the Native Son, and gave free concerts in the parks –they found themselves under surveillance by both the FBI and the Oakland police (Szwed, p.286).
On June 11, the Arkestra travelled down to Los Angeles where Danny Thompson’s cousin, Alden
Kimborough, had arranged a concert at the J.P. Widney Junior High School. A school for
handicapped children, it was inauspiciously named after Joseph Pomeroy Widney (1841-1948), oneof the first presidents of the University of California -- and a virulent racist. In 1907, Widney
116

published a two-volume manifesto entitled, Race Life of the Aryan People (Funk & Wagnall), which
predicted that Los Angeles would some day become the center of white supremacy (Id.). Widney’s
malevolent spirit seems to loom over the proceedings: For while the concert was well-received by
the audience, “things turned ugly when the custodial staff – not knowing Sun Ra’s practice ofplaying without regard for time – interrupted the concert by turning off the lights. Sun Ra was
furious and lectured the guard and the audience on injustice, race, leadership, and civil order, andended by putting a curse on the City of Angels” (p.285).
The whole thing (including Sun Ra’s curse) was recorded on a reel-to-reel machine “that was set up
right in the middle of the band” (Campbell & Trent, p.171), presumably by Dr. Reggie Scott, whoprovides some six minutes of embittered commentary at the end of the eighty-two minute tape. The
sound quality is, unfortunately, predictably awful, with loud passages overloaded to the point of puredistortion (not to mention the serious wow-and-flutter issues throughout); but the microphone’s
position on the stage otherwise provides some immediacy to the music, making less-loud portions(almost) listenable. What is notable about this recording, besides the return of Hunter on drums, isthat it marks the first appearance of bassist Ronnie Boykins since his defection for greener pastures
in 1968. Somehow, Boykins was cajoled into joining the Arkestra on its California sojourn, perhaps
after being informed of the band’s enthusiastic reception in Europe. His distinctive and effortlessly
virtuosic bass playing had been integral to the development of Sun Ra’s music during its formative
years and his return to the band was certainly most welcome. Boykins would continue to play off
and on with the Arkestra through 1974 but Sonny was never able to find anyone else who could
really fill his shoes except for perhaps Alan Silva, who had just recently left the band for good. Sadly,
although Boykins’s presence can be felt driving the rhythm section, his contributions to this concert
are mostly inaudible.
The performance begins with an unidentified title featuring Sun Ra’s portentous electronic
keyboards which summon forth a series of hectoring space chants. After a leisurely romp through“Enlightenment,” the ensemble gradually comes together to build up a dense polyrhythmic grooveon the lilting “Love in Outer Space,” with Ra taking the lead on organ. As usual, “Watusi” explodes
into an extended percussion jam and “Second Stop is Jupiter” serves as a platform for some bluesy,
gut-bucket group improvisation, anchored by Boykins’s rock-solid arco riffing. Suitably warmed up,
the band launches into the infinitely challenging “Shadow World” at a cartoonishly fast tempo.
Unfortunately, the recording is so distorted, it’s impossible to tell what’s going on musically aside
from Ra’s furious organ playing and some braying horns. Intermittently, the ensemble drops out,
leaving a saxophone or trumpet to solo a cappella. After about fifteen minutes, Ra enters with adramatic organ chord to introduce the first known performance of “Discipline 15,” a throughcomposed dirge, similar to the “prototypes” they were playing in Europe. Basically a sequence ofsweet but wayward vertical harmonies orchestrated at the extremes of instrumental registers, it is all
unresolved tension. This is immediately followed by a snaky improvisation by Marshall Allen on
oboe, but he is soon overwhelmed by roaring bass and pounding percussion. June Tyson sings“They’ll Come Back” with a sure-footed sense of pitch and timing over randomly tinkling bells,
crashing gongs, clattering percussion, and what sounds like breaking glass (!); but when the full
ensemble enters with the theme, the sound quality degenerates into horrific noise. Frankly, it sounds
like a cable is loose, creating an electrical short-circuit. Egads! The sound clears up somewhat for thelast known performance of “Walkin’ on the Moon,” but the tape quickly fades out after the first
couple of minutes.

117Apparently, the custodians shut off the lights a short time after, as the tape next picks up in the
middle of “The Curse.” And, wow, Sun Ra is pissed off! For more than five minutes, Sonny rains
down sheets of radioactive organ and angrily rants about darkness and light, race and righteousness:
The darkness means nothing to you. It’s my home. And my people are dark and black….there’s nothing but
darkness anyway and there’s no escape for white, yellow, brown or black for what I represent. And you can believe it if
you want to or not; I don’t care! This planet needs me! I don’t need it!…You cannot afford to take a chance. I’m
not playing with anything, I’m not Christ, I’m not righteous, I’m so evil…I’ll destroy the whole planet! I’m here to
do something! I’m a product of nature! I don’t care anything about the governments of man, I don’t care anything
about anyone who is not true and sincere. There is no excuse for any man to mistreat another man. I will not
tolerate it! I don’t care if you’re the strongest government on the face of the earth, you are a part of nature!...Do notever turn the lights out on me! You may be ever so light, but you don’t own anything! You are here by the grace of the
god you say you worship!… You will wake up! Black people don’t need to wake up, they got me -- you don’t havenothin’!
Sun Ra ends with an explicit threat: “The birds don’t have to stop playing at one o’clock; why should
I? You just had one earthquake…you might expect another!” Whoah. This followed by an eerie
minute or so of the audience exiting the auditorium, muttering in stunned disbelief; meanwhile somewoman invites everyone to meet “at 4506 Southwest” for further consciousness-raising experiences.
The tape concludes with Dr. Reggie Scott’s monologue (over Sun Ra music), in which he recalls an“embarrassing evening for what could have been a perfect evening.” In a coolly angry voice, Dr.
Scott laments:
Sun Ra and his band never played better. The crowd never responded better. The people loved and begged for more. But
it was ended; ended in another kind of tragic commentary on sensitivity, on responsibility, on man’s -- black man’s -failure to share the artistic point of view, share the love of art with the artist…The crowd hungered for more, but was
not permitted. It was embarrassing to people who love and worship the mighty Sun Ra. The band wanted to play. Sun
Ra wanted to play. The audience wanted more…The crowd was at a feverish pitch to hear more Sun Ra and his
Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra but it was brought to a halt by the powers that be.
Dr. Scott goes to on to describe the “furious” Sun Ra cursing the City of Los Angeles andconcludes: “Sun Ra remains the myth. Sun Ra remains the puzzle. Sun Ra remains undisputed. Sun
Ra can only be interpreted in one of two ways: You either go into the galaxy with him or stay left
behind. It was that kind of evening. It was that kind of night…” Indeed.
Sun Ra would stay in Oakland until well into 1972, but events would soon overwhelm the Black
Panthers when the powers that be turned the lights out on the black power movement (such as itwas). And as Ra’s international touring career grew, his political emphasis would necessarily soften
into a more pan-racial, intergalactic ecumenicalism. This recording, although of extremely poor
fidelity, is a rare document of Sun Ra at his most militant and is worth hearing for “The Curse”
alone. Powerful stuff!

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JANUARY 24, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: The Creator of the Universe (The Lost Reels Collection Vol.1) (Transparency 2CD)
It is hard to believe, but in 1971 Sun Ra was briefly appointed lecturer at the University of California
at Berkeley via the Regents’ Program and the newly-formed Department of Afro-American Studies.
As Szwed points out, such an outlandish appointment was “only conceivable in the early 1960s andearly 1970s”:
Every week during the spring quarter of 1971 he met his class, Afro-American Studies 198: “The Black Man in the
Cosmos,” in a large room in the music department building. Although a respectable number of students signed up,
after a couple of classes it was down to a handful (“What could you expect with a course named like that,” Sun Ra
once chortled). But a large number of local black folks regularly attended, always distinguishable from the students by
their party dress. The classes ran like rehearsals: first came the lecture, followed by a half hour of solo keyboard or
Arkestra performance. But it was a proper course -- Sun Ra after all trained to be a teacher in college [for one year at
Alabama State A&M circa. 1935 (see pp.25-32)] -- with class handouts, assignments, and a reading list which
made even the most au courant sixties professors’ courses pale. There was The Egyptian Book of the Dead; Bill
Looney’s Radix, a book of astrology; Alexander Hislip’s Two Babylons; the theosophical works of Madame
Blavatsky; spiritually channeled tomes like The Book of Oahspe; Henry Dumas’s Ark of Bones and Poetry
for My People; LeRoi Jones’s and Larry Neal’s Black Fire; David Livingston’s Missionary Travels andResearches in South Africa; Theodore P. Ford’s God Wills the Negro; Archibald Rutledge’s God’s
Children; the Spring 1971 issue of Stylus, the literary magazine of the black students of Temple University (whichcontained poetry by Sun Ra): John S. Wilson’s Jazz: Where It Came From, Where It’s At(published by theUnited States Information Agency); Yosef A. A. Ben-Jochannan’s Black Man of the Nile and His Family;Count Volney’s Ruins of Empire; the King James version of the Bible (listed on the syllabus only as “The Source
Book of Man’s Life and Death”); P.D. Ouspensky’s A New Model of the Universe; Frederick Bodmer’s The
Loom of Language;Blackies Etymology; and other books on hieroglyphics, color therapy, the Rosicrucians,
Afro-American folklore, and ex-slaves’ writings. When students returned after the first class to tell Sun Ra that the119books were not available in the bookstores and were either missing from the library or had never been there in the firstplace, he merely smiled knowingly.
His list of suggested topics for student term papers summed up his interests at the time, but it also showed an astutesense of what universities expect their student’s papers to deal with: “The Striving of the Black Bourgeoisie,”“Negritude,” “Planning for the Future,” “The Role of Technology in Music,” and “Developing Relevant Culture.”
In a typical lecture, Sun Ra wrote biblical quotes on the board and then “permutated” them -- rewrote andtransformed their letters and syntax into new equations of meaning, while members of the Arkestra passed through theroom, preventing anyone from taping the class. His lecture subjects included Neoplatonic doctrines; the application ofancient history and religious texts to racial problems; pollution and war; and a radical reinterpretation of the Bible inlight of Egyptology. Sun Ra the southern black man, the jazz musician, the militant, the hippie icon, the avantgardist, was now Sun Ra, visiting lecturer (pp.294-295).
Apparently, the Arkestra was less than vigilant on the afternoon of May 4, 1971, as a tape recordingof Ra’s fifty minute lecture survives and can be found on disc two of Transparency’s 2007 release,
The Creator of the Universe (The Lost Reels Collection Vol.1). The sound quality is
exceptionally good, all things considered, and you can clearly hear the sound of chalk on blackboard
and the disconcerted giggling of students. Sonny’s voice is measured and calm, but there is an angry
undertone to his discourses on race and black man’s failure to embrace his “alter-destiny.” While itwould be easy to dismiss all this as the ravings of a lunatic (or pure charlatanism or fakery), thatwould, in my opinion, be a grave mistake. Sonny is witty and entertaining but also deadly serious;
there is a method to his madness for he believed that by breaking the bonds of logic and received
wisdom and thereby “decoding” mystical texts, humans could realize their spiritual nature, transcend
earthly existence (death), and “do the impossible”:
I’m talking about something that’s so impossible, it can’t possibly be true. But it’s the only way the world’s gonna
survive, this impossible thing. My job is to change five billion people to something else. Totally impossible. But
everything that’s possible’s been done by man, I have to deal with the impossible. And when I deal with the impossible
and am successful, it makes me feel good because I know that I’m not bullshittin’ (quoted in Szwed, p. 295).
Here, Sun Ra unequivocally claims that, at least sometimes, he is able to successfully “deal with theimpossible” and his guileless statement about how this makes him “feel good” indicates this is, infact, more than just mere bullshit. The truth of this assertion is evidenced by the music and structureof the Arkestra, where true freedom exists within the confines of extraordinary discipline and wherea strictly hierarchical organization allows for genuine self-expression within a utopian society based
upon the harmonious relations between people. Szwed devotes twenty-five pages to an extended
paraphrase of Sun Ra’s philosophy, drawing upon a vast bibliography of interviews and articles inwhich Sonny expanded upon his ideas, from the nature of God and spirit, good and bad, angels anddemons, life and death, truth, history and myth, racial relations, and music’s innate ability toovercome the limitations of language (pp.294-319). Despite surface appearances, all that carrying on
about “interplanetary music” was more than just kitschy, space-age theatricality; it was about“creating myths about the future” (p.315): “Myth speaks of the impossible, of immortality” (quotedin Szwed, p. 316). On this recording of Sun Ra’s Berkeley lecture, you can hear him practicing“wordology,” constructing “cosmic equations” based upon “phonetic equivalence, as in homonyms
and homophones, and recognizing euphemistic equivalence” (p.305). Listening to it, one feels more
like an initiate into an ancient mystery cult than a student at a major research university and it is120

unsurprising that a permanent faculty appointment was not forthcoming. It is nonetheless afascinating historical document which provides first-hand insight into Ra’s complex metaphysics.
Even if Sun Ra’s cosmology is ultimately dubious, there can be no doubting the sincerity of his
beliefs and the goodness of his works.
+++
Disc one contains a forty-eight minute concert fragment recorded at The Warehouse in San
Francisco on (supposedly) June 10, 1971. I am skeptical about this date as it would place it a mere
two days before the Arkestra’s concert at J.P. Widney Jr. High School in Los Angeles and theband appears to have different personnel. (This concert is not listed in Campbell & Trent – I thinkit’s time for a third edition!) Specifically, the extended drum solo on track three sounds suspiciously
like Clifford Jarvis, who does not appear on the June 12 show. Then again, Ronnie Boykins isdefinitely present on bass and Tommy Hunter, Lex Humphries, and Jarvis all traveled to Europe in
the fall, so I suppose anything is possible. The sound quality is OK, probably recorded from thesoundboard (vocals are way up front, drums way back), but it’s degraded in a most unfortunate
fashion: the original master probably sounds very good (wherever it might be), but this CD is clearlyseveral generations removed and there was obviously a “Dolby mismatch” along the way, resulting
in muffled and swishy upper frequencies, most noticeable in the sound of the cymbals. Oh well, so it
goes with Sun Ra’s “unofficial” discography.
The tape opens with an unknown number in the “Discipline” series of compositions, conceptuallysimilar to “Discipline 15” but with differently un-resolving harmonies. Spacey improvisational
sections follow statements of the slow, somber theme, featuring Boykins’s inimitable thrummingand bowing and (I’m guessing) Eloe Omoe’s growling and burbling bass clarinet. “Ra Declamation”
is just that: a twenty-five minute mytho-poetic polemic full of cryptic admonishments and blackpower sentiments, interspersed with moments of bashing free-jazz skronk. It is interesting tocompare this to the U.C. Berkeley lecture and his venomous “curse” on Los Angeles two days later
as Sonny mines related material absent the scholarly affectations of the former and the abject fury of
the latter. Next up is an unknown title for ominous percussion and brooding trumpet which gives
way to a lengthy yet oddly compelling drum solo. If this is Jarvis (and that hyperactive bass drum
sure sounds like him), he is not as blithely self-indulgent as usual, resulting in a musically satisfying
prelude to Sun Ra’s typically inventive synthesizer solo. Ra coaxes worlds of sounds from his
MiniMoog, once again demonstrating his quick mastery of that technologically sophisticatedinstrument over the past year. “Satellites Are Spinning” follows with June Tyson and John Gilmore
duetting on the loping sing-along. Sadly, the tape cuts off a mere two minutes into “Enlightenment.”
Ouch.
+++
I must admit to having deep ethical qualms about the Transparency label since most of their Sun Ra
releases consist of amateur recordings that have circulated amongst collectors for years. As such,these CDs can best be described as “bootlegs.” I read someplace where Marshall Allen has granted
Transparency the “moral right” to release these recordings and, in return, the Arkestra receives apercentage from their sales. That is all very well and good, but copyright law does not (as far as Iknow) recognize “moral rights” and, even if it did, it is questionable whether or not Allen retains
those rights with regard to these recordings. Nevertheless, I have to admit that any effort to bring121

these tapes to light should be applauded by those of us who are fanatically obsessed with Sun Ra’s
music. For the merely curious, I would suggest staying away from the Transparency CDs andsticking to the myriad “official” releases on offer. If you already have all that stuff, then by all means,indulge yourself; these recordings are well worth hearing, despite their dodgy provenance. But, as
always,caveat emptor!
JANUARY 31, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Intergalactic Research (The Lost Reels Collection Vol.2) (Transparency CD)
Campbell & Trent describe two performances at The Native Son in Berkeley, California on June 19
and July 14, 1971 which were recorded by Sun Ra and sold to Black Lion in the infamous tarmactransaction later that year, but never issued (pp.171-172). What’s the deal there? Has anyone heard
these? Our intrepid discographers list tantalizing titles such as “Sun-Earth Rock” and “Cosmic
Africa.” Huh?! If these tapes still exist, they need to be released! Come on, folks, let’s get busy!
In the meantime, Transparency has released a twenty-five minute fragment purportedly recorded at
The Native Son around this time period on Intergalactic Research (The Lost Reels Collection
Vol.2). The sound quality is actually quite good; in fact it sounds to me like a low-generation
soundboard tape. Which makes me wonder -- could this be from that stash of unissued recordings
sold to Black Lion? Who knows? The provenance of Transparency’s releases is sketchy at best.
While mostly a continuous performance, it is cleverly edited, opening with the audience stamping
and cheering which is overlaid with music, fading in on an untitled improvisation. John Gilmore
launches into a typically marvelous tenor saxophone solo, full of twisty scales and impossible stacksof harmonics and multiphonics. Wow, this is truly an astonishing tour de force. Incredible! It sounds
to me like there are two bassists here, one of whom is unmistakably Ronnie Boykins. Perhaps Alzo
122

Wright is playing cello? Whoever it is, he bows away with a maniacal, Strange Strings-like abandon.
Oboes and flutes join in the fray, weaving webs of spindly counterpoint until June Tyson enters withmumbling glossolalia, chanting “Strange Worlds” over the reedy din. Gilmore quickly joins in to sing“It’s After the End of the World” and the bumptious “Outer Spaceways Incorporated,” which isanchored by Boykins’s wildly inventive but rock-solid bass. Ra then asks the rhetorical question,“Why Go to the Moon?” while chirpy oboes and a swooping slide-whistle (!) provide gently
mocking commentary. An open improvisation follows with the bassists (or bass and cello) engaging
in a throbbing duet until someone (perhaps James Jacson) enters with a blisteringly overblown soloon the Neptunian libflecto. This is greeted with a huge round of applause followed by two minutesof stamping and cheering…in fact this is the same stamping and cheering that begins the segment,
creating a neat, infinite loop effect. I suspect this particular concert fragment was compiled by Sun
Ra himself to be released as an album side. Which begs the question: What did the other side soundlike? Will we ever know? Oh, the mysteries of Mr. Ra!
+++
The rest of this CD is taken up with a thirty-two minute concert fragment recorded at an unknown
venue on an unknown date circa. 1972. We’ll listen more carefully in due course, but I will note herethat it is another decent-sounding board tape containing some very adventurous music. Bootleg ornot, this is a must-have disc for the hardcore Ra fanatic.
Sam said...
Meant to mention--can't wait to see your write-up for "Universe in Blue"--I know that's coming up
soon. There's some amazing Gilmore on that LP. I've got to listen to this release more closely--I
completely missed the applause loop you refer to. I just remember this being probably the overallstrongest of the Lost Reels series.

123

FEBRUARY 7, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Blue Universe Arkestra: Universe in Blue (Saturn LP>CDR)
Released as Saturn ESR 5000 IGB in 1972 (in mono), Universe in Blue was recorded live
somewhere on the west coast presumably around August, 1971. However, the greatly reduced
Arkestra suggests that it could have been recorded “somewhere on the road” in mid-1972, as theystraggled across the country on their way back to Philadelphia for good (see Campbell & Trent
pp.172-173). To further confuse the matter, “The Good Doctor” at ESP-disk’ provides a firm dateof August 17, 1971 but insists the venue is Slug’s Saloon in New York City (see below). Who
knows? In any event, behind the striking, psychedelicized album cover awaits a tasty selection ofsmoky, blues-based compositions, dominated by Ra’s patented “space-age barbeque” organ.
Sun Ra leads the way on the somnambulant title track, a dreamy, slowly smoldering blues,
demonstrating his mastery of the tradition while summoning up swelling and percussive Hammondlike sounds from the otherwise cheesy Farfisa organ. After a blissful five minutes, Kwame Hadi
enters on trumpet, only to be rudely cut off by the tape running out. Ouch! Some amount of music is
missing, with part two picking up with the rhythm section reaching a low boil, with a sparse horn
section offering swinging punctuation to Hadi’s bravura trumpet statements. John Gilmore thentakes over with his soulful growl for a chorus or two on tenor sax before Ra returns with a brief,
understated solo on organ to end. “Blackman” sets up a moderately rocking groove for June Tyson,
who evokes a time when “Pharaoh was sitting on his throne, when the Blackman ruled this land.”Over and over she implores, her voice cracking with emotion, “I hope you understand!” When I
hear her sing, I think I do understand.
“In a Blue Mood” is another slow burner featuring more fingerlickin’ good organ from Mr. Ra.
Campbell & Trent suggest Alzo Wright is playing cello on this gig (p.172), but I can’t hear him at all.
In this instance, Sonny is playing a wandering walking bass with his left hand, soloing all the whilewith his right. This is a truly superb solo performance by Sun Ra. “Another Shade of Blue”
concludes the album with a mid-tempo swing number led by Gilmore’s indomitable tenor. Sonny
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shifts gears seemingly at random with unexpected key modulations while ad libbed horn riffs pop in
and out. Unfazed, Gilmore just keeps things cooking -- and good lord, twelve minutes later, he’s still
wailing away like a madman as the track fades out. Dang! Yes folks, it’s yet another incredible John
Gilmore solo – what more can I say? It must be heard to be believed.
+++
In the summer of 2008, “The Good Doctor” at ESP-Disk’ produced a six-part internet radio tributeto Sun Ra which included over two hours of music from this concert -- recorded in stereo,amazingly enough. Even more surprising, “Universe in Blue Pts.1&2” is presented uncut and it
sounds much better than my “needle-drop” of the LP. (Curiously, the rest of Universe in Blue is
not found on the broadcast, adding further confusion about possible recording dates.) After somepolite applause, a fifteen-minute “Intergalactic Research” follows with another extended tenor
workout from Gilmore. “Discipline 27” allows the full ensemble to shine on this sweetly
harmonized swing number. The thirty-minute “Blackman” is very different from the LP version,
beyond its extraordinary length. Without introduction, Tyson begins by singing a cappella with
Marshall Allen soon joining in on some wiggly oboe. Allen then takes over with a thrilling solo as aroiling groove is built up in the rhythm section, Pat Patrick leading the band with the hypnotic threenote riff on baritone sax. Suddenly, a male voice (Eloe Omoe?) starts yodeling and carrying on
hysterically, compelling Tyson to resume her incantatory singing. At the eleven minute mark, Ra
embarks on a lengthy declamation, assuming the role of the resurrected Pharaoh, who has returned
from outer space to lead his people back to Egypt, away from "the path of destruction." “Destiny
rules and fate decides and I command both of them!” he exclaims. After twenty minutes of feverish
ranting, the piece ends quietly with tick-tock-ing percussion and distant, muted trumpet. Anotherfifty-three minute segment posthumously entitled, “I Roam the Cosmos,” starts out with a brief solostatement from Danny Davis followed by Tyson singing the newly composed “Astro Black” over a
massively slowed-down “Love in Outer Space”-type groove. Soon after, Ra begins hectoring theaudience about the usual subjects: race, outer space, and doing the impossible -- “Give up yourdeath for me!” he insists at one point, with Tyson echoing virtually every word of his tirade.
Meanwhile, the Arkestra noodles around on the two-chord vamp with Hadi and Akh Tal Ebahproviding running commentary on trumpet and flugelhorn, respectively. Overlong, it does get a bit
tedious, but Ra’s preaching is simultaneously terrifying and laugh-out-loud funny.
+++
Universe in Blue is another one of those classic Saturn LPs which remains way out of print,
originals commanding princely sums on the collector’s market. That’s a shame since this is one of
the warmest, most approachable albums in the discography. ESP-Disk’ or Atavistic or Art Yard orsome other perspicacious label should compile all this material together and reissue Universe in Bluein a deluxe, two-disc edition; I’m sure it would be a big hit.
Anonymous said...
> over a massively slowed-down “Love in Outer Space”-type groove.
i always considered that groove as 'discipline 27-II'. i never made any connection between it andLIOS.
> but Ra’s preaching is simultaneously terrifying and laugh-out-loud funny.

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that is part of the beauty of this particular version. the arkestra is deeply and very nicely playing
D27-II, in an almost gentle rocking, lullaby kind of way. meanwhile, sun ra, with june tyson
beautifully doing the call and response, does this great counterpoint. you almost have to listen tohim as music, rather than what he says, to really get that feel of the opposites. I-) ihor
FEBRUARY 14, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Rehearsal, Oakland, CA circa. October, 1971 (CDR)
In preparation for the Arkestra’s second European tour scheduled to begin in October, 1971,
Tommy “Bugs” Hunter recorded this sixty-minute rehearsal segment sometime in late September or
early October -- or possibly a mere days before departure (see Campbell & Trent, p.173). This tape
was subsequently broadcast by WKCR-FM during their Sun Ra memorial event on May 22, 1995
and now circulates widely amongst collectors. The rather crude monophonic recording offers awindow into the inner workings of the core Arkestra as Sun Ra pontificates on various subjects andworks the band through a handful of compositions, three of which were never performed again.
This was apparently common practice, where numerous compositions were vigorously rehearsed,
but never performed (see e.g., Id. p.170).
The tape opens with Ra talking about new experimental synthesizers and a “secret” electronic
instrument (sort of like a Theremin) which won’t respond to a black person’s skin. Of course, Sonnyis bemused by the apparent racism of this “mean” technology and chortles: “You go talking about
equal rights and here you got an instrument that won’t play for you if you’re black!” Even so, Ra isinterested in the instrument’s ability to play a “purple C” and a “red C” and play “sixteen pitches
between C and C#.” I have no idea what he’s talking about, but he sure sounds convincing. Getting
down to business, he leads the 10-member Arkestra through part of an unidentified title that sounds
somewhat similar to the “Discipline” series, with lushly harmonized horns playing slowlyinterweaving parts over a repeating bass ostinato. After a couple of minutes, Ra cuts things off toenquire whether James Jacson has been reached on the telephone in New Jersey regarding travel
arrangements to Europe. (He wasn’t home. “He wasn’t home last night, either,” Ra complains.) A
lackadaisical run through of “Love in Outer Space” follows which prompts Sonny to chide thedrummers and wax enthusiastically about Clifford Jarvis, who was apparently eager to get his old job
back. Even so, Sonny does acknowledge Jarvis’s propensity to overplay: “You can’t just get arecording with nothing but drums, drums, drums, drums, drums. That’s what I used to try to tell126

Clifford Jarvis. Now, he took about a forty-minute solo on the thing…I told him, ‘we’re recording!’
Made no difference, though…That’s all his fault, boy, he don’t know when to stop!” I agree!
Sonny then assumes the role of the stern taskmaster, devoting more than fifteen minutes todiligently work out the arrangement and subtle rhythmic nuances of the old standby, “Friendly
Galaxy.” First he tells Marshall Allen to play the melody on alto flute rather than piccolo, so the
melody will “cut through.” This seems counter-intuitive to me (the piccolo cuts through just fine)and indicative of his inexplicable ire towards Allen. Because then he starts to get angry andrepeatedly reprimands Allen for playing “on the beat!” Sun Ra scolds him: “You been playing that
number for ten years and can’t play it yet!” Ra explains that he wants the melody played with“anticipatory rhythms” – a little bit ahead of the beat. “If you play it right on time, you’re gonna bewrong! It’s designed for sound,” he says. Ra then demonstrates on the keyboard, playing the “intime” bassline and the “out-of-time” melody simultaneously. “See? I’m not asking you to dosomething I can’t do. I’m doing it!” After a slightly more successful take, Sonny declares:
See, you almost played it that time because you wasn’t counting and you wasn’t thinking about it. You just have to do
this like I’m talking. And I’m not measuring my words and saying, ‘one-two-three’…I can’t do that. Music is alanguage, so you not supposed be counting. I might hold a word a little bit longer than usual if I want to emphasize
what I’m saying. That’s the way music is.
Ra goes on to talk about playing behind the beat and makes his point more explicit: “That’s hard to
do too. So, it’s either ahead or behind – and then there’s some music that’s right on the beat. Well,white people can do that! When it’s right on the beat, they got you!” After another run-through, Rareally starts to preach it:
It’s all about togetherness. The white race is together. Don’t let ‘em fool you what they talking about revoltin’ andrevolutin’. What they got to revolute against? They got everything! But that’s for you! […] Talkin’ about revolution. I
told the truth the other night when I said, ‘No. Not gonna have no revolution of black folks. Not no more freedom,
not no peace, they don’t need nothing like that. They need unity, precision, discipline.’ That’s it. That’s the only thingwhite folks gonna respect and get out of the way […] They got their stuff together and I got mine together. And I’m
not afraid of them. I ain’t worried about them. Now, I’m telling ‘em that. It’s about unity, precision, discipline […]That’s what jazz is: it’s precision, discipline.
After some discussion, Ra calls for “Intergalactic Universe,” a gently floating space vamp in 5/4
meter. The piece was never performed live and was likely never finished as you can hear Ra
interrupting the proceedings several times in order to tweak the arrangement. Despite almost
eighteen minutes of rehearsal, the music never quite gets off the ground although the piece clearly
had some potential. Ra laments the lack of time for more rehearsal, but insists on working on
another obscure composition, “Living Myth 7,” a terrifically complicated melody in 7/4 which isthrough-composed in intricate, close harmony. The ensemble sounds tentative at best. After alurching, half-time read-through, Ra calls for double-time but the Arkestra once more hobbles its
way through the thorny score until the tape cuts off. Never played again, this is another tantalizing“lost” work from Sun Ra’s oeuvre.
Although none of the musical performances really hang together, this rehearsal fragment offers an
intimate glimpse into Ra’s working methods circa.1971 and his role as leader of the rag-tag Arkestra.
At once genial storyteller, exacting schoolmarm, and political firebrand, Sonny clearly commanded
attention and elicited a fierce loyalty from his most devoted disciples. As “crazy” as Sun Ra might127

sound, he certainly got results. This tape recording allows a first-hand account of the fearsome
charm by which Sun Ra achieved his ultimate aim: “Unity, precision, discipline. That’s it.”Sam said...
About "Intergalactic Universe," you say: "a gently floating space vamp in 5/4 meter. The piece wasnever performed live." Actually, we now know that it was performed live at least 3 times! Here are
the versions we have:
1. 1971-08? (15:13) from the ESP Radio Show. Same concert as "Universe in Blue," but in stereo.
You mentioned this in your review of that LP: "a fifteen-minute 'Intergalactic Research' follows withanother extended tenor workout from Gilmore." The mistake in the title is probably mine, although
the Good Doctor may have announced it as such. This is a beautiful version, with a truly
transcendent Gilmore solo. It ends with unaccompanied Gilmore.
2. Delft 1971-11-11 (18:42) This is another super-beautiful version, with Ra on piano. It's soulful, it
swings, and it's got another killer Gilmore solo, and a wonderful Kwame Hadi trumpet outing. The
vibes and flutes provide a nice two-chord background.
3. Mystery Board 1972-11-02 or -03 (9:09) Here's what I had to say about this, in the notes to "LiveHighlights": "The only other place this composition is known to appear is on the rehearsal tapes
before the European tour of 1971. [Again, we now know that's not the case!] That makes this aperfect example of the catalog of compositions band members have said they'd rehearse extensively
before a show, only to never play it that night. Of course we don't have recordings of every single
show from this tour, but it is interesting that it doesn't show up on even one. [Wrong again!] Whatamazes me is how Ra could neglect this wonderful piece; it certainly deserves more attention. It's asoul-jazz groove guided by Rocksichord/clavinet with the head beautifully executed by Gilmore,
who then proceeds to play gorgeous variations. He just sounds fabulous. This solo is a gift.
Anything that follows has to be anticlimactic, but Kwame Hadi's trumpet solo is compelling on its
own terms--actually, it's quite beautiful! This is just a killer performance."
Rodger Coleman said...
Wow, Sam. You are amazing. You really should be doing this instead of me! I need to go back andlisten to this again. I knew this sounded familiar on the Delft concert! Then there are all theunknown "Discipline" numbers....
Sam said...
Well, duh, I left off another performance of "Intergalactic Universe"--- 4. ca. 1972 (14:13) from
"Intergalactic Research, The Lost Reel Collection vol. 2" (Transparency). There, it's mis-titled"Intergalactic Research." It's slightly slower than the other versions.

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OCTOBER 10, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: The Shadows Took Shape (Lost Reel Collection, Vol.3) (Transparency 2CD)
Volume three of Transparency’s Lost Reel Collection is another stumper. Although the liner notes(such as they are) posit 1972 as the approximate date of this live concert, close listening suggests it
was recorded much earlier. For one thing, none of the “Discipline” pieces appear in the setlist, andthey were constants by the beginning of 1972. Secondly, Ra does not play the MiniMoog synthesizer,
highly unlikely during this period. On the other hand, the presence of June Tyson’s vocal on“Strange Worlds” implies a post-1970 date. So, my best guess is this was recorded in late1970/early-1971, prior to the European tour in the fall. But who knows? It’s another one of those
Mysteries of Mr. Ra. Sound quality is rough—at times barely listenable—but there is a surprisingly
wide stereo image suggesting on-stage microphones and reminding me at times of some of Tommy
Hunter’s recordings. But to be sure, we’re a long way away from the master (presumably lost) andthere is plenty of generational distortion, including wow and flutter, oversaturation and noise. Be
forewarned, this is only for a hardcore Sun Ra nut like me.
The first thing that hits you (besides the horrific sound) is the presence of trombone on the opening“Outer Space,” a rare instrument in the Arkestra during this period and providing another cryptic
clue as to the possible date. Further, a distinctively hyperactive bass drum confirms Jarvis is on the
drum stool. After a bit of skronk, Ra embarks on a long organ/Rocksichord solo buoyed bymurmuring percussion. But after about nine minutes, Jarvis can hardly contain himself and comescharging out of the gate. Ra counters with some dark funk before bringing things around to amellow space-rhumba. The vocalists proceed to sing a wordless three-note figure while oboes andflutes play a long-toned counter-melody. Who knows what the name of this piece is or whether it
was ever played again? While it doesn’t really go anywhere, it establishes a pleasant mood and the
instrumental texture is delightfully lush. Interesting. The old-timey “Stardust of Tomorrow” follows,
appearing in its full-vocal arrangement. Unfortunately, the words are impossible to discern. Yet
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Sonny turns in an insistently nattering solo atop the medium swing before the big reprise, whichsounds suspiciously under-rehearsed. Too bad this version never got a proper recording.
The hypnotic polyrhythms of “Exotic Forest” are taken at a brisk tempo and two drumsets areclearly audible. With the addition of congas and other hand-percussion a dense, churning groove in
six is set in motion while a trombone lays down a repetitive, wide-interval riff. Marshall Allen leads
off with some wailing oboe and Kwame Hadi follows with a long, thoughtful solo on trumpet as therhythm section keeps the soup at a low boil. After some tricky lick-trading between Allen and Hadi,
nothing much happens until Ra enters with a quietly contemplative clavinet solo that eventually
segues to organ to introduce “The Shadow World.” After a ragged ensemble section, John Gilmore
enters with another one of his typically hair-raising tenor solos, with his super-humanly precise
articulation of impossibly difficult multiphonic and altissimo effects. Yes, it’s another incredible
John Gilmore solo, this time even getting a rise out of the otherwise subdued audience. After somedissonant organ chords, Danny Davis takes over with some similarly adventuresome alto, but just asa slinky, slow groove is established (featuring what sounds like acoustic bass – could it be the great
Ronnie Boykins?), the tape cuts off. Oh well.
Disc two opens in the middle of some fearsomely intense avant-jazz mayhem with atrociously badsound.Ugh. You can still hear Ra throwing out some two-fisted organ blasts, but the pounding
drums overwhelm just about everything. And when the horns return, some seem to intimate areprise of “The Shadow World,” but the headstrong drummers insist on their own frenetic freedom
before finally coming to a full stop (no doubt at Ra’s friendly but firm direction: there will be notwenty-minute Jarvis solo this evening, at least not yet). After some stunned applause, Sonny plays apretty interlude on an acoustic piano way, way off in the distance while June Tyson starts chanting
about those “Strange Worlds” in another room. He then moves to clavinet for an expansive, spidery
etude on clavinet, supplemented with thick washes of organ color. Beautiful. A jaunty chord
sequences announces “Enlightenment,” sung by Tyson and the boys, with a ticking hi-hat andclonking cowbells keeping easy time. Nothing too unusual. Next up is the ecstastic chanting of“Outer Spaceways, Incororporated” and “Prepare for the Journey to Outer Space” but the recording
is woefully unbalanced with the vocals buried by the pummeling drumline. Even so, our unknown
trombonist delivers a high-spirited, bluesy solo, exhibiting a huge tone that easily cuts through thedin. Who is this guy?
Ra’s spooky organ accompanies Tyson’s recitation of “The Shadows Took Shape” and Gilmore
paints a pointillist picture with a delicate concertino. Perfect. Suddenly, the motoric ostinato of“Friendly Galaxy” arises and the Arkestra launches into the work with gusto, the trombonist adding
warmth to the cool flutes and trumpets. As the groove gets settled in, someone takes an extremely
curious solo—but what instrument is this?? At times it sounds like Ra’s MiniMoog, but other times
it sounds like Gilmore’s saxophone amplified through an overdriven Twin Reverb; there's a soulful
vibrato that seems to preclude a purely electronic source (circa. early-Seventies). Whatever
instrument, it’s a fascinating solo, with tasteful note choices and endlessly evolving timbres that defy
description. I think it’s probably Sun Ra making these sounds, but I have no idea how he’s doing it.
After that, it’s just the usual overlong dancing and percussion fest, interrupted by a quick spin
through “Watusi” before the tape brutally cuts off.
The Lost Reel Collection, Vol.3 is a frustrating listen: the fatally unbalanced and distorted sound quality
requires a lot of work to penetrate—yet there are moments (however fleeting) of rare and sublime
music that (sort of) reward the effort. As a historical document, it poses more questions than it
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answers, only adding to the overall sense of frustration. Accordingly, I cannot recommend this toanyone but the specialist or truly obsessive. For them, it is a tantalizingly inscrutable text worthy ofmonastic study. Most anyone else might be understandably repulsed. Caveat emptor.
FEBRUARY 21, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Dramaten, Stockholm, Sweden 10-12-71 (FM CDR)
In the fall of 1971, the Arkestra embarked on their second European tour, this time enlarged totwenty-two musicians, two singers, six dancers along with Sun Ra himself. Once again, the itinerary
was haphazardly arranged, with gigs spread far and wide and lack of money would cause many of the
newcomers to abandon the tour along the way (see Szwed pp.286-287). Curiously, while Ronnie
Boykins had returned to the fold and is clearly present on the rehearsal tape recorded just days
before their departure, he did not make the trip to Europe. In fact, there was no bass player at all on
this tour, except when Pat Patrick would put down his baritone sax and pick up the Fender electricbass on a few tunes. Nevertheless, when a gargantuan Arkestra took the stage on October 12 at
Sweden’s prestigious Royal Dramatic Theatre (a/k/a Dramaten) in Stockholm, they were clearlyenergized and inspired by the lavish surroundings. In another measure of how well Sun Ra wastreated in Europe, the state-run radio station broadcast sixty minutes of the performance, a copy ofwhich circulates amongst collectors. Thank you, Sweden! The stereo FM reception is a little hissy
and there are occasional wow-and-flutter problems but overall, it is very nice recording for theperiod and truly an excellent performance.
There is, however, considerable confusion about some of the titles found on this tape. Campbell &Trent list the first track as “Discipline 2” (p.174) but I don’t think that is correct. If so, it is a radical
rearrangement of the “official” version which was recorded just weeks later and released on
Nidhamu (Saturn LP) (now, confusingly, found on Art Yard’s Horizon CD). After careful
listening, I am unconvinced. Sam Byrd (who is really is much more of a Sun Ra expert than I am)
suggests they are playing an early version of “Sometimes the Universe Speaks,” a composition which
was recorded in 1977 and released on The Soul Vibrations of Man (Saturn LP). I think Sam might
be correct, although, again, the arrangement is very different, making direct comparisons difficult.
The long-breathed melody for two flutes certainly shares a similar contour, but here they are131accompanied by saxophone and trumpet harmonizations and there is a swinging fanfare section
midway through that I do not hear on the LP version. In any event, it is a lovely composition thatgives way to a very pretty duet with Ra on synthesizers and William Morrow on vibraphone before
the coda. Afterwards, Sonny launches into a prototypical “mad-scientist”-style organ solo with theArkestra contributing some free-jazz skronk here and there.
A dramatically dissonant organ chord signals another mysterious piece which Campbell & Trent
identify only as some unknown number in the “Discipline” series. The label on my (weirdly indexed)
CDR says “Discipline 5” but, after comparing it to the “official” version recorded in December
1971 (released on the Freedom/DA Music CD, Calling Planet Earth), I don’t think that is correcteither. Whatever its title, this composition is conceptually similar to others in the “Discipline” series
with its through-composed horn-lines and sweet and sour harmonies, fading out to Ra’s spacey,vibrating organ clusters. Whatever the actual titles, this thirteen-minute sequence conclusively
demonstrates Sun Ra’s prolific genius as a jazz composer.
Pat Patrick takes up the electric bass for joyful romp through “Enlightenment” wherein the rest of
the Arkestra sings along with June Tyson, except for Marshall Allen’s lone flute obbligato. The
ragged choir moves seamlessly into “It’s After the End of the World” before all hell breaks loose
with wild free-group-improv, finally yielding to Eloe Omoe’s reedy bass clarinet and a typically firebreathing solo from John Gilmore on tenor sax. The intensity level becomes almost unbearable as
the Arkestra prods Gilmore to ever greater heights of outrageous invention until Ra cuts things off
with quivering organ chords to introduce “Discipline 8.” Another moody piece for intricately
hocketed horn lines, this particular number eventually settles on a brooding, three-note riff,
harmonized in modal parallels which repeat endlessly, undergoing subtle permutations of tone andtimbre through shifting instrumentation. Meanwhile, the soloists, led by Gilmore’s tempestuous
tenor, take things totally out over the heaving, trance-inducing riff. Art Jenkins even contributes an
evocative “space voice” solo accompanied by Marshall Allen’s flutter-tongued flute, followed by abrilliantly flashy trumpet solo by Kwame Hadi and distantly clanging marimba.
Suddenly, Ra plays a brightly swinging chord change, William Morrow plays a bebop-ish melodic
figure on vibes and, while Campbell & Trent list the ensuing composition as “The Rainmaker,” I
think Sam Byrd is again correct in identifying this fleeting piece as “Sketch,” which only otherwise
appeared on 1964’s Other Planes of There (Saturn/Evidence CD). (Good ears, Sam!) While theorgan and vibes only hint at the composition, the horns enter with a surprisingly adept run throughthe entire head before the dissolving back into the three-note riff and a reprise of “Discipline 8.”
Fascinating! The tape closes with a long, rip-roaring rendition of “Rocket Number 9,” over twelve
minutes of ecstatic antiphonal vocals and wigged-out saxophone solos. “Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Up
in the Air!” Just as Ra cues a throbbing, screechy space chord, the radio announcer interrupts toconclude the broadcast. Argh!
Despite some minor technical problems, this is an exquisite artifact and well worth seeking out. If
the original master reels still exist, it would make for a wonderful CD which I would certainly buy ina heartbeat. And perhaps more of this concert was recorded than was broadcast…? One candream…

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MARCH 7, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Solar Research Arkestra: Helsinki, Finland 10-14-71 (FM 2CDR)
On October 14, 1971, the Arkestra performed in Helsinki, Finland and, lucky for us, the entire twoand-a-half-hour concert was broadcast by the Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE. An off-the-air
tape recording of the broadcast circulates amongst collectors and Transparency has recently released
a 2CD set which purports to be derived from the radio station’s master reels, but I’m skeptical. (Ifanyone out there has heard this, I’d love to know your opinion!) The circulating tape is slightly hissyand probably more than a few generations away from the master, but it is recorded in stereo andsounds pretty good for the period.
The first set starts off with a bang: Sonny cues a mammoth space chord over which Kwame Hadi
lays down some bravura trumpet over the throbbing mass of sound. Following a brief pause, theArkestra launches into another unidentified number in the “Discipline” series of compositions,readily apparent by the dirgey blocks of harmonies in the reeds and brass floating over freely rubato
drumming. At the conclusion, June Tyson and John Gilmore sing “Theme of the Stargazers,” whichleads to a lengthy and particularly inspired multi-keyboard solo from Ra, full of synthesized blips,
whirrs and spaceship sounds, twistedly polyphonic synthesizer/organ displays and astonishingly
aggressive organ attacks. As the drums get heavier, saxophones are drawn into the fray with Gilmore
the clear victor. After some further keyboard ruminations, William Morrow enters with sometasteful vibraphone which is countered by Ra’s wiry Clavioline-like sound, making for a hauntingly
beautiful texture. “Discipline 8” follows in a much less expansive arrangement than we heard in
Stockholm, although Gilmore’s tenor saxophone solo is typically brilliant. Pat Patrick picks up theelectric bass to propel an extended “Love in Outer Space” into a trance-inducing groove that justgoes on an on and on, no doubt accompanying a parade of dancers and other shenanigans.
Meanwhile, Sonny keeps up a frenetic, electrically chiming keyboard accompaniment right throughto the big molto ritardando ending. “Watusi” is taken at a furious clip and the long percussion jam that
follows elicits all kinds of excited whoops and hollers from the audience, who burst into exuberant
applause after the return of the theme and final, universe-shaking space chord. Ra introduces“Enlightenment” with his boing-boing-ing Rocksichord and Tyson and male chorus sing the joyful
song while traipsing around the venue, inviting the audience to join them on their “space world.”
The set ends with “Next Stop Mars,” another keyboard solo full of spacey synthesizer andapocalyptic organ clusters.
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The second set opens with baleful organ chords before the antiphonal chanting of “Calling Planet
Earth.” This prompts a spasm of crazy free-jazz skronk that eventually yields to another glistening
vibes and keyboard duet. I’m really enjoying Morrow’s contributions on this tour! An unidentified
title follows featuring a mellifluous flute choir in bright major key harmonies, over quietly burbling
percussion (including distant timpani). This is another ingenious Ra composition that was apparently
only performed once and discarded. What a shame! This piece is as pretty as a spring morning andperhaps the highlight of the concert. A protracted “Space is the Place” immediately follows,
brimming with soulful crooning, sanctified wailing, and ecstatic carrying on from a multiple vocalists
over waves of roiling drums and percussion. Fun -- but truthfully, it goes on a bit too long. After abrief coda, Ra launches the band into “Angels and Demons at Play,” which was last heard on the1960 Saturn LP of the same name. Basically a groove in 5/4 anchored by Pat Patrick’s endlessly
repeating bassline, it’s really just an excuse for another sprawling, chaotic percussion jam and more
space-age theatrics. Oh well. Next, Tyson and a veritable Greek chorus sing the lilting “The Satellites
Are Spinning” as they march around the theatre before Ra signals a raucous version of “The Second
Stop is Jupiter,” full of swooping, screaming vocalizations and riotous organ vamping. The lurching,big-band number, “Somewhere Else” follows, allowing Patrick to finally strap on the baritone
saxophone and let it rip with a growling, blues-inflected solo. Up next is the genially swinging
composition, “To Nature’s God.” This tune first appeared as an instrumental on the 1969 Saturn
LP, My Brother the Wind, but here gains a set of lyrics in praise of “birds, lightning, sunshine,
wind, rain, the leaves on the trees” and their prolific creator. Curiously, this intricate re-arrangement
would only be performed once more before being permanently dropped from the repertoire(Campbell & Trent, p.842). The concert ends with a series of space chants, anchored by Patrick’s
remarkably fluent bass playing, beginning with “Sun Ra and His Band from Outer Space” and“Prepare for the Journey to Other Worlds,” concluding with a reverent quotation of “Sometimes I
Feel Like a Motherless Child.”
While it is certainly nice to have a complete concert from this vintage in decent sound quality, theoverall performance is somewhat diffuse and lacking the ultra-adventuresome music making heard a
couple of nights earlier. There is more of a “good time party” atmosphere at this concert whichleads to some overlong and self-indulgent episodes which were no doubt visually entertaining at thetime but do not translate well to audio tape. That said, Ra’s own playing is outstanding and thelovely unidentified title for flute choir in the second set makes this tape worth seeking out for the
duly obsessed fan.
Sam said...
I am in total agreement with your assessment of this, Rodger. The first half of the first set is the real
kicker here--the rest doesn't wear as well for those of us not fortunate enough to be there to see thespectacle of the dancers and all the visuals that were surely in effect. Is the only other vocal
appearance of "To nature's god" the one on "Dark Myth Equation Visitation"? It's always nice tohave another version of "Somewhere else," one my favorite Ra post-bop big-band-idiom numbers.
Great solo from Patrick. That and the first part of the first set alone make this worth having--thesound quality is a true bonus. But as a whole, it's not nearly as transcendent as Stockholm 1971-1021 was, or as the 1971 Egypt concerts yet to come.
Rodger Coleman said...

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There is a vocal version of "To Nature's God" on the Delft concert, in stunningly good soundquality (on the 2001 rebroadcast). I agree that Stockholm is the most transcendent concert of theEuropean tour.
MARCH 14, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Solar Research Arkestra: Vejlby Risskov Hallen, Aarhus,
Denmark 10-19-71 (AUD 2CDR)
Eighty-five minutes of the Arkestra’s performance at the Vejlby Risskov Hallen in Aarhus, Denmarkon October 19, 1971 was captured on an extremely bad-sounding audience recording which
circulates amongst more fanatical Sun Ra collectors. How bad is it? It sounds to me like therecordist stuck the microphone in his shoe and shoved his foot into Sun Ra’s amplifier. It is
unbelievably boomy and woefully unbalanced with every instrument aside from the jacked-up,
distorted keyboards sounding distant and muffled, making it impossible to tell exactly what’s goingon with the music. Of course, the intrepid fan is to be commended for making the effort; there areno other known recordings of this concert. But, really, this tape borders on the unlistenable.
Which is a shame, since it would appear the Arkestra is in fine fettle, premiering the stately“Discipline 2” and tossing off a blindingly fast version of the insanely complicated “The Shadow
World.” There’s also yet another unknown number in the “Discipline” series of compositions whichleads to a spectacularly far-out synthesizer and organ solo from Ra. But the sound quality is so awfulthat I could hardly bring myself to listen to it more than once. Campbell and Trent point out that
James Jacson’s Ancient Egyptian Infinity Lightning and Thunder Drum can be heard for the firsttime at the beginning of this tape (p.176). As the legend goes, Jacson made the enormous ceremonial
Infinity drum while the band was living in Oakland out of tree that had been struck and dried out by
a bolt of lightning. After its naming by Ra, it would become a fixture of the Cosmo Drama for years
to come (p.171). So, there is that.
As a true obsessive, I treasure this as a historical artifact, even if I might never listen to it again.
Given the fact that there are several other better-sounding recordings from this tour, morereasonable persons would go out of their way to avoid ever hearing this tape in the first place. Brutal!
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Sam said...
Can't wait to hear what you have to say about the 11-29 Paris recording--if anything, it's worse. Yep,
this is rough going all the way around, and it's a shame, but even so, the Stockholm concert is still
the strongest so far, in terms of performance (not sound quality) from this tour yet.
Rodger Coleman said...
Hmmm...my memory is that Paris sounds slightly better, or at least different. I agree with you re:Stockholm -- that is a very special performance!
MARCH 21, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Solar Research Arkestra: Technische Hogeschool, Nieuwe Aula,
Delft, The Netherlands 11-11-71 (FM 3CDR)
Several weeks later, the Arkestra appeared at the Technische Hogeschool, Nieuwe Aula in Delft, on
November 11, 1971. Once again, the state-run radio station recorded the concert and broadcast it on
November 14. According to Campbell and Trent, portions of this concert were also televised on
Dutch TV on November 17, but the tape no longer exists in the VPRO archive (p.176). The audio
recordings do exist, however, and, fortunately for us fans, the entire three-hour concert was rebroadcast in 2001. The sound quality is exceptionally good and it’s a wonderful performance toboot.
The first set starts off with glistening vibraphone arpeggios over roiling drums, each of the various
percussion instruments nicely captured in a wide stereo image. After a brief pause, the Arkestra
blasts into an explosive space chord that sets up a long electronic keyboard extravaganza,
punctuated by intermittent ensemble freakouts. This is certainly an intense way to begin a concert!
After about nine minutes, Ra launches into the bouncy vamping of “Enlightenment.” This is a noteperfect rendition with everyone crystal clear in the mix, including the descending counter-melodies
on flutes and trumpet and the multi-voiced chorus that accompanies June Tyson’s melodic crooning.
“Love in Outer Space” predictably follows, but this time it’s taken at a more relaxed tempo thanusual, settling into a sultry, slinky groove for almost twelve sensuous minutes, relentlessly driven
forward by William Morrow’s doubling of Pat Patrick’s electric bass line on vibes. Not much136

happens musically until Ra enters to state the theme a few times on a wheezy electric organ at theend -- but that’s OK.
Sonny then signals the space-chant, “Space is the Place,” which is full of soulful group vocalizations
over the mellow groove. Until, that is, the saxophones enter with some dissonant squealing and therhythm starts to disintegrate, with the vocalists going crazy with ecstatic wailing about “outer space”
etc. Rather than wearing out its welcome, all this nonsense quickly subsides to give way to a series ofsolos and various ensemble sections including Ra’s “mad-scientist” organ, some saxophone duels,
raging horn battles, and pounding kettle drums. Another unknown number in the “Discipline” series
emerges from the ashes, where richly orchestrated horn parts wander through a thicket of chords
while rubato drums rumble around underneath. A beautiful trumpet solo follows (probably Kwame
Hadi) accompanied by some spacey vibraphone, which gets a nice response from the audience.
Morrow then takes over with Ra joining in on marimba, while drums beat randomly and ominously.
Out of the ether, June Tyson enters with a brief declamation: “Out of every nation they shall rise,with an invitation of the Sun to journey to the outer darkness, to the outer heavens of theintergalactic dawn!” Then the ensemble enters with a reprise or coda to the “Discipline” piece. As
the work concludes, Eloe Omoe adds his wild bass clarinet scribbling which prods the ensemble
into some full-blown skronky free-jazz, led by John Gilmore’s indomitable tenor saxophone.
June Tyson interrupts the mayhem with the declamatory “We’ll Wait for You” which is ticklingly
echoed by the ensemble voices. Another wave of high-energy group improv follows, featuring Art
Jenkins's ghostly “space voice” and another long segment of vibes and marimba noodling. Sonny
then takes a rare turn on solo acoustic piano, interspersing luscious ballad chords with furious avantgarde attacks, later rhapsodically hinting around the “Theme of the Stargazers,” which is taken up by
Tyson and Gilmore in perfect unison. This gives rise to a long, quiet, very spacey improvisation withvocalized horns and gently tapping marimba and percussion. At times, an eerie, “Strange Strings” -like atmosphere arises only to move in other, equally compelling musical territory. Finally, Gilmore
steps up with an anguished saxophone cry and takes over with a typically mind-blowing solo, whichis greeted with wild applause. Wow.
An early version of “Discipline 27” follows right behind. Campbell and Trent point out that theseearly performances are “pre-mitotic; [they] combine[] a riff from the later ‘27’ and one from the later’27-II’ along with a counter-theme for the saxes that was not used in later versions at all” (p.177).
Not surprisingly, the ensemble sounds a bit tentative on the interlocking horn parts, and the rhythm
section never quite attains the stately grace the work requires. Hadi ventures first with anuncharacteristically modest but tasteful solo while Morrow provides some rather aimless filling onvibes, mostly making for a not quite satisfying performance of this otherwise languid and dreamy
composition. As the piece tapers off, the chorus enters with an a cappella rendition of “Outer
Spaceways, Incorporated,” ending the set with delirious chanting and clapping while the Arkestra
parades off the stage.
The second set begins with another out improv led by Gilmore titanic tenor, together with peals ofsqualling horns and energetic free drumming. The mix is a little weird until Tyson enters with alovely solo rendition of “They’ll Come Back,” which elicits an enthusiastic response from the crowd.
Another unknown number in the “Discipline” series follows, featuring slowly ascending, densely
harmonized horn swells and a honking bass clarinet solo from Omoe. A free improvisation opens
up for more vibes/marimba spaciness before the ensemble returns with the heaving chords of“Discipline,” this time with hysterical vocalizations from (perhaps) Malik Ramadin. Interesting. The
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piece formally concludes, giving way to Danny Davis on wailing alto saxophone, later joined by
Marshall Allen and some jittery percussion and vibraphone. The music rises and falls a number oftimes before Gilmore takes over with another spectacular tenor solo, bringing down the house to
stunned applause. Ra then moves to acoustic piano for a rare performance of “Intergalactic
Research,” a loping vamp in 5/4 featuring subtly inventive solo turns from Gilmore and Hadi. As
the rhythm section starts to deconstruct, Ra embarks on a spaceship synthesizer solo punctuated bydissonant organ stabs, with an onomatopoeiac white-noise blast-off at the conclusion.
A held organ chord cues “The Satellites Are Spinning,” its mellow groove supporting the soulful
singing of Tyson and band. After a big ending and a brief percussion interlude, yet another numberin the “Discipline” series is performed, this one orchestrated for thick stacks of low saxophones
with a breathy flute on top. As Pat Patrick begins to play a counter-melody on baritone sax, more
flutes and French horn enter, making for an impossibly lush texture. A sweetly improvised flute
choir follows, with additional commentary from various percussion instruments and a reedy
synthesizer -- until Ra suddenly charges into “Watusi,” taken at a brisk yet controlled tempo. After atight rendition of the theme, the usual percussion fest follows, which benefits from the excellent
stereo sound; this sometimes dull segment is actually quite mesmerizing! But by the time Morrow’s
clanking vibraphone induces Ra to return to the vamp, the tempo has increased noticeably. Even so,
the Arkestra returns with a jubilant restatement of the theme and a huge pulsating space chord toend. Sonny then taps out the tune, “To Nature’s God,” on Rocksichord, but drops out for Tyson
and the guys to sing the song over a hypnotic two-chord vamp supplied by vibraphone and electricbass. “Sometimes you should appreciate the work of Nature’s God! -- Give credit where credit isdue!” they implore. While it’s sort of understandable why this tune was dropped from the repertoire,it’s still nice to have this rarely performed vocal arrangement in such good sound quality.
Next up is an extended performance of the mysterious “Shadow World.” Ra outlines the weird
chords at a breakneck tempo, but when the horns come in with their wickedly complicated,interlocking lines, they are almost completely overwhelmed by howling feedback. Yikes! The mix
continues to suffer as the technicians attempt to cope with the barrage of instrumental attacks.
Eventually, the rhythm section amiably falls apart, allowing for a series of solos, first a densely
contrapuntal Rocksichord etude, then Gilmore with his screaming multiphonics and fleet-fingered
runs of notes, which again elicits a round of applause from the audience. Pat Patrick honks out the“Shadow World’s” enervating riff, while Gilmore continues to wail, building up to an almost
unbearable level of intensity until he’s all alone again on the stage, blowing his ever-living brains out.
With a flourish, he stops and the stunned audience responds with another big hand. Geez, what can
I say? It’s another incredible John Gilmore solo! Kwame Hadi gamely follows with a high-wiretrumpet solo, full of rubber-lipped special effects which is greeted with respectful applause. Ra
furiously assaults the organ with remarkable, ten-fingered dexterity, producing a richly textured,
purely electronic sound. Then the Arkestra suddenly enters with a wobbly space chord, serving to
introduce a brief untitled composition, perhaps from the “Discipline” series, scored for longbreathed flutes and alternately moaning and riffing horns. Very interesting!After a spacey vibraphoneinterlude, Ra returns with an extended synthesizer excursion, again demonstrating his mastery ofelectronic keyboards in the early nineteen-seventies. After a solemn conclusion, Ra deftly segues into
the closing space chants. First, there's a short romp through “The Second Stop Is Jupiter,” withTyson and Gilmore gleefully chanting the line in weirdly antiphonal harmony. Tyson then moves
into “Prepare for the Journey to Other Worlds,” which includes quotations from "Swing Low Sweet
Chariot” and a disconcertingly catchy refrain: “This world ain’t gonna be here long – we got to go!”Meanwhile, the Arkestra embarks on its slow procession off the stage, banging and clanging,138

chanting and singing. Several minutes of clapping, cheering and hollering from the audience is also
included on the rebroadcast.
Whew! What a show! How delightful to have this recording of an expansive Cosmo Drama in such
vivid high-fidelity sound! This one is a keeper, for sure! Unfortunately, the haphazard booking of theEuropean tour was taking its toll on the Arkestra’s finances, which led to an ugly scene back at thehotel after this concert. Szwed explains:
The performances were spread so far apart that the money they were receiving ran thin, and three of the musicians
began demanding to be paid. After the Delft concert one of them tried to take the money by force in Sonny’s hotelroom, and was stopped only when other band members came by and heard what was going on. Sonny fired the three ofthem, and over the next three weeks eleven more left, including all the dancers except June Tyson (p.287).
Campbell and Trent list no performances between the October 19 concert in Aarhus and this one
on November 11 and the next documented performance wasn’t until November 29 in Paris (which
was supposed to be the last one of the tour). It’s rumored, however, that the Arkestra also played inWest Germany at some point, but no definitive information has been uncovered (p.176). In any
event, such a large ensemble of out-jazzers couldn’t possibly survive in a foreign country whileworking only once every few weeks, so it was inevitable things would come to a head with the lessexperienced Arkestrans. Fortunately, the core members of the band soldiered on, enthusiasticallyagreeing to a last-minute trip to Egypt, despite the impossible logistics, which included some hastilyarranged gigs in Denmark in December which were intended to pay for the excursion. But we’regetting ahead of ourselves. A fragment of the Paris concert and one “officially released” recordingfrom Copenhagen still await us. See you next week.

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MARCH 28, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Solar Research Arkestra: Théâtre du Chatelet, Paris, France 1129-71 (FM CDR)
Of all the European cities the Arkestra toured, Paris was apparently Sun Ra’s favorite:
Paris reminded Sonny of Montreal [where the Arkestra briefly lived before their arrival in New York City in 1961],
and he loved to walk the streets and visit museums, especially the Egyptian section of the Louvre. [Dancer] Verta
Mae Grosvenor said, “Walking with Sun Ra in France was something else! Everyone stared at us. We were asensation…like Josephine Baker’s arrival in Paris” (Szwed, p.287).
The Arkestra performed at the Théâtre du Chatelet on November 29, 1971 and the concert was
broadcast over the radio. A very degraded sixty minute recording of the radio broadcast circulates
amongst the more fanatical collectors -- and you really have to be a fanatic to get into this one. The
first forty-five minutes borders on the unlistenable: hissy yet muffled, under-recorded yet boomy,
woefully unbalanced, and just plain bad. The remaining fifteen-minute segment is from a different
source, but only marginally better-sounding than the rest. Even so, buried within the murk is some
remarkable music that is worth the effort -- maybe.
The recording starts from the beginning of a set, with tribal drums setting up Ra’s grand entrance on
weird electric space keyboards. Without going on too long, Sonny cues up “Discipline 27” in its
early, “pre-mitotic” arrangement (see Campbell & Trent, p.177). Gilmore takes a rip-snorting tenorsolo while the Arkestra heaves and sighs around him, but it’s difficult to hear exactly what is goingon within the music. After a brief keyboard interlude, the band launches to “Enlightenment,” only
to have the sound quality deteriorate even further. Ugh.“Love In Outer Space” predictably follows,
but this time Sun Ra keeps up an enervating, electro-metallic din over the polyrhythmic percussion
jamming to unsettling effect. Despite the poor sound quality, you can tell this is a particularly intense
version of this sometimes throw-away piece. There’s a churning darkness to Sonny’s organ playingthat reminds me of textural effects found on Miles Davis’s On the Corner album (which did not comeout until 1972). Interesting.

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Next up is the first known performance of “Third Planet,” a twisted bit of big-band fun, with ajaunty, slightly old-timey rhythm and a riff-happy horn arrangement. Ra takes a nicely buzzing
Rocksichord solo before the reprise. After a brief interruption from the radio announcer (in French),and piano introduction from Ra, Tyson sings “Somebody Else’s Idea” accompanied by hypnotic
percussion, an ooh-ing and ah-ing male chorus, and, sometimes, Marshall Allen’s ethereal flute. The
announcer rudely interrupts again before an unknown number in the “Discipline” series
composition fades up. It’s amazing how many of these things there are! This one is really justhandful densely through-composed ensemble chords, which quickly gives way to an a cappellaGilmore solo. Sadly, the tape cuts off just as things start to get cooking. Too bad, as I suspect there
was much more music that followed. Finally, “Watusi” is from a different, slightly better source,
more balanced and clear, but the fifteen-minute long percussion jam is still a distorted mess. The
track fades just the horns start to take things out. Oh well.
Despite the interestingness of much of the music contained on this recording, it is inordinately
difficult to listen to without squinting your ears. However, rumor has it that the Art Yard label isplanning a two-CD release of this complete concert mastered from the original reels – now thatwould be a most welcome addition to the official discography! I’ll keep you posted.
MARCH 20, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Mythic Science Arkestra: The Paris Tapes: Live at Le Théâtre Du Châtelet
1971 (Art Yard/Kindred Spirits 2CD)
Before moving on to 1974, I need to catch up a bit and comment on The Paris Tapes: Live at Le
Théâtre Du Châtelet 1971, recently released by Art Yard (in collaboration with the Dutch label,
Kindred Spirits). This nicely packaged two-CD set officially came out last fall, but has beensomewhat difficult to find here in the States. I’m not sure why that is, but it’s worth making the141effort to track down. As we know, this concert from November 29, 1971 was broadcast by Frenchradio and a horribly degraded tape fragment circulates amongst collectors. Therefore, thisupgraded and expanded edition is a most welcome addition to the official discography. Even so,
don’t be throwing away that crummy-sounding bootleg just yet—some very interesting and uniquemusic has been edited out of this otherwise excellent release! Mastered from what appear to be thepre-broadcast reels, the sound quality is superb with spacious ambience and startling instrumental
clarity. But according to producer, Peter Dennett, about an hour of music was omitted due totechnical problems with the tapes and to limit the release to a more economical two CDs. That iscompletely understandable, if unfortunate for us crazy completists, who would love to hear every
note, sonic warts and all.
What we do get is very good indeed, with an extra-generous serving of Sun Ra’s incredibly
outrageous electronic keyboard playing. Right from the start, Sonny is shooting laser beams andcracking whips with his MiniMoogs, summoning up torrential storms of noise and distortion,
pounding out thundering low-register grumbles on the organ, or stringing delicate and wobbly
portamentos against thick, dissonant tone clusters. That's just the "Introduction!" Then he turns in agroovy, blues-inflected electric piano solo on a “pre-mitotic” version of “Discipline 27” while thehypnotic, dark metallic funk of his organ comping dominates an extended version of “Love In
Outer Space.” The rarely-heard “Third Planet” also features a tasty, reedy Rocksichord excursion ala Night Of The Purple Moon while Ra’s space-age barbeque organ makes an appearance on“Discipline Number Unknown.” And, finally, the album concludes with an astonishing tour de force of
Sun Ra’s patented, mad-scientist-style mayhem: fifteen minutes of spooky murmuring, shrieking
sirens and bursting bombs, all culminating in the arrival and departure of the alien spaceship to takeus back to Saturn. Wow! This is truly one the all-time great Sun Ra epics! If there was ever any doubtof Ra’s visionary genius and sheer instrumental prowess, this release should put that notion to restfor good.
In between, there’s the usual thing—yet the vocal numbers such as “Somebody Else’s Idea,” and“Space Is The Place” as well as the dance/drums workout, “Watusi” greatly benefit from theluxurious sound quality and tightly focused performances (notorious drummer, Clifford Jarvis,
exhibits remarkable restraint throughout). A meandering “Angels and Demons At Play” is perhaps
overlong, but Marshall Allen’s evocative flute periodically adds interest to the percussion jamming.
Particularly noteworthy is the discovery of yet another never-before-heard “Discipline” composition
on disc two wherein characteristically interlocking horn riffs are cast upon an enchantingly off-kilter
space-groove in seven. During a series of solos (Kwame Hadi on trumpet, Ra on BBQ organ andEloe Omoe on bass clarinet), the arrangement gradually morphs into a wild group improvisation formassed saxophones and skittering, clattering polyrhythms. Pretty exciting stuff!
So, what’s missing? The “Enlightenment” after the opening improvisation has been cut and whilethat in itself is no great loss, the following unknown “Discipline” piece has also been omitted. Now,
that’s a real shame as this is the only known performance of one of Ra’s most strikingly beautiful
compositions (and the bootleg tape appears to be incomplete). Moreover, there are no big John
Gilmore solos on either of these two discs, which feels wrong given his usual prominence in theArkestra—I suspect “The Shadow World” made an appearance at this concert and no doubt
Gilmore did his thing there (and elsewhere). So, that’s a little frustrating. Regardless of any technicalanomalies, I, for one, would love to hear the rest of the tapes from this gig and would have gladly142

paid extra for a complete, three-CD set. Oh well. Perhaps, if this sells well, a volume two will beforthcoming.
But I quibble. Art Yard and Kindred Spirits have done a fabulous job with The Paris Tapes and it
is an essential purchase for any self-respecting Sun Ra fan (if you can find it). Despite the absence of
certain crucial material, Sun Ra’s performance here more than makes up for the loss with amazing
displays of keyboard pyrotechnics. And the overall sumptuous sound quality will gratify even themost casual of listeners, making this a most highly recommended release.
APRIL 4, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Calling Planet Earth (DA Music/Freedom CD)
The Paris concert was supposed to be the last of this ill-fated tour -- but at the last minute, Sun Ra
decided to go to Egypt. Someone had tipped him off to cheap airfare from Copenhagen to Cairo
and a handful of gigs in Denmark were cobbled together to pay for a trip to the Land of the
Pharaohs (see Campbell & Trent p.178). Egypt was a place of obvious spiritual importance to Sun
Ra, but half of the rapidly shrinking Arkestra bailed out and returned home. Nevertheless, the coremusicians dutifully carried on with the shoe-string adventure. As it turned out, the Danish
promoters failed to pay, and Sonny financed the trip by selling a batch of tapes to the Black Lionlabel, the desperate transaction taking place on the tarmac as the Cairo-bound plane awaited its
departure (Id. p.179; Szwed p.292). Among those tapes was a recording from Odense on December
3, 1971 but never issued (has anyone heard this?) and the December 5th concert from the Tivoli
Theatre in Copenhagen, which was finally released by the DA Music/Freedom label as Calling
Planet Earth in 1998.
The homemade stereo recording was made from the stage (probably by Tommy Hunter), and while
it sounds fine, there is some distortion during the loudest parts and you can hear the seams of a
hasty editing job. Hunter’s voice (likely recorded in the hotel room afterwards) announces the dateand venue before cutting into a brief turbulent percussion jam, which serves as an introduction to143

“Discipline 5.” The through-composed sequence of sweet-n-sour harmonies rises and falls over thebusy percussion section, yielding to an unaccompanied alto saxophone solo by Danny Davis, andreturning for the reprise. Kwame Hadi remains as the only brass player, but the saxophone section isfull and lush: besides Davis, mainstays Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, Pat Patrick, DannyThompson, and Eloe Omoe and newcomers Larry Northington and Hakim Rahim are all present
and help to flesh out the intricate arrangement. “Discipline 10” is more groove-oriented, propelled
by Ra’s barbequed organ comping over which the Arkestra riffs on a handful of big-voiced chords.
Ra solos interestingly on organ while Patrick grinds out a stumbling bass line until Gilmore enterswith a fiercely overblown solo on tenor sax. Unfortunately, he’s way off-mic and hard to hear. Evenso, you can tell he’s really blowing his ass off! After a return of the head, Ra steers the band into a
nicely sung rendition of “Enlightenment." A severely truncated version of “Love in Outer Space”
ends what would have been side one of the LP, fading out just as things start to come to a boil.
“Discipline 15” begins with a fugue-like organ solo, outlining the highly chromatic harmonic areasof the piece. Then the ensemble enters tentatively with the richly orchestrated rubato theme, dark,
reedy saxophones contrasted with airy flute and trumpet. Ra takes a dramatic unaccompanied organsolo before suddenly shifting gears, launching into “The Satellites Are Spinning” which is taken up
by June Tyson and Gilmore in a sung duet. After the urgent chanting of “Calling Planet Earth,” theArkestra slams into “The Outers,” some high-energy free jazz skronk: the horns wail, the drums
bash, and Sonny attacks his electronic keyboards with fists and elbows. This goes on for a while,
until Sun Ra takes over for good with an agitated mad-scientist-style solo on organ. A deft edit drops
us into the floating space-groove of “Adventures Outer Planes” (mis-titled “Adventures Outer
Space” on the CD), a two-chord vamp supporting a wandering melody for flute and trumpet thatnever quite seems to gel. Ra again leads the way with a genially meandering organ solo, while theArkestra takes up small percussion instruments. A second time through the composition sounds a
bit more confident than before, although there are some weird (and possibly wrong) notes strewn
about. The track fades out inconclusively. Hmm. According to Campbel & Trent, this piece was only
performed this one time (p.811); too bad as it definitely had potential. It is astonishing to discover somany tantalizing but rarely performed works scattered throughout the discography!
While there is some interesting music here, the Arkestra sounds hesitant on the newer material andsome of the more exciting improvisational music has obviously been edited out from a much longer
performance, making this album less than totally satisfying to me. Then again, I’m spoiled. Any
good-sounding Ra music from this vintage should be heartily welcomed. Next stop: Egypt.
Sam said...
Yeah, you're definitely spoiled! :) I quite like this CD, and while I agree that "Adventures" may notquite gel, it's still a fascinating piece with a killer groove and some really nice keyboard work. And all
three Discipline pieces are really, really super. "Discipline No. 10" is in the "My Brother the Wind"
space-bbq mold, and as such is right up my alley. Too bad about the under-recorded Gilmore! I love
"Discipline No. 15"--its yearning melody reminds me of "Barbizon." Overall, yes, some things are
cut, but as programming for an album? Hell yeah--it would have been a killer LP!
Rodger Coleman said...
You're quite right, Sam. The three Discipline pieces really make this worth having. And I reallyshouldn't quibble about sound quality after that Paris concert!

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JANUARY 11, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra: Horizon (Art Yard CD08) (2008)
Recorded live at the Ballon Theatre, Cairo, Egypt 12/17/71
The Arkestra’s own Art Yard label continues to make some of the rarest Sun Ra material available
with this expanded reissue of Horizon. Portions of this material were originally released on El
Saturn 1217718 in Philadelphia, El Saturn 849 in Chicago, and on Thoth Intergalactic 7771, all at
various points in the early to mid-1970s and all nearly impossible to find. This CD gathers all theextant recordings from this historic performance at the Ballon Theatre, near the Great Pyramids in
Cairo, a suitably cosmic venue for Sun Ra’s band of space travelers.
A trip to Egypt was unplanned, but at the end of the 1971 European tour, Ra decided to sell someconcert tapes to Black Lion [FN1] to fund a pilgrimage to the land of the Pharaohs. Thanks to theefforts of Hartmut Geerken, a handful of performances were arranged and, even though theArkestra’s instruments were held up in customs, loaners were provided by a most unlikely
personage:[Salah Ragab was] a brigadier general and the head of military music in the Egyptian army and himself a jazz
drummer. Though he was later disciplined for the contact, he continued to meet with the band under various disguises,
including once when he came with the son of [Egyptian President] Gamal Abdel Nasser, also a jazz musician.
Musicians and dancers were jammed into the house with several dozen guests, but they still managed a light show anddancing, and a march throughout the house and into the garden (while the Egyptian secret police kept watch fromoutside). (Szwed p.292-293) [FN2]This concert is typical for the period, although there’s a certain focus and solemnity to the Arkestra’s
demeanor that seems appropriate given the auspicious location. Sun Ra himself is in especially good
form with his propulsive piano, spooky “tiger organ,” and hair-raising rocket ship journeys on the
Moog synthesizer. “The Shadow World” makes another mysterious appearance with its insanely
complicated melodies. “Discipline #8” is especially beautiful with its slowly oscillating two-note riff145

that subtly anchors the freely dancing drums and powerfully energetic horn solos, duets, and trios.
Sing-alongs like “Enlightenment,” “Space is the Place,” and “The Satellites Are Spinning” roundthings out and feature the angelic voice of June Tyson.
Premises considered, sound quality is pretty good, though not a hi-fi spectacular by any means.
Probably recorded from the audience with a single microphone, there’s plenty of ambience but
limited frequency response, dynamic range, or soundstage. Fans will, of course, be undeterred by
low-fidelity recordings as it comes with the territory. After all, Sun Ra was a trail-blazing pioneer of
DIY record production. In fact, that “Saturn Sound” is, for some of us, part of the charm. For
others, however, Horizon may be rough going. But as a historical document and a key disc in Sun
Ra’s vast discography, this is essential.
[FN1]: Campbell (1st ed.) says these tapes are unreleased. I’m not sure if they have beensubsequently made available. Anybody know? (Yes, I need to get the second edition of Campbell’s
discography, but it too is woefully out of date at this point).
[FN2]: Some of Salah Rageb’s music can be heard on The Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab
in Egypt(Leo/Golden Years GY1, 1999).
Sam said...
Question: how long is "The Shadow World" on this release? On the original LP it ends side 1 andsorta cuts off after a short drum solo. It's about 10 minutes long total. Is that the case on this CD? I
love everything from this Egyptian series of shows! The band is large and on fire. From this LP, I
especially love "Third Planet," a great piece that would be resurrected in Italy in 1978, but overall
not played that much by Ra over the years. It's interesting, also, to hear the early version of "Space isthe place" with only the first half of the familiar melody (but with a blistering Marshall Allen sax
solo!).
paul w. said...
hi sam, i can answer your question regarding shadow world. on saturn vinyl lp shadow world isabout 14:20 min. on art yard cd it is shown as 16:42 min. in length. as i don't have art yard cd yet - icannot say if there is any additional music there - probably there is. i fully agree with your opinion
on horizon album. i also like very much "third planet" (one of the finest sun ra compositions)andthe early version of "space is the place" with great organ and fiery alto sax solo by marshall allen. iam waiting now to have opportunity to listen to horizon - extended version on art yard with cleaned
and improved sound and 4 extra tracks.

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APRIL 11, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Myth Science Solar Arkestra: Horizon (Art Yard CD)
With the money obtained from Black Lion, the Arkestra was able to board the waiting plane andtravel to Cairo, arriving in the evening of December 7, 1971. But they did not know anyone in Egypt
and neither did they know where they were going to stay nor how they were going to pay for it.
Szwed describes the scene:
When they landed they were held up at Egyptian customs because of the unlikelihood of an entire orchestra arriving as
tourists and because of the name on Sun Ra’s passport. To be named after the sun god twice was really a bit too much.
On the latter objection Sun Ra resourcefully suggested the guard call the curator of the National Museum of
Antiquities with whom he was ready to discuss Egyptology. They let him in, but customs kept most of theirinstruments just in case. The band took cabs to the Mena House Hotel outside of Cairo, and they woke up the next
day to see the morning fog slowly lifting to reveal the pyramid of Giza. A day later Tommy Hunter began taking
motion pictures of members of the Arkestra as they faced the pyramids, while the wind made their costumes billow so it
appeared they were flying. These were the films that Sun Ra would later project behind the band at Slug’s and atconcerts (p.292).
Here is the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5azChH6Z7QAThanks to Sun Ra fan, Hartmut Geerken, a German writer and free musician who was teaching at
the Goethe Institute in Cairo, a series of performances were arranged, including an invitation-only
concert at Geerken’s home in Heliopolis on December 12. While most of the Arkestra’s instruments
were still being held by customs, they were aided by a most unlikely personage named Salah Ragab:[He was] a brigadier general and the head of military music in the Egyptian army and himself a jazz drummer.
Though he was later disciplined for the contact, he continued to meet with the band under various disguises, including
once when he came with the son of [Egyptian President] Gamal Abdel Nasser, also a jazz musician. Musicians anddancers were jammed into the house with several dozen guests, but they still managed a light show and dancing, and a147

march throughout the house and into the garden (while the Egyptian secret police kept watch from outside) (pp.292293).
The Arkestra also performed at the famed Ballon Theatre in Cairo on December 17 courtesy of theEgyptian Ministry of Culture, who had cancelled ballet previously scheduled for that date (p.293).
The concert was recorded from the stage (in mono) by Tommy Hunter and released on various
impossible-to-find Saturn LPs over the years (see Campbell & Trent, pp.180-183). Most of thismaterial was finally compiled onto a CD entitled, Horizon, and released by Art Yard in 2008. It is atruly special performance: after the cold, grueling tour of Europe, the Arkestra sounds well-rested
and inspired by the ancient, mystical-- and warm -- environment. Ra sets the stage with someominous electronics before a brief “Theme of the Stargazers” and a howling a cappella solo from
Danny Davis on alto sax. The band then launches into “Discipline 2,” a moody and mysterious
piece that begins with throbbing, densely harmonized horns which give way to a twittering flute
choir before returning with a somber coda. Sonny then signals “The Shadow World” and we’re off
to the races. This is a spectacular, seventeen minute rendition, with Ra driving the band hard and theensemble responding with near-perfect execution of the extraordinarily complicated melody lines.
Ra takes the lead with a skittering organ solo before an energetic group improvisation section thatyields to Gilmore’s furiously wailing tenor sax. Yes, it’s another incredible Gilmore solo! Kwame
Hadi also takes a turn on trumpet and acquits himself well, ranging around from high-wireacrobatics to smeared, low-register noodling before Ra signals the reprise. After a brief pause, Ralightens the mood by moving into “Enlightenment,” which is joyfully taken up by June Tyson andher male choir. “Love In Outer Space” predictably follows and while this version lacks the menacing
darkness heard in Paris, there’s plenty of exciting organ work and another tasty solo from Hadi.
The neo-big-band swing of “Third Planet” follows with the Arkestra again nailing the ensemble
sections and supporting Hadi’s bebop-ish solo with swelling riffs. Hadi’s really in the spotlight at thisconcert! Ra takes a bumptious, barbequed organ solo as the rhythm section starts to really heat up,
only settling down again for the return of the head. Sonny then lurches into some dissonant organ
clusters to introduce “Space is the Place.” Pat Patrick grinds out the repetitive bassline, percussion
sets up a quasi-Latin groove, the singers chant, clap and dance, and meanwhile Marshall Allensqueals and moans on alto saxophone. It was likely quite a spectacle. “Horizon” begins with Ra
blasting off with his Moog synthesizer, punctuated with a searing space chord at the end. An eerie
organ swell signals “Discipline 8,” with its oscillating ensemble chords over rumbling, rubato
drumming. Eloe Omoe emerges from the thicket of harmony to blow some honking bass clarinet
until Gilmore takes over with a blistering display of high-pitched harmonics, howling multiphonics,
and low-register growls, joined at the end by the altos in an all-out saxophone battle. After reachinga feverish pitch, the saxophones subside, leaving Hadi to brood. All the while, the Arkestra’s riffing
continues to heave and sigh, rising and falling with contours of the soloists' excursions. After a cued
ending, June Tyson chants “We’ll Wait for You” with the Arkestra echoing her lines antiphonally.
While Sonny outlines a narrow harmonic area, the Arkestra briefly engages in some free-jazz
freakouts before Ra signals “The Satellites Are Spinning,” which closes the CD with its optimistic
chanting about the “great tomorrow,” accompanied by some bitingly skronky saxophone solos andsupported by a propulsive groove laid down by Clifford Jarvis’s skillful drumming and Pat Patrick’s
workmanlike bass playing.
You can hear the Egyptian audience starting to get into it, whooping and hollering as the Arkestra
parades off the stage. While the set list is typical of the period, the performance is particularly148focused and intense. Given the pleasantly spacious acoustic of the recording, this makes for a musthave CD for any Sun Ra fan. In 2009, Art Yard released Nidhamu + Dark Myth Equation
Visitation, which contains three more tracks from this concert, along with portions of the
Heliopolis performance and a TV appearance taped on December 16. We’ll have a listen to that one
next week.
Sam said...
Great assessment of this masterpiece, Rodger! It's great to have the extra tracks on the Art Yard
release, even though they don't really add much to the effect of the original album. "Third Planet" is
one of my favorite Ra compositions, and the treatment here is stellar.
Rodger Coleman said...
I agree: "Third Planet" is a great tune! It can't possibly be correct per RLC that this composition was
only played three times, right? Surely it appears on recordings which have turned up since thesecond edition was published. I imagine you would know...
Sam said...
Hmmm...actually, yes, I think there might be one more, but I'd have to physically go through all thediscs to find it--I'll keep an eye out for it! I might well be mistaken, though--there really aren't thatmany versions of this fine composition.
Sam said...
Well, I found two more versions of "Third Planet" (one of which just showed up on shuffle!): -1978-03-13 Horseshoe tavern, Toronto --1978-05-05 Public Theatre, NYC The NY one is marredby that sucky Michael Ray echo thing, but otherwise is really nice. I included both of these on"Further Live Highlights 2."

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APRIL 18, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Myth Science Solar Arkestra: Nidhamu + Dark Myth Equation
Visitation (Art Yard CD)
In 2009, Art Yard gathered together the remaining Egypt material on a CD entitled Nidhamu +Dark Myth Equation Visitation. Most of this music was previously released on impossible to findSaturn and Thoth Intergalactic LPs over the years, making this an essential companion to themagnificent Horizon CD, also on Art Yard. The CD opens with three additional tracks recorded at
the Ballon Theatre on December 17, 1971: “Space Loneliness #2” begins with an unusual ensembleof saxophones, flutes, and oboe with a detuned synthesizer obbligato. The yearning, dissonantly
harmonized melody and rubato drums feels conceptually similar to the Discipline series ofcompositions and may be a completely different piece. Ra then takes an unaccompanied solo on
dual synthesizers which focuses more on pitch and rhythm than spaceship noises for a change. Aftermoving to Rocksichord and outlining a bluesy set of changes, the ensemble returns with a lushly
orchestrated coda that echoes the big-band riffing of the original “Space Loneliness.” After somepolite applause, Ra introduces “Discipline 11” with a spacey organ solo until trumpet, flutes, andsaxophones enter with the dirge-like composition. After some more organ chording, Marshall Allentakes a mellifluous, heavily reverb-ed solo on flute until Sonny interrupts with more scary electronicmayhem. A glorious rendition of the stately “Discipline 15” follows with John Gilmore adding his
inimitable tenor sax improvisations over the top. Unfortunately, after a short percussion interlude,
the track quickly fades out. Even so, it’s a wonderful performance of this rarely played composition.
“Nidhamu” is a long (thirteen minute) double-synthesizer solo recorded at an invitation-only
concert at Hartmut Geerken’s house in Heliopolis on December 12, 1971. Ra again demonstrates
his mastery of the then new technology, exploring the vast range of sounds available: from space age
bleeps and blorps, to sweeping portamentos; pure sine waves to tsunamis of white noise -- all thewhile maintaining a loose internal structure built around a jittery four note figure that appears anddisappears in various permutations throughout the piece. A dignitary who attended this concert
invited Ra to appear on Egyptian television on December 16 (Szwed, p.293), and the next four
tracks document that event, which was, sadly, not preserved in the station’s archives (Campbell &150Trent, p.181). “Discipline 27” fades into Kwame Hadi’s trumpet solo while Tommy Hunter’s voice(probably dubbed later) announces the date and venue. Hadi plays nicely, as usual, supported by aswelling Arkestral accompaniment that gradually resumes the brightly riffing composition before
fading out too soon. “Solar Ship Voyage” consists of a brief synthesizer solo in Ra’s rocket-ship
style, punctuated with skittering runs of notes and piercing, high-pitched whines. “Cosmo
Darkness” is a short group improvisation with squealing horns pitted against Ra’s rumbling
electronic organ. Ra wins. “The Light Thereof” opens with an enervated organ solo before theensemble takes up the mournful, densely arranged composition, which was apparently performed
only this one time (Campbell & Trent, p.827). Another lost masterpiece! An ensemble ofsaxophones, flutes and trumpet improvise simultaneously while Gilmore takes the lead with adisplay of tenor pyrotechnics until Ra points the finger and the piece stops on a dime, eliciting
enthusiastic applause from the small studio audience. Quite a display of avant garde weirdness for
Third World television!
The disc concludes with three more tracks recorded on December 12. Ra has been provided an
acoustic piano, which he uses to push the band a ragged but still effective performance of “Friendly
Galaxy #2,” featuring a twittering flute choir over the insistently repeating trumpet note. Ra thentakes a meditative solo, slowing the tempo to a full stop before launching into the sing-a-longarrangement of “To Nature’s God,” which is taken up by June Tyson and Gilmore with gusto.
Sonny quickly drops out and everyone takes up percussion instruments to bang along with Pat
Patrick’s electric bass vamp, while Tyson and Gilmore sing, dance, chant and parade around theroom. Despite the band’s enthusiasm, this was apparently the last performance of this quirky little
ditty (Campbell & Trent, p.842). Finally, the disc closes with the bouncy space chant, “Why Go to
the Moon,” which, unfortunately, fades out after about two and half minutes. Supposedly, the entire
three and a half hour Heliopolis concert was recorded by Tommy Hunter, but it is unknown
whether the rest of the tape survives (Id., p.181). Given that none of it appears on this Art Yard CD,
it seems unlikely. But you never know what might surface…
+++
The Egyptian sojourn was supposed to last only a few days, but they wound staying two weeks “asthey rode camels, shopped, hitchhiked, and went sightseeing” (Szwed, p.293). They even ventured
into the great pyramids, where the lights dramatically went out as soon as they entered the mysticalKing’s Chamber. As they made their way back out in pitch darkness, Sonny calmly remarked, “Whydo we need light, Sun Ra, the sun is here” (Id.). All this was no doubt great fun, but the trip was
taking its toll on the Arkestra’s already precarious finances:
One night near the end of their stay in Cairo, Geerken saw Sun Ra seated at a table in the hotel with a candle andpiece of paper covered with long rows of numbers. It was not numerology; they were again out of money, with not evenenough to pay the hotel bill. This was becoming a regular occurrence on tours, as Sonny loved traveling and became
depressed when they returned to Philadelphia. Geerken once saw Sun Ra pay for a $1000 phone bill by selling therights to a master tape of the band. This time, members of the band sold personal items to get the money. And Sonnyleft his Sun harp with Geerken as security against money he loaned him (Id., pp.293-294).
1972 would turn out to be another lean year for the Arkestra and they would not return to Europe
again until the fall of 1973. They did, however, make a movie: the pseudo-Blaxploitation classic,

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Space is the Place and sign a recording contract with a major label, ABC/Impulse! Coming up next
on Sun Ra Sunday!
APRIL 25, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Solar Arkestra: Space Is the Place (Rhapsody Films VHS)
Soon after their return to California, Sun Ra was approached by film producer Jim Newman about apossible thirty-minute documentary about the Arkestra to be aired on PBS. While that idea neverpanned out, with the help of director John Coney, a different kind of film was envisioned: Space Is
the Place, “part documentary, part science fiction, part blaxploitation, part revisionist biblical epic”(Szwed p. 330).
The final version of the film is easy enough to summarize (if not so easy to understand): having been traveling in spacefor some years in a rocket ship propelled by music as fuel, Sun Ra locates a planet which he deems suitable for theresuscitation of the black race. He returns to earth and lands in Oakland, circa. 1972 (where in real life theArkestra was staying and where the Black Panthers were under stack by the police and the FBI). Throughout thefilm Ra battles with the Overseer, a supernatural pimp who profits from the degradation of black people. Sun Ra
offers those who would follow him into space an “alter-destiny,” but the Overseer, the FBI, and NASA ultimately
force him to return to space prematurely (Id. pp.330-331).
Sun Ra was actively engaged in the film-making process -- to the point of editing out several scenes,
including two “sexual situations,” a scene where a junkie responds to Ra’s music by quitting drugs
and getting on the spaceship, and one in which Sun Ra saves some white people (!) (Id. p.332). In
the end, the movie was cut from ninety minutes to just over an hour and while it’s fun to watch, it’sreally not a very good film (we fell asleep watching it last night). My favorite scene is the flashback to1943 and it is apparently based upon a real event back when Sonny was playing piano in a strip joint
during his early days in Chicago: after being threatened by the Overseer, Ra plays an increasingly
cacophonous piano solo which literally blows everyone out of the bar in a cloud of smoke andatonal fury. Hilarious!

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The film finally opened in 1974 and enjoyed a few screenings in San Francisco and New York, but
soon sank without a trace. Over the years, the Arkestra would sometimes project pieces of themovie during concerts and it eventually earned some status as a “cult classic.” But Sonny had highhopes for the movie and was bitterly disappointed in its failure. He later (rather implausibly) claimed
that some of his ideas were stolen from him in Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Id.
p.333). Rhapsody Films issued it on VHS cassette in 1993 and Plexifilm released an expanded
version on DVD in 2003 -- both of which are now long out of print.
The Arkestra also entered a real recording studio for the first time since leaving New York to record
the soundtrack to the film, which was released by Evidence in 1993. We’ll have a listen to that nextweek.
Rodger Coleman said...
Sadly, I never picked up the DVD of this when it was available, and it now commands absurd
collector's prices. So I'm not exactly sure if the deleted scenes were restored. Anyone know?
Sam said...
Yes, I'm pretty sure the deleted scenes are restored, although maybe not every scene you mention--I
haven't watched this in a while. Definitely the scene with the Overseer and two naked girls in thehospital has been restored (to the overall detriment of the film). To me the absolute best part of thefilm (because of the music) is the scene when Ra rides through the streets of Oakland in the white
convertible with the Overseer. Check the music playing during that scene--this is great stuff, and it
didn't appear on the soundtrack CD. The only other version of this I know of is from one of the1972 Slug's shows.

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MAY 16, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Solar Arkestra: Soundtrack to the Film Space is the Place(Evidence CD)
In early 1972, the Arkestra entered a real recording studio for the first time since their relocation to
California in order to record the soundtrack and to be filmed for inclusion in the movie, Space Is
the Place. The name of the studio is unknown and, in any case, it is long gone by now; but
according to producer Jim Newman, it was “on Connecticut Avenue at the foot of Potero Hill in
San Francisco” and the crew was borrowed from the legendary Different Fur Trading Company(Campbell & Trent, p.185). While an accompanying album to be released on Blue Thumb is alluded
to in the movie, most of the music recorded at these sessions was finally issued for the first time by
Evidence in 1993. The material was heavily edited for the film and mostly drawn from the working
repertoire of the period, including such live stalwarts as “Watusa,” “Satellites Are Spinning,” “Outer
Spaceways Incorporated,” “We Travel the Spaceways,” “Love in Outer Space,” and, of course,“Space Is the Place.” While the performances are rather abbreviated on the CD, the sound quality is
excellent and, despite the fact that John Gilmore is heard primarily on drums rather than saxophone,there are several interesting bits of music which make this well worth hearing.
For example: “Under Different Stars” is an intense conducted improvisation featuring trumpeters
Kwame Hadi and Wayne Harris bathed in thick reverb while Sonny makes burbling noises onelectronic keyboards. And while “Discipline 33” is mis-titled according to Ben Opie (Id.), it isdefinitely from the Discipline series of compositions with its intricately interweaving horn riffs andHadi again turns in a tasteful solo; sadly, it fades out too soon never to be played again. “TheOverseer” is another free-jazz freakout, tautly reined in by Ra’s orchestral organ sprays while“Mysterious Crystal” evokes the futuristic exotica of Strange Strings, featuring a typically brilliant
oboe solo by Marshall Allen. Finally, Sun Ra takes a thoughtful MiniMoog solo on “Cosmic Forces”
154

and launches into some portentous declamations on “I Am the Alter-Destiny” and “I Am theBrother of the Wind,” the latter allowing Eloe Omoe to shine on raspy bass clarinet while theensemble rages in the background.
According to Campbell & Trent, edited versions of “We’re Living in the Space Age” and the“Unknown Factor” were used in the film but not included on the Evidence CD (Id). Furthermore,
the wonderfully atonal piano solo from the hilarious strip club scene is also absent. It seems likely all
this music was recorded at a later date as work continued on the film well into 1974, but these havenot turned up to date. Additionally, the 2001 ESP Radio Tribute broadcast included extended
versions of “Outer Spaceways Incorporated” and “We’ll Wait for You,” which segues into “Strange
Worlds” and ends with another spaced-out synthesizer solo. Unfortunately, these tracks are in monoand suffer from slightly degraded sound quality. Even so, completists will want to search them out.
Space Is the Place may have been something of a cinematic failure, but the soundtrack CD isenormously satisfying and makes for an excellent overview of the Arkestra’s music during thisperiod. For casual and fanatical Sun Ra fans alike, it is absolutely essential.
Sam said...
Re: the Discipline piece, incorrectly titled "Discipline 33" (the actual D.33 appears on the Blue
Thumb LP): this is a great piece, for me the highlight of this album. Hadi's trumpet solo istranscendent, a perfect distillation of his style. And the baritone sax riffs are just so cool! The only
other appearance of this tune, I think, is on the 1972-08-19 Slug's show, with vocals added on top("At first there was nothing...").

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MAY 23, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Intergalactic Research (The Lost Reels Collection, Vol.2) (Transparency CD)
By the spring of 1972, the Arkestra’s living situation was becoming increasingly precarious. Sun Ra
had returned to the University of California in Berkeley hoping to teach another class in blackaesthetics but soon quit after not being paid (Szwed p.330). He claimed the university targeted him
due to the controversial subject matter of his lectures, but for whatever reason, his academic career(such as it was) was now over (Id.). Moreover, the Black Panthers evicted the Arkestra out of theirhouse in Oakland due to “ideological” differences” (Id.) -- likely regarding the Panthers’ recent
rhetorical turn toward violent revolution. As Sun Ra predicted, this move would doom the Panthers
as a legitimate political party or progressive social movement. As Sonny later acidly remarked: “wegot kicked out by Eldgridge Cleaver or somebody” (Id.). And so with little paying work and no place
to live, the decision was made to leave California in May, 1972 and move back to Marshall Allen’shouse on Morton Street in Philadelphia -- this time for good.
Naturally, some band members took off immediately for points elsewhere but, as usual, the coremusicians hung in and slowly made their way with Sonny across the country, hustling gigs as they
could. Sadly, very little documentary evidence exists of this period. However, a thirty-two minuteconcert fragment from an unknown venue was issued as part of Transparency’s Lost Reels
Collection, Vol.2 and it just might be possible this was recorded in the spring of 1972, prior to theband’s arrival back east. On the other hand, the presence of Pat Patrick on baritone sax and electricbass is suspicious for a later date (he does not appear on the soundtrack or in the film, Space Is thePlace). So who knows when exactly this was recorded? In any event, I’m sticking it here for the time
being.

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While all too brief, it is a remarkably good sounding tape, recorded in mono with on-stage
microphones or, perhaps, from the soundboard. It is also a fantastic performance, starting out witha surprisingly subdued MiniMoog solo, full of gentle, swooshing noises and lazy portamentos. This
serves as a prelude to an outrageous rendition of “Outer Space” with Sun Ra cueing thunderous
space chords to punctuate his mad-scientist-style organ solo before giving way to a powerful tenor
sax blowout by John Gilmore. Yes, it’s another incredible Gilmore solo! This leads into a conductedimprovisation which begins with some noodling electric bass over a smattering of percussion; but asthings start to heat up, Kwame Hadi comes in with some high-register trumpet acrobatics, his richtone full-bodied and warm. Suddenly, Ra cues the ensemble in an energetic group improvisation
which is abruptly silenced by a gigantic blast of organ, the piece ending with some quietly hissing
chords. Interesting! Finally, a rare performance of “Intergalactic Research” concludes the tape with its
long, loping jam built upon an endlessly repeating two-note figure which is passed around theArkestra in various instrumental combinations. (Interestingly, Ra is heard on acoustic piano on thistrack.) Eloe Omoe takes a snaky bass clarinet solo, but he’s off mic and hard to hear but Hadi
provides another virtuoso turn on trumpet. After fifteen minutes of groovy vamping, the ensemble
returns with the theme only to have the tape fade out. Argh! Too bad the rest of this concert(whenever it was recorded) was not preserved!
It wasn’t all bad news for the Arkestra: producer Ed Michel had recently offered Sun Ra and Alton
Abraham a potentially lucrative contract with ABC/Impulse! to reissue most of the Saturn LPs andto go into the studio to make a bunch of new albums (Id. p.333). According to Ra, the label
promised "to spend almost a million dollars in publicity" (Id.). ABC/Impulse! was, of course, thehome of John Coltrane’s late recordings, which had spawned “The New Thing” and a stream ofsemi-popular albums by such Coltrane acolytes as Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp. At the time, it
probably seemed like Sun Ra would fit right in. Ultimately, the deal didn’t quite turn out as well
Sonny had hoped; but for a brief while, Sun Ra records were widely available in stores and helped
take the band to the next level. The Arkestra would make its first recording for the label, the classic
Astro Black, while in Chicago on May 7, 1972 (Campbell & Trent p.185).

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JUNE 6, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Astro Black (ABC/Impulse! LP)
According to the jacket of Astro Black, Sun Ra’s first new recording for ABC/Impulse! was madeat “El Saturn Studio” in Chicago on May 7, 1972, but that date is questionable since the Arkestra
was just leaving California in May -- and the studio name is “strictly mythic” (Campbell & Trent
p.186) Whatever the date or actual location, it was clearly made in a professional recording studio as
the sound quality is exceptionally good. Sun Ra was obviously determined to take advantage of themass exposure a major label could bring, producing one his finest albums. Notably, Ronnie Boykins
makes a welcome return on bass after a long absence and he is prominently featured here, driving
the band to great heights. The Arkestra is augmented with both Akh Tal Ebah and Kwame Hadi on
trumpets, Charles Stephens on trombone, Alzo Wright on violin and viola, along with several conga
players, who give much of this record its avant-exotica feel. But Boykins’s clearly inspires Sonny andhis fluent explorations on organ and synthesizer throughout the album demonstrate a consummate
mastery of electronic instruments. Astro Black is, in my opinion, one of Sun Ra’s crowning
recorded achievements.
A radical re-arrangement of the title piece opens the album with June Tyson’s lugubrious singing
supported by Sun Ra’s swooshing synthesizers, a pointillist horn chart, and Boykins’s stuttering bass
groove. After the vocals subside, a thoughtful improvisation follows featuring a woozy synth
duetting with Boykins on the bow, the horns eventually entering with some energetic episodes offree jazz blowing. After a few minutes of controlled chaos, Tyson reprises the lyrics and Sonny ends
the piece with more spacey synthesizer noises while Boykins continues to saw away in theuppermost registers of his instrument. Nice. A brief rendition of “Discipline 99” again demonstrates
Boykins’s ability to provide a rock-solid rhythmic and harmonic foundation on this obliquely
swinging composition. Ra provides some glistening, tremulous vibraphone and the ensemble sounds
tight and well-rehearsed with individual soloing kept to a minimum, thereby turning in a note158

perfect reading. Boykins again leads the way on “Hidden Spheres,” spinning endlessly inventive
variations on the hypnotic three-note ostinato over the percussionists’ simmering, semi-exotic
groove. On top of all this, John Gilmore contributes a pithy but harmonically adventurous statement
on tenor saxophone before Hadi’s wide-ranging trumpet solo and Eloe Omoe’s honking bass
clarinet which concludes the piece.
All of side two is taken up with a nearly twenty-minute conducted improvisation entitled, “TheCosmo Fire,” which ranks up there with the other great long-form pieces in the discography such as“Other Planes of There,” “The Magic City” and “Atlantis.” While only loosely structured, Ra is
totally in control, directing the band from behind his bank of “mad scientist” keyboards, signaling
space chords and drawing out various sub-ensembles that come together and mutate while soloists
enter and exit at his command. This extended piece is not as overtly episodic as the aforementioned
previous experiments and instead builds up a cumulative momentum with Marshall Allen’sdelightfully quacking and squealing oboe an almost constant presence within the restlessly shifting
instrumental textures. The oboe is not an instrument you hear much in jazz except for Marshall
Allen and here he distantly evokes the ancient Middle Eastern nay amidst all the cosmic afrofuturism and “out jazz” blowing. Allen is an underappreciated virtuoso on this difficult, rarely heard
instrument. And again, Ronnie Boykins’s inimitable bass anchors the proceedings with an effortlessélan which allows the rest of the band to freely take flight. Really, Boykins’s playing on this album isquite remarkable -- even for him -- and his unifying effect on the band is obvious and thrilling. Too
bad he could not commit himself full time to Sun Ra.
It’s also too bad that, within three years, the purportedly “lucrative” deal with ABC/Impulse! went
sour and the label unceremoniously dropped Sun Ra from the roster and promptly deleted all thealbums (which included a number of reissued Saturn titles). To add insult to injury, Astro Black has
never been re-issued on CD or otherwise, despite the label’s continued exploitation of other perhaps
less-worthy “New Thing” titles in its catalog. It boggles the mind that this classic album is still out of
print. Accordingly, original copies in good condition are extremely hard to find and fetch
astronomical sums from collectors. That is really a shame as it truly is one of the finest records in
Sun Ra’s discography.
Sam said...
I agree with you wholeheartedly about the brilliance of this album, Rodger! It's definitely in my top
5. Boykins was never recorded better, and his playing really shines here. The title cut is wonderful
because it's so understated. June Tyson makes the melody abstract--it's yet to develop into the
melodious versions familiar from all the live recordings. Here, it's more arrhythmic and moremysterious. Ra's use of the synthesizer is restrained and darkly calm. "Discipline 99" is one of myfavorite Disciplines--here, we get a fine Gilmore solo. It'll be interesting for you to contrast thisversion with the one on "Out Beyond the Kingdom Of," which features a wonderful exporatory,
lengthy piano postlude. One thing that catches my attention in "The Cosmos Fire" is the subtle
restraint of the drumming, the way the drums work with the percussion--the drums are very
unobtrusive (similar to the drums in "Other planes of there" and some of the Heliocentric pieces).
The whole piece floats on waves of sound, implying non-movement, and yet at the same time has a
propulsive, forward momentum that consistently sustains interest. I love this quality of Ra's longer
guided improvisational pieces like this (see also "Fireside chat with Lucifer" for another example).
While many top-tier Ra albums in my book are due largely to the presence of great Gilmore solos,

159this one is upper-echelon Ra due to its group dynamic, its excellent synthesizer, and the playing ofBoykins.
JUNE 20, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Slug’s Saloon, New York, NY 6-07-72 (AUD 2CDR)
When Sun Ra & his Arkestra returned to the east coast in May of 1972, they were welcomed back to
Slug’s Saloon, the legendary Lower East Side nightclub where the Arkestra regularly held court from1966 until their departure to California in 1970. But things were not the same: On February 19,
trumpet star Lee Morgan was shot to death at the club by his enraged girlfriend further scaring
audiences away from what was already well known as a rough neighborhood. By the summer, theclub was on its last legs and would shut its doors for good shortly thereafter (see Szwed pp.218-220).
So the Arkestra’s residencies at Slug’s during the summer of 1972 were both festive homecoming
and sad farewell to an unusually supportive New York City venue. Fortunately for us, most of acomplete set from their appearance on June 7 was recorded from the audience and circulates
amongst devoted collectors. The mono tape recording sounds pretty decent for the period although
it suffers from all the usual sorts of problems: generational loss, assorted glitches and drop-outs,
general muddiness and, sometimes, outright distortion. If you’re willing to tolerate such anomalies,
then it is well worth seeking out this spectacular performance.
While the core musicians remained faithful to Sun Ra’s vision, The Arkestra’s extended membershipwas, as usual, in flux. Once again left without a bassist, Alzo Wright steps in with some barely
audible cello while Akh Tal Ebah replaces mainstay Kwame Hadi on trumpet, giving him an
opportunity to step out from the shadow of Hadi’s showy virtuosity. For all that, the band sounds
well-rehearsed and they tackle a bunch of new Ra compositions and re-arrangements with gusto.
After an opening improvisation for arco cello and oboe followed by a long percussion work out,
another unknown number in the “Discipline” series arises, this one fulminating with regal pomp.
Moments later, another unknown title gets its first (and perhaps only) hearing: an agitated ostinato in
7/4 held together by Danny Ray Thompson’s relentless riffing on baritone sax. “They’ll ComeBack” gets a dramatic vocal performance from June Tyson and ends with a brief but exquisite
moment of “Strange Strings”-style orientalism. Ebah’s smeared tonality contrasts nicely with the160churning skronk on “Calling Planet Earth” and, after a short statement of “Theme of the
Stargazers,” “Discipline 11” is given a gospel-ish reading via spirited drumming from Lex
Humphries with Ra’s aggressive organ solo pushing the band to ecstatic heights of electro-free-jazz
intensity. Wow. This is a superb version of this rarely heard composition.
Another under-performed piece, “Somewhere Else,” gets an interesting (if somewhat tentative)
reading here, with John Gilmore staking out the harmonic areas a cappella before the Arkestra enterswith the oddly swinging, interlocking riffage. Ra takes one of his patented barbequed organ solos
before Ebah attempts his own high-register acrobatic act, showing he was Hadi’s equal in terms ofbrilliant ideas, if not in their flawless execution. Personally, I love Ebah’s warm, mellow tone andfind his blurry articulation endearingly expressive. A quick run through “Enlightenment” is followed
by a typically grooving “Love in Outer Space” with Sonny rapturously vamping away on the organ
throughout. Yet another unknown “Discipline” number follows, this one in the swinging big-band
mold with multiple riffs colliding over swelling chords. Sadly, the tape is marred by numerous dropouts, obscuring the composition’s subtle intricacies. As the drums devolve into more tribal sorts ofrhythms, Gilmore takes a truly incendiary solo on tenor sax that gradually but insistently pushes theband towards its ultimate destination: “The Shadow World!” As the sound quality of the tape begins
to improve, Sun Ra lays down the enervating chord sequence at a blindingly fast tempo.
Astonishingly, the Arkestra erupts with a note-perfect rendition of this fantastically complicatedcomposition. This inspires a tense, “mad-scientist-style” organ solo, Sun Ra spraying cluster-bombsof notes about the room with wild abandon, much to the crowd’s obvious delight. Not to be
outdone, Gilmore returns with another blistering solo before the band returns with a tight reprise.
Outstanding! Shifting gears, Sonny plays a pretty organ interlude over a set of melancholicallydescending chords which serves as an introduction to another unknown “Discipline” number. This
one sets a pair of repeating, minimalist horn figures to balance atop the polyrhythmic rhythm section
while Ebah blows a long-breathed, minor-key melody on top. Interesting. Danny Davis (or is it
Marshall Allen?) takes flight on alto sax before a relatively brief drum solo which introduces a rare
performance of “Angels and Demons at Play” in its recent bare-bones rearrangement.
Unfortunately, the band still sounds unsure of itself and, after failing to coalesce, Sonny cues up“Watusi” which eschews the head for another tumultuous tenor solo from Gilmore before theextended percussion jam -- although Ebah can be heard wailing away in the background throughout.
The tape cuts off shortly thereafter.
The Arkestra appeared once more at Slug’s a month later and again surreptitiously recorded fromthe audience (we'll take a listen to that one next time). Both of these gigs have been compiled into a
six-disc box set by the Transparency label, purportedly with improved sound and approximately
thirty minutes of additional material, but I have not heard it and do not know anyone who has. Can
anyone out there in Internetland comment on this? These performances are so good I would gladly
pay for an improved mastering of these recordings. Until then, I’m happy to have these widelycirculated “bootlegs,” despite their obvious flaws.
Sam said...
I wanted to mention, once again, the only other appearance (I think) of that fantastic 7/4 vamp
piece--it's the background music in the film "Space is the Place" that's playing when Ra rides with
the Overseer in his car through the streets of Oakland. It's a fantastic scene, and a wonderful pieceof music--just one of seemingly dozens that Ra never "officially" released. It's a miracle, really, that
we have what we do. Another thing to mention is that this 7/4 vamp is sandwiched in between(again, I believe the only, though I may be wrong) an instrumental shuffle-driven of "Along Came
161

Ra" --a piece usually reserved to introduce Ra in the mid- to late-80s corridor, sung by June Tyson(an excellent version is in the film "Joyful Noise"). I hope somebody chimes in about theTransparency versions of these Slug's shows; I too am curious.
Rodger Coleman said...
Thanks for the reminder about the 7/4 piece...you're ears are bigger and more knowledgable about
this stuff than me! Now how about all these various "Disciplines?" Are these unique performancesor do they reappear later? Who could possibly keep track short of transcribing them all? If anyone
knows, it's you!
Rodger Coleman said...
egads! YOUR not YOU'RE. I shouldn't blog when I've been drinking!
JULY 18, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: The Universe Sent Me (Lost Reel Collection, Vol.5) (Transparency CD)
Between the Arkestra’s appearances at Slug’s Saloon in June and August, they also performed en plein
air at the South Street Seaport Museum in lower Manhattan on July 9, 1972. Twenty minutes of thisconcert was recorded from the audience and the tape was recently exhumed and released on
Transparency’s Lost Reel Collection, Vol.5 CD. What’s most notable about this recording is that it
is in stereo (still a rarity in 1972) and the outdoor ambience makes for very enjoyable sound quality
indeed—for as long as it lasts anyway. The tape picks up mid-set with a smattering of applause and
Sun Ra’s organ introduction to “Outer Spaceways Incorporated.” Tyson and the guys chant the songa handful of times while Gilmore adds some scribbly saxophone obbligato. Then Sonny cues a big
blasting space chord that launches the pummeling free-jazz group improvisation led by Jarvis’s
hyperkinetic drums and the two high-wire trumpeters, Hadi and Ebah. After a few minutes of thissort of thing, Sun Ra cues a break and takes over with low-register synth and organ squiggles with162Gilmore providing out-cat commentary. Eventually, Gilmore is left alone a cappella to deftly wield his
knife’s edge tone and execute massive, teeth-rattling multiphonics on his ostensibly monophonichorn. Classic Gilmore solo! After another quick organ interlude and reed-splitting libflecto outing
from Thompson, we get another early performance of “Discipline 27-II.” Basically consisting of themain riff from “Discipline 27” slowed down to a dreamy sway, the ensembles gradually metastasize
through endless repetition. Usually this was accompanied by a hortatory declamation from Ra (e.g.
“What Planet Is This?” and/or “Life is Splendid”), but here we have a purely instrumental rendition
and the spacious stereo recording allows one to really hear the subtle shape-shifting of the
instrumental textures. Unfortunately, after about seven minutes of bliss, our recordist experiences
technical difficulties and the sound quality deteriorates markedly, with suddenly distant sound andintermittently violent tape warbles. It could be the venue itself was experiencing electrical problems
as someone right up next to the microphone says, “He ain’t got no power either! The music—.” A
few seconds later the tape cuts off. Not sure what happened there, but oh well. So it goes with Sun
Ra’s “unofficial” discography! The remainder of the Lost Reel Collection, Vol.5 is redeemed by afifty-minute audience recording from Paris on September 8, 1973. It sounds pretty good but we’ll
get to that one in due course.
JULY 11, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Slug’s Saloon, New York NY 8-19-72 (AUD 3CDR)
The Arkestra returned to Slug’s Saloon a month later and the August 19, 1972 performance wascaptured (almost) in full on a 180-minute mono tape recorded from the audience. The sound quality
is both better and worse than the June 7 tape. There’s a bit less generational loss and more presence
to the sound -- but perhaps a bit too much presence as when things get loud, the tape overloads anddistorts badly, making for a sometimes difficult listen. Too bad, as it’s another excellent
performance. The Arkestra is further enlarged with the return of Pat Patrick to the bari sax, Kwame
Hadi re-joining Akh Tal Ebah on trumpet and a gifted trombonist (either Charles Stephens or,
possibly, Tyrone Hill) fleshing out the horn the section and contributing several outstanding solos.
Clifford Jarvis is unmistakably back on the drum stool, which makes for a driving rhythm section(but also lengthy and pointless drum solos) while the addition of a (barely audible) bassist (possibly
Bill Davis) adds some bottom end to the ensemble. Finally, June Tyson is joined by The Space
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Ethnic Voices (Ruth Wright, Cheryl Banks and Judith Holton) on the big vocal numbers, making for(at least) eighteen musicians and singers crowding the tiny stage on this summer evening (seeCampbell & Trent pp.187-188).
Sonny gets things started with a thoughtful Moog/organ solo that sets the stage for the first known
performance of “Stardust from Tomorrow,” a jaunty swing number featuring glowing vocals andpropelled by Ra’s up-front organ comping. From there, we’re immediately in “The Shadow World,”
and it’s a rip-snorting version with bracing solos from John Gilmore, Omoe and Hadi, but Danny
Ray Thompson brings down the house with a thunderous libflecto outing. The group-improv
section features a big saxophone battle with some aggressive organ playing from Ra and a nicely
articulated trombone solo thrown in before the first overlong drum solo of the evening. Withoutbothering a full reprise of the hyper-complicated tune, the band moves quickly into “Why Go to the
Moon?”, a chance for Tyson and the Space Ethnic Voices to strut their stuff. The rhythm section
settles into a slinky groove, only to have Jarvis ruin the mood with another tedious drum solo. Why
did Sonny put up with this? Because he was so good? Because good drummers are so hard to find?
It’s a mystery. Tyson enters with a brief but nicely sung “Strange Worlds” while horns flitter andflutes twitter about. As the drums start to get heavy, Patrick cues up a composition last heard on theSpace Is The Place Soundtrack (mis-titled there as “Discipline 33”). It is classic Ra with its
cleverly interlocking horn parts set against that patented space age barbeque groove with a longbreathed, vaguely Arabian-sounding melody on top. Perfect. (But what is the correct title? And why
did they stop playing it? Who knows!) While the Akrestra is busy riffing and vamping, Ra enters witha quasi-Biblical declamation: “At First There Was Nothing.” It goes on and on, punctuated withcrazy-sounding stage-laughter and it’s hard to hear exactly what’s going on, but it sounds like somekind of crypto-cosmic theater piece. The Arkestra starts taking liberties, playing around with theirparts, trading places, while chaos rages around them. Hadi and Ebah play high register games and -what is it? A soprano saxophone? Who is that? Gilmore? Anyway, Ra returns to the organ bench tolaunch into “Angels and Demons at Play”, which churns and grinds with almost Milesian, dystopian
darkness. Unfortunately, the intense volume levels cause the tape to distort badly until finally cutting
off abruptly just as the audience starts to whoop and holler.
The tape picks up again at the beginning of the second set with a squiggly synth solo full of spacey
bloops and whirrs like alien Morse Code broadcast from Mars – “Calling Planet Earth!” Everyone
joins in the antiphonal chanting as the drums swell and an insistent one-note horn figure develops,
only to devolve into free-jazz bashing and group improvisation, high trumpet on top. Sonny cues up“Watusi” and it’s the usual percussion fest, although with a heavy afro-urban feel quite different
from the lighter, celebratory groove found previously and with Ra’s organ taking on a more
menacing tone than usual. Of course, this also means another Jarvis solo. Oh well. When the rest of
the band takes up hand percussion, it gets a little more compelling and then someone starts up withthe space-vocalizing, declaiming, preaching, and politicking. Good lord! Who is that? It’s almost
impossible to make out what he’s saying, but I suspect we’re not missing much. After a statement of
the theme, Tyson is left alone to chant about outer space before another avant-jazz blowout that
leads to an awesomely distorted and electro-fied libflecto solo (Thompson again, I presume) thatleaves the audience in stunned silence. One person claps. After some more group improvisation,
they move effortlessly into “Discipline 27”, a joyous big-band number full of classy riffs, closecropped harmonies, and a swinging middle section for Hadi to play with. Patrick smoothly
reintroduces the theme so that the ensemble can finish with an elegant reprise. “Discipline 27”
would become a fixture in the Arkestra’s setlists for the rest of its career.
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Tyson and the chorus inform the audience: “We’ll Wait for You” and after some skronky madness,
Gilmore takes over with a short but intense solo on tenor. This acts as a prelude to anotherunknown (but extremely interesting) composition for contrasting concertinos: low reeds and brass.
This is contrasted with conducted improvisations for pairs of instruments: bass clarinet and trumpet;
tenor saxophone and trombone; oboe and trumpet. Jarvis turns up the heat and the intensity level
rises as more and more instrumentalists join in the fray – and the tape distorts so badly it’s
impossible to really hear what’s going on. But then Ra cues a ghostly, suspended chord that allows
space for a hair-raisingly aggressive a capella tenor solo from Gilmore. Whew! After a brief pause,
the Arkestra introduces “Discipline 27-II” a variation on the central two-chord theme of “Discipline
27” that would also become a concert staple, its floating harmonies supporting a mellifluous alto sax
solo from Marshall Allen and a long declamation from Sun Ra about life and death, Tyson echoing
his every line in tandem. They conclude that “Life is Splendid.” Meanwhile the band holds it all
together by continuing to play around with the oscillating riffs of "Discipline 27-II" throughout theentire twenty-three minutes duration. In fact, the tape cuts out before they’re even finished. The
Arkestra is obviously well-rehearsed and into it.
Tyson and Gilmore sing through “Theme of the Stargazers” before a breezy rendition of “Space isthe Place” full of over-the-top vocalizing and a hilariously caricatured trombone solo. It’s all a bit
silly, but Jarvis and a second drummer (possibly Gilmore) establish an almost Mardi Gras/Bo
Diddley beat that makes you (well, me) want to get up and dance. Even so, at almost fifteen minutes,
it gets a little boring. I guess you hadda been there. Indeed the audience loves the swirlingsynth/organ solo that emerges from “Calling Planet Earth”, but the sound is totally overdriven anddistorted on the tape -- especially when the drums start really pounding -- making it hard toappreciate as much as they obviously do. You can tell it’s a good one, though. The volume level
drops for a quick version of “Enlightenment” notable for its flute choir accompaniment but picks
up again for “Love in Outer Space” which is its usual perky organ jam over percussion exotica. The
tape ends with the first known performance of “Discipline 33”, one of the most fascinating
compositions in Ra’s catalog. Ostensibly jazzy, it is thickly scored for grouped reeds and brass with
piccolo, flute and oboe on top, but the trombone stomps off while the horns wander around invarious time signatures. Meanwhile, ensembles come together and fall apart between short
improvisational statements. Finally a coda consisting of impossibly beautiful harmonies floating
above Ra’s wispy organ chords ends the piece with a contented sigh. Just lovely.
Both of the 1972 Slug’s Saloon recordings have been compiled into a six-disc box set by theTransparency label, purportedly with improved sound and additional material, but I have not heard
it. Can anyone out there comment on this? In the meantime, I’m happy to have these widelycirculated “bootlegs,” despite their obvious flaws.

165

JULY 25, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Solar Myth Arkestra: Life Is Splendid (Alive!/Total Energy CD)
On September 9, 1972, Sun Ra and His Solar Myth Arkestra performed for more than 12,000 people
at the First Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival, conceived and produced by the Sixties counter-culturalicon, John Sinclair. The suitably eclectic bill included, among others, the Art Ensemble of Chicago,
Junior Walker & The All Stars and the legendary Howlin’ Wolf. The proceedings were recorded by
Atlantic Records and a 2-LP sampler of the festival (including an edited version of Sun Ra’s “Life Is
Splendid”) was released in 1973 as Atlantic SD2-502 (and later reissued as ATL 60058) (SeeCampbell & Trent, p.189). I have not heard this record but it should be noted here that the Art
Ensemble’s set was also released by Atlantic and entitled, Bap-Tizum—it is excellent.
Sadly, the original 16-track masters were lost in a fire, leaving only this two-track reference tape of
Sun Ra’s performance which was finally released on CD by Sinclair’s Alive!/Total Energy label in
1999. The sound quality is not great, but it’s not terrible either—certainly way more listenable thanmany of the audience recordings we’ve been listening to lately! Unfortunately, the tape is incomplete:
According to Sinclair’s liner notes, the first several minutes of the set are missing because “a proper
mix could not be achieved.” Given the 20+ member size of the Arkestra, I’m sure it was a challenge!
It’s a pity since we’re apparently missing the usual opening improvisation and the (possibly) more
exploratory material performed that evening. The Arkestra’s sets had by this point become
somewhat routine-ized with the latter half of the set devoted to cosmical space-chants, singalongs,
and dance/percussion workouts. Quite a spectacle, I’m sure—but not always compelling listening(or maybe I’m getting tired of this project).
Anyway, another annoying thing about this CD is the total absence of indexing; it’s just one thirtyseven-minute long track, making it impossible to isolate the individual compositions. Put it on andyou’re committed. Oh well, so it goes with Mr. Ra's records. The tape picks up with the usual166

“Enlightenment”, complete with flute choir and muted trumpets accompanying June Tyson and theSpace Ethnic Voices. Despite the unbalanced sound, you can tell the Akrestra is luxuriating on a
spacious stage in front of a large, receptive audience. But Ra keeps an accordingly tight leash on theband, making sure they deliver a carefully choreographed version of the “Cosmo Drama” for massconsumption. This is probably to be expected given the heightened circumstances (and after all, Ra's
music was about discipline), but it results in a less than totally satisfying recording.
Sonny’s gritty organ self-propels the afro-space-groove of “Love in Outer Space” but doesn’t go onlong enough to get airborne. “Space Is the Place”, other hand, is much more expansive, exuberantly
sung with lots of squealing horns and Ra’s spacey barbeque sauce holding it all together. The
conducted improvisation that follows contains everything you could want from a Sun Ra jam: roilingdrums, battling altos, a jaw-dropping Gilmore blow-out, and some super-freaky electronics fromSun Ra—but hyper-compressed into a handful of minutes. “Discipline 27-II” supports a series ofpontifical declamations, including “What Planet Is This?”, “Life Is Splendid” and “Immeasurable”
delivered with a stagey theatricality. The full-bodied Arkestra sounds supremely confident on thelanguid, flowing arrangement, improvising laughing riffs here and there in response to thehysterically antiphonal vocals. But again, Sonny cuts things short with a dissonant organ cluster tosignal the inevitable “Watusi.” The Arkestra swings right into full-throated statement of the head but
then it’s the standard percussion workout led by Lex Humphreys and (mysterious multiinstrumentalist) Azlo Wright on drums (Jarvis is notable for his absence at this high-profile gig.) The
clattering and banging, dancing and carrying on is allowed to build up a good head of steam but Ra
suddenly cues up another bit of out-there improv before a cursory verse of “Outer Spaceways
Incorporated”, sung by Tyson. Some rocketship synthesizer noise ends the set amidst shouts of“Space is the Place” and thoroughly enraptured cheering and applause.
Despite its flaws, Life Is Splendid is a welcome (if fragmentary) document of Sun Ra’s historicappearance at the 1972 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival. The sound quality is decent and there areseveral fleeting moments of truly inspired music-making to be found here. Who knows, it mighteven be a great introduction for the novice with its concise and flawless executions of Ra’s working
repertoire of the time. But to me it sounds almost too restrained, too self-consciously playing to thecrowd, never letting things get too "out." Then again, maybe I’m just getting tired of this project, orat least tired of the rather repetitious and bad-sounding live recordings we’ve been listening torecently. Fortunately, dear reader, Sun Ra returned to the recording studio in the fall of 1972 anddropped two-LPs of amazing material. The deal with Impulse! was starting to bear fruit and some of
the most outrageous music of Ra’s career would be forthcoming. So, I can’t stop now—in fact, I
can’t wait to get into it. But I cannot keep up a weekly schedule and hope to do this music justice. So
Sun Ra Sunday will continue with poetry and videos for a few weeks while I get my ears around thisnext phase in Sun Ra’s multi-faceted career. Stay tuned.
Sam said...
Yeah, don't get tired now--there is much beauty on the horizon! I agree, the single track is annoying-it is tight and concise, but largely--you had to be there. I haven't gone back to this one that much.

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AUGUST 8, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Space Is the Place (Blue Thumb/Impulse! CD)
Hoping to capitalize on the impending release of the movie, Space Is the Place, producer Ed
Michel brought the Sun Ra and his Arkestra to Chicago’s Streeterville studios to record an
eponymous album for the Blue Thumb label on October 19 & 20, 1972. In all, enough material for
four albums was cut on these dates although only two were ever issued (see Campbell & Trent
pp.189-192). Blue Thumb LP BTS 41 was released in 1973 and reissued on CD by Impulse! inFebruary 1998. Why Impulse! chose to release this instead of their own (arguably superior) AstroBlack remains a mystery to this day. Still, Space Is the Place is an (almost) great album, cunningly
compiled to represent the panoply of Sun Ra’s music from swing to bop to free-jazz to outer-spacechanting and beyond.
By 1972, sixteen-track recording was becoming more common and it is apparent from the side-longtitle track that Ra (and/or producer Michel) was keen to take advantage of this new technology by
the use of overdubbing and elaborate stereo mixing strategies. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always workas the whole album was no doubt hastily completed during these two marathon sessions. One canpicture Sun Ra and his crew manning the board, turning the mix into another performance, trackfaders flying. Sonny wields an array of electronic keyboards, including squiggly organ, buzzing
Rocksichord and uncharacteristically cheesy Moog portamentos. Danny Ray Thompson holds down
the bari-sax riff while Pat Patrick dons the electric bass to support June Tyson and a fullcomplement of Space Ethnic Voices on this signature anthem. To keep things interesting, therhythm section brings things to an intermittent boil and the horns occasionally wail with wildabandon. But after about fourteen minutes, the mix begins to lose focus and the incessantly weird
vocalizing just gets annoying, finally coming to an end with some inconclusive keyboard noises.
Sure, it’s fun in that sort-of-psychedelic way, but not altogether satisfying compared to other
iterations in the discography.

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Side two is more compelling, beginning with the revival of “Images,” a Sun Ra original dating backto 1959’sJazz in Silhouette (Saturn/Evidence). This joyful swing number (with Ra on acoustic
piano!) provides an opportunity for Kwame Hadi and John Gilmore to show off their fluent
dexterity navigating the highly chromatic chord changes. Ra himself even turns in a tastefully
understated chorus at the end. The reappearance of this tune signals the broadening of theArkestra’s stylistic palette that was beginning to occur to encompass pre-war jazz amidst all thetrappings of pan-African-futurism. “Images” would thenceforth become a regular feature of the live
set. “Discipline 33” follows in an intricate arrangement for low reeds, flutes and trumpets with ameandering melody that floats above the tonally ambiguous harmonies and languid rhythm. It’s justlovely—and a perfect example of Ra’s sophisticated and adventurous approach to structure andorchestration.
“Sea of Sounds” is one of those frantically hare-brained big-band rave-ups taken at an impossibly
fast tempo that a well-oiled Arkestra manages to nail with unflagging energy and precision. As therhythm section continues to cook, Akh Tal Ebah contributes a mellifluous flugelhorn solo
surrounded by rude libflecto grunts and crazy alto saxophone scribbles. Meanwhile, Ra’s gurgling
and wheezing organ drives the band into super-intense, out-jazz territory. All this chaos gives way toa neatly choreographed saxophone battle, with Gilmore emerging on top of the start-stop rhythm
section. A somewhat awkward edit cuts into Ra’s patented “mad-scientist-style” organ solo before
Hadi’s high-register fireworks heralds the reprise of the taut and twisted theme. A splash of smeared
harmonies brings things to a decisive close. Awesome. The album concludes with a quick romp
through an old standby, “Rocket Number Nine.” Sonny obviously saw some latent commercial
potential in this song as he recorded it several times, first back in 1960 and even releasing a smallgroup version on a Saturn single around 1967 or 68. Now presented with the opportunity to reach a(potentially) large audience, Ra was sure to end the album with a tight rendition of this enervating
space-chant. Taking advantage of the multi-track environment, this version is densely layered withoverdubbed vocalizing, clattering percussion and swooping synthesizers. Much too strange for radio
play, it is still an appropriately entertaining conclusion to a typically quirky Sun Ra album.
Ultimately, Space Is the Place is a mixed bag with the overlong title track unable to sustain interest
across its twenty-one and a half minutes. But side two contains outstanding performances of someof Sun Ra’s more interesting compositions, which, combined with the hi-fi stereo sonics of therecording, make this is a must-have album for the hardcore fan. Others who are curious about what
this Sun Ra obsession is all about may find it a useful and easily obtainable introduction and apathway to unknown worlds. Space is, indeed, the place—and Sun Ra can take you there.
Sam said...
I have to part ways a little bit on you in terms of the title track here, Rodger--I think it's highly
successful, and easily one of the all-time best versions of this Ra chestnut. The whole piece develops
as if Ra and the Arkestra have all the time in the world, and as you immerse yourself in it as its
languid pace washes over you, you start to have that time too--or is it space that you have? Space isindeed the place. If not endlessly fascinating, it's at least compelling all the way through. I love theway all of its myriad facets--the synth, the vocals, the horns--are orchestrated and controlled, with
Ra's superb sense of restraint and spaced-out momentum. Side 2 is of course the true masterpiece,
but the title track more than holds its own, and is way more successful than the other side-longchestnut from these sessions, "Discipline 27-II" (coming up soon, I hope!).

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Rodger Coleman said...
Sam, I agree with you that the title track is much more successful than "Discipline 27-II!"
AUGUST 15, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Discipline 27-II (Saturn LP>CDR)
Another album was hurriedly compiled for the newly re-constituted Saturn Records from thesessions produced by Ed Michel at Streeterville Studios in Chicago on October 19-20, 1972.
Discipline 27-II was released as Saturn LP 538 in 1973 and, in a sign of the times, it is the only
quadraphonic Saturn LP ever released (Campbell & Trent, p.191). The album was ultimately
obscured by a deluge of records that came to market that year, including the Blue Thumb movie tiein, Space Is the Place (also recorded at these sessions), the magisterial Astro Black, and a slew ofclassic Saturn LPs re-issued en masse as a part of Sun Ra’s recent deal with Impulse!. Unsurprisingly,
Discipline 27-II remains out of print and nearly impossible to find, although bootlegs and fancreated “needle-drops” are readily available to the intrepid fan. Apparently, enough material wasrecorded at these marathon sessions to produce four full albums: a second Blue Thumb release wasplanned but never issued and another Saturn LP was proposed to Impulse! for distribution but
ultimately rejected. Prof. Campbell lists a number of tantalizing titles in his discography, including“East” parts 1-3 (!) and “Piano of Never” but the master tapes have supposedly disappeared (see Id.
pp.190-192). What remains are a pair of uneven yet utterly revelatory records that belong in every
Sun Ra collection.
Side one is just about perfect, opening with a casual one-off composition entitled, “Pan Afro,”serving up one of those quintessentially off-kilter, modal grooves in six that only Sun Ra could comeup with. John Gilmore delivers a sure-footed and soulful solo with the kind of deeply penetrating
tone that rivals Coltrane at his most intensely spiritual. Of course, Coltrane acknowledged his debt170

to Gilmore (see Szwed pp.189-190) and it is safe to say that Coltrane would likely not have become
the iconic figure he did if not for Gilmore’s early example and the oracular influence of Sun Ra’spresence in New York in the early 1960s (see Id. pp.76-78). While Gilmore briefly flirted with a solo
career, he returned to the Arkestra full-time by 1966 and willingly allowed his talents to be subsumed(some might say constricted) by Sun Ra’s peculiar vision. Accordingly, his reputation as a superlative
saxophonist has been greatly diminished if not completely overshadowed by Coltrane and othersmuch less gifted who went on to make a name for themselves playing “The New Thing” the early
1970s. Gilmore’s all-too brief solo on the otherwise unremarkable “Pan Afro” is just one example
among many of his staggering brilliance. Yes, it’s another incredible Gilmore solo! Kwame Hadi,
Sun Ra and Eloe Omoe take turns on trumpet, Rocksichord, and bass clarinet respectively, but they
are unable to top Gilmore’s tour de force opening. That’s OK, no one could. The band sounds relieved
to return to the head although Sonny wants to keep on going. The track ends with a long fade out
on Ra’s smoky comping.
“Discipline 8” is given a definitive reading by the Arkestra: the heaving and moaning harmonies flow
through various instrumental combinations while soloists, duos and trios flitter around in the wide
open spaces. This is a fine example of Ra’s genius as a composer and orchestrator. “Discipline 8” isnot built on the usual soloist with accompaniment model, but rather seeks a new synthesis: “free”
improvisation seamlessly interwoven through a tightly arranged composition, conducted by Ra at the
keyboards. Good stuff. “Neptune” closes the side with another nice medium swing number withplenty of Sonny’s tasty space-age barbeque sauce ladled on with his crude electric organ. A wildgroup improv erupts in the reeds section over some super-funky dual-bari-sax riffage and when June
Tyson and the Space Ethnic Voices enter, Gilmore starts really wailing. Holy moly! Then Danny Ray
Thompson’s window-rattling libflecto takes over amidst the pealing trumpets of Hadi and Ebah andall hell breaks loose in the rhythm section. But Sonny deftly reins it all in with some expectant
vamping before Tyson alone chants: “Have you heard the latest news from Neptune?” Yes, wehave—and it is good news indeed.
Side two, on the other hand, suffers from the same kind of aimless self-indulgence that mars the title
track toSpace Is the Place. Consisting of a side-long rendition of “Discipline 27-II,” with a fullcomplement of the usual space-chants and hortatory declamations, it further lacks the adventurous
mix-down techniques of the latter (probably due to time constraints) that might have added somemuch needed auditory interest—or at least made the densely layered recording sound marginallycoherent. It is a sprawling, twenty-five-minute mess with the dream-like, subtly shape-shifting
ensembles buried under innumerable wacked-out vocal tracks, which are also murkily mixed andhard to understand, making for an agonizingly frustrating listen (maybe it sounds better in quad!). A
lost opportunity, perhaps; or maybe this kind of thing only worked well in a live setting (and eventhen, it can get a little tedious). Maybe I’m being too harsh and project-fatigue is no doubt starting to
set in, but this recording of “Discipline 27-II” is assuredly one of Sun Ra’s least successful studioefforts. Whatever; the magnificence of side one more than compensates for the obvious deficienciesof side two and makes this half-great album well worth seeking out. One can also hope that the lost
masters from these October 1972 sessions will someday resurface so as to provide some additional
insight into these erratically fascinating records. You never know with Sun Ra…
Sam said...
I'm with you on the title track! Unfortunately, this model (using the D.27 and D,27-II riffs abackgrounds for extended call/response or repeat exhortations, rants, and sermons) was one that Ra
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repeatedly used throughout the rest of the '70s and into the '80s in live gigs. Some made their way
onto record ("I, Pharaoh", etc.), but it's on umpteen concert recordings. I know he had to get themessage out, but I much prefer "Pan Afro."Rodger Coleman said...
Side 2 of "Space Is the Place" and side 1 of "Discipline 27-II" would have made one incredible
record. But they'd have to title it something else! "Pan Afro" is so great, but its greatness issomething I would probably overlook if I wasn't listening to this stuff so closely. The whole thing isjust tossed off, but, wow, it's a killer track.
Sam said...
It sure is...it actually popped up on my shuffle about a month ago, and out of context I had trouble
placing it, but it continues to blow me away. You're absolutely right about Gilmore--he has gotten
nowhere near the attention (and adulation!) he deserves.
Robert Figueroa said...
So true, on "Pan Afro" Gilmore's saxophone solo is the highlight!
AUGUST 29, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: “The Mystery Board” (Thumbs Up! (boot) 2CD)
A bootleg CD entitled "The Mystery Board" appeared on the mythic Thumbs Up! label some time
ago purporting to have been recorded November 2nd or 3rd 1972 “for a possible Saturn release.”
As with any bootleg, all this needs to be taken with an enormous grain of salt. Yet the 1972 dateseems reasonable considering the repertoire and personnel and, given Sun Ra’s aptitude with a razor
blade and splicing tape, it’s certainly possible he could have crafted a satisfactory LP out of this172

mess, had he so desired. Such as it is,"The Mystery Board" is a rough listen with the mix sufferingfrom the usual deficiencies of a soundboard tape made in a small venue: the vocals and soloists areway up front, with the drums and everything else (with the notable exception of Ra himself) almost
entirely inaudible. Accordingly, all the ensemble sections are woefully unbalanced, but some of theless instrumentally dense material actually sounds pretty decent, believe it or not.
Disc one begins with an intensely confrontational “Cosmo Drama” regarding “The First Man.” Raviciously hectors the audience about their “black ignorance” for wanting “to be number one” andimplores them to “go home and read your Bible – ‘cuz the Second Man is you!” With the June
Tyson and the Space Ethnic Voices echoing his every threatening word, at times it sounds like a riot
is about to break out. Sometimes the Arkestra plays some halting swing but for the most part Sonnyis just furiously preaching it. Thankfully, after about five minutes, Ra segues into a brief, previously
unheard composition with a descending minor key melody over a gentle swing groove. What is this??!
I swear, if I were really serious about this project, I’d create a spreadsheet to try and keep track of allthese fleeting, unknown titles just in case they turn up again elsewhere. This composition is a great
little bluesy number that ends before it even begins. Sonny then plays a spacey organ interlude to
introduce “Neptune.” Tyson and Ebah share vocal duties while the band intermittently erupts intobouts of free-jazz skronk. Gilmore takes a typically brilliant tenor sax solo, but as he wanders on andoff mic, the effect is considerably lessened. In fact, the mix is so murky that the remainder of thistrack is hardly worth bothering with.
The next thirty-minute segment, on the other hand, is quite interesting, featuring three somewhat
rarely heard compositions. “Spontaneous Simplicity” finds Sun Ra on acoustic piano for a change,
accompanying Marshall Allen on this relaxed, dreamy tune. Allen’s airy flute sounds quite lovely andSonny even takes a gently floating solo of his own. The mix is much clearer on this quiet chamber
piece and it sure sounds like the inimitable Ronnie Boykins on bass during this entire sequence.
Danny Davis joins Allen for “Friendly Galaxy No.2,” a minor mode waltz led by the piano, bass anddrums with the flute choir playing long-breathed, dissonant melodies above and around amoderately propulsive rhythm. Again, Ra takes sweetly singing solo, clearly relishing the opportunity
to play a decent piano. Just gorgeous! “Intergalactic Universe” follows with its modal groove in fiveproviding a backdrop for an extended John Gilmore outing, wherein he shows off his mastery of
post-bop saxophone techniques, moving from small motivic figures to complex “sheets of sound”
and culminating in a squalling climax of piercing multiphonics and rapid-fire glissandos. Yes, it’sanother incredible Gilmore solo! Kwame Hadi gamely follows with his typically fluent articulation in
all registers, but when the Neptunian libflecto enters (Thompson?), the tape abruptly cuts off. Toobad; things were really starting to cook.
Disc two opens with a percussive and atonal piano to introduce “Angels and Demons at Play,”
which is taken at leisurely tempo. Boykins’s (?) bass and Pat Patrick’s baritone saxophone double theenervating 5/4 ostinato while Allen plays the lead on alto saxophone rather than the usual flute. This
provides a relatively rare opportunity to appreciate Allen’s brilliance on that instrument as he takes along, labyrinthine solo exhibiting a vast range of timbral variety and expressionistic melodic
invention—so good it elicits a round of polite applause from the audience. Next up is the usual
group improvisation, featuring a set piece for John Gilmore’s pyrotechnics, long experimental
keyboard outings from Ra, and tightly controlled moments of screaming free jazz mayhem.
Unfortunately, the tape cuts in and out with the mix utterly atrocious in parts: drums and bass
completely buried and the solo instruments over-mic’d and horrifically distorted. Nevertheless, Ra’s
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extended solo segments are a delight, with kaleidoscopic tone colors courtesy of his “space organ,”
Moog synthesizer and a battery of electronic effects, including repeaters, tremolos, phasers and somedeliberately nasty distortion. Excellent. “Space Is the Place” arises from the ashes with Akh Tal Ebahjoining June Tyson and the Ethnic Space Voices on this signature anthem. Sadly, the mix is again
abysmal with the histrionic singing much too prominent and the rhythm section almost nonexistent. Interestingly, what sounds like electric bass is clearly audible, casting some doubt onwhether or not Boykins is really present on this recording, or if this segment is possibly from adifferent concert altogether. After about seven minutes of carrying on, the track quickly fades.
The disc closes with an unknown number in the “Discipline” series, the one which was tragically
mis-titled “Discipline 33” on the soundtrack to Space Is the Place. This misnomer has caused all
kinds of consternation because this piece (whatever its proper title) was played fairly regularly during
this period—and it is definitely not “Discipline 33!” It is hard enough to try and keep up with allthese unknown “Discipline” pieces without having to contend with further discographicalconfusion! (Like I said, I really need to create that spreadsheet.) This version is incomplete, picking
up at the beginning of the “Cosmo Drama” segment. Ebah provides some tasty flugelhorn obbligato
over the easy swing of the piece, but when Ra announces, “It’s after the end world, don’t you knowthat yet?” the band drops out for some full-throated declamations: “A cosmic equation was sent toyou, men of Earth, and you couldn’t solve the problem! Therefore, the universe sent me to converse
with you!” Wow. The Arkestra later revives the repeatedly descending theme behind thedeclamations, but it’s all rather distant-sounding and hard to hear. And again, it is clearly an electricbass anchoring things a bit too proficiently to be Pat Patrick and I’m not sure Boykins ever played
the instrument at all. So who is playing? No idea. After a little over seventeen minutes, the tapeabruptly cuts off, leaving us pretty much in the dark.
Sam Byrd (who knows way more about Sun Ra’s music than I do) has suggested that the order ofthe discs in this set is reversed: that is to say, disc two is actually disc one and vice versa. After
listening to them in this order, I think he might be right: the music seems to flow better with the“Cosmo Drama” dividing the two discs. Then again, I also suspect this material might actually befrom two different concerts, with Boykins on some of it and an unknown electric bass player on therest. But who knows? This is truly a “Mystery Board” and while much of it borders on theunlistenable, there’s enough compelling music here to make it worth seeking out. Caveat emptor!
OCTOBER 17, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: [Unknown Venue, Circa. 1972] (AUD CDR)
Here's another mysterious concert fragment recorded (in mono) from the audience at an unknown
location sometime in 1972. The sound quality is typically awful: warbly, hissy, and distorted. Only
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about thirty-seven minutes long, there’s hardly enough here to even consider. What’s remarkable ishow many more audience recordings were being made during this period. Portable recording devices
were still primitive, bulky and very expensive in the early-seventies, requiring serious devotion on thepart of the intrepid recordist. So, we should be thankful for their work, even if the results are
sometimes, as here, virtually unlistenable. There are, as usual, some moments of brilliance buried in
the noise.
The tape picks up in the middle of the set, cutting in on an improvisation already in progress, Eloe
Omoe squealing and squawking on the bass clarinet. After some group skronk, John Gilmore takes
off a cappella; it’s the usual tour de force, but the sound is so distorted it’s hard to appreciate. But thensome eerie, otherworldly vocalizing follows, similar to what was heard at the Ann Arbor Blues andJazz Festival in September. Presumably one of the Space Ethnic Voices, this is singing so extreme it
makes Yoko Ono’s screech seem like a lullaby. At times sounding like a Theremin’s electric whine,
or at other times spitting out guttural woofs, whoever this is, she has a superhumanly extended vocal
technique. Despite the poor sound quality, this brief segment is still quite impressive. A jaunty“Enlightenment” emerges from stunned applause with “Space Is the Place” right behind. It’s theusual stuff with Akh Tal Ebah sharing the vocal duties with June Tyson and Marshall Allen
delivering a tasteful solo on alto. “Love In Outer Space” quickly descends into an extended
percussion workout which is rendered as an impenetrable wall of noise on tape. As the audience
starts to get restless, you can hear people talking in the background—and when a man close to themicrophone says, “Hey, what’s happening brother?” it’s startling and funny like some kind ofhomemademusique concrète. As the Arkestra settles into the heavenly quietude of “Lights on a
Satellite,” the sound quality improves considerably. After an organ intro, Ra moves to acoustic piano
to support the delicate arrangement of flutes and trumpets, with Gilmore taking the lead on lowregister tenor sax. “Lights on a Satellite” is one of my favorite Ra compositions and thisperformance is nearly perfect, the interlaced ensemble floating peacefully above a gentle spacerhumba groove. The audience likes it and responds with a sincere round of applause. “The Shadow
World” starts up from a dead stop with Sonny banging out the angular rhythmic figure on piano andit sounds like it’s going to be a good one as the ensemble begins to execute the hocketed melodies
with terrific precision. Sadly, the tape cuts off after only a minute and a half. Oh well.
While this is a typically fine performance by the Arkestra, the tape doesn’t really have a whole lot torecommend it considering the bad sound quality and constricted running time. The outrageous
glossolalia segment and the always beatific “Lights On a Satellite” are worth hearing, but I wouldn’t
go out of my way to seek this one out. Nevertheless, I thank our anonymous recordist for making
the effort.

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OCTOBER 31, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: The Great Lost Sun Ra Albums: Cymbals & Crystal Spears (Evidence 2CD)
The deal with ABC/Impulse! was slowly bearing fruit: Astro Black (AS-9255) was finally released inearly 1973, along with a batch of Saturn reissues, pushing Sun Ra’s music into the mainstream
marketplace for the first time ever. And there were even bigger plans in store: as many as thirty
reissues, and a sampler LP to be entitled, Welcome to Saturn. Then there was a proposed trilogy of newrecordings made at Variety Recorders in New York and prepared for release in the then-trendy (andnow horribly obsolete) Sansui QS-encoded Quadrophonic LP format: Cymbals (AS-9296), Crystal
Spears (AS-9297), and Pathways to Unknown Worlds (AS-9298). Of these, only Pathways wasever released, in a vanishingly small pressing, just before the label pulled the plug in 1975. (See,Campbell & Trent pp.193-196; and Szwed pp.333-334.) The remaining titles remained the subject ofintense conjecture until Evidence finally reissued them in 2000 (remixed to stereo from the originalfour-track masters) as The Great Lost Sun Ra Albums.
While Ra expressed some bitterness when the deal with Impulse! went sour (see Szwed p.333),
according to producer Ed Michel’s liner notes, it turned out to be fairly lucrative for the Arkestra, atleast in the short term. Furthermore, Michel points out that the contract was the result of somehighly unorthodox negotiation techniques on the part of Alton Abraham:
A standard Artist’s Contract (“Everything You Have Is Ours…,” spelled out in some detail over seven pages) waspresented. Alton put it in his briefcase, shook hands all around and said, “We’ll look it over and get back to you,”and they were gone. The following day, Alton was back with a retyped contract (no small stuff—this was well before
personal computers—every single bit had to be typed by hand, overnight) in which the Saturnians—rather than engage
in the point-by-point wrestling and mud-slinging match that constitutes most recording-industry contractual
discussions—simply retyped the contract, turning everything on its head, with ABC, rather than Saturn, at the shortend of the stick.

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[…] The Head Lawyer called me (naturally, I was in the studio), and tried to explain The Inexplicable Behavior Of
These People, and why it was Impossible To Try To Do Business With Them. I sort of suggested that maybe acounter-offer was in order (“Ridiculous! They’d probably want to turn that around, too”), and then, alarmed at thethought of my not being able to get in on any of the fun, I pointed out that if it wasn’t possible to make a New
Recording Artist Deal, perhaps it might be possible to make a Licensing Deal for some of the already-issued Saturn“product.” Amazingly, it worked, although I still don’t know why or how.
[…] I never saw a copy of the original contract (I do have some deal memo notes, but recall that the contract profferedturned out to be a whole lot different), but I know it could have been drawn up rather succinctly: “Sun Ra and Alton
will give ABC twenty-one masters, which ABC will clean up as well as possible, provide new cover designs, sit on for awhile, then return to Sun Ra and Alton, in return for which ABC will give The Saturn Guys a bunch of money,
including a nice payoff to terminate the original agreement.” Would have saved a lot of extra typing.
Newly made recordings were also subject to this licensing agreement, with ownership reverting to
Sun Ra and Alton Abraham after the deal went south. This was actually fairly shrewd (and, at thetime, extremely rare) although Sonny was unable to really capitalize on this cache of intellectual
property during his lifetime. This was exacerbated by a dispute with Abraham over ownership of themasters that briefly split Saturn into two opposing companies (see, Szwed pp.338-339). Meanwhile,
Sun Ra continued on his own way and would not make another record for a major label until 1988,
when A&M offered him a two-record deal. Similarly, those records also went out of print almost
immediately after their initial release. The Arkestra would remain an underground phenomenon, forthe most part, right up to the end.
Curiously, three tracks meant for Cymbals were later issued on an obscure, hodgepodge LP
entitled, Deep Purple (Saturn 485), but their connection to the unreleased Impulse! albums was
unknown until Prof. Robert Campbell began his research for his monumental discography, The
Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra (Cadence Books) (see p.194). As originally conceived, Cymbals was tohave been another in a line of great blues-based records a la My Brother The Wind, Vol.II andUniverse In Blue, with Ra leading a small-group Arkestra from his patented “space-age barbeque”
organ. Significantly, Ronnie Boykins is back in the band with his huge-toned bass adding heft tothese five loosely structured pieces. “The World of the Invisible” opens the album with someportentous spookiness, ghostly organ chords and a herky-jerky rhythm section supporting aserpentine bass clarinet solo by Eloe Omoe. Sun Ra hints at a descending figure on MiniMoog
which is then taken up by Boykins in an extended bass solo, accompanied by Ra’s skittering organ.
“Thoughts Under a Dark Blue Light” is a slow-burning blues, with a simple harmonized horn riff
setting things in motion across its seventeen-minute duration. John Gilmore starts off with someauthentically soulful roadhouse wailing on tenor saxophone, slowly building up to an astonishingclimax of blurred multiphonics and low-register honks, before effortlessly returning with a bluesy
coda. Yes, it’s another incredible John Gilmore solo! Ra then turns in some typically hermetic organ
while Boykins steadily walks and drummer, Harry Richards, and conga-player, Derek Morrislackadaisically shuffle alongside. Alone in the trumpet chair for a change, Akh Tal Ebah delivers along and thoughtful solo, his warm tone and smeared articulation offering a nice contrast to Kwame
Hadi’s usual showy virtuosity. Sadly, the track fades out before being allowed to finish.
“The Order of Pharaonic Jesters” (sic) is another mid-tempo blues, dominated by Sun Ra’s
multihued electronic keyboards, alternating between sweet-and-sour organ tones, shimmering
vibraphone sounds, and the reedy Rocksichord. Really just a meandering jam, Ra keeps things
177interesting with his restlessly shifting timbres and sophisticated harmonic sensibility, Boykins
following him every step of the way. The tempo picks up a bit for “The Mystery of Two,” a minorkey bebop confection that once again lets the spotlight shine on the underappreciated Ebah, whose
introverted, melancholy sound and careful note choices yields an understated elegance. The album
closes with “Land of the Day Star,” a quirky, stutter-step groove supported by Boykins’s awkward,
bowed bass, Ra’s burbling keyboards and some herky-jerky drums. This time, Danny Davis gets arare solo spot on alto saxophone, coming out from behind the shadow of Marshall Allen, who wasapparently absent at this session. Again, the track fades just as the soloist starts to get going, which isa little frustrating. Nonetheless, this track—and the album as a whole—is really all about Sun Ra’sinteraction with the masterful bass playing of Boykins and the almost amateurish drumming ofRichards. It is this dynamic but unstable rhythm section that provides the cool, elusive mood of thisfine record.
Crystal Spears (originally titled Crystal Clear) is something else altogether. If Cymbals is relatively
earthbound, Crystal Spears is a rocketship ride to the planet Saturn, showcasing Sun Ra’s moreexperimental compositional techniques and radical orchestral strategies. A full contingent ofArkestrans is present, although Boykins is notably absent and no one steps in to play bass. It doesn’treally matter as Sonny is by now well used to this arrangement and fills out the space with hiselectronic keyboards and the addition of marimbas and multiple percussionists, while Clifford
Jarvis’s return to the drum stool allows for a steadier, more intuitive rhythm section. The title track
opens with piercing blasts of distorted wah-wah organ, indicating from the first moment that this isgoing to be one of those Sun Ra records that will fry your tweeters and blow your mind. Oh yeah.
After sketching out a quasi-twelve-tone row, drums and congas enter with complex, overlappingrhythms while Marshall Allen plaintively reiterates the theme. Prof. Campbell states in his liner notesthat Sun Ra subsequently moves to marimba at this point, but I believe it must be someone else, as,moments later, Sonny can plainly be heard playing MiniMoog and organ while marimbas continue toskitter in the background. In any event, a rich texture is created and sustained, similar to what washeard back in 1965 on the Heliocentric Worlds, Vol.1, thickened by an enlarged arsenal of electric
keyboards.
Having reached a sub-orbital plateau, the Arkestra relaxes the tension a bit with “The Eternal
Sphynx” (sic). Prof. Campbell suggests in his liner notes that this piece “continues the interlocking
riff constructions found in Ra’s numbered ‘Discipline’ series of compositions” and the theme
sounds vaguely familiar. Is it possible we’ve heard this before on one the many poorly documented
tapes from this period? Perhaps (I really should create that spreadsheet—someone want to give me a
grant?). In any event, it is similar to the “Discipline” series in its stately demeanor and expressive
orchestration, the instruments playing at their most extreme registers, trumpets flatulently low,saxophones squealingly high, creating a lush yet unsettled ensemble sound. Danny Davis steps out
once again with a soulful alto sax solo, followed by Ra on organ before a brief reprise, this time with
Marshall Allen doubling on flute. Things start to get strange again with “The Embassy of the Living
God.” Sun Ra’s woozy organ chords and Moog bass notes establish a creepy, dissonant soundworld,
while the entire horn section, led by Danny Thompson’s honking baritone sax, execute the tricky
composition, with both trumpets (distressingly off-mic), playing complex counter-melodies. The
piece evolves organically from there, with solos, duos and trios from Allen on oboe, Omoe on bass
clarinet, Gilmore on falsetto tenor sax, and Hadi in his usual highwire fashion. Percussion comesand goes along with Ra’s sea-sick organ, which takes the lead unaccompanied just before the horns

178return. Foregoing a restatement of the theme, the track fades out on some full-on group
improvisation. Very interesting.
“Sunrise in the Western Sky” was intended to take up all of side B and essentially consists of atwenty-minute tenor saxophone solo by John Gilmore over the kind of gently floating, Afro-exotica
percussion jam that Sun Ra was so fond of. That description makes it sound like it would be boringand self-indulgent, but in actuality, it is a monument to Sun Ra’s genius as a composer and Gilmore’s
unheralded greatness as soloist. Opening with a magisterial statement from Allen’s yearning oboe,
Ra’s chiming keyboards, mumbling marimbas, and burbling percussion establish an unsettled
environment for Gilmore’s entrance. It appears that the saxophone part is at least partly written out
as Sonny’s organ follows closely along the tonally ambiguous melodies. At about the eight-minutemark, Ra’s shapeshifting organ begins to coax the rhythm section into a duple-meter reverie while
Gilmore follows along with more written material intermingled with extemporaneous improvisation.
At the eleven-minute mark, Marshall Allen’s flute enters with a counter-melody and the texture
subsequently thins out, leaving only percussion and saxophone. At this point, Gilmore loosens his
grip on the theme(s) and begins to elaborate, weaving inquisitive lines, concluding with question
marks rather than periods and finally disappearing into the hypnotic percussion ensemble. A crash
cymbal is ceremonially struck seven times to end the album with a solemn finality.
Cymbals and Crystal Spears are indeed The Great Lost Sun Ra Albums and we should gratefulto the folks at Evidence for locating the tapes and finally issuing them on CD. The Evidence label
also rescuedPathways to Unknown Worlds from the dustbin of history and we’ll have a listen tothat one next time. It's a doozy!
Sam said...
Excellent analysis, Rodger! I got nothing to add except to say “Thoughts Under a Dark Blue Light”
contains one of the all-time greatest of the greatest Gilmore solos. I love both of these albums. It'snice to hear some extended Eloe Omoe soloing on "The World of the Invisible." And Harry
Richards's drumming is perfect for the subdued mood of much of "Cymbals"--no virtuoso
grandstanding, instead just another emphatic, listening voice in the mix.

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NOVEMBER 14, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Astro Infinity Arkestra: Pathways to Unknown Worlds + Friendly Love
(Evidence CD)
Pathways to Unknown Worlds was released by Impulse! in 1975 but was soon deleted along withthe rest of the catalog licensed from El Saturn Records. That meant literally cutting off the cornersof the jackets and dumping the remaining stock below wholesale, thereby cutting off Sun Ra fromany royalties that would have otherwise been due (see Szwed p.333). For a brief period in the mid1970s, Sun Ra records could be found in the sale bins of mom-and-pop record stores acrossAmerica, but they quickly disappeared for good and, by the end of the end of the decade, had
become rare, expensive collectables. It wasn’t until the Evidence label began reissuing Sun Ra’s
music on compact disc in the early-1990s that Ra’s most obscure discography was again readily
available. In 2000, Evidence concluded their reissue campaign with the resurrection of two Great
Lost Sun Ra Albums recorded for Impulse! which were originally conceived as part of a proposed
trilogy that would have progressed from earthy blues of Cymbals (AS-9296) through the hypermodern jazz of Crystal Spears (AS-9297) and on to the improvised outer-space music of
Pathways to Unknown Worlds (AS-9298) (see Campbell & Trent pp.194-196).
Shorn from its intended context, Pathways to Unknown Worlds must have appeared a puzzling
artifact for the very few people who heard it back in 1975. Mixed to primitive Quadrophonic Sound,almost no one owned the expensive Sansui QS decoder and extra pair of speakers required—and
those who did probably wondered why it was being deployed for a mere twenty-seven minutes ofskronky free-jazz-noise (even so, I would be very interested in hearing these original “surroundsound” mixes!). In 2000, Evidence remixed the album to stereo from the multitrack tapes and, in theprocess, discovered an additional (untitled) track that was omitted from the original LP, expanding it
to a (slightly) more reasonable thirty-four minutes of music.
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The pieces on Pathways to Unknown Worlds are all “guided improvisations,” with Sun Ra
directing the flow of music from his bank of electric keyboards. Ronnie Boykins is back, anchoring
the proceedings with his rock-solid bass, accompanied by the indomitable Clifford Jarvis on drums,
who plays with admirable restraint here. This was by far the most fluent and supple rhythm section
Ra would ever enjoy (sadly, it was intermittent at best and ultimately short lived). Joined by a fullcomplement of horn players, this was an Arkestra particularly sensitized to Ra’s vision and well
suited to realize his most exploratory music. A blow-by-blow description seems rather pointless; I
can only say that the music is a model of tightly controlled chaos and this album stands with the bestof that lineage of long form improvisations, like Magic City and Other Planes of There. Sun Ra
disdained the excesses of the “free jazz” scene and his group improvisations are as thoughtfully
constructed as any of his written compositions, full of startling dynamic contrasts and unusual
instrumental textures, fueled by his own endlessly inventive approach to electronic keyboards.
Kwame Hadi is present on trumpet joined by Akh Tal Ebah on mellophone (a cross between a
trumpet and a French horn), making it possible to really compare them side-by-side. Sometimes,
Ebah shoves a contrabassoon reed into the mouthpiece to create the “Space dimension
mellophone,” rendering an earth-shattering blast of sound akin to the Neputunian libflecto (abassoon with either a French horn or alto saxophone mouthpiece attached).
Eloe Omoe is given especially prominent solo space throughout the album, allowing an opportunity
to fully appreciate his richly expressionist bass clarinet in a variety of settings. Omoe’s story isinteresting: born Leroy Taylor (1949-1989), he was a member of a Chicago street gang until 1970,
when Sun Ra took him in and changed his name (see Szwed p.280). While his frantic overblowing
shtick was a constant feature of the Arkestra’s live gigs during this period, he was, in fact, a gifted
auto-didact, and his playing here shows a remarkable versatility.
John Gilmore comes through with one of his typically mind-melting tenor saxophone solos on“Cosmo Media,” but this album isn’t about individual soloists or group freakouts. The Arkestra isliterally Sun Ra’s living instrument, their highly individualistic voices subordinated to his stringent
yet benevolent command. Accordingly, this music cannot be said to be freely improvised; it is rather
composed by Sun Ra in the moment of its realization. If anything, Boykins is the star of the show,
the glue that holds it all together; there is hardly a moment where he is not furiously thrumming or
bowing away with astounding facility and invention. Yet Pathways to Unknown Worlds is also
not merely a concerto for bass; it is a thoroughly ensemble conception, with the whole being much
more than the sum of its parts—hence the pointlessness of a detailed description. Together withThe Great Lost Albums, these are some of the crowning achievements of Sun Ra’s long recording
career and need to be heard to be believed.
+++
Four more LPs were recorded by Saturn and offered to Impulse! as part of the proposed licensing
deal, but were rejected. Across the Border of Time (Saturn 576), Flight to Mars (Saturn 547) andTone Poem(Saturn 672) were never released, although Prof. Campbell has speculated that tracks
from some of these records were cannibalized for later Saturn releases, such as the ultra-rare Song of
the Stargazers (Saturn 487) (see Campbell & Trent pp.196, 270-271). However, while preparing
these Evidence CDs, the two-track reel-to-reel tapes containing the long-lost Friendly Love (Saturn
181565) were found in a box and issued for the first time, appended to Pathways to Unknown
Worlds.
Unfortunately, Boykins is once again absent but the laconic Harry Richards returns on drums alongwith Atakatune (Stanley Morgan) on congas and they provide a relaxed, contemplative rhythmic feelthroughout. Lacking formal titles, the album is presented as a suite in four parts, and while Prof.
Campbell suggests in his liner notes that these are all guided improvisations, I’m not so sure: Sonny’s
organ often seems to be outlining pre-ordained chord sequences and parts one and four settle into
the kind of dreamy, modal grooves that were a hallmark of Sun Ra’s compositions during thisperiod—in fact, the horns play a repeating, five-note figure towards the end of the suite that was
obviously written out and harmonized. It may be possible the Arkestra was merely “jamming out”
on this date, but I kind of doubt it. In any event, the soloists are exceptional: Hadi and Ebah eachdeliver delightfully contrasting brass excursions and Danny Davis is featured throughout on alto
saxophone. Danny Ray Thompson even coaxes some surprisingly tender melodies from theunwieldy Neptunian libfliecto. But Gilmour’s tenor sax solo on part four is the real standout, anespecially soulful, bluesy meditation seasoned with astonishing extended techniques and punctuatedwith pregnant silences. Yes, it’s another incredible John Gilmore solo. Get used to it!
+++
Exact dates and locations for all these recordings are unknown, but Prof. Campbell’s research
indicates they were likely made in early-to-mid-1973 at Variety Recording Studios in New York City
(and I have no reason to doubt him):
As on so many recordings done for Saturn, the mythical “El Saturn Studio” in Chicago is given as the location on the
Impulse jacket. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it’s wisest to assume that [Sun Ra’s] studio recordings
during the 1970s were made at Variety (and if [James] Jacson, who was living in New York City and often nottouring with the band, is really present, that would make Variety even more likely [since he had connections there]).
(Campbell & Trent, p.196)
Clearly, Sonny had high hopes for the Impulse! deal and spent much of 1973 in the studio, going so
far as to prepare a handful of seven-inch singles for the El Saturn label. Indeed, with the release andwidespread distribution of the brilliant Astro Black and the reissue of a number of classic SaturnLPs, Sun Ra’s fortunes were looking up: the Arkestra would make its triumphant return to CarnegieHall in July, in a concert recorded and broadcast by Voice of America, and the fall tour of Europe
was, by any measure, an unqualified success. It wasn’t until 1975 that things fell apart with Impulse!
and Sun Ra returned to the “sub-underground.” Nevertheless, his reputation was firmly establishedamongst the hip-jazz cognoscenti and new records would continue to pour forth from Saturn andvarious independent labels, like breadcrumbs on an intergalactic space trail. His music was treatedwith near-reverential respect abroad and foreign sojourns would become constants of the Arkestra’s
life, grueling itineraries that barely managed to provide a modicum of financial security for the band.
Meanwhile, back home, “The New Thing” fad gave way to slick, commercial fusion by the late1970s and the band worked where and when it could, crisscrossing the country playing dingynightclubs, outdoor jazz festivals, and any colleges or universities that would have them. For themost part, Sun Ra’s music was met with indifference or, at best, a bemused skepticism—and insome quarters, he provoked outright hostility, summarily dismissed as charlatan, a fake. By the182

1980s, with much of the discography long out of print and/or impossible to find, Sun Ra’s music
was shrouded in mystery, his live show an anachronistic circus act, wildly out of step with the neoconservative times exemplified by Wynton Marsalis and his ilk.
Thankfully, the invention of the compact disc has since allowed Sonny’s vast output of incredibly
obscure recordings to be heard once again. Moreover, the rediscovery of these “lost” albums offer
profound insight into Sun Ra’s unique musical genius in its full flowering, at its most ambitious.
Hopeful of a better world realizable in sound, Sun Ra sincerely thought he could change the world,
and in some not-so-small ways, he did. These albums are essential documents of one of theTwentieth Century’s most widely misunderstood and underappreciated masters.
DECEMBER 12, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: The Singles (Evidence 2CD)
In 1974, at the height of the Impulse! deal, the resurrected Saturn label released two seven-inch 45RPM singles, in an effort, perhaps, to capitalize on the major label’s support and media exposure.
Crudely manufactured in small batches, they were sold from the bandstand or to certain favoredrecord stores for cash on the barrelhead, making them extremely rare and highly-prized collector’s
items today. Thankfully, the Evidence label has collected all the known Saturn singles onto twoCDs, making these weird and wonderful sides available to all. As usual, the discographical details are
sketchy, but we can rely on Prof. Campbell’s research and speculations to fit them into thechronology.
“I’m Gonna Unmask the Batman”/”The Perfect Man” (Saturn ES 537)
Continuing Sun Ra’s odd infatuation with Batman and Robin the A-side is a remake of the Lacy
Gibson/Alton Abraham ditty first recorded for Repeto in 1968 (without Sun Ra’s involvement).
This version “I’m Gonna Unmask the Batman” was probably taken from a live broadcast at
WXPN-FM in Philadelphia on July 4, 1974 under the auspices of Hal Wilner (see, Campbell & Trent
pp.209-210). The vocalist is Sam Bankhead (who appeared in the Space is the Place movie) andthere’s a small complement of riffing horns while Sonny provides the bass-line on his reedy RMI
Rocksichord. Despite the silliness of the tune, Sun Ra would return to it again and again in concert,making this, I suppose, the definitive version.

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The flip side is something else altogether: In his liner notes to The Singles collection, Prof.
Campbell suggests that “The Perfect Man” may be Sun Ra’s “most perfectly realized synthesizer
performance.” A particularly captivating space-rock-boogaloo driven by Sonny’s boing-ing
MiniMoogs, the head is tightly arranged for the tangy ensemble of Marshall Allen’s oboe and John
Gilmore’s tenor sax. Probably recorded at Variety in May 24, 1973, the “Micro-Ensemble Unit”
actually sounds surprisingly well rehearsed and polished on this almost-pop-worthy confection(despite the amateurish drumming of Danny Davis). Very interesting.
“Journey to Saturn”/”Enlightenment” (Saturn ES 538)
Saturn ES 538 focuses on two of the common space-chants from the repertoire. “Journey toSaturn“ is taken from an unknown live performance circa. 1972-74, as indicated by the unbalanced
and overamplified sound. Clifford Jarvis swings hard on drums and Gilmore and June Tyson duet
while Sonny churns out some gritty organ accompaniment. After a bluesy solo from Ra that veers
off into distant keys, Tyson returns briefly a cappella. The B-side is yet another remake of“Enlightenment,” a song that obviously meant a lot to Ra. Recorded at the House of Ra in
Philadelphia sometime between 1970 and 1974, this stripped down version is really quite affecting.
The tempo is slow and deliberate, held together by Gilmore’s remarkably supple drumming andSonny’s orchestral clavinet playing. Gilmore and Tyson sing with full-throated sincerity and, eventhough Gilmore drops his sticks at one point, he never loses a beat. The lo-fi, homemade quality of
the recording only adds to the charm—this one has that inimitable “Saturn Sound.” A nice renditionof this sometimes overplayed song.
Sam said...
I love Danny Davis's drumming on "The Perfect Man"! It's a large part of what makes that loopy
track work. Dig the horn line. This is a real groover, and Gilmore's solo is apt and stunning.

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JANUARY 2, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Space Arkestra: What Planet Is This? (Leo/GY 24/25) (2CD)
Although it can be assumed that the Arkestra performed as frequently as ever, live concerts in 1973
are rather sparsely documented, at least as compared to the previous couple of years. Prof. Campbell
mentions a 214-minute audience tape recorded at The Village Gate on February 26 (possibly part ofmulti-night stand at the legendary New York nightclub) but this artifact does not circulate amongst
collectors and Campbell offers no details whatsoever (Campbell & Trent p.192). Meanwhile, work
continued on the Space Is The Place movie, with Sonny and Tommy Hunter flying to California inlate June to film the hilarious nightclub scene wherein “Sunny Ray’s” increasingly outrageous piano
playing rains destruction upon the room, thereby vanquishing the evil gangsters. This is my favorite
scene in the movie! Sadly, this extraordinary bit of music was not included on the soundtrack CD
released by Evidence in 1993 but can be heard (and seen) in the film (Id. pp.198-199). On July 4,
Sun Ra appeared with a small group consisting of John Gilmore on tenor sax, Ronnie Boykins on
bass, and Beaver Harris on drums as part of a memorial tribute to Louis Armstrong (who died on
July 6, 1971) at Flushing Meadow Park, in the borough of Queens, New York. Six minutes of thisperformance was recorded by Voice of America but never broadcast and, although the tape exists in
the Library of Congress, this tantalizing fragment of small-group Ra does not circulate as far as I cantell (see, Id. p.199). [Some of the information in this post is incorrect; please see my update in
the entry for July 4, 1973, below.]
On July 6, the Arkestra performed at the “Newport In New York Festival” in a marathon concert at
Carnegie Hall which included an opening set by Cab Calloway. This billing must have seemedcompletely incongruous to those in attendance, but, in later years, Sonny’s connection to Calloway’s
brand of pre-war swing and proto-R&B would become increasingly clear. Ra’s entire two-hour set
was again recorded by Voice of America but, for some unknown reason, never broadcast. The tapes
languished in the Library of Congress until their discovery by researcher Larry Applebaum in the
mid-1990s (see, Id. pp.199-200). Subject of rampant speculation in the ensuing years, the small but
enterprising British label, Leo Records, finally released these recordings on their Golden Years
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imprint in 2006, somehow exploiting the grey areas of international copyright law and carefully
avoiding any mention of the concert’s venue or the tape’s unusual provenance. Despite its rather
non-descript packaging (and potential ethical/legal quibbles), What Planet Is This? Is, for any Sun
Ra fan, a most welcome release indeed as the sound quality is (for the most part) first-rate and the
maximum-strength Arkestra was well-rehearsed and in top form for this prestigious concert.
Opening with the usual processional/improvisation, the first thing you notice is a full contingent of
low brass, including two trombones and tuba (likely played by Charles Stevens, Dick Griffin andHakim Jami, respectively). Sonny often had to make do without the rich, warm sonorities of thetrombone in his working ensembles, but he would usually recruit players for high-profile gigs suchas this, re-tooling the arrangements to accommodate an expanded sonic palette. The second thing
you notice is the presence of Ronnie Boykins, who brings his sure-footed authority on the doublebass, anchoring the proceedings in his own inimitable fashion. Curiously, Clifford Jarvis is absent,
replaced by Lex Humphries on trap drums. While Humphries’s laconic style may lack the fiery,
propulsive drive of Jarvis, we are also spared the interminable drum solos that would have inevitably
resulted—and that is a good thing, as far as I’m concerned.
Once the twenty-five member Arkestra has assembled on stage (including an array of percussionists
and The Space Ethnic Voices), June Tyson solemnly intones “Astro Black,” accompanied by delicatebass thrumming but ending with an explosive, full-band space chord and free-form freak-out. Whew!
Then, just as suddenly, the chaos melts into the big-band swing of “Discipline 27,” led by Pat
Patrick’s baritone sax riffing. The Arkestra sounds great, with the trombones and tuba prominently
featured amidst the reeds and trumpets. But Ra is playing a different kind of organ than usual (orperhaps he’s just poorly miked)—it sounds oddly muffled and distant here. Fortunately, he wasprovided a decent grand piano and, in the long improvisation which follows, he makes excellent useof it, throwing off astonishingly dexterous runs and thick, dissonant harmonies a la Cecil Taylor.
Then he moves to the MiniMoog synthesizer to create pulsating walls of industrial noise against
which the horns spatter notes like graffiti. And again, the organ sound is…strange, kind of like “TheMighty Wurlitzer” at a baseball park. Is there a theatre organ at Carnegie Hall? Is that what he’s
playing? Who knows! This remarkably compelling improvisation goes on for almost thirty minutes,
dominated by the shifting hues of Ra’s keyboards and held together by Boykins’s macroscopic senseof structure and groove (not to mention the thrilling crescendos of tympani). Various solos andensembles are queued by Ra, giving shape to an improvised construction of remarkable cohesivenessand expressive beauty. Despite the seemingly excessive length, it’s actually over before you know it
and the band launches smoothly into “Space Is The Place.” Wow! One of the Space Ethnic Voices(who?) does some of her insane, post-Ono vocal acrobatics before the band eases into lush anddreamy versions of “Enlightenment” and “Love In Outer Space.” These arguably over-played
numbers could sometimes sound glib and tossed-off in performance, but here they sound poised
and purposeful, aided, in part, by the relaxed drumming of Humphries and the rock-solid bass ofBoykins.
But Humphries shows he’s no slouch on “The Shadow World,” kicking up furious polyrhythms intandem with Aye Aton [Robert Underwood] and a host of burbling congas. Starting from a deadstop, the Arkestra executes the dauntingly difficult composition with startling precision, the hi-fi
recording allowing us to hear deep into the densely orchestrated ensemble. The improvisation that
follows is another perfect example of Ra’s disciplined freedom at its most cogent—even Gilmore’s
unaccompanied solo (often a show-stopping tour de force) is ultimately curtailed and subsumed within186the evolving group dynamic, just a part of the intricately woven musical fabric. After about fifteen
minutes, the band settles into a quiet, Afro-Asian feel, with Alzo Wright’s cello providing some
“Strange Strings”-style bowings and Marshall Allen wailing away on a plangent oboe—both ofwhich elicit surprisingly respectful applause from the audience, given how weird and otherworldly
the sounds. It is a magical moment. By this point, the audience has been transported, if not into
outer space, then into Sun Ra’s alternative reality, where such sounds are as natural and nutritive as
the air we breathe. This is truly an exemplary rendition of “The Shadow World” and needs to beheard to be believed. “Watusa” and “Discipline 27-II” conclude the set in the usual fashion, with apercussion/dance workout and a seventeen-minute sermon of cosmic declamations. Yet the ultraspacious sound quality and the richly textured Arkestra’s near-definitive performances make themworth listening to—even if, like me, you think you’ve heard these routines too many times already.
So, yeah, this one is a keeper. No doubt the incendiary rhetoric found at the conclusion of thisconcert scared the pants off the bureaucrats at the VOA, who, upon hearing the tapes, shipped themoff to some remote storage facility of the LOC, never, they hoped, to be heard by anyone else everagain. I’m speculating about all this, of course—and I have no idea about the legal ramifications of
this CD (I am NOT a lawyer)—but the tangled history of this tape is certainly intriguing. All I careabout is having the opportunity to hear this music after all these years, by whatever means. Please
don’t get me wrong: Leo is a well-established label with impeccable bona fides—their loving devotion
to Anthony Braxton’s most ambitious music is to be wholeheartedly supported—and I do not mean
to impugn the label’s business ethics in slightest. For all I know, everything is kosher, the rightsholders are paid and everyone is happy. Whatever, I don’t really care (my only complaint is that the
Flushing Meadow Park fragment was not included). Hey, this is the record business—the shadiest
business ever. As a fan, I only rejoice at its current availability and recommend to others they grab a
copy before it goes out of print forever, as these things often do. Carpe diem!
Sam said...
You know, I wasn't as impressed with this one when it first came out. Silly me. A closer re-listen,along with your notes, has proven me stoopid. I was particularly taken this time around with theexcellent improvs on either side of "D.27", and yes "Shadow World" is outstanding. And it's great tohave Boykins in this context.

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JANUARY 9, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Arkestra: Outer Space Employment Agency (Alive!/Total
Energy CD)
On September 10, 1973, the Arkestra returned to play John Sinclair’s fifth annual Ann Arbor Blues& Jazz Festival, a huge outdoor concert held at Otis Spann Memorial Field. This was a rareopportunity for Sun Ra to play in front of a large audience, appearing on the final night of thefestival on a bill with Luther Allison, Hound Dog Taylor, and Otish Rush. The entire concert was
broadcast over the radio, including most of Sun Ra’s seventy-three minute set (see Campbell &Trent p. 201) and a tape of this broadcast apparently circulates amongst collectors, but I haven’t
heard it. Finally, in 1999, Sinclair released a fifty-two minute fragment (omitting “Discipline 27” and“Astro Black”) on his Alive!/Total Energy label on a compact disc entitled, Outer Space
Employment Agency. To be honest, it's a mixed bag.
Sinclair certainly means well—but as Prof. Campbell points out, he “continues the tradition ofincorrect titling that has afflicted so many commercial releases of Arkestra concerts” (Id. p.202).
That’s putting it politely! The first track is actually an untitled improvisation (mistitled “Discipline99”), opening with a bit of “mad scientist” keyboard noodling before a brutal splice takes us into the
middle of a howling space chord—what’s that about? Whatever, the group improv that follows is areal corker—and you can plainly hear the sizable crowd rapturously whooping it up in the
background. The great Ronnie Boykins is once again present on bass and right away he starts
bowing away, widely ranging from rich, low-register double stops bristly sul ponticelloscraping. Lex
Humphries returns on drums, joined by Tommy Hunter, and (along with a battery of conga players)
they kick up a suitable din for a series of solos and duos, climaxing with some barn-burning
saxophone from John Gilmore on tenor and Danny Davis on alto. After a brief organ interlude,“Discipline 99” (mistitled “Love In Outer Space”) follows, and it’s a treat to hear this rarely
performed number in such exquisite high fidelity. A languid, almost melancholic ballad, the Arkestra
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sounds well-rehearsed on this lush, intricate arrangement with Gilmore briefly taking the lead with asoulful, bluesy solo before giving way to Akh Tal Ebah’s mellow, burnished flugelhorn. Just lovely.
After that, the rest of the disc is something of a letdown. Kwame Hadi’s fiery trumpet enlivens anotherwise desultory “Love In Outer Space” but the following “Watusi” is the usual percussion jam(featuring about fifteen clanking cowbells) accompanying some hysterical chanting and thepharaonic dancing (this segment is mistitled “Watusa/Discipline 27-II” on the CD). No doubt thiswas a mesmerizing visual spectacle in person, but it comes across as a diffuse and a little dull on
disc—nothing new there, I guess. A medium tempo “Discipline 27-II” concludes the set in the usual
fashion, with Sun Ra furiously preaching the Cosmo Drama, his rhetorical—sometimes downrightinflammatory—declamations echoed by June Tyson, a crooning Ebah and various Space Ethnic
Voices. It’s the usual stuff and the ultra-spacious sound quality lets us clearly hear the subtly
morphing orchestration of “Discipline 27-II“ beneath all that vocal carrying-on. Even so, at overtwenty minutes, it’s more than a little much. Again, I think you had to have been there.
Still, there’s a lot to like about this CD. The sound quality is much improved over the 1972 set(released asLife Is Splendid) and the crackling opening improvisation and beautiful rendition of“Discipline 99” make it a necessary acquisition for the hardcore Sun Ra fan. But the shoddy
documentation, meandering percussion jams and endless, inscrutable chanting will likely leave
novices scratching their heads. With a choice of live recordings available from this period, I cannot
wholeheartedly recommend this one. Yet be aware that all three of the Alive!/Total Energy releases
are now out of print; if you’re interested, better grab them now before they disappear for good.
Sam said...
You're right--the real gems here are the first two tracks. Gilmore's solo on "D.99" is sublime!
Anonymous said...
Got to disagree. This is one of the best live Sun Ra sets I know due to its energy and wildness andphilosophic discourse on the last track. Ra is pushing it on all cylinders here and often sounds as if
the band is going to take off into the stratosphere.
Rodger Coleman said...
@ Anonymous: Fair enough. It's possible I'd listen to it again and feel differently. And part of it isjust burning out on the hectoring and my own biases. Thank you for reading and commenting!

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JANUARY 16, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: “The Universe Sent Me”: Lost Reel Collection, Vol.5 (Transparency CD)
There is some confusion as to when exactly the Arkestra’s third European tour began. The last four
tracks on Transparency’s Lost Reel Collection Vol.5 were purportedly recorded in Paris on
September 8, 1973 while Szwed says the first concert was on September 9 at the Fête de l’Humanité(p.335). Neither date is possible since the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival performance
definitely occurred on September 10. Prof. Campbell (via Julian Vein) suggests the Fête del’Humanité took place on either September 18 or 28 with another concert at the Olympia in Paris on
September 30 (p.202). These later dates make more sense, with September 28 being the most likely.
In any case, I believe this fifty minute fragment was probably recorded on that date at the Fête del’Humanité, an event sponsored by the Communist Party and which almost turned into a full-scale
riot. Recorded from the stage (presumably by drummer, Tommy Hunter), you can hear a sizableaudience in the background and, more tellingly, “Discipline 27-II” makes an unusually early
appearance in the set, allowing Sonny an opportunity to cast his spell upon the surly crowd. Szwed
describes the scene:
When they arrived at the festival grounds they found the audience in an especially ugly mood, having driven Jerry Lee
Lewis off the stage, and Chuck Berry was leaving fast (the word was that their arrival in limos had been enough to setthat volatile post-May ’68 crowd off). When the Arkestra reached the stage a moratorium began as the crowd froze inamazement: audience and critics alike were bewildered by what they saw, then won over. But what had they seen? A
particularly arcane black nationalist paramilitary display? A ridiculous parody of European avant-garde theater?. .
.[F]or whatever reason—shock, delight, puzzlement—the Arkestra brought the audience to its feet seven times thatday, clapping and cheering. “Music,” Sonny said matter-of-factly, “soothes the savage beast.” It soothed them enough,in fact, that the Ballet Folklórico de Mexico which followed next was also received well, for which the dancers and theMinister of Culture of Mexico credited the Arkestra (pp.335-336).
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We pick up in the middle of “Discipline 27-II” and while the vocals are distant, the horns are
upfront and reasonably clear. The accompanying declamations can get a little tiresome but it’s always
worth paying attention to how the arrangement changes from night to night: it’s never quite thesame, the instrumentation subtly shifting with each repetition of the theme. Ronnie Boykins ispresent holding down the rhythm section, joined by Hunter and the usual gang of percussionists.
After about ten minutes, John Gilmore signals a free, bashing, group improvisation which quickly
gives way to Sun Ra’s scary sci-fi electronics. Four measures of stately organ chords introduce“Discipline 99” in yet another rearrangement: the tempo is a little faster than we heard in Ann Arborwhile flutes and piccolos take the lead amidst some added horn riffing. This is one of Sun Ra’s moreinteresting compositions, with a wistful, slightly melancholy mood evoked by the descending minormode melodies. But, apparently, he was dissatisfied with it as it was performed only a handful oftimes during this period before being briefly resurrected in the early-‘80s and then abandoned (seeCampbell & Trent p.818). Sonny takes a short but dramatic solo before Gilmore lays down somedeeply penetrating soul-blues and the rhythm starts to loosen up the backbeat. Akh Tal Ebah essays
on flugelhorn while Sonny’s organ grinds away and horns circle and dodge. Marshall Allen finallytakes over with a delightful flute solo and the texture starts to thin. Rather than recapitulating thetheme, it just sort of dissipates, which is kind of disappointing, given the fact that “Watusi” is up
next. It’s the same old thing: after a quick run through the head, drums and percussion, whooping
and hollering, dancing and chanting go on and on for ten tedious minutes. I’m sure it was quite thespectacle!
But then something happens: Kwame Hadi starts into a pealing high-register thing and the rhythm
shifts into high gear, Boykins setting down an insistently throbbing bass line. Swirling organ andquicksilver horns enter the fray and now we’re into a ferocious group improv—only to have Sonny
suddenly signal the reprise of “Watusi.” Wow! This gets a big hand from the audience and Hunterboldly steps up with a (relatively rare) drum solo. Unlike Clifford Jarvis, he keeps it short andtasteful, establishing a tribal beat on the tom-toms appropriate for Eloe Omoe’s bass clarinet
rumblings which follow. Sun Ra cues a harrowing space chord but it quickly dissolves into flickering,
pointillist horn figures. Boykins gets out the bow for a mysterioso bass solo and is later joined by
Marshall Allen’s oboe and Ebah’s flugelhorn, a rare and beautiful sonority. Sonny is out front
hectoring the audience about “The Impossible Equation” but it’s hard to hear. That’s OK because
the Arkestra is in deep space exotica mode, all orbiting horns and solar drums. As things heat up,
Gilmore blasts off with some hair-raising altissimo runs and someone (Ra?) starts honking whatsounds like a car horn (?). Just as the intensity level becomes almost unbearable, the tape cuts off.
Argh! Surely there was a lot more to this set…
According to Szwed, the events at Fête de l’Humanité prompted an outpouring of typically French
theorizing:
One critic wrote that [the Arkestra] was a quasireligious phenomenon, and like the Church itself, the band used cheap
props and son et lumière effects. But, he asked in all seriousness, could a secular group like this move forward andprogress, or would they be trapped forever in their rituals like the Church? Whatever they were, the Arkestra wasdisrupting critical predispositions and habits, their show calling attention to the critics’ limitations. A performance likethis would require multiple levels of readings, and a fuller understanding of different genres, different forms of media,
and different styles of playing (pp.335-336).

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Indeed. It’s pure speculation on my part that this recording is from the Fête de l’Humanité debacle,but, after listening to other documents from this tour, it makes sense. Regardless of exactly when or
where it was recorded, this volume of the Lost Reel Collection (which also includes a fragmentfrom the Southport Seaport Museum on July 9, 1972) is of definite historical interest to all Sun Ra
fanatics. Be forewarned: as usual with Transparency, the sound quality is not great—clearly several
generations away from the master (presumably, um, lost)—but it’s certainly listenable, as thesethings go. Musically, the Arkestra is at its best, bringing a fresh enthusiasm to even the most
overplayed repertoire and improvising with an almost telepathic cohesion. The rarely heard“Discipline 99” and the (truncated) closing improvisation are particularly satisfying, despite thebootleg sound quality. Newbies should start elsewhere, but Sun Ra afficianadoes who know what toexpect will be amply rewarded by The Lost Reel Collection Vol.5.
Rod Stasick said...
Hi! Just came across this posting of yours. Thanks for the words. Yes, actually, the Sun Ra
performance was on Sunday evening, September 9, 1973 (just after Luther Allison), so this would've
meant that the Arkestra would've had to play Paris on Saturday night and Ann Arbor on Sunday highly unlikely. I agree with your date of the 28th. Rod
Anonymous said...
Hi, I was at la Fete de l'Humanite, this year). The Sun Ra concert took place on the saturday night,
8th september, just AFTER (not BEFORE), les Ballets de Mexico.

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JANUARY 23, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

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 ahandful of gigs in and around Paris. Also unlike the well-documented 1971 excursion, there were nohigh-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 theNancy 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 ofAtlantic 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 Sonnyhimself from several night’s recordings (he was, after all, a master of the razor blade and splicingtape). Who knows?—the liner notes are deliberately vague. The album begins with two of Ra’s mostwhimsically 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 the193

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, fromthe 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 justtailing off. John Gilmore comes in with another spine-tingling tenor solo, made all the more intenseby Sun Ra’s insistently busy organ figuration. Kwame Hadi then solos on trumpet, easily holding his
own against the rumbling thunderclouds and lightning flashes of electric organ but Sonny finallytakes 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.
Then we have something completely different: The Arkestra busts out a free-wheeling arrangementof Jelly Roll Morton’s “King Porter Stomp,” a proto-jazz number dating back to 1923. This signals abrash new direction for the Arkestra: resurrecting the old (if not old-fashioned) practices of theswing-era big bands within their futuristic space music and re-connecting the so-called avant gardeto the deepest roots of early jazz. This kind of stuff was always an element of Sun Ra’s music, with
its old-timey shuffle rhythms and pre-bop formalism, but here it becomes explicit. Of course, at age
59, Sonny was older than almost everyone else in the band by a number of years and had worked
with Fletcher Henderson in Chicago back in 1946. Henderson was Herman Poole Blount’schildhood idol in 1930s (see Szwed, pp.11-12) and it may very well be one of Henderson’s
arrangements the Arkestra plays here. By 1973, “[t]he recent deaths of Duke Ellington and Louis
Armstrong had him reflecting about the forgotten masterworks of that era” and he began to
introduce “mini-concerts of swing classics” at every performance.
It was a move both oppositional and prescient: he had seen the limits of the avant-garde, and sensing a shift beginningin American sensibilities, he was unwilling to give up the large audiences he had drawn. And even if he moved toward
the middle, his goals were still the same: “My music is self-underground—that is, it is out of the music industry: I’ve
made records with no titles, primitive, natural and pure. I’m also recording standards so that people can compare what
I do with those in the past. The avant-garde can’t play other people’s music because they’re not mature enough”(Szwed, pp.337-338).
One may agree or disagree with his last assertion, but it is in keeping with Ra’s musico-philosophy,
which was about discipline, not freedom, and this little swing revival within the Arkestra was in
keeping with a living tradition that was perhaps obscured by the “out-there” music and space-age
trappings. The Arkestra's exuberant performances of these old chestnuts are anything but polite recreations made for nostalgic, easy listening. No, the music is as sweaty and funky as a roadsidesaloon, a room full of crazed jitterbuggers ecstatically dancing the night away. The music is alive!
Thence forward, every concert would feature a number of swing tunes from the ’20s and ‘30s, done
up with rousing enthusiasm. It’s over before you know it and now we're blasting off into outerspace. “Salutations From The Universe” is a group improvisation which opens with a some jittery
space chords and a brief declamation from Ra, but he soon embarks on a long synthesizer/organsolo full of scary spaceship sounds; hieroglyphic counterpoint; weird, microtonal effects; and hair194

raisingly aggressive, two-fisted noise attacks. The howling space chords return and Sonny sounds the
air-raid sirens as bombs boom forth from his speaker cabinets. Finally, a repeated organ note cues
“Calling Planet Earth” and everyone joins in the chanting (including someone with a policeman’sbull-horn), all of them gleefully hectoring the crowd while Ra continues his sonic onslaught.
Another perfectly timed edit ends the album with a dramatic silence. Whew!
Live At The Gibus is one of the great live Sun Ra albums, not only because of the interesting songselection and excellent sound quality. The Arkestra is at its disciplined best and Sonny is the star of
the show—not only as master composer and bandleader, but also as virtuoso instrumentalist. His
electronic keyboard solos on this record are truly out of this world. Sun Ra was a visionary player;
no one even tried to sound like him on synthesizer or organ! He is sui generis! This record also shows
the band in transition: swing numbers are coming to the fore and the Cosmo Drama is being
reinvented and routinized. But the routine was paying dividends, both commercially and artistically,
and within that structure, Ra could continue to work his magic. Pushing sixty, he was well aware oftransient nature of fads and fashion and was positioning himself, as always, for the long haul. LiveAt The Gibus documents the Arkestra at a mid-career peak and showcases Sun Ra’s outrageousmusicianship to stunning effect. An absolute must-have record.
Sam said...
Re: "King Porter Stomp"--it definitely is Fletcher Henderson's arrangement. Henderson had done a
version of this in late '20s, but he revamped it for the swing era (mid-'30s), renaming it "New King
Porter Stomp" (and basically speeding it up). It is this arrangement that Ra closely follows here (andin practically every other version I've heard him play). Henderson's version can be heard on the
ASV/Loving Era disc "Under the Harlem Moon" (which, by the way, is primo Fletcher 1932-1937!)
Rodger Coleman said...
Thanks for confirming my suspicion, Sam! I need to hear that recording!

195

JANUARY 30, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: “The Road To Destiny”: Lost Reel Collection Vol.6 (Transparency CD)
The latest volume in Transparency’s Lost Reel Collection is noteworthy for a couple of reasons: Firstand foremost, it offers further documentation of the Arkestra’s stand at The Gibus Discotèque in1973. Secondly, it comes from the collection of Tommy “Bugs” Hunter, who often served asrecordist for the band when he was available (he even provides a spoken introduction to the CD,
wherein he states the tape was recorded “around midnight” on Thursday, October 18th or 19th). It
features remarkably good sound quality, likely recorded from the stage and since it is mastered fromthe original tape, it does not suffer from the kind of gross distortion and generational loss that
plagues most of the volumes in this series. All this makes it of interest to Sun Ra fans, but the music
is not particularly revelatory. If the Atlantic—France LP, Live at The Gibus, indicated a change indirection, this CD demonstrates that Sun Ra was still up to his old tricks.
The disc starts off strong with a spacey version of “Astro Black.” A smattering of horns precedes
June Tyson’s entrance, who sweetly sings to Ronnie Boykins’s spare bass accompaniment. Drums
are heard faintly in the background, but soon become more prominent as the song comes to aconclusion and a blaring space chord signals a brief group improvisation. The music quiets and oneof the Space Ethnic Voices does her crazy, super-high-pitched vocalise trick along with some twisty
trumpet obbligato from Kwame Hadi. Impressive, but very strange! This goes on for barely a minuteor so before Danny Ray Thompson’s baritone sax riff introduces “Discipline 27,” which is taken at arelaxed, easy-going tempo, buoyed by Boykins’s sure-footed bass-playing. This is a cheerfully
pleasant version of the big-band swing number, with Hadi and Akh Tal Ebah providing dual
trumpet lead and Sonny soloing fluidly on “vibra-organ” before the reprise. Nothing special, but asolid performance nonetheless.

196

Then the Arkestra drops the tempo and smoothly segues into an extended “Discipline 27-II,”complete with its full complement of chanted declamations. The recording foregrounds the
instruments at the expense of the vocals, which sound distant and hard to hear, as if coming frommonitors at the other end of the stage. That’s OK since, as is usual, the endlessly morphing hornarrangement is what keeps the piece interesting to listen to while Sun Ra’s space-preacher shtick can
get a little tedious, to say the least. But don’t worry, when he and June raise their voices (whichhappens often enough), you can hear them loud and clear. After nearly twenty-seven minutes (!), theArkestra finally abandons the composition and descends into a chaotic group improvisation withterrifying saxophone battles, bashing drums and throbbing bass. Sadly, the tape fades out just as
things get going. Oh well—I would love to hear what came next! Instead, the disc ends with a seriesof space chants, cutting in on Tyson’s lead on “Prepare for the Journey to Other Worlds.” Others
join in for “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and “Why Go to the Moon?,” but the vocals are swampedby layers of distortion and feedback—yet you can still our unknown Space Ethnic Voice doing her
screeching thing amidst all the mayhem, so that’s something to listen for. Just as Gilmore starts to
wail on tenor saxophone, the tape brutally cuts off. Argh!
Lost Reel Collection Vol.6 is a mixed bag: good sound and excellent playing (especially from theever-inventive Ronnie Boykins), but the song selection is rather mundane. We’ve heard all this stuff
many times before and this CD offers very little in the way of fresh insights. The most interesting
thing here is the weird, post-Yoko vocalizing of the anonymous Space Ethnic Voice on “AstroBlack” and during the closing chants, but that’s not saying a whole lot. Fanatics and completists will
be happy to have this as an adjunct to Live at The Gibus, but others will wonder what all the fuss
is about. Nice, but non-essential.
Sam said...
As usual, I totally agree with your assessment here. "Discipline 27" is quite nice--it swings more thanusual. "Astro Black" is nice and always welcome. Otherwise, just so-so. Ra sounds particularly
hectoring on "D.27-II," and it's probably just as well I can't make out everything he's saying.
Anonymous said...
You are far more knowledgable on Sun Ra than I am. But I want to add that the 28min version ofDiscipline 27-II really floored me.
Anonymous said...
Can you recommend a better version of Discipline 27-II?
Rodger Coleman said...
@Anonymous: Certainly the sheer length of this version of D.27-II is notable, as is the supersmooth segue from D.27. But of the ones we've heard recently, probably the one on "What Planet Is
This" is more satisfying to me personally. But please don't let my crankiness inhibit your enjoyment!

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FEBRUARY 6, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Concert for the Comet Kohoutek (ESP-Disk’ CD)
It’s unclear when exactly the Arkestra returned to the states, or what they did (if anything) until theend of the year, when ESP-Disk’ mounted an ambitious Concert for Comet Kohoutek at New York
City’s prestigious Town Hall on December 22, 1973. Given the supposedly cosmic significance of
this astronomical event, Sun Ra was asked to headline a marathon concert featuring other ESPaffiliated artists such as the Miamis, Randy Burns, Amanda, Buddy Hughes, Donald Raphael Garrett
and Paul Thornton (of the Godz). Like the eponymous comet, the concert was something of a bust.
I’m old enough to remember the hype surrounding Kohoutek and the deep sense of disappointmentthat followed its weak display. In retrospect, the deflation of naïve idealism that accompanied
Kohoutek’s passage by our planet seems to fittingly symbolize the end of “The Age of Aquarius.”
It’s not surprising to learn the Town Hall concert was “rather poorly attended” (Campbell & Trent
p.204) or that the tapes of Sun Ra’s set would become a source of bitter contention, unreleased until
1993, a year after Sonny’s death and twenty years after its recording. The times had indeed achanged—but not for the better.
Originally released via the licensing deal with German ZYX label, that disc was marred by poorsound, random indexing and woefully incorrect titling. Concert For Comet Kohoutek was
eventually reissued in a slightly expanded and remastered edition by the re-formed ESP-Disk’ in
2006, although the graphics are noticeably fuzzier and it dispenses with the thick booklet of text andphotographs which accompanied the ZYX version. Instead, we get a bizarre, two-page essay by
ESP-Disk’ founder, Bernard Stollman, wherein he accuses Sun Ra of stealing the original(presumably stereo) master tapes from his apartment, which necessitated the use of a monoreference copy for the CD (contra. Campbell & Trent p.204-205, both editions are mono). Stollman
further insinuates Sun Ra extorted a royalty advance from him shortly after this concert and, later,
breached a contract regarding concert recordings to be made on the upcoming Mexican tour. Well,
198

whatever the veracity of these allegations, the tone of cynicism and bad faith is certainly in keepingwith the post-‘Sixties malaise the Comet Kohoutek seemed to auger. Indeed, this posthumously
released album presents the end of an era in Sun Ra’s music: the outrageous experimentalism would
thereafter be tempered by an increasingly regimented formalism and the space-age cosmophilosophy would be subsumed into more a more calculated sense of showmanship. Sure, hecontinued to make interesting music, but it inevitably changed with the times.
A profound sense of anticlimax pervades the opening remarks by the hapless M.C., who earnestly
attempts to narrate a slideshow of NASA space photographs. The Arkestra can be heard noodlingaround and tuning up in the background and as he begins to expound upon the drug-addled
fantasies of Timothy Leary, the audience becomes audibly restless. “Somebody has asked me to get
the f*** off [the stage],” he announces with a nervous chuckle. “Is there anybody here that wants tohear more about [Leary’s] Terra 2? Otherwise, I’ll get the f*** off.” The audience responds withresounding cheers. “By popular demand, I will get the f*** off.” This little exchange (omitted on the
ZYX CD) neatly summarizes the cultural zeitgeist of the mid-'Seventies.
Then the Arkestra goes at it, opening with a earth-shattering space chord and “Astro Black.” June
Tyson singsa cappella, then with quiet accompaniment from bass and drums, ringing cymbals andcowbell. Beautiful!Then John Gilmore leads some assaultive group improvisation which quickly melts
into the melodious strains of “Discipline 27,” but the tempo is oddly plodding and off-centered.
After a brief but intriguingly out-there solo from Gilmore, they lurch into what Prof. Campbell calls“Journey Through the Outer Darkness” (p.204) but I believe is another “Discipline” piece, aheaving minor key vamp in five. But again, while Boykins tries to anchor the rhythm section, themultiple drummers and percussionists fail to coalesce, even during Hadi’s otherwise fluid trumpet
solo. As if sensing defeat, Sonny starts interjecting weird synthesizer squiggles, eventually taking overwith a long keyboard solo, occasionally punctuated with conducted blasts of high-energy group
improvisation, climaxing with a typically mind-blowing tenor solo from Gilmore. Good stuff! Aftersome more scary electronics, Sonny launches into “Enlightenment” and it’s the usual, with Tyson
and Gilmore singing in harmony along with the Space Ethnic Voices and host of clanking
percussion. Unfortunately, Marshall Allen’s flute obbligato is off-mic and hard to hear, but it’s still anice version of this concert staple.
“Love in Outer Space” is one of those wonderfully heavy, organ-driven versions with Danny Davis
joining Allen in a dual alto saxophone display towards the end. This elicits some hearty applauseafter which Ra begins playing “Discipline 15” (mistitled “Kohoutek” on this CD). A mournful,rubato ballad, this composition was rarely performed yet the Arkestra sounds remarkably wellrehearsed, unfazed by Ra’s weird and increasingly frenetic organ plinking. After its solemn
conclusion, Sonny takes charge with another display of electric pyrotechnics, full of thunderous,
low-register rumbling; two-handed, staccato runs; and dissonant organ clusters. A cued space chordsignals the entrance of bass and drums and then things get really crazy, with Ra building up
forbidding walls of synthesizer/organ noise while horns chirp and squeal in the background. Just as
the texture becomes impossibly dense, a trombone makes a dramatic entrance (probably Dick
Griffin or Charles Stephens) (Id.) and more mayhem arises in its wake. Wow!
Finally, Sonny guides the band into “Discipline 27-II,” taken at a moderately fast clip, and the
keyboard attack continues for several minutes before he takes to the microphone to ask “Whatplanet is this?” The usual series of declamations follow, echoed by Tyson and the Space Ethnic
Voices while the ensemble arranges and re-arranges the endlessly malleable composition, all held199

together by Boykins’s endlessly creative bass playing. Thankfully, it doesn’t go on too long andeveryone quiets down for some of that post-Yoko screeching and screaming from one of the Space
Ethnic Voices. Nice! Then Tyson announces, “We’re openin’ up the doors of the Outer Space
Employment Agency!” and short but super-funky version follows. Only forty-seven seconds long, I
would have liked to hear a bit more of this killer groove, but before things are allowed to get going,
it's interrupted by Ra’s insistence on “Space Is The Place.” After an over-amped organ introduction,
the singing, dancing and chanting begins in earnest, with Akh Tal Ebah doing his soul-man thingalong with Tyson’s more reserved crooning. Eventually, the percussion drops out leaving the
vocalists supported only by Boykins, who is riding the wave, in the pocket and he doesn’t want to
stop! Sun Ra steps up to say, “There’s no place for you to go except for in or out…try the out!” Thisgets a big hand from the audience. Saxophones scribble, the Space Ethnic Voice shrieks andscreams, while Boykins just keeps on rockin’ until finally bringing it to a close with big cadence. The
small but enthusiastic audience claps and hollers its appreciation while the musicians exit the stage.
The actual Concert For Comet Kohoutek was, like its namesake, something of a letdown for its
promoters. But the music preserved on this CD is a stunning reminder of Sun Ra’s prowess as
instrumentalist and bandleader during this period. His keyboard solos are some of the most hairraisingly intense to be found on record and his control over the Arkestra’s resources is complete,deftly steering the music in contrasting directions as it unfolds. Despite the acrimonious history
surrounding the tapes and the less-than-perfect sound quality, this is still a worthy addition to theofficial canon. If the original stereo masters still exist somewhere, let’s hear ‘em! Until then, Concert
For Comet Kohoutek (particularly the expanded and remastered edition) is highly recommended.
Sam said...
This one's a sentimental favorite for me. I love the rough and ready ambience of the whole thing.
The track right after "Astro Black" actually starts with melodies of "D.27-II" --the part usually
thought of as "D.27" proper doesn't kick in until around 2:24. I love the part about 4:30 minutes in,when Ra's moog breaks in under Kwame Hadi's blistering trumpet solo. Ra's moog work here isoutstanding. I only have the XYZ version--so the sound is noticeably improved on the remasteredversion? Damn--add another disc to my want list.
Rodger Coleman said...
Yes, weird how that D.27 goes--was Sun Ra getting sick of it too? :) I'd say the sound is noticeably
improved and getting that MC intro and the bitter end of "Space of the Place" makes it definitely
worthwhile. But, as with other ESP discs, I will be holding onto the older version as well.

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FEBRUARY 27, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Flushing Meadow Park, Queens, NY, July 4, 1973 (CDR)
As it turns out, I was mistaken in my review of What Planet Is This?: Not only did a copy of theJuly 6, 1973 Carnegie Hall concert circulate amongst collectors prior to its release by Leo Records,
but this “bootleg” edition also included Sun Ra’s appearance at the memorial tribute to Louis
Armstrong held in Flushing Meadow Park in Queens, New York on the afternoon of July 4. In fact,
I used to have a copy, but threw it away after purchasing What Planet Is This?, not realizing thistrack was missing on the official release. Oh well—just goes to show I should never get rid ofanything without more careful consideration! Big thank you to the Sun Ra fans who pointed out myerror and kindly provided me with a copy.
Like the Carnegie Hall concert, this was recorded by Voice of America but never broadcast, thetapes deposited into the Library of Congress and promptly forgotten (see Campbell & Trent p.199).
It’s a curious fragment, about six minutes of music played by a small band consisting of Ra onelectric piano, John Gilmore on tenor sax, Ronnie Boykins on bass and Beaver Harris on drums, in
his only known appearance with the Arkestra. The whole thing has a very impromptu, ad hoc feel toit, as if it had been organized at the last possible minute. The announcer is harried and clueless, first
introducing the bassist as Reggie Workman and then, after the band corrects him, calling him“Ronnie Barkin” (and, later, “Ronnie Bodkin”) Sheesh! Sonny gingerly fingers a Fender Rhodes
piano, an instrument he was not associated with at this time, and its politely chiming, bell-like tone
clearly displeases him. So, he starts to work it, cranking up the gain, making it distort, adding
skittering, polyphonic voices while Boykins and Harris set up a churning, free-jazz groove. Now Ra
is really going for it, attacking the keyboard with two-fisted fury—but the engineer freaks out andturns down Sonny’s volume, greatly reducing the effect. Argh! Gilmore enters with what sounds likea pre-composed, modal theme and a set of full-throated, late-Coltrane-style variations. Despite thewonky sound, this is pretty exciting stuff! Harris gets maybe a little too excited and starts to overplay
while Boykins tries his best to rein him in. Suddenly, Harris gets the message and drops out
altogether, leaving Gilmore to solo a cappella, continuing in an atonal, post-bop vein, peppered withbluesy call and response effects and concluding with a dramatic flourish. Although brief, this is yet
another incredible Gilmore solo!
In the aftermath of Gilmore's stunning display, piano filigrees float up from the stillness andBoykins picks up the bow, accompanied by softly tinkling cymbals. Ra sets the mood with celestelike chording to surround the pleading, arco bass solo while Harris starts to turn up the heat. Then
Boykins plays alone for a minute before the full band returns with a bashing storm of dissonant
wailing. Sadly, the mix is horribly unbalanced by this point, with Ra’s dense figurations appearing
way off in the distance while the tumultuous drums and squealing saxophone are way up front. The
intended texture is obviously thick and rich, but is rendered thin and incoherent on tape (maybe it201

sounded better in person). Eventually, even Gilmore wanders off-mic, leaving Ra to bring it all to an
end with a huge, harsh tone cluster. Our hapless M.C. rushes back to the microphone to defend thisoutburst of avant-garde mayhem to an audience that was perhaps expecting to hear a more
traditional-sounding tribute to “Satchmo”: “I know a lot of you are thinking…well, you know...but
it’s the energy that Louis had and all musicians have which comes out in a little bit different form,
and yet a very valid thing as far as these men are concerned.” Well, he gets that right!
Too bad Leo declined to include this track on What Planet Is This? since it would have easily fit(and dodgy sound quality has never prevented them from releasing stuff in the past). It’s aninteresting if not altogether successful piece, marred somewhat by Harris, who while a fine
drummer, does not quite fit into Sun Ra’s cosmic equation here. And it’s really a shame Sun Ra’s
Fender Rhodes assault is mixed so far back, as a more balanced recording would have made this amuch more powerful and effective listening experience. Even so, the diminutive, four-piece Arkestra
packs a lot of music into a short amount of time, Boykins holding it all together with his sure-footed
bass playing while Gilmore is his typically brilliant self. Not essential by any means, but if you’re a
Sun Ra fan, this little artifact is definitely worth seeking out—and holding onto.
MARCH 6, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra Arkestra with Wilbur Ware: House of Ra, Philadelphia, PA 1973 (CDR)
In 1987, Columbia University's WKCR-FM embarked on a “Sun Ra Festival,” broadcasting 116
straight hours of music and interviews with members of the Arkestra, including the man himself,
who brought with him several never-before-heard recordings for the occasion. A tape of thisbroadcast circulates widely amongst collectors and contains a wealth of interesting material,
including this twelve-and-a-half minute piece recorded at The House of Ra in 1973 with bassist,Wilbur Ware. Born in 1923, Ware had worked with Sonny briefly back in Chicago and can be heard
on one of Ra’s earliest known recordings as a leader (see Campbell & Trent p.43). Ware was well202

regarded for his bebop skills, playing with folks like Stuff Smith, Sonny Stitt, Roy Eldridge and Art
Blakey but he was probably best known for his work with Thelonious Monk in the late-1950s. By
1973, however, his career was at a standstill due to a combination of health issues and drug abuseand he had relocated to Philaldephia, where he hooked up with the Arkestra for this impromptu
jam. “It’s quite different, you know, to hear him play what you might call avant-garde,” Sonny
remarks during the interview. “It sounds very nice.”
Actually, it’s more than just a jam and while it would appear that Ware is leading the way, it isactually Sun Ra who guides the Arkestra through the improvisation, cueing entrances and exits andvarious changes in feel in his own inimitable way. Despite Ware's personal difficulties during thistime, he sounds great here, playing with supreme confidence and big-eared sensitivity, exploring theentire compass of the instrument and even pulling out the bow for a short interlude. Rarely do alleight musicians play at the same time, giving this piece an austere, modern chamber music quality
while Ra moves from slippery synthesizer to a wobbly, wah-wah organ, emphasizing a rising
portamento which is echoed by the bass throughout. Soloists include John Gilmore, who introduces
a long-breathed melody and multiphonic variations on tenor saxophone; blurry trumpet from Akh
Tal Ebah (later joined by Marshall Allen and Danny Davis on alto saxophones); and Eloe Omoe onbass clarinet. Sometimes the horns drop out altogether, leaving Ware to duet with Sun Ra’s
keyboards; at other times they engage in fleeting bouts of group improv. Drummer Lex Humphries
makes only a brief appearance mid-way through only to conclude the piece with a solo of his own.
Amazingly, Ware keeps things going with strong yet supple support, no matter what’s going onaround him.
It’s tempting to speculate this was a sort of audition for Ware, since the bass chair was often empty
due to the comings and goings of the brilliant Ronnie Boykins (who would leave the band for good
after 1974). From the evidence, it seems like Ware would have been a good fit for the Arkestra.
Although he was rooted in the language of bop, Ware was obviously a good listener. As Sonny
points out in his interview, the ability to listen is the most valuable skill a musician can possess andkey part of his cosmo-philosophy:
Every band has something to say. The good part about it is that you have men together, who are not in the army todestroy people, they—it’s something to have men working together for beauty, and for precision and discipline. It’s
wonderful. It’s the most wonderful thing about the planet that you do have men who are in the armed forces—who
have to be in there—but you have some more who are doing some other things that’s not destructive, with unificationand discipline. Because they have to be disciplined to play music. If they’re in a band, they got to listen to somebody andthat’s what all men ought to learn, that they need to listen to somebody. Because you take the basketball players, they
got to listen. Prizefighters got to listen. Actors got to listen to a director. So I would say every individual person needs
to listen to somebody because successful people are those who listen to somebody and do as they’re told. Or try to.
Sadly, Ware withdrew from the music scene altogether and died of emphysema in 1979. This tapepresents an opportunity to hear this underappreciated musician in an unusual context and, for thatreason alone, is worth checking out. (Photo of Wilbur Ware by Francis Wolff/Blue Note Records.)

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[Note: This session was later released on Transparency CD 0309, Untitled Recordings--Sam 2016]
MAY 1, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Out Beyond The Kingdom Of (Saturn 61674 LP)
By 1974, the Impulse! deal was starting to bear fruit, with almost a dozen LPs coming out during thecourse of the year, including several reissues from the old Saturn catalog. In addition, the Saturnlabel had been resurrected and new releases were being pressed in tiny editions for sale at gigs and atselect 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 theFête de l’Humanité fiasco in September 1973, where Sun Ra’s music quelled a near riot and allowed
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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 andprohibited them from performing—as musicians. The Actors Union interceded and the shows wenton 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 [in1985]” (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.), theUniversity of Mexico, and in front of the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacán. The Arkestra also
appeared on TV in Mexico City onSiempre en Domingo, “a variety show rather like Ed Sullivan’s”(Campbell & Trent, p.206). According to Francisco “Ali” Mora, a Mexican drummer who joined theband 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 wasrecorded, possibly by the college itself (the sound quality is remarkably good). Portions werecompiled 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 oldstandards (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 lifeand humor to the old-fashioned rhythms of “(Keep Your) Sunnyside Up.” Good stuff!—and aharbinger of things to come: a mini-set of jazz standards would increasingly become a fixture of theArkestra’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 ahistorical 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 andBoykins 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,” whensome spooky organ chords fade up and fade down.
For me, Out Beyond The Kingdom Of is a half-great album, with side one being of particularinterest to Rafficianadoes. Unfortunately, it is way out of print and the “needle-drop” which
circulates is a less-than-perfect transfer (though I’m certainly glad to have it). I wonder if other tapes
from this concert exist? If so, it would be a good candidate for an expanded CD edition (see below).
In any event, it deserves an official release, despite my antipathy to side two.
+++205

Prof. Campbell describes two different audience recordings made at this concert. One is ninety-fiveminutes long and contains most of the first set and the end of the second. The other tape is
purported to be over a hundred minutes long and more complete (see pp.206-209). I have a copy of“Tape 1,” and it’s a typical bootleg and suffers from the usual sonic defects: veils of hiss, a boomy
and distant acoustic, plenty of extraneous noise and distortion, etc. Nevertheless, it’s not completely
unlistenable and contains some interesting music. Any opportunity to hear the Boykins/Jarvis
rhythm section is worth the effort.
After the brief opening improvisation and a series of space chants, “Tapestry From An Asteroid”
sets the stage for a full-scale freak-out from the Arkestra, culminating in an outrageous alto sax solofrom Marshall Allen. Despite the clouded sound, this is still very impressive. A strutting “Discipline
27” is marred by a typically overlong drum solo from Jarvis, made worse by the noise and distortion
on the tape. Ugh. With that out of the way, Boykins then picks up the bow for a beautiful
unaccompanied solo joined later by Ra on Rocksichord before moving into a long, spacey
synthesizer outing. Sadly, as the texture thickens and the Arkestra joins in, the wretched soundquality almost completely obscures the details of what’s going on. Well, the audience liked it andthey offer a nice round of applause before the band launches into “Enlightenment.” It’s the usual
thing, but with Allen’s flute counter-melodies coming through sharp and clear for a change. The
percussion barrage of “Love In Outer Space” is reduced to a dull roar on the tape, with Sonny’s
metallic organ comping occasionally peeking through the din. It’s tough going, but when Kwame
Hadi comes in just at the right time with the aching, long-toned melody, it almost makes it worth thewhile. Almost.
The tape then picks up in the middle of “The Satellites Are Spinning,” June Tyson with her all-malechorus soulfully singing it and Boykins laying down some heavy-duty bass riffs. Ra then interjects
some “mad-scientist” keyboard inventions before they venture off into “The Shadow World.” It’s afractured, abstract version: the insistent ostinato is only hinted at while the full ensemble sections are
not actually stated. Instead, John Gilmore erupts into a ferocious tenor sax solo as if he’d been
waiting all night for this moment. He is ready to play! Yes, ladies and gentlemen: it’s anotherincredible Gilmore solo! Too bad the sound is so funky. Then Danny Davis does his thing on the
Neptunian Lipflecto and it gets a big rise out of the audience. Just as Hadi starts to play, the tapecuts off. Then we pick up with “Angels And Demons At Play,” which, like “Love In Outer Space,”
suffers from exceptionally bad sound. Finally, we have “How Am I To Know” and “(Keep Your)
Sunnyside Up” as heard on Out Beyond The Kingdom Of (but in significantly worse soundquality).
I have a second disc which supposedly contains part two of “Tape 1,” but since it consists ofoverlapping music recorded from different (inferior) source, I am confused. Is this part of “Tape 2”
or is it something else? Whatever it is, it sounds atrocious, like the microphone was stuffed down therecordist’s pants. We get “How Am I To Know” and “(Keep Your) Sunnyside Up” again, only thisone is more complete with solos from Hadi, Pat Patrick on baritone sax, Ra on piano and Boykins
arco before the reprise of “Sunnyside.” Or at least I think that’s what’s happening; it’s kind of hard
to tell. An unidentified title has all the earmarks of a “Discipline” number: densely arranged horn
figures in sweet and sour harmony over interlocking bass and baritone sax riffs. Very interesting—yet another lost Ra composition (and a nice flugelhorn solo from Ebah)—too bad the recording
sucks. “Sun Ra And His Band From Outer Space” ends the tape (and the set) with a thud.
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I can’t really recommend these bootleg recordings to anyone except the most obsessed Sun Ra
fanatic. There is some fascinating music here, but it only makes me want to hear an expanded,
remastered Out Beyond The Kingdom Of. Here’s hoping those tapes still exist and some intrepid
label will make it happen.
Sam said...
One thing that really struck me again on reading this: Sun Ra was already 60 by 1973, and still had 20
years of playing ahead of him! What an amazing accomplishment. Life certainly wasn't over at 40 forhim! Nice write-up, as always. I'm with you on the side 1 vs. side 2 thing, but it is helpful to look at itin context, as you point out.
paul w. said...
hi rodger, i've just read your very interesting opinions and review of "out beyond the kingdom of...".
let me give you my opinion on this record. i like most of sun ra recordings very much, especially themost avant-garde/free-jazz pieces. i have all or almost all of the officially released records. and i'msorry but i don't like "out beyond" at all... my opinion on it is so bad that i excluded this record frommy sun ra collection and i put it into other house where i keep obsolete things. i have several reasonsfor it - the music isn't interested from my point of view, the sound on the LP is very so-so, i can't
find even the interesting free solo parts and sun ra is almost inaudible for the part of the LP. i thinkthat about 150 sun ra official records are much better than this one. keep your sun ra sundays alive,
they are great. it was after reading your opinions on sun ra bootlegs from the red garter 1970-07, j.p.
widney los angeles 1971-06-12 and stockholm 1971-10-12 that i started looking for them and finally
got them all. thanks. best regards. paul w.

207

MAY 29, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Myth Science Solar Arkestra: The Antique Blacks (Saturn/Art Yard CD)
On August 9, 1974, Richard M. Nixon resigned as President of the United States. I imagine thisextraordinary event was on Sun Ra’s mind when, a week later, he assembled a small Arkestra for alive radio broadcast atTemple University in Philadelphia on August 17 [FN1]. While not making any
direct references to Nixon, Ra took the opportunity to sermonize at length and he felt strongly
enough about the performance to edit the recording for an LP entitled, The Antique Blacks, releasedon his own Saturn label later in the year (Saturn 81774). Ra clearly felt he had to get his message out.
In actuality, this record was pressed in vanishingly small editions, sometimes re-titled, Interplanetary
Concepts or There Is A Change In The Air and with various covers, including a generic “Acropolis”
sleeve (see Campbell & Trent, pp.212-213). Like the mystical texts in his personal library, The
Antique Blacks was probably made available to only initiates or persons Ra felt could decode his
deeper, spiritual meanings. The ever-resourceful Art Yard label has reissued the album on CD with abonus track recorded at the same session—but beware: Ra’s philosophizing is as inscrutable as ever,making this a strange and difficult listen for the casual fan. Keep in mind: it was a different era.
The record starts out easy enough with “Song No.1,” a gently rollicking space groove propelled byburbling percussion (including Clifford Jarvis on trap drums and Atakatune on congas) and Sonny’s
reedy Rocksichord comping. This is one of my favorite “genres” of Sun Ra’s music (think “Love In
Outer Space”) and this is particularly fine example. John Gilmore is up first with a terse but
beautifully melodic tenor sax solo: starting with burnished low-register figures and then flying into
the highest registers, he gracefully returns to earth with a variation on the theme he’dextemporaneously established. Yes, it’s another brilliant Gilmore solo! Ra is up next and then—what’s this?—who’s playing the screaming electric guitar? That’s a good question. The liner notes to
the Art Yard CD say it’s the mysterious “Sly” while Campbell & Trent insist it’s a 15-year-old Dale
Williams (p.313). Whoever it is plays with a rocked-out, psychedelicized abandon which works wellenough in this setting, despite a severe intonation problem. Then Akh Tal Ebah enters with one ofhis smeared, expressionistic trumpet solos. Kwame Hadi is absent at this session, giving Ebah a rare208

opportunity to stretch out. While Ebah doesn’t hit every note with refined precision (like Hadi), his
melodic ideas are unique and interesting. Gilmore enters with a tasteful counter-melody and, aftersome more buzzy comping from Ra, the “Song No.1” comes to an end. Very nice.
Much of the rest of the album appears to be taken from a long, continuous piece, but chopped up
and re-arranged for release. Ra outlines a simple ascending bassline in waltz-time then pauses tomake his declamations, the Arkestra periodically entering with pulsating space chords, ensemble
freakouts or out-jazz solos. Gilmore is joined by Marshall Allen and Davis for a full-blown
saxophone battle on “There Is a Change in the Air” and Williams/Sly sounds a little like Sonny
Sharrock with his gonzo, metallic attack. On “The Ridiculous ‘I’ and the Cosmos Me,” Gilmore
delivers one of his trademarked a cappella blowouts and James Jacson takes a positively ripping soloon the otherwise unwieldy bassoon. For the most part, Ra sticks to Rocksichording incongruous
harmonies and skittering runs, except at the end where we get some spaceship synthesizer. But, mostof the time, Sonny is preaching it, hot and heavy.
So, what is he on about? “There is a change in the air!” (Nixon has resigned!) “Do you not hear theheavy silence there?” Then he warns: “Some people are on the right road, but they’re going in thewrong direction. They need to turn around. The arrow points to pointlessness.” And it goes on fromthere with exhortations to “The Antique Blacks” (“they belong to me!”); a disquisition on “so-called
equality”; the summoning of “dark spirit” Lucifer; and, of course, an invitation to join him in outerspace. It might be interesting to transcribe the declamations and do some sort of exegesis, but I’mafraid I’m not the man for the job. And it is also tempting to dismiss this stuff as the rantings of acrank and accuse him of blatant charlatanism. But that would be unfair—and completely miss thepoint (whatever it is). Sun Ra is speaking in code and I lack the esoteric knowledge required todecipher his true meaning—or call his bluff. As a white guy in the year 2011, I also suspect I am not
the intended audience for his message, who might have taken false hope in Nixon’s ignoble
departure in the summer of 1974. Indeed, he makes it clear that while “There is a change in the air,”
it is not necessarily for the better.
Thankfully, all this heaviness is leavened by a bit of frivolity: “This Song Is Dedicated To Nature’sGod” is joyous and bouncy, a major-key singalong, with everyone chanting the title again and again
over burbling percussion and herky-jerky Rocksichord. It’s a fun little number, although the guitar is
woefully out of tune and whoever is playing seems to be struggling with the irregularly repeating
chord progression. The album concludes with small-group arrangement of “Space Is The Place,”with Jarvis whipping up a swinging groove on his reduced kit and Ebah doing his “soul-man” thing.
June Tyson is regrettably absent, but it does sound like a female vocalist is scatting away in the
background—who is it? One of the bandmembers singing falsetto? I suppose it’s possible. In any
event, the record ends on a high note with band exclaiming, “Sun Ra and his Band from Outer
Space have entertained you here!”
Art Yard adds a bonus track, “You Thought You Could Build A World Without Us,” another longdeclamation with instrumental punctuation, but with Sonny playing synthesizer in “mad scientist”
mode. Campbell & Trent list this ten-minute track separately as it was unheard until broadcast on
WKCR’s Sun Ra festival in 1987 and they suggest it was material cut from the Space Is The Placemovie, which was still unfinished in the summer of ‘74 (see p.209). The Art Yard CD states it wasrecorded on August 17 and while the sound quality is reduced, it is almost certainly from the samesession. The reverb-drenched electric guitar meshes well with squiggly synthesizer and Ra is at his
most messianic: “If you refuse to recognize me, I refuse to recognize you!...I am The Magic Lie!
209

Greater than your truth!” Meanwhile, the Arkestra titters in the background and spare horns andominous percussion ebb and flow while Ra continuously demonstrates his mastery of the
MiniMoog, keeping things interesting and intense, even as he’s sermonizing away at the microphone.
It’s an interesting track and fits in perfectly with the rest of the album.
Ultimately, The Antique Blacks is a difficult album for me to fully appreciate. I don’t enjoy being
preached at, even if it’s Sun Ra up in the pulpit. At the same time, I cannot dismiss this stuff out ofhand. Ra’s philosophy (such as it is) may be shrouded in hokum and showbiz and fail to cohere intoa plausible cosmology, but it is interesting to note how well it served him. Herman "Sonny" Blount
conjured up an elaborate persona, Sun Ra, and lived it—fully and completely—to the end of a long
life, surrounded by a core of musicians who were as devoted to him as the followers of any guru. So
it obviously worked—for him. The Antique Blacks is prime source material regarding Sun Ra’s psyche
but it is musically less than completely satisfying. That said, the eight-minute “Song No.1,” is one of
Sun Ra’s most delightful “space grooves” ever and makes this essential for the truly obsessed fan. As
usual with Art Yard, the sound quality and packaging is first rate so if you want this, rest assured you
get your money’s worth (and some of that money goes to the surviving Arkestra). But I wouldn’t
recommend The Antique Blacks to novices.
+++[FN1]: The location for this recording is highly speculative, based on the teenage recollection ofDale Williams (Id. p.213). It certainly sounds like a studio recording, but it lacks the ambience ofVariety Recorders in New York, Sonny's usual choice. Considering the impromptu feel of theproceedings, a college radio station seems a likely venue. But who knows? No tapes of the broadcast
have surfaced (if indeed it even occurred). Another discographical mystery.
Sam said...
Great description, as always! This certainly is a strange album, but it's not like we shouldn't havebeen prepared for it...there are plenty of earlier live declamations that are just as bitter (and directed
towards a primarily black audience). There's also precedent for the vocal/band call-and-response
exhortations in pieces like "The Bridge." I may be off base, but I think you may be reading too
much into the Nixon resignation angle. The high point for me, too, is "Song No. 1," but the rest of
the album hangs together in a way that a lot of the live exhortations don't...maybe it's just because
here there's a better balance between the band's wailing and the preaching. Also, I love how theguitar fits in this so well! Over the years, Ra used guitar more frequently than usually comes to mind,
and this may be the best instance of Hendrix/funk-derived guitar in his recorded output.
Rodger Coleman said...
Sam -- Well, yes, the Nixon thing is overstated, but I struggled with this one and sort of "hung myhat" on that hook. Your comments are, as usual, very perceptive. I agree this is much morecompelling than many of the live rants/routines and needs to be considered apart from all thebootleg stuff. It's still a weird, uncomfortable album.
7:06 PM210

JULY 10, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

You know what would be really cool? Sun Ra Arkestra Action Figures! I can just picture it: Sonny
with a miniature Rocksichord, Allen, Davis and Gilmore with their saxophones and flutes. Collectthe whole series! Hadi and Ebah! Pat Patrick, Boykins and Jarvis! Wind him up and he plays a thirtyminute drum solo! They could have an interchangeable wardrobe of space-hats , capes, and spaceboots. Maybe they could even ride in a toy spaceship; press a button, June Tyson sings “Space Is
The Place.” I think it would be awesome! Imagine an alternate universe where Space Is The Placeis the smash hit movie of 1974, spawning a hugely popular Saturday morning cartoon show andgenerating all kinds of merchandise tie-ins, such as Sun Ra Arkestra Action Figures. Wouldn’t thathave been cool alternate universe to live in?
Yeah, OK, I’m dancing in place here and I know it. It has been pointed out to me that I skipped an
item in my chronological survey and, well, it’s gotten me slightly discombobulated. It just goes toshow: I am no expert on this stuff! As it turns out, this particular album does not appear inCampbell & Trent’s discography (which badly needs a 3rd edition) and, despite my best efforts toorganize my collection of Sun Ra recordings, I had completely forgotten about it. Obviously, myorganization skills leave something to be desired. So it goes... Sun Ra’s recorded output is truly
massive (and seemingly ever-expanding)—which is the very reason I startedSun Ra Sunday: to listen
carefully and try to sort it all out in my mind. Not an easy task—and since nobody is paying me todo this, it’s going to take some time.
So please be patient dear readers. We’ll hopefully catch up next week and then keep moving
forward, incrementally. In the meantime, here’s a little poem about alternate universes where Sun Ra
Arkestra Action Figures are possible:
PARALLELS
If it is not here,
It must be there:
For somewhere and nowhere parallels
In secret versions of each other’s where
Or even before somethings came to be. --Sun Ra (1980)

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JULY 17, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Arkestra: At the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival in Exile 1974:
It Is Forbidden (Alive!/Total Energy CD)
The Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival had enjoyed increasing commercial success in its first three
years and promoter John Sinclair made sure to prominently feature Sun Ra’s Arkestra ever since
their triumphant appearances in 1972 and 1973. So, by all appearances, 1974 was looking to be moreof the same—only better—with a lineup including such heavyweights as B.B. King, John Lee
Hooker, Cecil Taylor (!) along with the Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown, headlining theevent. Ra’s Impulse! albums had started hitting the stores earlier in the year, garnering favorablepress. Moreover, there were plans for a sixteen-track recording and a film documentary of thefestival; this was going to be a big opportunity for the band.
However, it was not to be. A mere six weeks before opening night, the Ann Arbor City Council
denied Sinclair’s Rainbow Multimedia organization the requisite permit, citing their failure to clean
up the festival site in 1973. Sinclair admits: “The clean-up problem was troubling” (liner notes). The
crew had effectively gone on strike after the payroll money disappeared in a “multi-ton marijuanadeal that, unhappily for all, failed to come off” (Id.). But there was more to it than that: politicalmachinations were actively seeking to undermine his plans. Sinclair’s Rainbow People’s Party, itself
an outgrowth of the notorious White Panthers, was splintering into competing factions and its
influence (modest as it was) had precipitously declined in the municipal power struggle. “The
Establishment” was fighting back against the hippies and, as a result, the 1974 Blues & Jazz Festival
was simply not going to be allowed to happen—at least not in Ann Arbor.
“It Is Forbidden,” the City of Ann Arbor ruled in July, and pandemonium reigned for several days until the festivalorganizers were invited to bring the banned event across the Detroit River and into the lovely outdoor amphitheater at
St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario … Canada. Radio powerhouse CKLW-AM agreed to serve as sponsor of the212event, pledging lots of free ad spots, and the Canadians waxed enthusiastic in their professions of support for theorphaned music festival (Id.).
Not surprisingly, it was a bust—literally. Ticket sales were thin while crowds of would-be festival
goers were turned back at the “fiercely guarded border”(Id.)—including Sinclair himself, who wasdetained while escorting the Arkestra through Canadian customs. Ultimately, he was deported on
the basis of his 1969 marijuana conviction (also the subject of John Lennon’s eponymous song,which really didn't help things). “This marked a major turning point in my life,” according to
Sinclair:
I went back to my room in the Shelby Hotel Friday afternoon and watched myself talk to a television news reporter
who had covered the impromptu deportation proceedings. As I witnessed the farthest-out group of characters I had everseen in America being allowed entry into Canada while I was turned back as “too far out,” I was struck hard withthe realization that I my public persona as dope fiend, ex-convict and virulent revolutionary agitator had now cut me
off from the participating in the most important event in my career as a music promoter (Id.).
Needless to say, the festival lost untold amounts of money and the planned record and feature film
never materialized when the master tapes were “quite reasonably withheld” by their recordists after
payment was not forthcoming (Id.). Sadly, these tapes seem to have disappeared for good.
Nevertheless, Sun Ra’s sixty-four minute set on Friday, September 6, was preserved on a cassettetape recorded from the soundboard and was released on Sinclair’s Alive!/Total Energy label as Sun
Ra & His Intergalactic Arkestra at the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival in Exile 1974: It Is
Forbidden (NER 3029-2) in 2001. Accustomed, perhaps, to their sub-underground status, Sonny
and the band were not dissuaded by the small crowd or the tense backstage atmosphere and delivera typically committed performance while they “visualized their paychecks floating off into thedarkening gloom” (Id.).
The opening improvisation is particularly intense, with pummeling percussion, pealing trumpets,
skronky blasts of saxophone and Nepunian libflecto—and some crazed, psycho-delic guitar from
Dave Williams, whose nastily distorted, wah-wah-infused tone brings to mind the sort of dark,
metallic funk Miles Davis was brewing up with Pete Cosey during this period. Wild! After about
thirteen minutes, the strutting baritone sax riffs of “Discipline 27” emerge from the chaos. But whilebassist, Reginald “Shoo-Be-Doo” Fields, tries his best to hold down the odd-metered groove,
Clifford Jarvis is his usual hyperactive self, overplaying the drums and nearly derailing the tune. Oh
well; with no one quite able to navigate an effective solo, they quickly give way to one of Sun Ra’s
jaw-droppingly awesome “mad scientist” synthesizer and organ displays. A throbbing space chord
yields more group improvisation (led by Hadi’s trumpet) before Sonny signals “Love In Outer
Space” and it’s the usual, groovy thing, but marred by a wonky, drum-heavy mix. Still, it’s a pleasantromp. After a brief, spooky organ intro, the band launches into “The Shadow World” at maximum
velocity, yet they perfectly execute the tricky, interlocking melodies—even as the rhythm section
suddenly drops out. Wow!Then Gilmore takes over with a fearsome tenor sax solo, accompanied bychattering electronics and bashing drums, followed by Hadi’s high-wire acrobatics and a brief arco
segment from Fields, all of which receives a round a polite applause from the intrepid crowd.
Ra abruptly changes gears, cueing up the chanting and carrying on of “Space Is The Place.” By now,
Jarvis is tremendously overexcited, just chomping at the bit; but Sonny keeps him on a short leash.
As June Tyson exclaims, “The Second Stop Is Jupiter!,” all hell breaks loose, with one of the Space213

Ethnic Vocalists (either Judith Holton or Cheryl Banks) doing her terrifying, Yoko-styled shrieking.
Yikes! Even so, Jarvis is denied his usual overlong drum solo as the heaving chords of “Discipline
27-II” set the stage for Ra’s rhetorical question: “What Planet Is This?” Fortunately, thedeclamations last only a few minutes before he moves to acoustic piano for a lovely rendition of“Images,” Fields and Jarvis locking into the jaunty, slightly old-fashioned rhythms and the Arkestra
delivering a full-throated rendition of the tune. Excellent! Ebah finally gets an extended turn at themic, his mellow, slightly smeared sound a nice contrast to Hadi’s forthright virtuosity. Gilmore
follows, picking up on Ebah’s staggered phrasing and gradually builds up to a thrilling climax of
impossibly fast runs, multiphonic glossolalia, and heart-stopping altissimo squealing. Yes, folks, it’sanother mind-blowingly incredible John Gilmore solo! Truly, what more (or less) can I say? Just
stunning.
Then the Arkestra premieres a new composition, “It Is Forbidden,” possibly written in honor of thedoomed festival (and likely never performed again, that is until its posthumous resurrection in 1996
(Campbell & Trent, p.763)). As Ra pounds out a repetitive diatonic chord sequence, the band
gleefully sings their heads off: “It is forbidden, it’s strictly forbidden to touch on the tree of theknowledge of the good and evil!” It’s tempting to hear this as a gentle rebuke to Sinclair and his
muddle-headed politics, but I could just be projecting. “Watusi” follows and Jarvis is finally given his
opportunity to wail, though tempered by myriad other percussionists and the spectacle of dancers.
And again, Sonny keeps things short, calling for the reprise of the head after only a few minutes.
“Sun Ra And His Band From Outer Space” happily concludes the set with a quick chant and someouter spaceship synthesizer noise. What few people who were able to attend the ill-fated festival
certainly sound appreciative; they erupt into loud cheering and clapping after it is all over. Or
perhaps they were just excited about James Brown.
This was the last Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival for twenty years, until the City Council finallyrelented and the festival was reborn in 1992—and without Sinclair’s involvement. With hisorganization in tatters at the end of 1974, Sinclair abandoned political activism and artist
management for “less grueling pursuits,” such as journalism, poetry and grant writing (Id.).
Undoubtedly, Sonny lamented the loss of a rare high-profile performance opportunity here in North
America, but, in the end, it was just another gig. Two nights later, the Arkestra appeared at the Jazz
Showcase in Chicago on September 8, 1974, playing a very different sort of set.
It Is Forbidden is perhaps the most musically satisfying of the three CDs released on Sinclair’s
Alive/Total Energy label and, seeing as they are all now out of print, it is the one most worth
seeking out, in my opinion. The sound quality is decent and the performance, while somewhat
truncated, is mostly first-rate. Heck, “Images” alone makes this one worth the cost of admission!
But it should be noted that all three feature extensive (if self-congratulatory) liner notes from Sinclair
and wonderful photographs of the concerts by his wife, Leni; so, all are well worth having as ahistorical document. But this is the one I’m more likely to pull off the shelf. My only quibble is theircontinued failure to index any of the titles on the disc, requiring an hour-long commitment from thelistener. Well, maybe that’s the way it should be heard: with commitment, with Ra-like discipline, as
it happened in real time. Highly recommended.

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JUNE 12, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Sub-Underground (Saturn LP>CDR)
The appropriately titled Sub-Underground (also known as Cosmo-Earth Fantasy and Temple U.) is anothersuper-rare artifact, badly in need of upgrade and reissue. Originally released as Saturn 92074 in late1974, Prof. Campbell posits side one was recorded at Variety Recorders in New York City sometimein September while side two was recorded live at Temple University in Philadelphia, possibly on
September 20 (Campbell & Trent p.214-215). Yet, as usual with Sun Ra, there is much confusion
and uncertainty regarding the details of this recording and, after careful listening, I’m not sure I
agree with our discographer in all respects. Unfortunately, the sound quality is somewhat murky andmy less-than-perfect transfer of the original LP does not help to clarify much. Despite (or perhaps
because of) its difficulties, Sub-Underground a fascinating record.
Side one is taken up with “Cosmo-Earth Fantasy,” an epic, twenty-two minute improvisation,
obviously recorded in the studio. It begins with Arkestra scrubbing, scraping and plucking a varietyof zithers, harps, guitars and other “Strange Strings” while Ra strums the interior of a piano. I love it!
Enervated bass octaves come and go. Is this electric bass? (Prof. Campbell thinks so.) Or is it Ra onsome sort of keyboard? Maybe—it’s hard to tell. Anyway, the spacey exotica goes on for about
seven minutes before Ra fingers an ominous chord sequence on Clavinet, signaling Marshall Allen topick up the oboe and echo Ra’s insistently repeated figures. Sonny continues to hold down a pedal
point and outline upper-register harmonies while Allen keenly elaborates on the simple theme. Just
lovely. Then the oboe drops out and there’s more “bass,” with what sounds like a melodica wheezingaround the corner. At the half-way mark, a high-pitched marimba (Ra?) starts clattering away,
Chinese-style, eventually joined by Allen on flute. Then the texture starts to thicken (possibly
through the use of overdubbing) as multiple flutes, “bass,” Clavinet and percussion build up a spiky,
Messiaenic din. Wild! After some slow, held chords, the piece comes to a definite, satisfying
conclusion. Prof. Campbell lists additional instrumentalists, including John Gilmore on tenor sax,
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Eloe Omoe on bass clarinet and (possibly) Dale Williams on guitar (Id.), but I just don’t hear themon this track. Regardless, “Cosmo-Earth Fantasy” is a classic.
Side two begins with “Love Is For Always,” another impossibly romantic piano ballad featuring
Gilmore’s creamy and delicious tenor saxophone—yes, it’s another incredible Gilmore solo! This
beautiful Ra composition was, apparently, only performed one time. What a shame! The distant andboomy drums indicate it was indeed recorded live, although, curiously, any applause has been deftlyedited from the end of the track. “The Song of The Drums” shares the same reverberant acoustic,
and the eponymous drums are almost impossible to hear. Eddie Thomas [Thomas Thaddeus]
vocalizes in an absurdly eccentric patois, later joined by another male vocalist (possibly Akh Tal
Ebah—but it doesn’t really sound like him) while Ra alternates between bright, major-key comping
and ominous Morse code messaging on Rocksichord. It’s sort of interesting, but ends inconclusively.
Finally, the album concludes with “The World Of Africa,” which sounds to me like it was recorded
in studio (possibly at the same session as “Cosmo-Earth Fantasy”), with its comparatively clear anddry ambience (but who knows?). June Tyson and Cheryl Banks wordlessly intone a repeating melody
over a two-chord Clavinet vamp and percussion and while the hypnotic 6/8 groove is suitably
enchanting, it fades out after only a few minutes, breaking the spell too soon. Oh well.
Sub-Underground is a weird and wonderful record. Certainly, “Cosmo Earth Fantasy” is one of thegreat long-form improvs, notable for its unusual instrumentation and “Love Is For Always” is also
beautiful and unique. While the other tracks are perhaps less essential, they are interesting vocal
experiments well worth hearing. Let’s hope Art Yard or some other intrepid label will rescue SubUnderground from its willful obscurity.
Sam said...
It will be interesting when you get to "Song of the Stargazers." "The Song of the Drums" has someaffinity with a couple of the minor percussion-oriented pieces there, in mood and ambiance. I findthis track to be one of the less-interesting Ra album cuts out there--it's atypical, yes, but in this case,to me, its atypicality (is that even a word?) makes it sound dated. "The World of Afica" is a sweet
melody that shows up in some live shows in the late '70s--it's very appealing, but it doesn't really go
anywhere--not that music has to go anywhere, really, but if the destination is out, then having adestination implies a direction...on the other hand, I love static pieces like "Strange Strings" and"Mu" or "Lemuria" on "Atlantis" that also don't go anywhere, so...basically, I don't know what I'm
talking about. At any rate, "Cosmo" and "Love" more than make up for the slight, grab-bag feel ofthe rest of side 2.

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JANUARY 13, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Astro Infinity Arkestra: Cosmo Earth Fantasy: Sub Underground Series Vol. 12 (Saturn/Art Yard CD)
Just when I thought the Art Yard label was defunct, with no new releases in over a year and sometitles quietly going out of print, here they are with a new Sun Ra disc, Cosmo Earth Fantasy: Sub
Underground Series Vols.1-2. This one gathers together various tracks that were scattered across a
couple of different Saturn LPs, including Sub Underground and What’s New? (and some versionsof The Invisible Shield). None of this material (recorded from 1962-1975) has ever been officiallyreleased on CD, making this Art Yard edition a most welcome release. Hooray!
Detailed liner notes by Paul Griffiths attempt to clear up some of the considerable discographicalconfusion surrounding this music. The original reel-to-reel tape of “Cosmo Earth Fantasy” wasrecovered in 2011 and while information on the label is “scant,” Griffiths points out that two
handwritten words appear: “strings bandura.” Indeed, the opening portion of this epic, 22-minutetrack has a distinct “Strange Strings” sound, making the previously assumed date of 1974 highly
unlikely. Given that most of the exotic stringed instruments were destroyed in an automobile
accident in 1969 and the “Space Harp” (bandura) was given away in 1971, Griffiths posits “Cosmo
Earth Fantasy” was “likely…recorded in 1967 or possibly early 1968, before the Arkestra moved
from to Philadelphia.” I agree.
Sadly, the tapes from the Temple University concert on September 20, 1974 are apparently still
missing, so “Love is for Always” and “The Song of Drums” (and, I believe, the rest of the CD) aretaken from clean LP pressings and digitally restored. Griffiths points out that “The World of Africa”
is “clearly not from the same concert…and takes us back to 1968 when vocalist June Tyson firstjoined the band.” Again, I think he is correct. Of course, the What’s New? material is from themagical Choreographer’s Workshop period, circa.1962—the stuff that made me start Sun Ra Sunday
to begin with—so it’s wonderful to have this stuff in such good quality on an “official” release.
Finally, the concluding “Space Is the Place>We Roam the Cosmos” remains a mystery, although theliner notes suggest a possible recording date of May 23, 1975 at an unknown venue. It’s anothershouty, distorted “cosmo drama,” so who really cares where it’s from? Ha ha—just kidding (sort of).
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This new Art Yard disc has reignited my enthusiasm for Sun Ra’s music, collecting as it does some
impossibly rare stuff, much of it absolutely essential and previously only available (to me) as dodgy“needle-drops.” But there’s still so much more still left in obscurity! What happened with Atavistic?
John Corbett’s “Unheard Music Series” resurrected a bunch of primo Sun Ra titles and promised an
expanded reissue ofContinuation back in like 2007 or something. That is one of the all-time great
Sun Ra records and needs to come out! Come on! Give it to Art Yard if you have to, but let’s go!
Ahem. Please excuse my enthusiasm. Look for more Sun Ra Sunday next week.
JUNE 26, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Jazz Showcase, Chicago, IL 9-08-74 (AUD CDR)
The Arkestra was apparently quite active in the fall of 1974, including a two-week stand at the “new”
Five Spot in New York. Four-hour sets were the norm and, according to witnesses, “the band books
carried by the musicians were thick as two phone books; except for a few numbers like ‘Watusi,’
many otherwise unknown compositions were played along with some 1950s pieces and few wererepeated” (Campbell & Trent p.215). Sadly, there are no known tapes from this legendary
engagement. However, we do have this sixty-minute audience recording from Chicago’s Jazz
Showcase on September 8, which hints at the Arkestra’s expanding repertoire during this period.
The (mono) sound quality is typically awful—but it is by no means the worst sounding tape we’ve
had to suffer through during this project. Despite the obvious sonic flaws, it’s a terrific performancewell worth hearing.
“Images” dates back to 1958 and Sun Ra’s first Saturn LP, Jazz In Silhouette, and is here given an
extended reading, including a dramatic piano intro which moves from ominous rumblings toskittering dissonances before settling into the slightly old-fashioned swing rhythms and chord
changes of the piece itself. The Arkestra enters with the subtly off-center big-band arrangement, thesaxes and trumpets filled out with flutes and piccolo. Kwame Hadi solos first, but John Gilmore
steals the show with a series of increasingly expressionistic choruses, demonstrating his mastery of
both pre- and post-bop tenor stylings. Just gorgeous. Then Ra takes a weirdly “inside-out” solo before
the band returns with the oblong coda.
“Somewhere Else” is similarly structured, with another lengthy piano introduction before the bandcomes out and struts its stuff. Besides Akh Tal Ebah and Hadi, a mysterious third trumpet player
can be heard. Chicagoan Phil Cohran seems a likely candidate, but Prof. Campbell says it’s not him(Id. p.213). There’s also a bassist present—his big tone and fleet soloing almost brings to mind theinimitable Ronnie Boykins, but it’s obviously someone else, whose identity is unknown (Id.). At
almost twenty minutes, just about everyone gets a chance in the spotlight on this medium groover,including all three trumpeters, Marshall Allen and Danny Davis on alto sax, Gilmore on tenor, ourunidentified bassist (who earns a nice ovation) and, of course, Ra himself.
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“Discipline 27” is given a focused reading – with some jazzy electric guitar audible (possibly Dale
Williams). Ebah acquits himself admirably, but again, Gilmore upstages him with another incredibly
inventive and precisely articulated tenor outing. Ra moves to organ for “Outer Spaceways
Incorporated,” almost drowning out June Tyson and the Space Ethnic Voices with its electronic
roar. But he eventually drops back and the sound clears up considerably. Of course, it’s the usual
thing, if a little restrained—until Allen (or is it Davis? I have a hard time telling them apartsometimes) steps up with a blistering solo on alto sax before the reprise. Ra’s groaning organ chords
also threaten to overwhelm the delicate “Lights on a Satellite,” mostly obscuring the intricate
counterpoint of flutes, trumpets and saxophones. Regardless, you can tell the Arkestra is tight andwell-rehearsed: it’s a note-perfect performance, short and to the point; beautiful, in spite of thedreadful sound quality.
Sonny introduces “Barbizon” as an original piece he wrote “in France, near Fontainbleau, an artists’colony” and it’s another brief but elaborately orchestrated, through-composed work, devoid of any
opportunity for improvisation. The dirgey, sweet’n’sour harmonies and tense voicings remind me ofthe early “Discipline” numbers and, like those works, “Barbizon” was only sporadically performed.
That seems a shame, as it is another fascinating composition demonstrating Ra’s mastery of unusualforms and creative arrangement. Then again, the audience doesn’t quite know what to make of it. Is
this “jazz?” No—it’s something else altogether.
Ra again steps up to the microphone to introduce “The Shadow World,” offering a clue to its
meaning:
The next song is entitled, ‘Shadow World.’ To me, the Earth is a place of shadows and dreams and not the reality of
the cosmos. This ‘shadow world’ concerns the potential of humanity and not the reality, which I have to reject.
He hammers out the organ ostinato at a fast clip and the horns rip through the complexly hocketed
melodies with fearsome intensity. Hadi solos over boiling percussion but quickly drops out. Then
Gilmore takes over and—well, yes, it’s another a cappella blowout, but a particularly inspired one. Ra
attempts to steer him back to the head, but Gilmore will have nothing of it. He continues to blow
his brains out, ranging across the entire register of the horn (and beyond), capping it off with anastonishing display of multiphonic pyrotechnics. Wow!Gilmore is on fire! This elicits several
outbursts of whooping and hollering and stunned applause when he finally finishes. Not even fiveminutes long, this is probably one of the shortest performances of “The Shadow World” ever, but
boy is it ever potent! “Space Is The Place” follows, but, unfortunately, the tape cuts off after only aminute and a half. Oh well.
Aside from Gilmore’s outstanding soloing (will he ever get the credit he deserves?), what’sinteresting about this set is how tightly controlled it is. Foregoing the usual long, open
improvisations, freewheeling medleys and cosmic pageantry, the Arkestra is on a fairly short leash.
Sonny's straight-faced spoken intros are also highly unusual. Whether it was the venue’s poshambience or simply a measure of Sun Ra’s developing professionalism, these discrete performances
are taut, lean and immediately appealing. Of course, it’s quite possible the rest of the set wascompletely off the hook. But it is clear Sun Ra was continuing to refine his vision and, next time,
we’ll listen in on a lengthy rehearsal session from later in the year, which provides some insight into
his peculiarly effective working methods.
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+++
UPDATE: This was written out of order. Two nights before this gig, the Arkestra performed at the
Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival in Exile, documented on It Is Forbidden. John Sinclair identifies
the bass player as Reginald "Shooby-Doo" Fields and the guitarist is definitely Williams. I apologize
for the confusion.
JULY 31, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Dance Of The Living Image: Lost Reel Collection Vol.4 (Transparency 2CD)
In October 1974, the Arkestra traveled to California for an extended sojourn, playing gigs at the
Keystone Korner and Off Plaza in San Francisco and the One World Family Center in Berkeley,
where they moved into a rented house on Baker Street (Campbell & Trent p.215). They stayed on
the West Coast until the end of the year, performing in venues large and small, including an
impromptu small group appearance at the San Jose State University Student Union on December 9;at the cavernous Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium on December 11; and a New Year’s Eve show at theAfro-American Historical Society in San Francisco (Id. pp.215, 217). Of these known performances,
only the Santa Cruz concert is documented (in a typically grungy-sounding audience recording),
although Peter Hinds asserts that a tape exists of the New Year’s gig (Id.). However, in 2009 theTransparency label unearthed a hundred-minute rehearsal tape purportedly recorded in San
Francisco in December, 1974 and released it as Dance Of The Living Image, volume four of The
Lost Reel Collection. I say “purportedly” because, as usual with Transparency, the documentation isspotty (if not outright wrong) but I guess we have to take some things at face value while trying tocorrect errors where we can. That’s what I’m here for. Being a rehearsal, it’s not a completely
satisfying musical experience, but it gives some insight into Ra’s working methods and reveals a220surprisingly bawdy sense of humor. It also corroborates the musicians’ accounts of rigorous
rehearsals of material that was never actually played in concert.
The first disc opens with two takes of “Dance Of The Living Image,” the first a mere fragment andthe second (also incomplete) misidentified as an “unknown title.” Originally recorded in early 1970
and released on the classic album, Night Of The Purple Moon, this tune was apparently neverperformed live. That’s too bad, as it’s a groovy modal number driven by Ra’s reedy Rocksichord.
But the deceptively simple construction is actually a lot harder to play than it would seem. On thefirst track, Ra demonstrates the vamp and appropriate scales as the band sets up in the background.
But then on the second take, the arrangement keeps breaking down and you can hear Sonny
stopping to instruct the band on the tricky ostinato. Newcomer (and Bay Area resident), Damon
Choice, is on vibes (probably—see Id., p.217) and he seems to have difficulty getting the hang of it.
In fact, the band never really comes together and they eventually give it up. Too bad. The next trackis an unknown title (misidentified on the disc as “Sometimes I’m Happy”), possibly a number in the“Discipline” series. The background riffing is similar to “Discipline 27,” but embellished withadditional sax and trumpet lines and some jazzy electric guitar from Dave Williams. Another mystery.
Track four (mistitled “Astro Nation) is actually “Sometimes I’m Happy,” a hoary old standard
originally recorded in 1962-or-3 and released on The Invisible Shield, which, incidentally, had justcome out on the newly rejuvenated Saturn label. While it was performed at The Red Garter in 1970
(and perhaps elsewhere), the song didn’t become a fixture of the Arkestra’s live sets until the ‘80s.
And this is a particularly weird take on this ridiculous piece of schmaltz: the horns heave and sighwhile Williams hits a dissonant, wah-wah’d clank on the one…Then Ra gets right up to themicrophone and mumbles/croons the song in an unexpectedly woozy, almost drunken manner
while the band takes it further and further out behind him. Choice runs away on the vibes, Williams
turns up the volume and reverb, the horns’ swaying structure on the verge of collapse. Whoah!“Astro
Nation” (misidentified as an “unknown title”) is another vocal number, an odd-metered space chantprecariously set against a bumping rhumba. Despite its seeming simplicity, it requires several minutesof unsteady repetition before the band starts to gel. Despite this inauspicious beginning, the songquickly became a live staple, at least through the end of the ‘70s.
Disc one concludes with two tracks, wherein two (or three?) previously unknown titles are heard forthe first and only time. This twenty-minute sequence is really quite fascinating. Track six shows theband sight-reading a chart, Danny Ray Thompson honking out a slowly repeating bari-sax note,accompanied by off-centered guitar arpeggios. Meanwhile, the horns play a twisty, asymmetrical
melody. The sparse, lurching drumming (Jarvis?) makes the band sound twitchy and unbalanced,
though the trumpets (Hadi and Ebah) sound confident on the fanfare-like bridge. But just as it
seems they’re building up a head of steam, Sonny calls a halt (though Williams and Jarvis continue toplay around with their parts). There’s a discussion in the background about what tune they justplayed, and it sounds like Ra calls it “Opus No.” Hmm. “Let’s play the San Francisco tune,” he says.
OK. Track seven (not even listed on the disc!) picks up with the band again reading through acomplicated chart. Ra counts aloud in five and stops the band repeatedly to make corrections. The
piece sounds something like the previous track, only sped up and with more saxophones, but it’s
hard to tell what exactly is going on. After about five minutes, the tape cuts off and picks up on
some noodling and talking—until Danny Ray Thompson starts in on a snaky bari-sax riff and theband falls in behind him with what sounds like an already well-rehearsed arrangement (althoughnever performed live or on record)[UPDATE: this composition has been identified as "Sun221

Procession"--see comments for details]. It’s one of those regal, Pharaohonic themes, richly
orchestrated for saxophones, flutes and trumpets, supplemented with Ra’s tinkling electronic
keyboard—only Williams’s Superfly guitar antics seem out of place. Interestingly, nobody solos(except for maybe Ra, who never lets up) yet the composition continues to subtly evolve across its
ten-minute length before coming to a precise end. Wonderful!
Most of disc two is taken up with “Hard Hearted Hannah,” a Tin Pan Alley hit from 1924, revived
here by the Arkestra for (apparently) the first and only time. Actually, it’s more of a jam, led by Rafrom the Rocksichord, calling out the chord changes and sometimes providing some (inaudible)
instructions. Unfortunately, the twenty-two minute instrumental version never really goes anywhere
and Jarvis’s jittery drumming fails to provide a satisfactory groove (he sounds bored, frankly).
Another attempt is made, only this time with vocals, but it’s impossible to hear. Then the tape cuts
and Ra has now enlisted the entire Arkestra into singing the full lyrics about “the vamp fromSavannah, G.A.”—and he gets a big kick out of it (you can hear him cracking up in the background).
Sonny comps away while Choice does a Lionel Hampton thing on the vibes. It’s not really
happening, but you can tell they’re having fun. Tthe band can hardly believe it when Ra suggests
they play it at the gig! (I don’t think they ever did.) The tape cuts in again on more shenanigans:riotous laughter and a song about…farting! “When you eat, don’t eat too fast or you’ll make musicwith your ass—passin’ gas!” Well, it’s good to know it wasn’t always super-serious Astrometaphysics
24/7 with Ra. Hilarious!
Continuing the old-timey, pre-War vibe, Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady” follows. During thisperiod, Ra was trying to integrate historical material into the Arkestra’s repertoire, but it’s unclear
whether this particular tune had entered into the set at this point. The band sounds like they’refamiliar with the arrangement, but Sonny periodically stops to lecture them on the finer points of therhythmic feel required. Hadi takes an exquisite solo, punctuated with daring, high-register squeals,
followed by Gilmore, who is, unfortunately, way off-mic; nevertheless, it is typically brilliant. Finally,
the rehearsal concludes with something that is definitely not “Watusi,” despite what the liner notessay. Another unknown composition, the Arkestra struggles with the intricately interlocking melodies.
“Are you playing the two or the one?” Ra asks. After some indecipherable discussion, the band
tentatively starts again. The effect is hypnotic but the band sounds completely unsure of itself. Then
Gilmore and Davis trade licks while Allen plays a long-toned counter-melody on flute, offering
further possibilities—but, sadly, the tape cuts off. Oh well—there goes another lost Sun Ra
composition.
Like others in the series, Volume 4 of the Lost Reel Collection is for hardcore Sun Ra fanatics only.
Being a rehearsal, nothing here really coheres musically (with the exception of the “hidden” trackseven and the absurdly amusing “Passin’ Gas”). However, all the previously unknown titles areinteresting in their own right, even if incomplete or badly played. Well, for me, the whole thing isessential listening—if only to peek behind the veil, to hear the master at work. Good stuff.
Anonymous said...
Hi Rodger. There is one other version of this Sun Ra composition at the beginning of disc 2 of the
now out of print 2cd set 'Pleiades' on Leo records from 1990 and it bears the title 'Sun Procession'
Drummer Francisco 'Ali' Mora who played occasionally with the Arkestra during the mid '70's
referred to it in an interview as 'Procession of the Sun'. I love both versions of this piece - It's in that
great line of stately Ra compositions (Ancient Aethiopia/Mayan Temples/Eternal Sphynx) thatinvoke both lost ancient worlds and the dark immeasurable cosmos. Keep up the great work. PG
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Anonymous said...
Hi again- Just to clarify, my earlier post refers to the concluding 'hidden' track of disc 1 of 'Dance of
the Living Image' . PG
Rodger Coleman said...
@PG -- Wow! Good ears! I have "Pleaiades", but hadn't listened to it in a very long time. Dang,
that's sixteen years later! Campbell says "Pleaiades" is the only performance...that seems hard tobelieve. Something to keep my ears open for when wading through the bootlegs. I like yourdescription of the music...it's very prototypical Ra. Thanks so much for your comment!
Sam said...
Dang! I'll have to dig that out. Who knew? (well, besides PG...) This CD has really grown on me
since I first got it. I especially enjoy the run-throughs of "Dance of the Living Image." I find that, asrough as it is, I don't get tired as they go through it over and over. Glad you brought out the pointthat this confirms that the band rehearsed tons of stuff they rarely if ever played in concert. This andthe other rehearsals out there would seem to confirm this. Toot toot!
SEPTEMBER 4, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Civic Center, Santa Cruz, CA 12-11-74 (AUD 2CDR)
Of all the gigs the Arkestra played on the west coast at the end of 1974, only this set from the Civic
Center in Santa Cruz, California from December 11 was documented (see Campbell & Trent
pp.215-217). Surprisingly, the 100-minute audience tape was recorded in stereo—but the soundquality is pretty horrific: boomy, distorted and indistinct (not surprising given the cavernous venue).
Nevertheless, it’s a fine performance and a little patience on the listener’s part is periodicallyrewarded with some great music.
The tape cuts in on the opening improvisation, free-jazz skronk featuring a snippet of Marshall
Allen's oboe, Kwame Hadi's high-wire trumpet act and some pscyho-delic guitar from Dave
Williams. The Arkestra is on fire! “Discipline 27,” “Enlightenment” and “Love In Outer Space” arethe usual thing and well-played but the fifteen-minute “Shadow World” is something special, indeed.
After a near-perfect run through of the ridiculously complicated head, John Gilmore delivers one of
his typically amazing, high-energy solos, inspiring excellent contributions from Danny Ray
Thompson on libflecto, Hadi on trumpet, Williams on wah-wah guitar and Allen on alto sax. It’s anepic tour de force guided by Ra’s scumbling keyboards; after a series of ever-greater climaxes, Ra
signals the reprise to end, leaving the audience clearly stunned. Wow! Despite the poor sound, thisversion of "The Shadow World" is well worth hearing.
The set continues with “Theme Of The Stargazers” and “Calling Planet Earth,” with someoutrageous synthesizer and organ work from Ra eventually giving way to “Space Is The Place,” in a223

full horn arrangement. “Images” makes another welcome appearance, but the tape cuts in and out
and the levels go up and down, making it impossible to tell what’s really going on. Yet about halfway through, the band has settled into a sultry groove, the audience clapping along, when all of asudden, Gilmore comes in with a rip-snorting, gut-bucket, blues-drenched solo. He’s blowing hislungs out, “walking the bar”—but also spinning off complex chromatic runs punctuated withkeening, multi-phonic wails, chasing the rhythm section in spiraling circles—on and on, comingback again and again to a three-note flourish and ending with a bang. Whew! Yes, it’s anotherincredible Gilmore solo! And again, while the sound quality is dreadful, this performance needs tobe heard to be believed.
As usual, “Discipline 27-II” devolves into a series of space chants, including “Life Is Splendid” and“Destination Unknown,” with June Tyson and Akh Tal Ebah taking the lead but, after a swellingspace chord, “Astro Nation” follows in its first known performance. It’s come a long way from therehearsal tape we previously heard yet while the rhythm section is more solid, only Sonny seems able
to recite the off-meter syllables on top of the up-and-down disco beat. (It would take a while for theband to get this odd little tune together.) Soon, Hadi pierces the din and the saxophones begin totake it out and things really start to get interesting—but as Sonny tries to bring the vocals backaround, it falls apart and just sort of dissolves. Then a super-intense improvisation rises up over Ra’sdroning organ, with loud, distorted guitar, pealing trumpets and squalling saxophones but, sadly, thetape fades out after only a couple of minutes. Argh!
“We Travel The Spaceways” is given an relaxed reading, evolving into a lovely doo-wop-style
medley, incorporating elements of “Journey To Saturn” and “Rocket Number 9,” sung in luscious
harmonies and anchored by Ebah’s (?) rich baritone. Just lovely! After a quick statement of “Planet
Earth,” Watusi” follows with the flutes weirdly dominant. Fortunately, Clifford Jarvis’s over-excited
drumming is countered by some weird, metallic counter-rhythms, adding interest to the usual
percussion-fest, but the sound quality is particularly grim at this point, overloaded and distorted.
Things quiet down for “Friendly Galaxy No.2,” although the mix is still wonky. Flutes and bass
clarinet play the serpentine melody while the bleating trumpet figure is passed around the rest of theband and, as the flutes begin to improvise, an eerie calm is established—then Ra steps up to recite“I, Pharoah,” with June Tyson and others emphasizing each declamation. Sonny’s on a roll: “I Could
Have Enjoyed Myself On This Planet” he shouts, “if the people had been alive!” The band joins inon some swing/rap silliness, repeating the refrain accompanied by the Yoko-esque shrieking fromone of Ethnic Space Vocalists—is this impromptu or pre-conceived? It’s hard to tell. The crazinesssubsides, replaced by the tranquility of “Pleiades,” pretty flutes and rubato percussion, with Damon
Choice’s glistening vibraphone faintly audible in the background. Very nice—but Ra continues withthe tirade: “The Universe spoke to me!” Etc. Finally, the set concludes with “Face The Music,” taken
at a slow-ish tempo as the Arkestra sings, chants and saunters off the stage.
You’re probably wondering what the heck takes me so long with these blog posts. Well, I was readyto write this one off as yet another dismal sounding bootleg, but I kept listening—and my ears
became more and more used to the sound. And each time through, I found interesting little nuggets,
diamonds buried in a dung-pile of noise. So I kept listening. At this point, weeks have goneby…well, this is how it seems to go. Is it worth it? I suppose so; there is some extraordinary music
here (Gilmore is in particularly good form), even if it’s a struggle to discern. It may not be the worstsounding bootleg out there—like I said, my ears got used to it—but this one is strictly for hardcorefans only. Frankly, I’m looking forward to moving on to 1975…
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Sam said...
Yeah, that "Images" solo really makes it all worthwhile! The sound of this show is certainly not as
bad as some, but I'd suffer through far worse than that to hear a Gilmore solo of that caliber. Hot
damn.
Rodger Coleman said...
@ Sam. Agreed!
SEPTEMBER 11, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Smiling Dog Saloon, Cleveland, OH 1-30-75 (FM CDR)
A month later, the Arkestra found itself far removed from the mild and mellow California climate,shivering in the brutal cold of a mid-western winter. A gig at the Smiling Dog Saloon in Cleveland,
OH on January 30, 1975 was broadcast by WMMS-FM and preserved on this sixty-minute recording
but the band sounds a bit ragged, exhausted, perhaps, by the long-distance travel and inclement
weather. Sadly, they never quite seem to get warmed up. But somewhere along the way, Sonny has
picked up a hotshot bass-player, whose identity is unknown (see Campbell & Trent p.218). Whoever
it is, he provides an unusually funky bottom-end to the proceedings. The Arkestra had to make dowithout a bassist at many shows during this period (particularly after the final departure of theinimitable Ronnie Boykins in mid-1974) making the rhythm section sound thin and incomplete, so
the presence of the bass is always a welcome addition during this period (even if it isn’t the best
show ever). Audio quality is pretty good (especially compared to other “bootlegs” we’ve been
listening to recently) suffering more from careless microphone placement and poor balance thansubsequent generational loss (my copy indicates the original broadcast was recorded to reel-to-reel,with only one cassette generation prior to being converted to digital). For better or worse, ouranonymous bassist is certainly mixed front and center throughout!
After an introduction from the resident DJ, Ra fingers a dissonant organ chord before launching
into “Astro Nation.” Loud electric bass anchors the groove and though he tends to overplay, henever loses the beat. The whole band joins in on the weirdly assymetrical chant , clapping andsinging as they traipse around the nightclub with vocalist/dancer Eddie Thomas (a/k/a Thomas
Thaddeus) adding some soulful yelps and moans. But it goes on for far too long without anything
happening, ending with a desultory space chord. I’m sure it was a visual spectacle if nothing else.
Sonny teases “Love In Outer Space” before changing his mind and queuing up “Enlightenment” ina new, rhythmically clipped vocal arrangement, ending a cappella. Sort of interesting, but nothing
special. Then “Love In Outer Space” follows, propelled by Ra’s BBQ organ comping. Curiously, thetheme is never played and after a few minutes, Ra drops out completely, leaving spacey African
percussion and handclaps. Eventually, the organ vamp returns, accompanied by some bleatinghorns, but it ends inconclusively.

225

“Theme of the Stargazers” and “The Satellites Are Spinning” are presented as a brisk medley and is
nicely sung by the band—but the audience doesn’t quite know what to make of it. When it ends,
there’s total silence, not even a smattering of applause! Undeterred, Sonny brings up the pulsing
drone of “Friendly Galaxy No.2” joined by the electric bass and, later, by pealing trumpets. The
mellifluous flutes are woefully off-mic but a ringing vibraphone is crystal clear (presumably Damon
Choice). But then Sonny steps up to pontificate, riffing on “I Am The Brother The Wind” and “I,
Pharoah.” Here we go again! The unbalanced recording combined with an uncharacteristically subdued
performance is disappointing: rather than hypnotic, it is merely boring. Oh well. Next up is a longkeyboard solo which also seems to be less than totally inspired. It’s the usual spaceship synthesizer
noises and dissonant organ clusters and the fact that the tape repeatedly fades up and down (andcuts in and out) doesn’t really help matters very much. However, after about seven minutes, Sonny
speeds up the cheesy “rhythm machine” on his organ and plays along briefly, a hint of Disco 3000 to
come!
Finally, we get a very strange rendition of Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady.” Opening with askronky free-improv (led by Kwame Hadi’s trumpet), Ra quickly moves to (distant-sounding)acoustic piano for a rhapsodic intro, sprinkling thunderous pounding with pretty, impressionistic
harmonies. Then he goes into the slightly-old fashioned rhythms of the tune, taken at a lugubrious
tempo and accompanied by walking (well, plodding) bass. The Akrestra comes in, sounding slightly
shaky on the arrangement led by John Gilmore’s tenor saxophone, whose breathy tone evokes Ben
Webster in his prime. Akh Tal Ebah takes a nice, smeary solo on trumpet accompanied by riffing
saxophones before giving way to Gilmore. Unfortunately, this is not one of Gilmore’s better efforts,
with halting, incoherent phrasing and wobbly intonation. Well, it just goes to show the guy was notsuper- human. But then Sonny and Thomas start mumbling and crooning the rarely-heard lyrics
about the seemingly “sophisticated lady” who cries alone at home. But their mocking attitude issomewhat shocking as they cruelly taunt: “boo-hoo, boo-hoo for you!” After fourteen tedious
minutes, the arrangement collapses into a clumsy ritardando and, mercifully, sputters to an end. Huh.
Revivals of big band classics were to become a regular feature of Arkestra concerts from here onout, but there was never another performance of “Sophisticated Lady” quite like this—and that’s agood thing.
Interestingly, the circulating CDR contains two additional tracks not listed in the discography, butthey are most certainly from another (unknown) performance: the ambience is completely different,in front of a large audience, possibly outdoors. Also, there’s considerable hiss and distortion—andthe presence of trombones on the bandstand. Probably recorded in the mid-‘70s sometime, I haveno idea where this is from. Anyone know? “Calling Planet Earth” features some intense group
improvisation, but the recording is so overloaded, it’s hard to hear what’s going on and “Space Is
The Place” is the typical chanting, dancing and carrying on that rarely translates well to tape.
Whatever the provenance, this ten-minute fragment is hardly worth mentioning, but there it is.
These “mystery tracks” are not really much of a bonus.
So the Smiling Dog Saloon gig was an off night for the Arkestra; too bad, since it’s a decentsounding recording for the period. Hardcore fanatics and completists will want this but everyone
else would be better off looking elsewhere for that Sun Ra magic.
Sam said...
Yeah, I have to agree with you on this one--it's lackluster, and the plodding bass (a local addition,
maybe?) helps ruin it for me. "Sophisticated Lady" is by far the most interesting thing here, and that226

just barely. The arrangement is pretty close to what they were rehearsing on "Dance of the Living
Image," but it doesn't help that you can hardly hear the drums, and the bass is overdone. Gilmore'ssolo is not as off as you say, though---it's got some nice lyrical parts. But it's not transcendent, which
you can certainly say for 99.9% of his solos.
Rodger Coleman said...
@ Sam -- I guess that's it. I was hoping for transcendent and got merely fluent. Or something. The
whole band sounds out of sorts to me on this. It would be nicer if you could hear the drums and notjust the bass!
SEPTEMBER 18, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: The Singles (Saturn/Evidence 2CD)
Although the Arkestra was fairly active in 1975, with several known performances up and down theeast coast and extended sojourns to the mid-west, it is one of the most sparsely documented years in
the discography (see Campbell & Trent, pp.217-221). The Impulse! deal had pretty much run its
course, with all the albums dumped into the cut-out bins and summarily deleted—so I suppose there
was little incentive to make any more records during this period. Sadly, there are also very few“bootlegs” available to fill in the gaps.
Nevertheless, a live concert (possibly recorded on May 23) yielded a ten-minute track which was(briefly) issued as side-B of What’s New (Saturn 752), a hodgepodge record with a tortured
discographical history. According to Prof. Campbell, matrix numbers and label texts vary and, in any
event, most copies replace the original side-B with side-A of The Invisible Shield (Id. pp.218-219).
Confusing? Yes. Well, don’t worry about it. The track fades up on the end of “Space Is The Place”
and segues immediately into a hectoring Cosmo Drama (sometimes titled, “We Roam the Cosmos”).
There are some amusing raps about Sun Ra bounding across the universe “using the planets as
stepping stones” but the sound quality is extremely noisy and distorted, rendering it virtuallyunlistenable. Since there’s really not a whole lot going on musically, I see no real reason to go out ofyour way to locate this impossibly rare pressing (an amateur “needle-drop” can be found on CDR, if
you’re really interested).
More intriguing are a bunch of unreleased Saturn singles, including “Things Ain’t Going To Be Like
They Used To Be”, “Make Another Mistake” and a seven-minute version of “I’m Gonna Unmask
The Batman” (Id. pp.217-218). None of these tracks were included on the Evidence CD set, but“Batman” circulates amongst collectors, albeit in the lossy MP3 format. Recorded live (possibly at
the same concert as “We Roam The Cosmos”), it also suffers from grossly distorted sound as Ahk
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Tal Ebah (?) sings, shouts and screams into the microphone while the horns riff in the background.
John Gilmore takes a loopy solo on tenor saxophone followed by—could it be? Walter Miller on
trumpet! Maybe Prof. Campbell is wrong about Kwame Hadi’s presence on this, since the vocalist
calls Miller out by name. It certainly sounds like him! Regardless, the super-funky drumming (bysomeone named “Freddie”) is the highlight of the track and he takes a killer drum break, ripe for the
hip-hopper's sampler. Ra’s fascination with “The Caped Crusader” is somewhat inexplicable—
maybe it was the campy costume—but this odd little ditty (written by Lacy Gibson and Alton
Abraham) would be performed fairly regularly during the 1980s.
Finally, a typically quirky seven-inch single was released as Saturn 256 at the end of the year. The Aside features newly overdubbed vocals on the 1970 recording of “Love In Outer Space” (found on
Night Of The Purple Moon). David Henderson croons the surprisingly sentimental lyrics about“love everlasting…love for everybody…love for everything”—and amazingly enough, it works! Thisis, of course, a classic track from one of the all-time great Ra albums and the vocals manage to add atouching sweetness that is truly unique. The flip-side, “Mayan Temple,” was probably recorded June27, 1975 at Variety Recorders in New York and it’s an early version of what would later become
known as “The Mayan Temples” (Id. p.221). Ra plays the loping, minor-mode bass line on
MiniMoog, while scattering tinkly notes on the Rocksichord; meanwhile, Marshall Allen blows wildly
keening oboe. What it lacks in melody and harmony is more than compensated for in spacey
atmosphere, making for a subtly evocative record. Unfortunately, it fades out much too soon. Still,it's the perfect single and belongs in every hipster's jukebox.
In the coming weeks, we’ll listen to a couple of verité recordings (one of which is not listed inCampbell’s discography) with a detour through Ronnie Boykins’s solo LP on ESP-Disk’ before
moving on to 1976, where things start to pick up considerably. Stay tuned.
+++
Special thanks once again to drummer extraordinaire (and Sun Ra expert) Sam Byrd for providing
me with a bunch of rare stuff I was missing—I couldn’t do this without his help!
Rodger Coleman said...
So, I'm now listening to The "New" Five Spot recording from June 11 (which is a remarkably
decent-sounding bootleg), and I could swear that "What's New" track is taken from this show.
Could it be this "New" Five Spot recording is from Ra's own stash? I'll have to compare them moreclosely...
Sam said...
Thanks for the kind words, Rodger--glad to help if it means I get to read your wonderful writing!
One note: I'm pretty sure the long version of "I’m Gonna Unmask The Batman" appears on the
recent compilation "Rocket Ship Rock." At first I thought this was all reissues of what was alreadyon the Evidence singles release, but in fact there are several unissued gems there...alternate takes of
Yochanan stuff, and an extended version of the Lacy Gibson "Batman" single, and this 7-min.
workout (which doesn't interest me so much, but still, it's there!).

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NOVEMBER 6, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: The “New” Five Spot, New York, NY 6-11-75 (AUD CDR)
Over the past couple of years, Sun Ra had introduced a few Swing-Era jazz standards into theArkestra’s live sets but, for the most part, they were loosely arranged and casually executed. By 1975,
this repertoire would suddenly become an integral part of every live performance, with “mini-sets”
of historical big-band numbers, expertly re-orchestrated and performed with astounding
authenticity. Szwed suggests that this was a shrewd business maneuver as much as anything:
It was a move both oppositional and prescient: he had seen the limits of the avant-garde, and sensing a shift beginningin American sensibilities, he was unwilling to give up the large audiences he had drawn (p.338).
Indeed, the free jazz scene had virtually disintegrated, at least in the United States. While it might
have seemed like a good idea for Impulse! to sign Sun Ra to a multi-album deal back in 1972, by
1975 it was a bust and the records were deleted and sold off as “cut-outs,” thereby depriving Ra of
any royalities otherwise due him. Accordingly, Ra’s revival of the standard jazz repertoire mightseem to anticipate the rise of 1980s conservatism and the shallow, “well-dressed jazz” of Wynton
Marsalis and his ilk. But Sun Ra was deeply affected by the recent deaths of Louis Armstrong andDuke Ellington (Id. p.337) and it must be remembered he was also of that era. Ra was by now in his
sixties, much older than most of the members of the Arkestra and his growing audience of college
students and urban hipsters. Moreover, I’m not sure this old-timey music had much commercial
appeal at the time—it certainly took me a while to come around to liking it, much preferring thewild spacey stuff. Instead, I believe Sun Ra’s intention was mostly pedagogical, to teach hismusicians and audience about this beautiful, highly disciplined music that was in danger ofdisappearing into the past (or coopted and smoothed over for contemporary, postmodern tastes).
This monophonic audience recording from The “New” Five Spot in New York City on June 11,1975 opens with a fully-developed “mini-set” of Big-Band era classics and, unlike the loosey-goosey
renditions previously heard, the Arkestra sounds super-tight and thoroughly well-rehearsed. Whenthey tear through this old repertoire, they sound rough-and-ready and totally into it! This is probably
how this stuff actually sounded on roadside bandstands during its glory years of the 1920s and‘30s—it is more than just “authentic,” it’s real. The recording's primitive sound quality
simultaneously enhances and detracts from the listening experience. On the one hand, the hissymono recording sounds like it’s from a distant time-zone, an intergalactic transmission faintly
audible on our humble earthbound receiver units. Nevertheless, it sure would be nice to hear this inhigh fidelity! Well, we take what can get and this one is a keeper, despite its sonic flaws. Sonnyrhapsodizes on “Yesterdays” at the piano for a few minutes before Gilmore solemnly announces:“And now, Duke Ellington’s 'Lightnin’'!”—and they’re totally smoking, with Ra turning in arollicking piano solo. Ellington’s “Slippery Horn” from 1932 is presented in an unusual arrangementwith Robert Northern taking the lead on French horn (!) and Gilmore making a rare appearance on
clarinet. Just lovely! Finally, the “mini-set” ends with a romantic piano interlude and a rip-snorting229

“King Porter Stomp.” Gilmore helpfully informs the crowd it was “composed by Jelly Roll Morton
and arranged by Fletcher Henderson.” Taken at a slightly more relaxed tempo than later versions,the performance is confident and assured with newcomer Ahmed Abdullah coming through with aweirdly swinging trumpet solo. In all, a scintillating ten-minute history lesson from the Sun Ra andhis Arkestra.
The rest is more typical of the era, but played at an extremely high level. Notable is the presence of avery fine bassist, whose identity is, sadly, unknown. Although Prof. Campbell suggests Ronnie
Boykins or John Ore could be present (p. 218), I’m not so sure it’s either one of them. Whoever it is,
he confidently holds down the groove on a lengthy jam on “Moonship Journey,” which moves
through a series of space chants/songs including “Third Heaven,” “Journey to Saturn” and “Outer
Space Employment Agency” without ever losing a beat. A dramatic synthesizer solo leads into “TheShadow World,” always a welcome occurrence. After blazing through the hyper-complicated head,
everyone gets a chance to solo—including Northern’s French horn—but Gilmore steals the showwith a ferocious outburst of saxophone pyrotechnics. Yes, it’s another amazing Gilmore solo! Aftera quick reprise, the set concludes with “Space Is The Place,” but cuts off just as it starts to get going.
Oh well. Interestingly, my copy tacks on “Space Is The Place/We Roam The Cosmos” from theside-B of What’s New. Aside from a slight change in sound quality and volume level, the ambienceand energy of the performance fits right in with the rest of the “New” Five Spot show—theunknown bass player certainly sounds the same. Could this be from the same gig? Is this “bootleg”
actually an on-stage recording copied from Sonny’s stash, another “Lost Reel”? Who knows? In any
event, this track works better in the context of an entire set than as a stand-alone (and far too brief)
album side, making it a satisfying bit of filler.
Despite the less-than-perfect sound quality, this “bootleg” recording is worth hearing, if only for theexpertly performed “mini-set” of obscure jazz classics and spectacular version of “The Shadow
World.” That it may also contain the missing material from What’s New just makes it all the moretantalizing.
Sam said...
Interesting notion, Rodger, that the "What's New" material is a continuation of the Five Spot set.
They do sound very similar conceptually. RLC does cite two different dates for the material, andtypically I see no need to second-guess the dates assigned. "Lightnin'" and "Slippery Horn" are twobrilliant 30s-era Ellington pieces--I wish Ra had returned to them a bit more often than he did someof the more overplayed Fletcher tunes like "Yeah Man!" But yeah, the band sounds well-rehearsed
and ready to roll on these numbers here, and boy do they swing!

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NOVEMBER 13, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Jordan Hall, Boston, MA December 1975 (AUD CDR)
Ah, The New England Conservatory of Music, NEC, my alma mater (of sorts), otherwise known by
my cohorts at the time as “The Disturbatory” or “Not Exactly College” (among other amusing
epithets). It’s frankly hard to imagine Sun Ra and his spaced-out, ragtag Arkestra gracing the stage at
Jordan Hall in December 1975. But although NEC was (and always will be) a bastion of stuffedshirted classical music snobbery, its president at the time was Gunther Schuller, who was hip enoughto allow Ran Blake to start the “Third Stream” department (where weirdoes like me were admitted)
and encouraged the development of a “jazz” curriculum to compete with the Berklee College ofMusic down the street. So I guess it’s not so surprising that Sonny was invited to perform in one of
the most acoustically perfect concert halls in the country—not that you would know it from thesound of this primitive audience recording. Gosh, it sounds awful! Hissy, warbly, distorted,
unbalanced and, to make matters worse, most tracks cut off with a loud pop. Ugh! Upon close
listening, it seems the original master might have sounded decent, but generational loss has
obliterated what fidelity there was. Still, you can still hear Ra on his best behavior in this prestigious
venue, introducing some well-rehearsed new material and keeping the polemical excesses in check.
The seventy-one minute tape (unlisted in Campbell & Trent) contains almost a complete set, cutting
in on the opening improvisation which features Marshall Allen’s keening oboe over ominous
percussion. Suddenly, Ra queues “Love In Outer Space” with some blasting organ chords—but the
taper apparently didn’t care for this tune (or experienced technical difficulties) as the recording cuts
off just as it gets going. Oh well. Eddie Thomas announces “Images” and, after a moody organ
introduction, the tune takes off at brisk tempo. Kwame Hadi was out of the band at this point so thehigh-trumpet part has been assumed by Ahmed Abdullah and he takes a long, winding solo over
several choruses. The hotshot bass player we heard at The "New" Five Spotis still present, holding
down the swinging rhythm section and closely following Abdullah as he takes it increasingly “out”
and deftly leading the band through the reprise of the head. A stellar tour de force from Abdullah
and Mr. Anonymous! Not to be outdone, John Gilmore takes over—a cappella at that—doing his
best post-Coltrane tenor thing. Without missing a beat, the rhythm section slips in behind him and,supported by Ra’s piano, he really starts to fly! Yep—another incredible Gilmore solo! Get used to
it! Ra follows with some impressionistic piano, showing off his underappreciated keyboard skills
before the Arkestra returns with the finale. A superb rendition of this classic tune—too bad it
sounds so crappy!
Sonny then moves to the Rocksichord, to which he’s attached a whooshing phase-shifter—a soundthat would dominate the Cosmos album the following summer (one of my favorite Ra albums of alltime). This unknown title would have fit right in on that record, opening with a long introduction
from Ra that moves from pretty, modal chords to roiling, industrial dissonances and back again
before the band comes in with a stately melody. With its lumbering rhythms and sweet’n’sour
harmonies, the piece brings to mind the Discipline series of compositions but with the relaxed,231languid feel of Ra’s hypnotically grooving space ballads. A short bass clarinet solo almost sounds like
Gilmore but Abdullah soon takes the reins with some more high-wire trumpet. Mostly, though, it’s
Sun Ra’s creamy Rocksichording that keeps things interesting. Again, it’s a terrble shame the soundquality on the tape is so poor since the gently floating, interlocking bass and percussion parts are justabout impossible to make out. Well, it’s a rare and beautiful composition, badly recorded.
“Space Is The Place” follows but is presented as a hyperactive rhumba, with Eddie Thomas andJune Tyson deleriously singing the lead. Predictably, it descends into cheerful chaos soon enough,but the audience gets a big kick out of the spectacle, whooping, hollering and clapping along.
“Journey To Saturn” is more of the same, climaxing with a honking alto solo from Danny Davis andending with weird portamento organ effects from Ra. “Discipline 27-II” slows things down for aseries of space chants, Eddie Thomas doing the substitute preaching—interestingly, Sonny keeps hismouth shut throughout and the pontificating is kept mercifully brief. The following “mini-set” ofold jazz chestnuts is just two tunes, but they’re perfectly executed: “How Am I to Know” is amaudlin torch song made famous by Billie Holiday (and, later, Frank Sinatra) and here it showcases
some of the most goopily romantic playing of Ra’s career, incongruously performed on his swelling,roller-rink organ. Meanwhile, Gilmore plays smoky tenor. It shouldn’t work, but it does—just lovely!
Up next is the jump swing standard, “Rose Room, with more full-throated Gilmore and pealing
trumpet from Abdullah, all punctuated by Ra’s relentlessly stabbing organ chords. Finally, theconcert concludes with a vanishingly quick “Calling Planet Earth” and a fast-paced romp through“We Travel the Spaceways,” as the band marches off the stage to wild cheering and hearty applause.
From the sound of it, the swells at NEC were surprisingly welcoming to Ra and his space men! Sun
Ra's star was finally starting to rise.
It’s a strong show, but the tempos are generally too fast and there’s no real opportunity for wild
improvisation, as if time constraints required Ra to truncate his usual set. Yet, despite the atrocious
sound quality, there’s enough interesting music here to make it worthwhile to fanatical collectors.
“Images,” “How Am I To Know?” and especially the unidentified Cosmos-like piece are obvious
highlights. Ordinary people, however, will be suitably repulsed by the noise and distortion; you are
hereby dutifully warned.
Sam said...
Wow, I didn't think the sound was all that horrendous on this...not as bad as, say, 1971 WidneyHigh. But I'm glad you highlight the gems on this set, "Images," "Rose Room," and the unidentified
composition. Abdullah's trumpet work is brilliant; to me, he's the true heir of the double trumpet
power of Ebah and Hadi. And, of course, Gilmore. It's strange to hear "Space is the Place" playedso fast!
Rodger Coleman said...
Sam, you're right. It's far from the worst-sounding bootleg. In fact, as I mention, it sounds like themaster was actually quite nice, but the generational distortion is pretty severe, which is a bummer.
Makes me grade down! Great performance, though, for sure!

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DECEMBER 18, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Live At Montreux (Inner City 2LP/2CD)
Not much is known about the Arkestra’s activities in the first half of 1976, but according to
Douglass Walker and John Szwed, they performed at an event sponsored by the so-called People’s
Revolutionary Convention on July 4 and, predictably, clashes between police and demonstrators
flared up outside the church during the concert (see Campbell & Trent p.222). The “revolution” wason its last legs.
Immediately thereafter, the Arkestra headed to Europe for the first time since 1973. It was, as usual,
both boom and bust. Szwed writes:
In the summer of 1976 the Arkestra began their fourth tour of Europe with twenty-eight people and ended with
fourteen, playing all the major festivals, Paris, Montreux (where they recorded Live at Montreux), Pescara, Nimes,
Northsea, Juan-les-Pins, and Arles, and were greeted everywhere as celebrities. Yet once they returned home to
Philadelphia, they still sank back into semiobscurity, the band playing down the block at the Red Carpet Lounge to aneighborhood audience of twenty, or at outdoor free concerts in the parks of North Philadelphia, to which sometimes noone came (p.341).
While very little documentation survives of this tour, Live At Montreux was to become a watershed
album for Ra. Recorded for a state television broadcast at the legendary Swiss jazz festival on July 9,1976, it was first issued as a two-LP set as Saturn MS87976 and reissued by Inner City as IC1039 in
2331978 (Campbell & Trent, pp.222-224). Live At Montreux would be one the few Sun Ra records to be
widely available in the late-1970s and early-1980s and it was, for many people my age, their first (andperhaps only) exposure to his music. But what a great record it is! Ra was provided a decent pianoand he makes good use of it (along with his battery of electronic keyboards), guiding the Arkestra
through a remarkably inventive setlist. The enormous band includes many returning alumnus,
including Pat Patrick on baritone sax and flute, Chris Capers on trumpet and Craig Harris on
trombone, and their performance is uniformly first rate. Moreover, the sound quality is excellent—a
blessed relief after all the grungy bootlegs we’ve been listening to lately. In fact, it might be one of
the best-sounding releases in Ra’s enormous discography. In many ways, Live At Montreux is thedefinitive Sun Ra album.
Unfortunately, its history in the digital age is somewhat spotty: It did not appear on CD at all until
2003 when the Italian Universe label reissued it in a handsome gatefold mini-LP-style package, butthey reversed the labels on the discs and inexplicably omitted four minutes of “On Sound Infinity
Spheres.” To make matters worse, the track numbers do not line up correctly with the music. Sheesh!
The Japanese edition on P-Vine corrected these errors but it was horribly expensive and just about
impossible to find in the U.S. For a recording that was formerly ubiquitous, it was frustrating to findit suffering from such callous neglect in the CD era (thankfully, I kept my old LP). Finally, in 2008,
Inner City reissued Live At Montreux domestically in its complete form, remastered from the originaltapes and available at a reasonable price. Although the pedestrian jewel box packaging is not as
deluxe as the Universe or Japanese editions, this is the one to have. The LP has that warm, analog
sound and an extended top-end (including a fair amount of tape hiss), but I prefer the CD, whichlets the music seamlessly unfold, rather than being interrupted by having to flip and change therecords every twenty minutes.
As many times as I’ve listened to this record over the years—and repeatedly over the last several
weeks—I still am at a loss for words for how to describe it. Any attempts at rote description
miserably fail to convey what makes this album so special, even beyond its significance in the Sun Ra
canon. While there are long periods of intensely skronky improvisation where it seems like everyone
gets to solo, it all magically holds together from beginning to end. Everyone plays at such a highlevel that no one soloist – not even Gilmore!—stands out above the others. The Arkestra is truly
speaking with one voice: Sun Ra’s. There’s even some weird new compositions (“From Out Where
Others Dwell” and “On Sound Infinity Spheres”), a couple of rarely-played oldies (“Lights On A
Satellite” and “El Is The Sound Of Joy”) and a monumental rendition of the Strayhorn/Ellington
classic, “Take The A-Train” which needs to be heard to be believed—not even Jarvis’s drum solo
can derail it!. Throughout it all, Sonny’s piano playing is just spectacular, with his introduction to “ATrain” being one of his most impressive solos on record, a history lesson tracing the development of
the instrument from ragtime to avant-garde and on into outer space. If there is one Sun Ra album I
would take to the proverbial “desert island,” it would probably be this one. Live At Montreux is justabout exactly perfect.
I would assume that if you’re bothering to read this, you already own Live At Montreux, so there’s
really no need for me to go into further detail. If you are reading this and don’t own it, well, what are
you waiting for?
Sam said...
Thoroughly agreed on this album: a masterpiece. I love how he blends piano and synth on this one.
And, yeah, maybe all the soloists shine, but whenever I think of this album I think first of Gilmore's234monumental solo in "Take the A Train." Jarvis's grandstanding solo is the only mar on thisotherwise perfect release. I have the Universal CD; thanks for the pointer to the Inner City CD.
Rodger Coleman said...
Sam -- I almost added a footnote to that comment to point out the incredible Gilmore solo on "A
Train" but the truth is, as great as that solo is, it doesn't stand out quite like other shows. What really
impressed me re-listening to this again and again is how strong that first disc is: out but in, group
improv tightly controlled--and Sun Ra at his finest! I wimped out on this one, but really what is there
to say except, "it's great!"
JANUARY 25, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Cosmos (Spalax 14561) (1999)
Recorded at Studio Hautefeuille, Paris, France, August 1976
Originally released as Cobra (France) COB 37001 (1976)
According to Robert L. Campbell’s discography (1st ed.), this LP was also issued onMusicdistribution 60005 and Inner City IC 1020 shortly after the original Cobra release. It was firstre-issued on compact disc by the French Buda label (82479) but the original CD apparently suffersfrom a boomingly bass-heavy mix. This 1999 issue on Spalax purports to correct that deficiency but I’m not so sure; it sounds lopsided still, with prominent electric bass and distant drums.
Regardless, this is one of my very favorite Sun Ra records.
The sonic imbalances no doubt have to something to do with the cramped quarters of the recording
studio. According to French horn player (!), Vincent Chauncey, the Arkestra was reduced to a coregroup of twelve musicians for this session due to the limited space (Campbell (1st ed.) p.73). Oh, butwhat a group! Along with Chauncey, Ra’s faithful stalwarts, John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Danny
Davis, Danny Thompson, Elo Omoe, and Jac Jackson fill out the reed section while Ahmed
Abdullah plays sensitive, tasteful trumpet and the incredible Craig Harris virtuosically holds down
the trombone chair. The rhythm section consists of R. Anthony Bunn on (nice, but overloud)electric bass, Larry Bright on (barely audible) drums, and, of course, Sun Ra himself on the electric
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Rocksichord. Caught in the midst of a European tour, the Arkestra sounds well-rehearsed, at the topof their game.
But as great as the band sounds on this date, it is Ra’s electric keyboard that makes this such adelightfully engaging record for me. Throughout the album, Ra’s Rocksichord has this weird, wirethin, reedy sound quality, upon which he pours some molasses-thick phase-shifter that hisses away
incessantly in the background. Now, in anyone else’s hands, this would be unbelievably cheesy, evenamateurish. Yet Ra guilelessly tackles the wide variety material and, through his visionary technicalabilities, miraculously balances the seemingly limited electronic keyboard textures with the
expansive, acoustic Arkestra to create a decidedly strange, but appropriately otherworldly ambience.
Ra’s ultra-spacey keyboard turns tracks like “Interstellar Low-Ways,”, “Moonship Journey,” and“Journey Among the Stars” into dreamy, nearly narcotic reveries. Even the more straightforwardly
big-band-ish tracks like “The Mystery of Two,” “Neo Project #2,” and the aptly-titled “Jazz Froman Unknown Planet” are transformed by Ra’s swooshing, buzzing Rocksichord. The brief title track
stands out as a vehicle for another classic John Gilmore solo on tenor saxophone atop an intense
Arkestra arrangement, but overall the mood is pretty and mellow and perfect for a Sunday evening.
Sam said...
Rodger, another great review--you're much kinder to this record than I've been in the past; I need togo back and re-listen. Don't know what it is about it that has made me treat it in my mind as a"lesser" Ra album. It may be that the very thing that has drawn you to it--the rocksichord--is thething that kept me away. It's a very monochromatic instrument, if that's the right word--it's kinda
one-toned. And its predominance throughout this album gives it a one-dimensional feeling that themusic doesn't overcome. At least that's what I've thought in the past. But it's certainly true that if
anyone could make it more flexible and interesting, it would be Ra! So thanks for sending me back...
Rodger Coleman said...
Sam, I agree that in the grand scheme of things, this is a "lesser" Ra album. But there's a consistentmood to the record that I really enjoy, which is largely due to Ra's keyboard playing. The
Rocksichord reminds me of the sound of my first electronic piano back in the late-70s...I wanted a
Fender-Rhodes, but that was out of the question. So this thing had that thin, reedy sound that I felt
like never fit...so what amazes me about this record is how Ra does SO MUCH with SO LITTLE. It
really comes down to his note choices and articulation (and his Arkestration) and it just "fits" in a
way that would seem impossible (to me, anyway). And, besides, Sundays can be, um, difficult, and I
can't always handle the intensity of top-shelf Ra...

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JANUARY 8, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Cosmos (Cobra/Spalax CD)
While on their fourth tour of Europe in August 1976, the Arkestra (a portion of it, anyway) entered
Studio Hautefeuille in Paris to record an album for the French Cobra label, which released later inthe year asCosmos (COB 37001). I originally wrote about this album way back in 2009, when I firststarted posting Sun Ra Sunday (and before I started the chronological assessment) and this is what I
had to say: [see above]+++
Not really too much to add except to update the citation to the second edition of the discography(Campbell & Trent p.225). It is a curious feeling coming back to this record after three years (!) oflistening to what came before. While it is like visiting an old friend, I now hear Cosmos as clearly aminor effort compared to many of the classic albums of this period. It’s an odd mixture of remakesof older material combined with newer, swing-oriented compositions that is less than totally
satisfying, like a slightly off gig. But it remains a favorite record of mine, if only for Sonny’s blissfully
phased-out Rocksichord sound. The “narcotic reveries” of “Interstellar Low Ways”, “Moonship
Journey” and “Journey Among The Stars” are the standout tracks in that regard, and are essential
listening, in my opinion. Cosmos is worth seeking out for those tracks alone; everything else is just abonus.
93curr said...
I can't guarantee that the Spalax CD sounds identical to the Cobra LP (I only ever owned the Inner
City vinyl, sadly) but it definitely is a major improvement over the dreadful Buda CD, whichsounded like a vinyl transfer from a particularly bad record through a cheap ceramic cartridge with aquarter taped to the headshell and with the bass on the preamp racked up to "11". There's also a CD
edition on P-Vine. I'd be curious if anyone has ever compared it to the Spalax. (I was also hoping
someone would have chimed in with an opinion about the P-Vine vs. the Inner City CD editions of'Live At Montreux' in an earlier post)
Rodger Coleman said...
@93curr - Thank you for your comment! I think I heard the Inner City copy many years ago, but
can't really remember how it sounded compared to the Spalax, which actually sounds pretty good. I
would also be curious to hear about any differences in the P-Vine editions of these records. It used
to be that Japanese editions were almost always better, but that is not the case so much in the digital
era.

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JANUARY 22, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Châteauvallon, France 8-24-76 (AUD 2CDR)
The Arkestra stayed in Europe almost two months during the summer of 1976, opening the tour at
Mutualité in Paris on July 8 and immediately traveling to Switzerland to record Live At Montreux on
the 9th. On July 10, the band was in Pescara, Italy where an eighteen-minute portion of theirperformance was broadcast on RAI, Italian state television but I have not seen this (I do not believea recording circulates). From there, the tour crisscrossed the continent: July 11 in Nimes, France;
July 18 at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Gravenhage, Netherlands; July 20 at Giornate del Jazz in
Ravenna, Italy (an audience recording is purported to exist, but I don't have it); July 25 at La Pinéde,
Juan les Pins, France; back to Montreux on August 6; Arles, France on August 7; and, afterrecording Cosmos at Studio Hautefeuille in Paris, concluded the tour with two shows at
Châteauvallon on August 24 and 25. (See Campbell & Trent pp.222-227.) These last two concerts
were recorded from the audience (probably by the same person) and is widely traded amongst Sun
Ra collectors. The sets are mostly complete and while the sound quality is not very good (hissy,
boomy, distorted, etc.), they are certainly listenable, as these things go (a little tweaking of the EQ
helps tremendously).
At only about one-hundred minutes, the concert on the 24th is considerably shorter than on the
25th and is notable for the absence of June Tyson (leaving John Gilmore to lead the way on most of
the sing-a-longs). Perhaps this was an impromptu appearance by the Arkestra, with the “official” gig
being the 25th? Moreover, Sonny has not been provided a piano, meaning the old-timey numbers
have a souped-up, electrified feel quite different from the Montreux arrangements. In any event,they would play a more conventional set the following night.
The opening improvisation has a wonderfully exotic, “Strange Strings” sound that goes on for a few
minutes until Gilmore starts chanting “For The Sunrise” and Sun Ra enters the stage to enthusiastic
applause. After a world-shattering space chord, “Discipline 27” follows. The band sounds big andfull-bodied (if dimly recorded), the baritone saxophones heading the charge while Ahmed Abdullah
delivers a tasty trumpet solo. Then Sonny charges into “The Shadow World” and we’re off! Despite
the dodgy sound quality, this seventeen-plus minute version is extraordinary. We get the usual
freakouts from Gilmore on tenor sax and Eloe Omoe on bass clarinet, followed by a mad-scientist
organ solo from Ra—but then there’s a long, spacey group improvisation featuring colorfully
smeared trumpet (Chris Capers?) and James Jacson’s throaty bassoon (!) and it goes about as far out
there as the I've ever heard the Arkestra go! Astounding! After Ra signals a quick reprise of thefanatically complicated head, the sudden ending is met with stunned silence from the crowd.
Seriously, all you can hear is tape hiss!
Undeterred, Duke Ellington’s “Lightnin’” is taken at a rollicking tempo but the ensembles sound alittle shaky and Ra’s phasey Rocksichord sound is just plain strange. Meanwhile “Watusi” is the usual(including an overlong drum solo from Clifford Jarvis), but it has an unusually skronky improv inthe middle that makes it worthwhile. The old Noble Sissle/Fletcher Henderson stomper, “Yeah238

Man!” is even better, with Gilmore on clarinet for the surrealistically authentic-sounding ensemble
sections and switching to tenor sax for a rip-snorting solo. Incredible! But then an awkward version of“Taking a Chance on Chancey” follows, Ra duetting with Vincent Chancey’s wobbly French horn,sometimes accompanied by eerie drum taps and a distant flute. Very weird—and not in a good way.
The new composition, “Jazz From An Unknown Planet,” is given one last performance and yields anice trombone solo from Craig Harris. Too bad this tune was apparently dropped from therepertoire; it definitely had some promise. Next up, Ra’s swirling organ gives “Take The A-Train” acircus-like feel and although Gilmore tries his best during his solo, he never quite builds up a fullhead of steam and the overall effect is muted by the incongruously maudlin organ swells. Oh well; it
is a noble effort nonetheless.
“Space Is The Place” is given a surprisingly energetic reading, led by Gilmore’s vocals andaugmented by a howling alto solo from Danny Davis. Or, rather, I’m guessing it’s Davis. Honestly, I
have a hard time telling him apart from Marshall Allen. Based on his flute and oboe playing, I think
Allen’s playing is slightly more lyrical and brilliantly virtuosic than Davis—but I could be wrong.
Anyway, it’s ragingly great solo, whoever it is. The tempo slows as they effortlessly segue into
“Lights on a Satellite,” which features a gorgeous tenor solo from Gilmore atop a delicatearrangement of swooshing Rocksichord and twittering flutes. Although the woefully unbalanced
recording is difficult to hear through, it is a lovely rendition of one of my favorite Ra compositions.
A hypnotic “Love In Outer Space” is driven by Sonny’s furious comping on the Rocksichord and atasty solo from Abdullah. For some reason, “Images” is less successful: although Abdullah and
Gilmore deliver the goods, the band never really takes flight. Well, they certainly make up for it
during the lengthy “space chant” segment that opens with “Theme of the Stargazers” and moves
through “Next Stop Mars,” “Second Stop Is Jupiter” and concludes with “Calling Planet Earth.”
The singing and chanting is ultimately overwhelmed by waves of freestyle group improvisation
which gets crazier and more intense as it goes along: buzzing trombones, screaming saxophones,
bashing drums and impressionistic, almost rock-ish chording from Ra—until, finally, Sonny goescompletely nuts on the electronic keyboards, driving the crowd into a spaced-out frenzy. Just when
you can’t take it anymore, Ra eases the band into “We Travel The Spaceways” to end the set. Wowza!
This show is a decidedly mixed bag with iffy sound and inconsistent performances—yet the group
improvisations are particularly strong and “The Shadow World” is just about as good as it gets.
Accordingly, it’s definitely worth seeking out if you’re a hardcore fan—but I wouldn’t recommend it
to a novice. We’ll take a listen to the second Châteauvallon show next time on Sun Ra Sunday. See
you then!
Sam said...
As always, a great assessment, Rodger. The end of "Shadow World" is cool--the silence sounds tome like the audience is trying to catch its breath, not sure if the piece is really over or not, and thenwham, the band goes right into "Lightnin'." It's hot, it's tight. But yeah in some ways the concert
doesn't gel the way the next night does....Aug. 25 is a stunner, and Gilmore is absolutely on FIRE("Rose Room," "Images," and "velvet" for starters). It will be useful to compare the "Images" of the24th with the 25th. Maybe Gilmore got a good night's sleep or something.

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JANUARY 29, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Châteauvallon, France 8-25-76 (AUD 3CDR)
At a little over three hours, the second concert in Châteauvallon on August 25, 1976 is almost twice
as long as the previous night's performance and was again recorded from audience, possibly by thesame person. Unfortunately, the copy which circulates contains several glaring errors in the text fileand it took me several listens just to sort it all out. So, here is the actual running order and timings
for all three discs:
Disc 1 (70:57): 1.Opening improvisation (12:12); 2.Out Where Others Dwell (5:57)> 3.Images(piano intro) (3:10)> 4.Images (9:48); 5.Spontaneous Simplicity (13:34); 6.Satellites Are Spinning(7:27); 7.Rose Room (9:30); 8.Velvet (9:18).
Disc 2 (75:07): 1.Angels & Demons At Play>Watusi (24:24); 2.Unknown title (7:43); 3.King Porter
Stomp (3:46); 4.Slippery Horn (3:45); 5.Opus in Springtime (10:21); 6.El Is a Sound of Joy (7:11);
7.Taking a Chance on Chancey (5:19); 8.Face The Music (7:48)> 9.Don’t Blame Me (4:47).
Disc 3 (48:24): 1.The Shadow World (23:33); 2.Enlightenment (2:17); 3.Astro Nation>We Travel
The Spaceways>Second Stop Is Jupiter (22:33).
As you can see, that is a lot of music! Sound quality is marginally better than the previous show, withmore defined bass and drums and slightly less hiss and distortion—but it’s still pretty rough going.
And, although you can hear female singers in the background, I do not think June Tyson is present
since John Gilmore once again leads the choir. Nevertheless, this is a fantastic performance fromstart to finish, from the opening improvisation (featuring Marshall Allen’s keening oboe) to theclosing space chants. The ensembles are spirited and tightly disciplined while all the soloists are infine form, especially Gilmore, who simply plays his ass off all night long. Take “Velvet,” forinstance: this is an outstanding example of Gilmore at his absolute best. I know I’m always saying
this or that solo is “incredible,” but that’s not just hyperbole—it’s true! Gilmore was one of thefinest tenor saxophonists of his generation and nowhere is this more apparent than here. Moremind-blowing Gilmore can be heard on “Images”; “Satellites Are Spinning”; “Spontaneous
Simplicity”; and “Face The Music”—not to mention his usual antics on “The Shadow World” or the
big band classics, “Rose Room”; “King Porter Stomp”; and “Slippery Horn,” where he again plays
clarinet. This is Gilmore at the peak of his powers, no doubt about it, and Sonny has given him free
reign to blow his brains out on this night. "Incredible" is simply the only best word to describe John
Gilmore.
Ra is provided a piano and plays a romantic yet aggressive, Cecil Taylor-ish intro to “Images,” butabandons it later on for organ and Rocksichord (both with and without the whooshing phaseshifter). Perhaps there were technical problems with the acoustic instrument, but it sounds fine tome. Oh well. Regardless, his playing is inspired throughout, with his buzzing and whirring electric
keyboards giving the old-timey numbers a modern edge while propelling tracks like “The Shadow
World”; “Angels & Demons At Play”; and “Watusi” into the stratosphere. These last two tunes240

could sometimes drag on a bit—but not here! On “Angels,” Ra whips up a “mad-scientist” organ
blast to accompany Gilmore’s solo and he gets the tenor saxophonist barking like a dog through hishorn. Totally outrageous! There is one mystery tune that is particularly intriguing (disc 2, track 2). Is thisa composition or an improvisation—or both? It starts out with modal arpeggios on the Rocksichord
and Gilmore hazily outlining a descending melody amidst disorienting flurries of notes, false
harmonics and altissimo squeals. Ra takes over for a bit, the harmony wandering further and further
afield until Vincent Chancey comes in on his precariously intonated French horn. Then Ra pushes abutton, thinning the electronic texture and starts comping a swinging vamp—and the rhythm
section comes in with a cha-cha!Huh? Chancey continues his balancing act until Ra brings the piece
to a close with a dissonant false cadence. Very beautiful, but what exactly is this? Who knows?!
Another wonderful Ra moment comes after “Face The Music,” when Sonny launches into the 1933
McHugh/Fields pop song, “Don’t Blame Me,” on solo organ. Just lovely.
A five-thousand word blow-by-blow of this epic show seems like a pointless exercise (or maybe it's
beyond the limited number of words in my vocabulary). It’s a stunningly great performance; justtake my word for it. If you can tolerate the less-than-great sound quality, it is a richly rewarding
listen—if only to hear Gilmore at his finest. According to Prof. Campbell, “Rose Room” and“Satellites Are Spinning” appear on the 1978 double-LP,Unity (Horo—Italy HDP 19-20) (seepp.226-227). Frankly, I’m not so sure about that—we’ll have to try and figure it out when we getthere. But, if true, it means a high-quality recording of this concert is possibly stashed away in the
Sun Ra archives somewhere. An official release of this complete show (or whatever is extant) would
certainly be a worthy addition to the discography—are you listening, Art Yard? Ah well, one candream, anyway, right? In the meantime, this “bootleg” recording will have to do.
+++
Speaking of Art Yard, they have recently released a new two-CD set entitled, Wake Up Angels:
Live At The Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival 1972-1973-1974 (Art Yard CD12). According to
the description onDowntown Music Gallery’s website, there is supposedly additional material
included on this edition not included on the original releases on Total Energy (now out of print)—
but I don’t see how that is possible, given that the number of discs has been reduced from three totwo. Anyone out there know for sure what the deal is with this? Please let me know!
Sam said...
Great write-up of this outstanding show! Yeah, Gilmore's on fire...you can't exaggerate that. Yes,
"Rose Room" and "Satellites" definitely appear on "Unity"--but don't get your hopes up on asuperior sound source. As I recall, they don't sound much better there. Re: "Wake Up Angels"-maybe DMG got too high on all the exclamation marks they use. As far as I can tell from a cursory
glance at the lineup (at http://fatteningblogsforsnakes.blogspot.com/2011/12/sun-ra-and-hisarkestra-live-at-ann.html), there's no extra material here. However, like they say, "It Is Forbidden" isindexed, so that's cool. I'll try to dig around more on this...maybe somebody out there has it and canconfirm one way or the other.
yotte said...
Hi Rodger, No extra material as far as I can tell. In fact, two tracks from Life Is Splendid have been
omitted to allow for the 2 CD release (Love in Outer Space & Watusi). Most of the liner notes areculled from the Blast First releases. As usual with Art Yard, the packaging is gorgeous.
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FEBRUARY 5, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Rehearsal, Unknown Location 9-76 (SBD? CDR)
This thirty-minute rehearsal tape, recorded at an unknown location in September, 1976, was played
onWKCR-FM’s Sun Ra memorial broadcast in 1995 (Campbell & Trent pp.227-228) and circulates
widely amongst collectors. There is a small audience present, indicating this was actually asoundcheck at a venue, rather than a rehearsal proper and, accordingly, there is neither in-depth
working out of arrangements nor any verbal instruction whatsoever from Ra, unlike what we’veheard in other rehearsal tapes. Instead, we get a miniature three-song set, presented as a contiguous
performance, just as it would have been in concert. Sound quality is pretty good, with a strikingly
close-up perspective, possibly recorded from the stage but more likely from the soundboard (bassand vocals are notably way up front while drums sound distant and indistinct). Perhaps this comesfrom Sonny’s personal stash of tapes? Who knows?
After a bit of hand percussion, June Tyson briefly leads the singalong on “(The World Is Waiting)
For The Sunrise” before Danny Ray Thompson charges into the bari-sax riff of “Discipline 27.”
The ensemble sounds a bit shaky and out of tune, eventually devolving into some skronky group
improvisation and culminating in an a cappella tenor solo from John Gilmore—nothing special so far.
After a quick space chord, Sonny enters with “The Shadow World” ostinato on organ, but soon
drops out as the head commences. Meanwhile, everyone gets to take a solo (both with and withoutaccompaniment) across its twenty-three minute duration: Marshall Allen and Danny Davis on alto
saxophones, Elo Omoe on bass clarinet, Ra on “mad scientist” organ and Abdullah on trumpet.
Even Tony Bunn gets a turn on fuzz bass followed by Dale Williams on distorted electric guitar,giving this a particularly rocked-out feel. While that might look good on paper, this is not the mostcompelling version of this showpiece, with the soloists sounding a bit listless (aside from Ra himself,
who plays brilliantly as usual) and the ensembles failing to cohere. Well, it is a rehearsal and/orsoundcheck after all. While the unusually decent sound quality makes this an enjoyable listen, it isultimately not very satisfying; a curious bit of filler that will be of interest only to the mostcommitted Sun Ra completists.
Sam said...
Huh. It's interesting how the same recording can illicit different responses. I found this performance
to be really energetic and strong, with well-recorded solos from everyone, all played at a high andconsistently engaging manner, not listless-sounding at all, but in fact a really strong representative
sampler. I was surprised to read your take on this one! (Sorry for the late response, sometimes ittakes me a while...)Rodger Coleman said...
@Sam: Maybe it's just me that's listless!...My enthusiasm for this project is definitely flagging. Thatsaid, I actually wanted to like this more than I did. It just didn't stand up to repeated listenings forme. But hey, it's just a 30-minute fragment and the sound quality is good, so I'm glad to have it!
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Sam said...
I hope you can build back up your enthusiasm somehow, since there's some GREAT stuff coming
up, and we definitely need to read your takes on all of this!
FEBRUARY 19, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA, Nov. 1976
(AUD CDR)
According to Prof. Campbell, the Arkestra appeared at York University in Toronto on October 7,
1976 and at the Famous Ballroom in Baltimore on October 10 under the auspices of the Left Bank
Jazz Society, but no recordings are known to exist of these performances (p.228). The Arkestra
returned to The New England Conservatory of Music for another concert at Jordan Hall sometimein November and the first forty minutes or so was recorded from the audience. This tape surfaced
sometime after the second edition of the discography, so dates and personnel are sketchy at best.
However, the sound quality is actually quite good for the period with the stereophonic image
roughly capturing the warm, resonant acoustic of this prestigious venue.
The concert begins with June Tyson intoning “Tapestry From An Asteroid” mostly a cappella,followed by a blast of horns and a brief rendition of “Astro Black.” Then the rest of the band joinswith Tyson in singing “(The World Is Waiting) For The Sunrise,” with the audience heartily
applauding Sonny’s entrance on stage. Baritone saxophones lead the way into “Discipline 27” andit’s the usual thing but with a particularly exuberant trumpet solo from Ahmed Adullah. However,the piece quickly descends into a long group improvisation consisting of various solos and duets
punctuated with splashy space chords and bashing percussion. Interestingly, there appear to be twobass players here, one playing arco and one pizzicato. There is some nice soloing from Ra on pianoand “mad-scientist-styled” electric organ (not to mention an out-there trombone solo from Craig
Harris), but nothing is really allowed to fully develop despite the fifteen-minute duration. Sonny
seems to be keeping the band on a pretty short leash. Two classic big-band numbers follow: “YeahMan!” and “Lightnin’,” which are taken at absurdly fast tempos—yet the band is super-tight and, ofcourse, John Gilmore rips it up on tenor sax. Although Ra has been provided a piano, he sticks tothe buzzing Rocksichord and roller-rink organ, giving these old-timey numbers a weirdly
modernized sound. Good stuff!
Then an unsual thing happens. Sun Ra speaks: “Not all of America is dis-integrated, there somethings that are unified. With me tonight, I have two members of the band who have been with me
for about twenty years, Robert Barry and John Gilmore [who will] improvise some outer space stuff
for you.” Never mind that Barry the drummer had been absent from the band since 1968 (Id.
p.784), he and Gilmore duet in a groovy, post-Coltrane style, but condensed down to a riveting four
minutes. Then Ra introduces Tommy Hunter and Marshall Allen, who duet in a more aggressively
avant-garde manner, but, again, all too briefly. Finally, Ra sets Danny Davis’s alto sax against James
Jacson’s bassoon for a quickie two-minute honk-fest before the tape ends. I’m not sure what Sonny
243

was up to here. He seems to be trying to school these Conservatory kids on the art of instantcomposition—I only wish these duos were allowed to go on a bit longer.
As for the last track on my CD, I do not think it is actually taken from this same gig—the ambienceis very different, obviously recorded in a bigger venue in front of a much larger audience. In fact, I
do not think this is Sun Ra at all, but rather the Grateful Dead circa.1974, when bassist Phil Leshwould duet with synthesizer player Ned Lagin between sets in the manner of their weird and woolly
Seastones album. At first listen, you might think it is Sun Ra at his spaciest—but I am almost positive
it is the Dead. A couple of minutes in, you can hear someone in the audience yell out “St.
Stephen!”—a dead giveaway, if you will.
So, even though this concert fragment is less than completely satisfying, the better-than-usual soundquality and the brief but powerful duo segments make it worth the effort to track down. There issome excellent playing here—I just wish we could hear the rest of the concert!
Sam said...
"Dead" giveaway indeed! Excellent call, Rodger--I absolutely think you're right. Wow. It's been awhile since I'd pulled this one out, and yeah, that last piece ain't Ra. Wonderful stuff, though, butyeah the crowd is way too exuberant for a Ra concert :) The duos are pretty cool, though--sort of an
update to his "and now here's a friend of mine who's gonna tell you what it's like on Jupiter" schtick
he has on "Black Myth/Out in Space."
FEBRUARY 26, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Jazz Showcase, Chicago, IL 11-27-76 (AUD 2CDR)
Paging through the Discography, it is apparent that, beginning with the Châteauvallon tapes (August
24 and 25,1976), we have entered a new era of audience recordings. With portable compact cassetterecorders becoming widely available in the late-1970s, “bootleg” tapes would start to proliferate,
resulting in a flood of generally high-quality tapes by the 1980s as the technology matured. When I
first dipped my toe into reviewing these types of recordings, I hesitated, knowing full well what I
was in for: variable sound quality, repetitive setlists and occasionally uninspired performances. In
many ways, I wanted to avoid these things altogether and concentrate of the officially released
albums—there are certainly enough of those to deal with! Yet, since my goal has been as much todiscover Sun Ra’s music as to memorialize it, it made sense to dive into the world of “bootleg”
recordings and see for myself just what was out there. But, honestly, it can be something of chore to
sit through some of this stuff and my antipathy towards the exercise is no doubt reflected in mysometimes hastily concocted judgments. I try to be fair: I listen to everything several times (which ispartly why this project is taking so long) and there is almost always something worth hearing, evenon the worse-sounding tape. But I must apologize for the lack of enthusiasm I often demonstrate
when confronted with yet another dodgy “bootleg.”

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This ninety-minute recording from the Jazz Showcase in Chicago from November 27, 1976 is a casein point and presents the usual sorts of challenges. Sound quality is actually pretty decent—so vivid,
in fact, it sounds like it was recorded from the stage (right next to Sonny’s amplifier!)—but the set isdominated by an overlong declamation segments and interminable percussion jams that might havebeen highly amusing in concert but are almost intolerable to listen to on tape. Moreover, the CDR
dispenses with any index markers, meaning you can’t skip to the good parts. I quibble, but there yougo (it’s my blog and I can cry if I want to). Nevertheless, there is some interesting music here andthere, if you have the patience to sit through the rest of it.
The set begins with processional drums to introduce June Tyson, who sings “Astro Black”
accompanied by pitter-pattering percussion. Then a throbbing space chord sets up “Along Came
Ra,” a weirdly dissonant fanfare with vocals led by John Gilmore—an evocative opening, for sure.
But Sun Ra enters the stage and immediately starts lecturing: “I Have Many Names!” “You’re On
the Right Road, Going In The Wrong Direction!” Etc. Meanwhile the dual bassists (probably Tony
Bunn and Richard “Radu” Williams) (Id. pp.228-229) hack and saw away with their fingers andbows and the horns interject skronky improvisations. Well, OK then! Ra moves to organ and we geta bouncy, slightly uptempo “Friendly Galaxy No.2” but, unfortunately, the delicate flutearrangement is buried under his thick electronic chords and brassy solos from Ahmed Abdullah on
trumpet, Craig Harris on trombone, and Vincent Chancey on French horn. Even so, it’s anenjoyable (if somewhat meandering) rendition, held aloft by Tommy “Bugs” Hunter’s laconic
groove on trap drums. Then Ra starts declaiming “I, Pharoah” over it all and things start to get a bit
tedious. The ensemble tries to maintain interest by displacing and elaborating upon the hypnotic
tattoos of “Friendly Galaxy” but Ra is intent on hectoring the audience: “Who’s gonna save you
now?,” he demands. Moving back to the organ, Sonny brings the proceedings to a close andintroduces “The Satellites Are Spinning,” which is also played at a faster than usual clip. After a briefsing-along, “Calling Planet Earth” signals more bashing out-jazz improv, culminating in a frenzied,“mad-scientist-style” organ solo from Ra. Sadly, the tape cuts off in mid-flight. Oh well.
Disc two picks up in the middle of “The Shadow World,” taken at an impossibly quick tempo, with
Ra’s skittering, pulsating organ driving the band to the breaking point. Gilmore tries to do his thing
on tenor, but he seems overwhelmed by Ra violent keyboard attack and is left sputtering andhonking in desperation. Eloe Omoe is similarly overtaken but space finally opens up a bit for
Abdullah and, afterwards, Gilmore comes charging in for another shot—and he does notdisappoint, offering up a ferocious a capella solo before the reprise. A shrill organ cluster sets up“Watusi” which has a less frenetic feel than usual courtesy of Hunter’s laid-back drumming style,although it still goes on for far too long. This was undoubtedly a visual spectacle, what with thedancing and carrying on that accompanied the percussion workout, but that stuff just doesn’t comeacross on tape. “Rose Room” starts with a romantic organ intro before moving into the jaunty swing
arrangement, led by Gilmore’s tenor. He wails for several choruses, but is again nearly subsumed by
the grinding organ chords and thrumming basses. Abdullah’s piercing trumpet is easier to hear (andnicely executed) but Chancey’s three-note solo seems perversely out-of-place amidst thecontinuously cycling pre-Bop chord changes. Frankly, it is not the most satisfying version of thisbig-band classic. “What’s New” begins with another rhapsodic organ solo before the headarrangement—but then the bottom drops out and it’s just Gilmore and drums. Gilmore gamely
keeps the tune’s structure intact during his lengthy improvisation but he ultimately sounds restrainedby the absence of accompaniment. Interestingly, Ra ditches the organ and returns on acoustic
piano—which sounds so nice!—but the tape cuts off just as he begins to solo. Argh!
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So, here we have another semi-frustrating “bootleg.” The sound quality is decent, but the
instrumental balance is woefully off-kilter, with Sonny’s organ and booming basses dominating thesonic space. The ensembles sound fresh and inspired yet the soloing is merely OK—aside from his
second blow-out on “The Shadow World,” Gilmore sounds tentative and subdued here, at least
compared to his usual mind-blowing displays. Then again, perhaps my opinion is colored by thetechnical flaws which make this recording difficult to listen to, despite the reasonably good soundquality. But that’s how it goes with “bootlegs”: I’m happy to have them as historical documents, but
I don’t necessarily enjoy listening to them. Your mileage may vary.
MARCH 11, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: WXPN-FM, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 12-25-76 (FM CDR)
Sun Ra celebrated Christmas Day, 1976 by appearing on the University of Pennsylvania radio
station,WXPN-FM to read a selection of his poetry over musical selections and the thirty-minutebroadcast circulates widely amongst collectors. Prof. Campbell speculates that the apocryphal Saturn
LP, Celebrations For Dial Tunes, originated from this session, but no copies are known to exist (seepp.205, 229). I don’t recognize the music quietly playing in the background, but it is obviously prerecorded: there’s some Arkestra stuff featuring Marshall Allen’s keening oboe but it’s mostly spooky
synthesizer solos and tinkling Rocksichord. Sonny brings his own kind of Christmas message,
permutating Bible stories into space-age mythologies, sometimes treated with dramatic space echo.
As kooky as it sounds, he is deadly serious and the two halves play like two sides of an album. Thissession sounds so deliberately thought-out; it very well could have been intended for commercial
release.
Poetry was always an important part of Sun Ra’s radically reinvented persona. He wrote poems as achild, handed out polemical broadsides on the streets of Chicago in the 1950s and his space poetry
was often prominently displayed on record jackets. After arriving in New York, he hooked up Amiri
Baraka (nee Leroy Jones) and Larry Neal, who included Ra’s poetry in their mammoth 680-page Black
Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing in 1968. That same year, Umbra Anthology 1967-1968
published some of Ra’s poems alongside such hip luminaries as Langston Hughes and Allen
Ginsburg, cementing Ra’s reputation as an underground poet of note. After a deal with Doubleday
fell through, Sonny and Alton Abraham self-publishedThe Immeasurable Equation and Extensions Out—The Immeasurable Equation Vol.II in 1972 through Ihnfinity, Inc./Saturn Research (see Szwed p.320).
These pamphlets were printed in vanishingly small numbers and almost impossible to find until
Abraham’s son, Adam, compiled 260 of Ra’s poems in Collected Works Vol.I: The Immeasurable
Equation, published by Phaelos Books & Mediawerks in 2005. (Another collection of poems, This
Planet Is Doomed, came out on Kicks Books last year.)
Whatever their literary worth, working with words was clearly part of Sun Ra’s Earthly mission: as
Szwed points out:

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“He had read Sidney Lanier’s The Science of English Verse when it was argued that sound could serve as
artistic material, the body as a musical instrument. Poetry offered him a chance to compose withlanguage as he did with music” (p.319). Sonny himself described his poems as “scientific equations”:
What I want to do is associate words so they produce a certain fact. If you mix two chemical products you produce areaction. In the same way if you put together certain words you’ll obtain a reaction which will have a value for people
on this planet. That’s why I continue to put words together. Einstein said he was looking for an equation for eternallife. But we built the atom bomb, and his project has never materialized. But I’m sure he was right. To put words
together, or, even if you could, to paint the image that is necessary to put out the vibrations that we need, that wouldchange the destiny of the whole planet (quoted in Id. pp.319-320).
Regarding this Christmas broadcast, Szwed writes:
The choice of poems and their sequencing offers a sense of what Sun Ra thought was most important in his writing.
Here are key words like “cosmos,” “truth,” “bad,” “myth,” and “the impossible,”; attention to phonetic equivalence,
the universality of music and its metaphysical status; allusions to black fraternal orders and secret societies; biblicalpassages and their interpretation; and even a few autobiographical glimpses. The poems were read softly, with little
expression, the music punctuating the words, with heavy echo and delay in the studio sometimes reducing the words topure sound without meaning (Id. pp.320-321).
Another fifteen minutes of Sonny reading his poetry over pre-recorded music appeared on theeleven hourESP Radio Tribute back in 2005 and while no dates are provided, it sounds very similar tothis 1976 session, complete with low-key vocal delivery and spacey echo effects. The Norton
Records label has issued three CDs of Ra reading his poetry on Strange Worlds in My Mind (Space
Poetry Vol.1); The Sub-Dwellers (Space Poetry Vol.2); and The Outer Darkness (Space Poetry Vol.3). I haven’t
heard these, but they apparently contain all this stuff and a whole lot more, compiled by “The Good
Doctor” (Michael Anderson, director of theSun Ra Archive). The completest in me says I need tohave them—and maybe someday I will—but until then, these CDRs of the original broadcasts will
have to do. Not for everyone, but a crucial piece of the Sun Ra puzzle.
Sam said...
Don't forget the other edition of Ra's poetry, "The Immeasurable Equation: The Collected Poetry
and Prose," compiled and edited by James L. Wolf and Harmut Geerken (500+ pages, 2005). I haveno idea how the content compares to Abraham's version.

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APRIL 8, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: A Quiet Place In The Universe (Leo CD)
This one is a stumper. Half of the music was originally released in 1987 as filler on A Night In East
Berlin (Leo LR 149) (one of the very first Sun Ra CDs ever made), but in 1994 it was re-released incomplete form as A Quiet Place In The Universe (Leo LR 198). It’s unclear when this material wasrecorded since, according to Chris Trent’s liner notes, the original tape provided to the record
company merely contains a handwritten label identifying some (but not all) of the track titles.
However, it’s obvious that all of the tracks are taken from a single concert, probably recorded in
1976 or 1977, based on personnel and repertoire. Prof. Campbell’s “best guess” is “early 1977” butthere are some anomalies (such as Pat Patrick’s presence on alto saxophone) which make a datecertain impossible to determine (see p.235). In any event, it is a terrifically full-bodied stereo
recording, well-balanced, with a warm, dry acoustic and a worthy addition to the official
discography, despite its mysterious provenance.
The disc starts off with the title track, a rare Sun Ra composition in its only known recording. Afteran announcement from John Gilmore, it starts off as a conventional big-band ballad a la Sun Ra—
but as it goes along, the yearning harmonies get progressively more dissonant and strange, eventually
wandering far away from the initial key center as it slowly builds to a harrowing climax. Moreover,the horns play at the extreme ranges of their instruments, raising the intensity level even further as
the volume increases, similar to the earlier “Discipline” series of compositions. Interestingly,
Vincent Chancey takes the only solo, his French horn being an odd choice for such a challenging
composition; nevertheless, he acquits himself admirably on the unwieldy instrument. What Chancey
lacks in technique he makes up for in ethusiasm for the music! After an elongated reprise, the pieceends with a flourish from Gilmore and another announcement: “’A Quiet Place In the Unverse’, acomposition by Sun Ra!” And what a great composition it is!

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“I, Pharoah” picks up at the end of “Friendly Galaxy No.2,” with Sun Ra eventually taking up the
microphone for a lengthy declamation. At over eighteen minutes, this sort of thing could be tedious(to say the least), but the recording manages to minimize the distorted vocals and enhance thedelicate flute arrangement, making for a surprisingly enjoyable listening experience. Although thenext track was labeled “Images” on the original tape, that’s not what was played. Instead, weessentially get a duet improvisation between Ra’s electric organ and Chancey’s French horn, with therhythm section supplying some subtle swing changes about half-way through. Very nice. “Love In
Outer Space” follows, featuring a rather over-long conga workout from (possibly) Atakatune—
nothing special, but the sound quality is superb.
Then we have the hoary chestnut, “I’ll Never Be the Same.” The instrumental version by “Matty”
Malneck and Frank Signorelli was originally titled, "Little Buttercup" when it was recorded by the
Paul Whiteman Orchestra but with lyrics (and a new title) courtesy of Gus Kahn, the song was a hitfor Mildred Bailey in 1932. The tune would become a regular in Sun Ra’s live sets in the years tocome but this version is unusual in that Pat Patrick takes the lead on alto saxophone. This suggests alater date than 1977, but then again, who knows? Patrick was in and out of the band during thisperiod and would eventually abandon the baritone sax with which he made his name for the lighter,more flexible alto. Not surprisingly, he gets the same gruff, expressionistic sound out of the smaller
horn, making his playing instantly recognizable. This version is a delight, with Ra’s organ swells
adding an appropriately romantic nostalgia to the proceedings. Finally, “Space Is The Place”
concludes the disc, but fades out after a few minutes. No great loss there, I suppose.
As befitting the title, A Quiet Place In The Universe is a somewhat subdued affair lacking any wild,skronky improvisations, rip-snorting big-band numbers—or even a single Gilmore solo.
Nevertheless, it is a uniquely satisfying album with the title track worth the price of admission for its
rarity alone. It also helps that the sound quality is excellent throughout. Leo CDs can be a little hitor-miss, but this one is a keeper.
Jean K said...
This is a particular favourite of mine although almost nothing about its provenance seems to quite
make sense. I absolutely love “I, Pharaoh” on this record - there's something about the combinationof Ra's voice with the flutes and percussion that works beautifully. There is a casualty of all this Sun
Ra research. My copy of The Earthly Recordings, always somewhat fragile from overuse is now held
together by rubber bands.
Sam said...
Overall, this record just doesn't do it for me. The title track is definitely the highlight, and it's too
bad that it doesn't appear on a release with more compelling companions. The backing to "I
Pharaoh" is nice because it's more energetic than it usually is (it can often get sluggish, but thenagain maybe that's my impatience with the hectoring), but my favorite part is at around 18 minutes
in when June Tyson is singing "Pharaoh." The rest of the disc is underwhelming (good sound quality
notwithstanding). To Jean K.: I haven't gotten to rubber bands yet, but the binding is severely
cracked on mine--it's only a matter of time!
Rodger Coleman said...
@Sam: I guess I appreciate the nice sound quality on this more than anything else. Too manybootlegs will do that to me. I agree it's ultimately a lesser album in the discography, but it's nice tohave. @Jean K: I'm in the same boat: the spine cracked with days of receiving it and it gets ever249

more precarious. I'd love to see a new edition in two (three?) volumes, sewn hardbound. Heh. Well,
I can dream, right?
JUNE 3, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra ‘77
1977 was a busy year for Sonny.
On January 6, the Arkestra appeared at the Famous Ballroom in Baltimore, Maryland again under
the auspices of the Left Bank Jazz Society. No recording exists, but “[a]ccording to a review by Ken
Buford, reprinted in the Baltimore Jazz Scene 1977, the program included ‘Along Came Ra,’ ‘Calling
Planet Earth,’ ‘When There Is No Sun’ and ‘Space Is The Place’ along with blues, swing numbers, an‘outer space dirge,’ and a flute duet” (Campbell & Trent p.230). Then, at the last possible minute,
Sun Ra was asked to participate in FASTEC 77, a four-week-long “World Black and African Festivalof the Arts and Culture” in Lagos, Nigeria scheduled to begin at the beginning of February.
Performers from sixty-two different countries were invited, all representative of the Pan-African
diaspora, with Sun Ra’s Arkestra representing black Americans. It was contentious from the outset:
With only a few days’ notice and no money up front, the band thought it was ridiculous to even consider it, but Sonny
was adamant: “Your ancestors came into America without a cent. How much money do you have?” When one of themusicians answered fifty cents, he said, “That’s fifty cents more than your ancestors had.” They were going.
Sun Ra noticed that very few musicians had been invited to the festival—a mistake, he thought—and he assumed thathaving been asked at the last minute meant that music had been an afterthought, and that “only those who weren’t tied
up to the white man could make it.” Still, he said it was important for them to help destroy the African’s stereotype of
the American black man. From the moment of their arrival he was in a combative mood. When a Nigerian at the
airport called out, “Welcome home, Sun Ra,” Sonny answered, “Home? Your people sold mine. This is no longer myhome!” At each performance the artists displayed flags from their own countries; but when Sun Ra got on stage heraised a purple and black banner that he called “the flag of death.” He was annoyed that they were only allowed toplay at the festival twice, and it was made worse when the Arkestra played overtime as usual and a large number ofpeople left to catch the last buses back from the hall: misunderstanding their exit for rejection, Sonny saw it as typicalof blacks to not respect one another. But at their second performance the lighting man was so impressed by the musicthat he lowered the lights after they left the stage and refused to turn them back on as the Miriam Makeba set began:“The Master has spoken!” he proclaimed. Sonny interceded and insisted that she, too, was an artist, and should betreated with respect.
Over the four weeks, there was time to visit outside the city, to hear local music and to play for Africans and see themdancing to the Arkestra’s music at informal performances. The band was invited to visit the flamboyant and politicallyrebellious Fela Anikulapo-Kuti at his house and nightclub where he was staging a counter-FASTEC, but Sonny
thought it unwise and told the band not to go—a decision which he said was justified later when Fela’s place was
attacked and burned down by troops of the Nigerian army. The trip ended on a bitter note when the Arkestra was notallowed to march in the final grand parade because Ra would not agree to give the raised fist salute of Black Power.
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Then afterwards, when National Public Radio reported on the festival, one woman interviewed said his music didn’t
represent black people in the United States.
After the festival was over they returned by way of Egypt, and this time traveled in that country more widely, andwound up playing for the multinational troops in the Sinai Peninsula (Szwed pp.341-342).
According to Tommy Hunter, tapes exist from the African sojourn but are not available (Campbell& Trent p.231). By February 26, the Arkestra was back in the states and an audience recording fromtheir performance in East Lansing, Michigan apparently circulates but I have not heard it.
Additionally, live performances of two old-timey numbers, the Dixon-Henderson standard, “Bye
Bye Blackbird,” and George Gershwin’s “Embraceable You,” were recorded around this time for a
Saturn single that was never released. These tapes were later broadcast by WKCR-FM during their
1987 Sun Ra Festival but I don’t have a copy of this either. According to Prof. Campbell, therendition of “Bye Bye Blackbird is “slow and dozy and, if one does not listen carefully, sounds like a
straggler from Ra’s Discipline series” (Id.).
At this point, concert “bootlegs” begin to proliferate as Sun Ra’s reputation as a spectacular live
performer became more widely known and miniaturized recording technology (slowly) improved.
And it is at this point where I had to take a break from the poor sound quality and somewhat
repetitive setlists and give Sun Ra Sunday a rest for a little while. But the fact remains: Ra made abunch of good-to-great albums in 1977, including several rare solo piano recitals, the classic Some
Blues But Not The Kind That’s Blue(Saturn/Atavistic) and the first of the legendary Horo LPs. I’mactually very excited to get to these; so, having rested my ears, I’m ready to tackle the dodgy“bootlegs” in order to get to the good stuff. Not that there isn’t “good stuff” to be found on theseamateur concert recordings—it just takes a whole lot more effort to discern.
Up next: a sprawling, two-and-half hour set recorded (badly) at the Showboat Lounge in Silver
Spring, Maryland on March 18, 1977. I’ll take a listen so you don’t have to!
Sam said...
Hurray! Glad to see that Sun Ra Sundays are back! You'll be gleaning for Gilmore gold throughout
the dodgy audience recordings coming up, but you're right, there are also truly awesome albums
coming up.
JUNE 10, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Showboat Lounge, Silver Spring, MD 3-18-77 (AUD 2CDR)
On March 18, 1977 the Arkestra appeared at the Showboat Lounge in Silver Spring Maryland and a
150-minute audience tape circulates amongst the most fanatical Sun Ra collectors. Interestingly, thisvenue would quickly become one of Ra’s favorites: “[A]ccording to John Gilmore, Ra wrote several
compositions meant to be played only at that location, including one titled, “Silver Spring” which
was revived by the Arkestra in 1996” (Campbell & Trent. p.233). It would appear at least one of the251things Sonny liked about the Showboat was that he was given free rein to play as long as he wanted.
Take a look at the setlist:
Disc 1: 1. //The Shadow World (5:15); 2. [unidentified title] (6:06); 3. Space Is The Place (12:12); 4.
I’ll Never Be The Same (3:36); 5. Yeah, Man! (3:17); 6. King Porter Stomp (3:51); 7. The Mayan
Temples (9:03); 8. Images (9:40); 9. Face The Music (5:06); 10. The Mystery Of Two (6:42).
Disc 2: 1. Bye Bye Blackbird (2:36); 2. Watusi (21:31); 3. [unidentified title//] (3:24); 4.
[//unidentified title]// (percussion only) (:33); 5. //Destination Unknown (1:25); 6. Journey To
Saturn (9:26); 7. [unidentified title] (Rocksichord & French horn) (6:59); 8. The Satellites Are
Spinning (2:04); 9. On Sound Infinity Spheres (4:30); 10. Embraceable You (6:33); 11. Greetingsfrom the 21st Century/We Travel The Spaceways (2:53); 12. Love In Outer Space (8:58); 13. The
Shadow World// (3:41).
This constitutes part of the first set and a mere fragment of the second—it sure looks juicy, doesn’t
it? Well, be forewarned: the sound quality of this amateur recording is truly abysmal. To be fair, thecirculating copy is probably pretty close to the original (mono) master tape since there is very little
hiss or wow-and-flutter and, occasionally, it sounds… okay. So, it has that going for it. The problem
is that the (decidedly lo-fi) microphone has been placed right up next to Sonny’s amplifier so theorgan is much, much louder than anything else on stage—and when he steps on the gas and that amp
starts to distort, you will think your own speakers are being shredded right before your very ears. It
is most unpleasant to listen to, despite the otherwise high quality of the performance.
Indeed, there is some incredible music buried under the noise: the old-timey big-band numbers are
given relaxed, authoritative readings and Gilmore does his inimitable thing on “The Shadow World,”“Images,” “The Mystery of Two” and, most impressively, on “Embraceable You.” Pat Patrick takes
the lead on baritone sax on a truly bizarre ballad composition (disc 1, track 2) and picks up the alto
for a gorgeous rendition of “I’ll Never Be The Same.” But what’s most interesting are all thoseunknown titles such as the above ballad, the tangy “Discipline”-styled piece (disc 2, track 3) or thephase-shifty Rocksichord and French horn duet (disc 2, track 7), with Vincent Chancey sounding
more assured than ever on that unwieldy instrument. It is always fascinating to hear “new” Sun Ra
compositions, even if the sound quality sucks.
And, boy howdy, does the sound quality suck. Only the most hardcore Sun Ra fan will want to sit
through this in order to mine any nuggets of musical gold that can be found. Even so, I keep
coming back to those “unheard” compositions and find myself wishing the rest of the second set
had been recorded; no doubt there were more “new” Sun Ra works to be found there, perhaps
written especially for the venue. I guess that makes me hardcore. The rest of you should stay far, faraway.
Jean K said...
Yep - that is hardcore listening bordering on the heroic. I have to admit that I've never managed toget all the way through this one. The unissued compositions are definitely very interesting though.
Sam said...
Aw, come on---it's not really -that- bad. Is it? Naw. I'd say "tolerable"--but just. All the new (andrarely recorded) compositions, as well as the too-rarely-played "On Sound Infinity Spheres," makethis worth returning to. The treatment of "Bye Bye Blackbird" is similar to what RLC describes of252

the version from the WKCR show, and it's a pleasure to hear Gilmore's take on "Embraceable
You."
Rodger Coleman said...
@ Jean K: This one nearly made me throw in the towel -- hence the break. BTW, I really enjoyedthat podcast re: Evan Parker's record collection! @ Sam: See above. Seriously, this was sheer torturefor me. I did my best to point out the amazing music (and, yes, that Gilmore solo on "Embraceable
You" is incredible), but sheesh! I realize that part of the problem is that my new system is much
more revealing than what I had before and what it reveals here is a very, very bad recording! I willpersevere, though... :)JUNE 17, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Smuckers, New York, NY 4-17-77 (AUD CDR)
A month later, we find the Arkestra back in New York, appearing at Smuckers on April 17, 1977
and, at least compared to the Showboat Lounge tape, this amateur recording is a hi-fi sonicspectacular! Recorded in stereo (still something of a rarity at the time), it has a pleasing ambienceand excellent instrumental balance, with the drums and cymbals coming through crisp and clear but
without being overwhelming. But this tape has its share of problems: the recording levels go up anddown; there is considerable distortion when things get loud; and, about halfway through, thesurreptitious recordist panics and tries to hide the microphone, causing the sound quality todeteriorate significantly. Oh well; that’s just the way it is with “bootlegs” from this era. Also unlike
the more accommodating Showboat Lounge, the economics of Manhattan nightclubs dictated ashort, hour-long set with few surprises. All that said, this is a half-decent recording of the band on apretty good night—plus there’s a special guest sitting in at this show, vibraphonist Walk Dickerson.
Well, perhaps not that special (see below).
The set opens with a brief but ominous “Strange Strings”-styled improvisation before June Tyson
comes in singing “(The World Is Waiting) For The Sunrise.” As the guys in the band join in thechorus, the words slowly morph into “The world is waiting for…Sun Ra” for Sonny’s grandentrance. A massive space chord signals Danny Ray Thompson to take up the big bari-sax riff of“Discipline 27” and it’s a barn-burner. Unfortunately, Ahmed Abdullah’s trumpet solo is so earpiercingly loud it causes the recordist to fiddle with the input levels for a couple of minutes while therest of the Arkestra moves into a deliciously skronky group improvisation, capped by Marshall
Allen’s a cappella alto saxophone. This is a great version of this sometimes overplayed tune, albeit
marred by severe technical problems with the recording. And so it goes...
Thankfully, the sound clears up a bit for “The Shadow World” and it’s another high-energy blowout
with gobs of “mad scientist” organ work and a string of outrageous solos from Allen and Danny
Davis on altos, Eloe Omoe on bass clarinet, James Jacson on bassoon, and, finally, John Gilmore on
tenor. The music moves through a variety of feels across its eighteen-minute duration, from thefrenetic opening ostinatos to a deep, dark funk jam to wild, free-jazz bashing. Jacson’s bassoon solo253

is perhaps his longest on record and an amazing display of virtuosity on this terribly awkward
instrument and he gets a hearty round of applause from the audience. Who knew Jacson could play
like that? The always impressive Gilmore is at his very best here, building an epic statement out oftiny cells of notes, effortlessly incorporating the entire range of extended techniques from
impossible-sounding multiphonics to keening altissimo cries, all the while maintaining a coherent
structure with a lyrical melodicism all his own. Yes, folks: it’s another incredible Gilmore solo! After
the Akrestra returns with a super-tight reprise of the insanely complicated head, the audience is leftin stunned disbelief. This is another fantastic rendition of a composition which could never be“overplayed” in my book—the highlight of the set, for sure.
“Enlightenment” cuts off after about thirty-five seconds—no great loss, I guess—and then we pickup in the middle of “Love In Outer Space,” the organ vamping away over a bed of percussion. Just
as Sonny returns with the melody, it sounds to me like the microphone gets shoved under the tablein an effort to avoid detection by the band or nightclub staff; in any event, the sound quality takes asevere nosedive from here on. “When There Is No Sun” is spiritedly sung, but suffers from muffledsound, as does “Lights On A Satellite,” which struggles to get into a groove, the tempo fluctuating
wildly and, at one point, moving into a heavy-ish rock feel—but Sonny puts the kibosh on thatpretty quick! Next up is an unknown title, possibly one of the “Discipline” series of compositions
and it sounds vaguely familiar: strained, broken harmonies; braying horns; abstract drumming;
dissonant, dramatic organ chords—but with weird, murmuring vocals. Very interesting. Then Walt
Dickerson takes over with a long vibraphone solo—too long, if you ask me. Dickerson is a fineplayer, but he’s just noodling around here. It’s impossible to tell what else is happening on stage but
sometimes it seems as if Dickerson just wants to stop playing—and Sonny won’t let him! It just goeson and on and, frankly, it gets to be quite boring—not something you can usually say about an
Arkestra performance (aside from the drum solos). It doesn’t help that the sharp, metallic attack of
the vibraphone causes painful amounts of distortion in the recording when he hits it hard—which isall too often. “Space Is The Place” ends the set with the typical carrying on, although notable for the
inclusion of the baritone counter-melody in the head arrangement, a subtle but welcome variation tothis concert mainstay. After an extended vocal segment, the Arkestra marches off the stage andthat’s it.
No doubt there was a lot more music played on this night, but this is all we have: a flawed yet mostly
listenable recording of one (almost) complete set, which starts off strong and then goes downhill.
Committed Sun Ra fanatics will find this worthwhile for “The Shadow World” alone, but for others
it is probably inessential.
JUNE 24, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: The Empty Foxhole Café, Philadelphia, PA 4-29-77 (AUD 2CDR)
Taking its name from the 1967 album by Ornette Coleman, The Empty Foxhole Café was a studentrun venue at the University of Pennsylvania, located in the basement of St. Mary’s Church at 39th &Locust Streets, at the time a particularly run-down area of Philadelphia. It housed an actual theater254with a large stage, nice acoustics and student volunteers would serve natural foods between sets—hey, it was the ‘Seventies! Weekends were mostly reserved for avant-garde artists such as Cecil
Taylor, Archie Shepp and The Art Ensemble of Chicago, who are all known to have performed
there. The Arkestra made an appearance at The Empty Foxhole on April 29, 1977 and a two-houraudience recording circulates amongst collectors (seeCampbell & Trent, p.234).
As usual with these things, sound quality is problematic, to say the least. Once again, Sun Ra’ssearing electric organ dominates all the other instruments—but however good (or bad) the original(monophonic) tape might have sounded, what we have here is many cassette generations removed,with severe wow-and flutter issues and, most egregiously, a Dolby mismatch or two, resulting inelevated hiss and distortion that was clearly not present on the original recording. To make mattersworse, this horribly degraded tape was then sloppily transferred to digital, evidenced by audible
clicks and digital distortion present throughout, getting progressively worse and worse as it goesalong. Ouch! That said, there is, as usual, some great (and not so great) music buried beneath all thenoise—you just have to struggle to hear it.
The set opens with another “Strange Strings”-styled improvisation with kora, thumb-pianos, log
drums and other myriad percussion instruments rattling away but it’s sadly impossible to make out
exactly what’s going on. And it goes on for quite a while, moving through a variety of rhythmic feels
while Vincent Chancey provides some lugubrious French horn and someone (probably Richard“Radu” Williams) (Id.) taking a rare bass solo. Just as the crowd becomes audibly restless, the horns
split the sonic universe with a raucous space chord and one of the Space Ethnic Voices starts
singing, “Make Way For the Sunshine.” But then June Tyson comes in with “(The World Is Waiting)
For The Sunrise” and the two songs are sung at the same time in weird, polytonal counterpoint—
very interesting! After Sonny’s big entrance, Danny Ray Thompson takes up the bari-sax riff for“Discipline 27” and it’s another hot rendition with an extended freakout section, Marshall Allen and
Danny Davis duking it out on altos and Craig Harris going his own way on trombone. So far, so
good.
Then Sonny moves to the Rocksichord for “How Am I To Know?” but his stomp-box phaseshifter is shorting out: it crackles, pops and cuts off and on of its own accord. The Arkestra carries
on, though, with Rusty Morgan singing lead (Id.) and Gilmore taking a splendidly idiomatic solo thatgets a nice round of applause. But Ra is clearly frustrated with the Rocksichord and abandons it
altogether to join in the singing, only to let the song sort of peter out. Oh well. “Love In Outerspace”
is the usual thing: a bit tedious at over fourteen minutes, but no doubt a delightful visual spectacle.
The next thirty minutes are devoted to the big-band classics, “Lightnin’,” “Yeah Man!,” “Take The‘A’-Train,” “Honeysuckle Rose” and “Red Room” and it’s an oddly uneven performance. John
Gilmore displays his stunning virtuosity on the B-flat clarinet (a/k/a “The Misery Stick”) on “YeahMan!” and delivers a typically rousing tenor saxophone solo on Fats Waller’s “Honeysuckle Rose”—
yet he seems bored with “Take The ‘A’-Train” and unusually breathless on “Red Room.” We do getto hear the laconic Akh Tal Ebah take a rare trumpet solo on “Take The ‘A’-Train” while Ahmed
Abdullah, is elsewhere his usual showy self. But by and large, this is not the Arkestra at its best: theensembles are ragged and the band sounds unsure of the arrangements at times. It doesn’t help
matters much that the sound quality is so terrible, no doubt clouding my opinion of the music—
your mileage may vary.
Moving on: Allen and Ra duet on an untitled ballad, possibly through-composed: similar in feel to“Taking a Chance on Chancey” and other French horn duets we’ve heard, Sonny is outlining255definite harmonies while Allen freely extrapolates on alto saxophone—whatever it is, it’s just lovely.
“King Porter Stomp” brings us back to the Swing Era and Gilmore sounds more inspired here,
taking a small motivic figure introduced by Harris’s trombone solo and running with it. “The Mayan
Temples” settles into a gentle, spacey groove with flutes on top and Ra taking a pleasantly
ruminative electronic solo—but the recording is marred by numerous technical difficulties, including
an inconvenient tape flip and a faulty microphone cable. And so it goes…”Outer Spaceways
Incorporated” is resurrected and reimagined as a weirdly asymmetric, mid-tempo swinger with acomplexly hocketed vocal arrangement and Sonny pontificating amidst an increasingly enervatingdin. Whoah!I’m not sure if we’ve heard this arrangement before (or if we’ll hear it again), but it is anunusually refreshing take on this sometimes overdone singalong.
Finally, we get “The Shadow World,” which is always welcome. And, as usual, it’s a barn-burner: fast
and tight with frenzied horns and pummeling percussion. Ra takes one of his patented “madscientist” organ solos where he sounds like he has three hands, summoning up an astonishing variety
of otherworldly textures, from percussive, high-pitched tinkling to swooning portamentos to roaring
whirlwinds of low-register noise—all at the same time. This is Ra at his most outrageous — yet he isfirmly in control of every nuance possible from his crude electronic keyboards. A string of hornsolos follows, both accompanied and a cappella, with James Jacson delivering another lengthy andimpressive display instrumental facility on the difficult and unwieldy bassoon—but then Harris
destroys the mood with an overly cute, bluesy pastiche on trombone. He manages to elicit somebemused chuckles from the audience but our recordist is clearly not impressed; running short ontape, he shuts off the machine until mid-way through Gilmore’s solo. Although Gilmore sounds
great, the effect is ruined and—to add insult to injury—horrific digital distortion starts to creep in,completely overwhelming everything by the return of the head. Ugh. The tape mercifully ends there.
So, here we have another crummy “bootleg” with enough tidbits of interesting music to be
worthwhile only to the most fanatical Sun Ra collector. One wishes the original master tape would
resurface and be given a fresh transfer as it would sound a lot better than this inferior facsimile.
Given what we currently have, most listeners will find the sound quality utterly repellent and should
not even bother hunting it down — the rest of you know who you are.
Sam said...
Getting caught up here... Okay, yeah, I'm one of the ones who know who I am! I really like thisshow. The "Honeysuckle Rose" Gilmore solo is great, as you say...but "unusually breathless" on"Rose Room"? I don't hear that. Overall, yeah, it's a rough recording, but in for a penny, in for apound. And the "Discipline 27" improv is outstanding. The performances at this stage haven't
gotten quite as formulaic as they will in the mid- to late-80s; there's still enough variation and spicehere (such as the "Outer Spaceways" arrangement) to keep things hopping. Thanks for another great
write-up!
Anonymous said...
This post brought back my own memories of Sun Ra at The Empty Foxhole, but this was back ineither late 1970 or early 1971 -- wintertime, for sure, as there was precious little heat in the venue.
And there was no "large stage", just a tiny one in a tiny room. The acoustics were about the same assomeone's living room. And Ra's organ was deafening! The whole experience was overwhelming tome and my friend -- we were both green suburban teenagers getting our ears cleaned out. I haveequally vivid memories of hearing the Sam Rivers Trio, Charles Mingus, and McCoy Tyner in that256

space. (The Tyner gig was in the summer, and it must have been 100 degrees in the club! A
wonderful place, the Foxhole...
JULY 29, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

https://vimeo.com/25088782
Sun Ra & Friends (IAI video) This forty-minute videotape was recorded live at Axis-In-Soho in
downtown New York, sometime in early July, 1977 and was briefly available from Improvising
Artists,Inc. (as V004) in 1981 (Campbell & Trent pp.237-238). Simply titled Sun Ra & Friends, theconcert includes some solo piano pieces as well as some small ensembles with John Gilmore on
tenor saxophone, Danny Davis on flute, Ahmed Abdullah on trumpet and June Tyson and Eddie
Thomas on vocals. The trippy colorization effects not only look dated and cheesy, they nearly
obliterate the raw footage, making it almost unwatchable today. Still, there is some nice music here,
including a way-out duet with Gilmore and casual, concise takes of “When There Is No Sun,”“Gone With The Wind,” and “The Mystery Of Two” as well as a preview of “A Different Kind Of
Blues,” beautifully sung by Tyson.
Big thanks to reader yotte, for sharing a link to this video, as well as Solo Piano (IAI V003), which has
now been posted over at last week’s review of St. Louis Blues. It seems unlikely these things will everreceive a legitimate digital release, so check ‘em out while you can.

257

JULY 15, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Solo Piano, Volume 1 (Improvising Artists CD)
Better known for his electronic experiments, Sun Ra never really got his due as a pianist, eventhough he was an obviously gifted player with deep roots in the jazz tradition. Prior to 1977, theonly solo piano albums Sonny had ever recorded were the impossibly obscure El Saturn LPs,
Monorails & Satellites Volumes 1 & 2, released in a minuscule editions a decade earlier—but therecondite material and low-fi sound offered a mere glimpse into Sonny’s wide-ranging keyboard
technique. As we've seen, however, extended piano breaks were cropping up during live
performances in the late-‘70s, if an instrument was available to him. (For an excellent example, takea listen to the brilliantly virtuosic introduction to “Take The A-Train” found Live At Montreux
recorded on July 9, 1976). Of course, insiders knew what he what Sun Ra was capable of:Though many recognized him as capable of playing bombastically, and of using the piano for color, few thought of his
as a major player. But Paul Bley, one of the two or three leading pianists of free jazz, believed Sonny was a great
piano player, so great that he didn’t need a band. If anything, he felt, the band was a cover for his insecurity. Early in
1977 Bley convinced Sonny to do a series of piano duo performances with him in New York and Europe and torecord for Bley’s new audio and video company, Improvising Artists (Szwed p.343).
On May 20, Sonny entered Manhattan’s Generation Sound Studios to record Solo Piano, Volume 1,
which would be released later in the year as IAI 37.38.50 (RJ-7419 in Japan). It was eventually
reissued on compact disc in 1992 as IAI 123850 but is now out of print (see Campbell & Trent
p.236). The first in a series of solo piano recordings made in during the year, Volume 1 is also themost satisfying.
Alone in the studio, Sonny is in a reflective mood, ruminating on a handful of original compositions
and choice covers. “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” is given a hauntingly abstract
reading, alternating between enervated, polytonal passagework and serene, floating chords. The
following “Cosmo Rhythmatic” continues this rhapsodic, orchestral approach while “Yesterdays” isplayed mostly straight, with an occasionally bubbly ragtime feel that fittingly evokes Sun Ra’s earlydays on the south side of Chicago. On “Romance of Two Planets” Ra stacks up unstable blocks of258

vertical harmonies amidst flurries of repeated melodic figures, rumbling bass notes and sharply
dissonant tone clusters—the most “out-there” piece on the album. Meanwhile, the impressionistic“Irregular Galaxy” sounds like a sketch for potential Arkestra number with its weirdly swinging
chord progression and intricately intertwined counter-melodies. Finally, “To A Friend”
demonstrates Sun Ra’s peculiarly inventive take on the blues: a two-chord vamp over which heelaborates in seemingly endless variation, sometimes in several keys simultaneously. As Szwed points
out, “those who had known him for years understood that his origins were in the blues and assumed
that side of his playing: ‘Sun Ra could play the blues for twenty four hours without repeating aphrase’ they claimed” (p.343). Even at seven-plus minutes, “To A Friend” is but a brief example of
Sun Ra’s genius in this regard.
A flurry of solo concerts followed in the wake of Solo Piano, Volume 1, some of which were
documented. And while the live audiences obviously energized Sonny, making for some exciting
performances, the introspective, meditative quality of Volume 1 is special, a truly unique—and
therefore essential—item in Sun Ra’s immense discography.
JULY 22, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: St. Louis Blues: Solo Piano, Volume 2 (Improvising Artists, Inc. CD)
On July 3, 1977, Sun Ra shared a bill with Paul Bley at Axis-In-Soho as part of the Newport in New
York Festival, which was recorded by Bley’s Improvising Artists label. A portion of Sun Ra’s set was
released on LP in 1978 as St. Louis Blues: Solo Piano, Volume 2 (IAI 37.38.58) and reissued on CD in
1993 (IAI 123858) (Campbell & Trent pp.236-237). If Solo Piano, Volume 1 was an introspective
studio album, Sun Ra is in an expansive, playful mood in front of a live audience. As Szwed points
out in his biography, “Bley was surprised to see that once he was alone on stage, ‘Sonny was a ham
who liked to clown and surprise the audience’” (Szwed p.343) and there is a bit of that to be foundhere.
Ra’s passagework is startlingly virtuosic, displaying an astonishing independence of fingers andhands and extreme sensitivity of touch, although it sometimes comes across a bit empty and showy.
“Ohosnisixaeht” is a rhapsodic blues with impressively fleet soloing, but the music wanders rather
259

than gets anywhere. W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues” is better, updated with a complex, polytonalarrangement. The simple “Three Little Words,” a 1930s showtune by Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar
is given an over-the-top reinterpretation that borders on corny, full of melodramatic glissandos andskittering block chords but always returning to that sweet, sweet swing. Side one closes with a short,romantic rendition of “Honeysuckle Rose” that alternates between rubato schmaltz and breezyragtime.
Side two is more interesting, containing three originals that show off Sun Ra’s compositional skills aswell as his brilliant keyboard work. “Sky and Sun” is onomatopoeic: drifting chords represent thesky and twinkling figures in the uppermost register represent the sun. This track is really quite
evocative and it sounds he could do this sort of stuff all day long. Ra summons up an entire Arkestra
on “I Am We Are,” from rumbling bass notes, scraping “strange strings” and exquisitely voiced
harmonies to outrageous, free-jazz scree, with moments of two-fisted aggression a la Cecil Taylor—a tour de force and probably the best thing on the album. “Thoughts On Thoth” ends the album
with a slow space groove, articulated with remarkably fluid right-hand flourishes. It’s a brilliant
display, but feels a little perfunctory to me.
Apparently, Improvising Artists released a 40-minute video of this concert (IAI V003), which
replaces “Ohosnisixaeht” with another rendition of “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child”(the studio version can be heard on Volume 1) and contains some other minor editing differencesfrom the LP (see Campbell & Trent p.237). This video was only sporadically available in the 1980s
and while “bootleg” versions circulate, I have not seen a copy. And here is an tantalizing rumor:“According to Fred Conrad, the concert ended with “When There Is No Sun,” on which Ra wasjoined by June Tyson (voc) and John Gilmore (voc). It is not known whether this piece wasrecorded” (Id.).
UPDATE: Thanks to reader, Yotte, for this link to the IAI video of this concert:
Suhn Rawl Sew Low Pie Ano '77 from yotte on Vimeo.
https://vimeo.com/25088782
https://vimeo.com/26187775
JANUARY 27, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: WKCR Studios, Columbia University, New York, NY 7/8/77 (FM CDR)
So, where did we leave off? Oh yeah, the summer of ’77 and Sonny’s solo piano adventures, some of
my very favorite Sun Ra records: the introspective studio LP, Solo Piano Vol.1, and the moreflamboyant live recording, St. Louis Blues. There was also one more solo piano set that month: aradio appearance on July 8 at WKCR, the left-of-the-dial FM station at Columbia University in New
York City (which seemed to have an open-door policy whenever Ra was in town) and a 36-minutetape of the broadcast circulates widely amongst collectors. Actually, I discovered there are at least
two different versions of this broadcast to be found, which caused me considerable confusion when260

I started to write this up a couple weeks ago. My first version appears to contain two additional
tracks, but, as it turns out, the DJ proceeded to play side one of Monorails & Satellites after Ra’sset. Moreover, that first tape was plagued by loads of FM interference and other extraneous noises,sounding like it was recorded with a microphone held up to a speaker. It was rough, but listenable.
The second (and more common) version of this broadcast sounds much, much better (more like aproper line recording) and does not contain the confusing album tracks (although the sequence isslightly different). It’s one of the better “bootlegs” out there and, despite this flurry of activity in
1977, solo piano performances were exceedingly rare, making this an indispensable addition to thecollection.
Starting off with bluesy improvisation, it’s sadly apparent that the radio station’s piano had seen
better days: it’s out of tune, some of the keys are sticky, and the voicing is wildly inconsistent, dull
and indistinct at one moment, shrill and piercing at another. But Ra makes the best of it, actively
exploiting the weird resonances and at times making it sound like a funky clavinet or electronic
Rocksichord. Although apparently improvised, there is an elegant structure, with a contrasting,“classical”-sounding middle section, complete with delicate trills and impressionistic arpeggios. Is
this an unknown composition? Or is it just another example of Ra’s off-the-cuff genius? Whoknows? The old stand-by, “St. Louis Blues,” is up next and it’s another barn-burning performance:
three, four, five independent voices ringing out simultaneously in wildly swinging counterpoint. If
there were ever any doubts about Sonny’s piano playing abilities, just listen to this! Anotherstandard, “Sophisticated Lady,” follows and it’s given an oblique, fractured reading, with radical,
pantonal re-harmonizations and some astonishingly intricate passage work—check out Sonny’s
ultra-dexterous left hand! Another blues improv once again brings out Ra’s brilliantly orchestral
pianism with nimble bass riffs and thrilling horn lines, his two hands amiably wandering throughdistant keys.
After that virtuosic display, things get really interesting. It seems Sonny is just getting warmed up!
An untitled original starts pits an agitated ostinato in seven against skittering right-hand flourishes
and beautiful block-chord harmonies. The stuttering bass-line almost sounds familiar, but I can’t
quite place it—another one for the “unknown” file, I guess. “Take the “A” Train” is given the same
treatment as “Sophisticated Lady,” a ruminative extrapolation on an old favorite, blithely dispensing
with all the clichéd familiarity and nostalgic sentimentality associated with this well-worn warhorse.
His enervated explorations of low-register tone clusters and fiery single-note runs easily rival theintensity of Cecil Taylor at his most bombastic—but no matter how “out-there” it might sound attimes, Ra deftly brings it all back around to the ragtime and swing which forms the basis of jazz. The
vast expanse of African American musical history, from emancipation through the avant-garde isseemingly encapsulated in this four-and-half minute version of “Take the “A” Train.”Incredible.
Another unknown title follows: a two-chord vamp with pretty right-hand melodies, a space-rhumba
feel that gradually morphs into straight-ahead swing before going out. Although dreamy andimminently enjoyable, it feels more like a sketch for a potential Arkestra arrangement than a fullyfleshed out composition. The next track, however, was deemed good enough to appear on a Saturn
single titled "Quest," in 1982 (Gemini 1982Z). However, the Evidence two-CD compilation
misattributes this track to a later date (see Campbell & Trent, p.239). Even more confusing, my firstversion of this tape has “Quest” occurring at the very end of the set, making my correlation evenmore difficult. In any event,"Quest" is a short but intriguing tone poem, with jagged, irregular
melodies, Morse code rhythms and brittle, uneasy silences. Incidentally, the sound quality of the 45261

RPM single is considerably better than the off-air recordings we have here, indicating the possibility
that a pre-broadcast master exists in the Sun Ra archives. Well, we can hope so, anyway.
The final track (at least on my second iteration of this tape) is “Trying to Put the Blame on Me,” adoleful, two-chord vamp over which Sonny starts to sing. Of course, there is no microphone near
his mouth, so you can barely make out what he’s saying at first. But there are other voices in the
background, faintly echoing Ra’s declamations: June Tyson and John Gilmore, who have been
quietly sitting in the studio, apparently waiting for this very moment. The station engineers
frantically move mic stands around and the song eventually starts to coalesce, a darkly paranoid
indictment of those who would blame Sonny for…what? I’m not sure. “What’s the name of thisgame?” he asks. “Cuz if I’m the cause of it all, then that makes me the boss.” Whatever it is, hesounds eager to assume the role. According to Campbell & Trent, “Trying to Put the Blame on Me”
would only reappear almost ten years later, at a concert in Cambridge, Massachusetts on June 10,1986 (p.491-492). Surely, this song was performed at some point in the intervening years – orperhaps not? Maybe the subject of this diatribe was so specific, it only needed performing once in awhile. Again, who knows? These are the sorts of tantalizing tidbits that keep me interested in thisproject: the mysteries of Mr. Ra.
As you all know, I have complained vociferously about the dismal sound quality of most of the“bootlegs” we’ve surveyed so far – but this one (especially the more common, correct version)
sounds very nice indeed, despite the hiss and crackle inevitably associated with low-watt radio
broadcasts of the era. More importantly, Sonny’s performance is extraordinary, combining thecontemplative meditations of a studio session with the dazzling technical displays of a live concert.
It is, in many ways, my favorite of the solo piano recordings from 1977. Definitely worth seeking
out, even for the most casual Sun Ra fan—or any devotee of jazz piano. Sun Ra was not just a greatcomposer and bandleader, he was a fluent pianist and the living embodiment of a deep-rooted
tradition dating back generations, a fact that sometimes gets lost in all the big-band hoopla andspace-age gobbledygook. Here's proof.
FEBRUARY 3, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Saturn LP>CDR)
262

Later that month, it was back to business as usual for the Arkestra as a contingent of musicians,
singers and dancers traveled to the Midwest for an appearance at The Bluebird in Bloomington,
Indiana on or about July 18, 1977. According to Prof. Campbell (who cites Michael Weiss), Sun Ra
performed two nights at The Bluebird, each consisting of two three-hour sets (!) (see Campbell &Trent pp. 230-240). At least one of these concerts was recorded by Tommy Hunter and selections
were released shortly thereafter as Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Saturn 7877). Some copies,
however, are confusingly titled We Live To Be (Id.). Currently out of print in any format undereither title, a copy of the vinyl LP circulates amongst Sun Ra obsessives as a “needledrop” CDR
made from a rather crackly original. Oh well, we take what we can get and are thankful for it.
Side one opens with “We Live To Be,” a gorgeous original Ra ballad which was apparently
performed just this once (see Id. p.845). How is that possible? John Gilmore is up first with a brief
but astonishingly fluent solo on tenor saxophone, followed by Ra on an extended, romantic organsolo. Gilmore is in top form here, blowing his ass off in that intense, late-Coltrane fashion heinconspicuously inspired, melding avant-garde shrieks and squawks with the deepest jazz historical
traditions. Rather than providing a conventional ending, Sonny cues a throbbing space chord toclose, eliciting some stunned applause from the audience. The old standard, “Gone With The
Wind,” is rendered in a soapy, melodramatic organ mode, veering towards holy-rolling gospel attimes. The rhythm section (ShooBee Doo [Reginald J. Fields] on bass, Tommy Hunter and Luqman
Ali on drums and Atakatune on percussion) sounds like they’re chomping at the bit, ready to
explode as the music starts to climax. But who knows what happened next since the track abruptly
cuts off.
Ra then leads a chant: “You made a mistake/You did something wrong/Make another mistake/And
do something right!” It’s all good fun at first but gets kind of boring as it goes on. The crowd liked
it, anyway, with someone crying out, “bravissimo!” at the end. Moving to piano, Ra plays a pretty,
rhapsodic intro to “Take the “A” Train” before the band comes in with the arrangement. Ensemble
passages are a little ragged but the solos make up for it. First, Akh Tal Ebah gets a rare turn at themic. I love his mellow, loose-lipped sound compared to the blaring pyrotechnics of most trumpet
players. Too bad his time with the Arkestra was about to come to an end. Next up is Gilmore and—what can I say?—it’s another incredible John Gilmore solo! A prime example of his ingenious
harmonic logic, flawless technique and singular passion.
Side two begins with a curious title, “Amen, Amen (Amen, Meni, Many Amens),” an originalcomposition which was also performed just this one time (see Id. p.811). Starting out with a funkyorgan thang, it soon settles into an easy swing, Ahmed Abdullah’s trumpet on top. Confident andself-assured on the high-note runs, he follows Ra’s meandering chord progression every step of theway until the organ drops out, leaving him to blow freely over bass and drums. When the organ
returns, the guys in the band start chanting “Amen” over and over while ShooBee Doo locks into
the groove. Sonny appears to be leading a church choir in elaborately hocketed repetitions of“Amen” while Danny Davis solos outrageously on alto saxophone. This goes on for quite a while
until a loud, dissonant space chord brings things to a close. “Amen,” Gilmore intones solemnly one
last time. Very interesting.
The next track fades up on June Tyson singing, “The Next Stop Mars,” with Ra interjecting odd
chords before finally taking over with a (mostly) unaccompanied piano rendition of “Over the263

Rainbow.” This is another tour de force performance, with aggressive dissonances interspersed with
joyfully melodic fragments, bits of ragtime mixed with flurries of dense passagework, gleefully
abstracting and dissecting this hoary old chestnut and serving it up anew. Clearly, Sun Ra wasinspired by the solo piano work earlier in the month and solo segments like this one would turn up
with increasing frequency in Arkestra concerts, at least when a piano was provided to him.
The album ends with “I’ll Wait for You,” quickly fading up on the chanting and percussion jam. The
burbling bass and disco hi-hats sets up an enervated pulse reminiscent of Miles Davis’s On The
Corner, with Marshall Allen and Danny Davis flittering around on flutes while Eloe Omoe hints at a
melody on bass clarinet. A dark, dense texture is established, with the hectoring vocals thankfully
mixed way back but fades out after only a few minutes.
Obviously, this album was quickly assembled to be sold off the bandstand while on the road, so it’s
not surprising to find it kind of a mixed bag. But despite some ham-fisted editing, the sound quality
is very nice (as was usually the case when Tommy Hunter was involved) and there is plenty ofinteresting and unique music to be found here. It may be a minor Sun Ra album in the grand schemeof things but Somewhere Over the Rainbow is imminently enjoyable. If the original tapes of this concert
still exist, an expanded reissue could be something special indeed. Well, obsessives like me candream, can't we?
Jean K said...
I love this record (or should I say second generation cassette > CDR in my case...) Gilmore isabsolutely on fire here. My favourite version of Over The Rainbow along with Of Mythic Worlds I
thinkMark R said...
Great to have you back, Roger. I've been reading the blog for a couple of years but for some reason
have never commented. BTW I just picked up a vinyl reissue of Soul Vibrations at Honest Jon's inLondon and there is a version of Amen (a great track). Is this another version, or the same one as on
OTR? Another perplexing discographical detail in the Sun Ra story...
Sam said...
You're much more generous than I would have been to this album, Rodger, but yes there are some
nice moments. I get tired of the "churchey" aspect of "Amen" and "Make another mistake" but yes
you're right to highlight the wonderful sax solo in "Amen," which saves it. I also like the hornarrangement in "A Train," which is decidedly different from the one on the Montreux LP.
Rodger Coleman said...
@ Jean K - It took a while for this record to grow on me. It is kind of thrown together. But, yes,
Gilmore is on fire! @ Mark R - Thank you for your comment! I think the track on "The Soul
Vibrations of Man" you are thinking of is "Third Heaven," a different sort of gospel thing. I was notaware of the 180-gram reissue of this - it's now on its way to me! @ Sam - Well, like I said above, I
didn't like this so much at first. But the more I listened to it, the more I came to appreciate its
charms. I'd love to hear more from this concert if the tapes still exist! I think the overtly churchey
stuff is interesting given his antipathy/avidity towards Christianity.

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FEBRUARY 10, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Fort Dupont, Washington, D.C. 1977-08-14 (AUD CDR)
On July 22, 1977, the Arkestra played at the Michigan Union Ballroom in Ann Arbor and,supposedly, an audience recording exists. However, I’ve never heard it and Prof. Campbell offers no
details (see Campbell & Trent p.240). A few weeks later, they appeared at Fort Dupont Park in
Washington, D.C. on August 14 (Id. p.241) and a sixty-minute tape of the complete set circulates
widely—but be forewarned: recorded from the audience on primitive, monophonic gear, the soundquality is simply atrocious. It’s the usual set of problems we find with bootlegs of the era: poor
instrumental balance, with volume levels bobbing up down seemingly at random. Moreover, thesound is muffled and distorted yet oddly distant, with a Dolby mismatch or two somewhere in thegenealogy, making a bad-sounding tape even worse. The original master tape might have soundedokay but the available copy is a miserable facsimile. Yuck.
Nevertheless, this is an interesting set, opening with an extended improvisation featuring Marshall
Allen on oboe, which is always a treat. After a couple of sing-alongs led by June Tyson (“AstroBlack” and the Sun Ra processional, “(The World Is Waiting) For the Sunrise,” the band slips into
the old favorite, “Discipline 27,” before quickly launching into some bashing free jazz skronk.
“Lightnin’” and “Yeah Man!” are taken at almost cartoonishly fast tempos, with John Gilmore
wailing away like a madman on the latter. And while the band sounds remarkably tight, it is
impossible to make out any details since the recording quality is so horrific. Oh well. A compact but
typically intense version of “The Shadow World” follows, featuring plenty of crazy keyboard workfrom Sonny but, again, the murky sound obscures what appears to be an inspired rendition. “HowAm I to Know” swings romantically, with Tyson and Ra singing sweetly to each other and fine solos
from Danny Davis and Gilmore (I think – it’s impossible to really hear what’s going on). Next
there’s a relatively rare performance of “Planet Earth” (complete with lyrics) before the usual
percussion jam on “Watusi” and a long medley of space chants and free blowing to end the set(“Outer Spaceways Incorporated,” “Second Stop is Jupiter,” “Space is the Place” (in its new
rearrangement), “Neptune,” “Journey to Saturn,” “We Travel the Spaceways,” “Greetings from the
21st Century,” and “Sun Ra and His Band from Outer Space”). In the midst of all this carrying on,
abstracted versions of “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,” “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and“Stranger in Paradise” make fleeting appearances. Blink and you'll miss them.
Frankly, this one is for hardcore fanatics only. If you can tolerate the abysmal sound quality, thenyou might enjoy this short but action-packed set; everyone else should stay far, far away.
Sam said...
You're right, this is really a rough one! It's probable that I will never listen to this one again.June's
vocals on "How Am I to Know" are really nice, like you say, and I don't recall any other version
where she sings it like that (or at all? I don't think she's on "Unity," is she?). Also, it sounds like aslightly different arrangement for the head to "Watusi." But the sound is rough, even for me!
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Rodger Coleman said...
@ Sam - yeah, the arrangement of "Watusi" does sound different - but it's really hard to tell since
the sound quality is so ridiculously bad! It's a testimony to the power of Sun Ra's music that anyone
would even bother to listen to this!
FEBRUARY 24, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Some Blues But Not The Kind That's Blue (Saturn/Atavistic CD)
On October 14, 1977 the Arkestra entered Variety Recording Studio for their first studio recordingsin over two years. With their increasingly busy touring schedule and tenuous finances, most Saturnrecords from here on out would be made live rather than in a studio—not even one as low-budget
as Variety. These sessions yielded the obscure LP, Some Blues But Not The Kind That’s Blue,
released on the Chicago Saturn label as LP 101477 in 1978. Alternative titles include My Favorite
Things and Nature Boy and may display alternate serial numbers, LP 1014077 and 747 (seeCampbell & Trent pp.241-242 for the gory details). In any event, this is one of rarest of rare SaturnLPs, with very few copies known to exist. Thankfully, Atavisticreissued Some Blues But Not The
Kind That’s Blue on CD as part of their “Unheard Music Series” in 2008, remastered from theoriginal tapes and filled out with a bunch of bonus tracks. As with the rest of the Sun Ra albums inthis series, this one is a classic.
All that said, Christopher Trent suggests the title track was not recorded at Variety at all and ispossibly a live recording (Id.). I agree. It has a totally different ambience than the rest of the album
with a crude, microphone on the bandstand sound quality. It’s a decent recording – and Variety wasno high-tech studio—so it’s actually hardly noticeable (in fact, the whole record appears to bemono). The structure of “Some Blues But Not The Kind That’s Blue” also suggests a live recording,starting out with a skronky group improvisation, with John Gilmore seeming to state some sort oftheme—but then Sonny suddenly moves from space organ to the piano and now it’s a slow blues.
After a quick chorus from Gilmore, Ra does his thing on piano, taking it just to the edge of the266stratosphere before bringing it back to the slow, grinding blues progression. A series of horn solos
follows (some of them way off-mic) as Luqman Ali attempts to get funky on the drums, Sonny shuts
it down, calling for a big, squalling space chord (and pretty piano notes) to end. Yeah, this is a live
recording.
On “I’ll Get By,” you can tell it’s a studio recording; the sound is more immediate—and also hissier.
This torch song from Billie Holiday (written by Roy Turk and Fred E. Ahlert) was only played a few
times in the Arkestra’s history (but see the 1973 bonus tracks below) and the sparse, bass-lessrhythm section lurches rather than swings. Even so, Gilmore is great as usual, even if he seems alittle hemmed in by the unsettled groove. A ruminative take on “My Favorite Things” is better, with
Sonny providing the rhythmic drive on piano—check out that left hand! This is another Gilmore
tour de force, offering his highly personal take on this tune which was so closely associated withJohn Coltrane. Exquisite! The Atavistic CD inserts an untitled bonus track at this point: Ra’s agitatedpiano ostinatos and the frenetic, out-there horns lend this a “Shadow World” feel. Interesting; but
given the more subdued tone of the rest of the album, it is understandable why Sonny left it off.
“Nature Boy” is another hoary old chestnut given the inimitable Sun Ra treatment, starting out withexotic percussion and Marshall Allen’s snaky, split-tone oboe, Sonny providing pretty piano chordsin the background. After a more traditional piano intro, Gilmore comes in with the melody,surrounded by an ornate arrangement for saxophones and flutes. Ra’s solo is slyly romantic,
changing keys on a whim while Gilmore gets to do his thing a cappella. A dissonant, pulsating space
chord lets loose some mellifluous flute solos before Sonny brings it to a close. “Tenderly” seems topick up where “Nature Boy” left off, with a similar high-register riff and another rhapsodic piano
outing. It’s nice and all, but feels sort of ad hoc. The solo activity of the summer had clearly given
Sonny the confidence to go on and on like this on whatever tune struck his fancy. According toCampbell and Trent, this is only known performance of “Tenderly” and is worth hearing for thatreason alone. The album ends with another one-off deconstruction of an old standard, this time the
Mercer/Arlen classic, “Black Magic.” Sonny pushes and pulls at the rhythm, sometimes swinging,sometimes moving to a space rumba feel, sometimes hinting at ragtime. After a very loosely stated
melody, Akh Tal Ebah gets a rare turn on trumpet and although he is a little sloppy (and maybe evena little unsure of himself harmonically), I love his warm, loose-lipped tone. Sadly, this would be oneof his last appearances with the Arkestra. Danny Davis follows on alto before a big, loud off-color
ending, Ra providing the final punctuation with a low, rumbling chord. Very strange, very beautiful.
The Atavistic CD adds two additional bonus tracks, two more takes of “I’ll Get By” recorded at theHouse of Ra in Philadelphia on May 3, 1973. Ra is on organ with Ebah on flugelhorn and Ronnie
Boykins on bass—no drums. The rock-solid Boykins holds this together like superglue and Ebah’s
playing is mellow and elegantly understated. Unfortunately, there are some weird sonic anomalies.
As John Corbett puts it in his liner notes, “In the distance, the muffled remnant of a previous track
appears, taped over on this home recording, the almost in-sync backwards drums providing a lowkey element of surreality.” Yeah, like that. On the second take, Gilmore takes the lead before giving
way to a tasty bass solo from Boykins. These tracks demonstrate that the appearance of “I’ll Get By”
on Some Blues...was not just a spur-of-the-moment thing; the song had some previously unknown
history.
Some Blues But Not The Kind That’s Blue is a typically quirky Saturn release from the ‘70s,
somewhat unusual for its (mostly) studio setting. Its extreme rarity as an original artifact makes the267

Atavistic CD a godsend to Sun Ra fans, with the bonus tracks being icing on the cake. But theserelaxed, easy-going takes on the standard repertoire should be approachable to any open-eared jazz
fan, making it one of those extraordinary “gateway” albums to Sun Ra’s outer space music. In a
discography numbering hundreds of albums, it can be difficult to know where to start; Some
Blues… is as good a place as any.
Sam said...
Excellent write-up, Rodger. This is easily one of my all-time favorite Ra albums. Gilmore is
exquisite. Low-key but glowing hot!
MARCH 3, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

So now we enter an extremely prolific period in Sun Ra's career: the live double-album, Unity(released on the Italian Horo label); two Saturn LPs derived from an appearance at the Jazz
Showcase in Chicago; and one last solo piano set in Venezia - and that's just the rest of 1977! '78 iseven more crazy! This is a lot of material to cover and I'm simply not able to keep up a once-a-weekschedule and still do the music any kind of justice. Sorry!
In the meantime, enjoy the amusing photo above and a poem by the (space)man himself, which
speaks to my predicament:
WE MUST NOT SAY NO TO OURSELVES
We must not say no to ourselves
For the greater deedWe must not say can't
If it is imperative that we should
We must not synchronize with anything
Less than art-wise dignity
It is either that we are cosmic giants ofAchievement, or something less than the268Greater super self
Across the thunder bridge of time
We rush with lightning feet to join
Hands with those
The friends of seers who truly say
And truly do.
-- Sun Ra
See you next week!
Sam said...
I love that photo!! Where did you dig that up? "Let me show you some of my Saturns"....
MARCH 10, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra Arkestra: Unity (Horo 2LP)
During the last week of October, 1977, Sun Ra and his Arkestra headlined a week-long engagement
at the prestigious Storyville jazz club in New York City and portions of the concerts on the 24th and29th were recorded (probably by Tommy Hunter) and released on a double-LP entitled Unity by
the Italian Horo label in 1978 (Campbell & Trent pp.242-243). It was also briefly reissued in Japan
as RCA RV1 9003/9004 in 1979 (Id.). Horo was founded in 1972 by Aldo Sinesio in order to record
local musicians and others in the international avant-garde jazz scene, including Giorgio Gaslini,
Enrico Rava, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Steve Lacy, Archie Shepp, Lester Bowie and, of course, Sun Ra.
Unity was one of three double-albums Sonny made for the label in 1978. However, with limited
distribution in the United States, Horo records were always hard to find and are, of course, long out
of print. A CD reissue program was announced back in 2009, to be released through Atomic
Records but nothing much came of it (and Atomic is now defunct), leaving these essential Sun Ra
albums out of reach to all but the most fanatical (and well-heeled) collectors. My copy is a crackly
needledrop CDR—but I’d sure love to hear a clean original pressing. It’s an excellent live documentfrom the period.
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The Arkestra is at full strength for this appearance, with the usual cast supplemented with Craig
Harris and Charles Stephens on trombones, Emmett McDonald on bass horn and Richard “Radu”
Williams on bass. This also marks the final appearance of Akh Tal Ebah on trumpet and,
unfortunately, he gets no solo space here. Along with Ahmed Abdullah there’s a new trumpeter onboard, Michael Ray, who would go on to become a key member of the Arkestra in the coming years.
Ray had a background in jazz but made a name for himself on the R&B circuit, playing with Patti
Labelle, The Delfonics, The Stylistics and, later, with Kool & The Gang. Ray’s hard-driving soloing
was by far the most forceful trumpet voice in the Arkestra since Kwame Hadi left the band in 1975.
Besides a tendency to overplay, Ray also liked to mimic an echo effect during his solos, ademonstration of superlative embouchure control but, over time, it becomes an annoying tic. He
only pulls this stunt once on Unity (on the Miles Davis tune, “Half Nelson”), but soon it will
become a fixture in just about every solo. Obviously, Ray brought something to the band Sonny
appreciated—otherwise this behavior would not have been tolerated in the “Ra jail.” As with
Clifford Jarvis’s interminable, masturbatory drum solos, Sonny could be over-indulgent with someof his pet musicians, for reasons that remain inscrutable.
The album starts out in the middle of a set, with Sun Ra essaying “Yesterdays” on organ, some wild,
dissonant horns coming in only at the very end. After a formal announcement from John Gilmore,
Duke Ellington’s “Lightnin’” is up next. Taken at a slightly more relaxed tempo than usual, the bandsounds tight and full-bodied, with Gilmore handling the slippery clarinet part with ease. “How Am I
To Know?” is presented in its full vocal arrangement, with Gilmore moving to the tenor saxophone.
With a breathy, wide vibrato, he evokes both the lush pre-War swing of Ben Webster and the bluesy,
hard-bop of Hank Mobley. Somewhat atypical for Gilmore, he plays in a deceptively simple,
straightforward manner, staying well inside the harmonic sequence—but it is so deeply soulful andflawlessly executed that the effect is utterly mesmerizing. Yes, it’s another incredible Gilmore solo—
just one of many on this album! A peaceful version of “Lights on a Satellite” surrounds Gilmore’s
saxophone with fluttering flutes before another couple of classic big band numbers, “Yeah, Man!’(with Gilmore again shining on clarinet) and Jelly Roll Morton’s “King Porter Stomp.”“Images” offers Ray his first opportunity to solo at length, alone with the drums. He has impressive
technique but he’s a blaster, always playing full-bore with a big, blatty sound. He also knows how totake it progressively out—but Gilmore comes in and shows him how it should be done. The music
gets almost unbearably intense as the tenor solo goes on and on and on. Ra tries to rein him in, but
nothing doing; he just keeps going. Damn! Gilmore is on fire! Sonny cools things down with“Penthouse Serenade,” a lazy swing number for solo organ and there’s more organ balladry on Tadd
Dameron’s “Lady Bird.” This then segues into “Half Nelson,” which features barn-burning solos
from Gilmore and Ray (who introduces his echo-echo-echo trick at the end). Ra announces“Halloween in Harlem” and slams down on a dissonant organ cluster before the ensemble comes inwith the tense, lurching march. “My Favorite Things” again features Gilmore and what can I say?
It’s yet another amazing Gilmore solo! Curiously, “Rose Room” and “Satellites Are Spinning” aretaken from a concert in Châteauvallon, France on August 24, 1976 (Id.). While a bootleg of thisconcert circulates, the sound here is quite a bit better. Ra is on Rocksichord rather than organ andthe ambience is clearly outdoors rather than inside a small nightclub. Even so, a crossfade puts
“Enlightenment,” recorded at Storyville in 1977, in between—a rather odd way to end an otherwise
remarkably consistent album.

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While there are no outrageous, improvised freak-outs, mad-scientist keyboard experiments (nortediously overlong percussion jams and space chants), Unity is a classic Sun Ra record—and home
to some of Gilmore’s finest playing ever committed to vinyl. Despite the rough and ready soundquality, the accessible repertoire and stellar performances makes this another ideal introduction to
Sun Ra’s music for the newcomer. Too bad it’s so hard to find.
Sam said...
Excellent write-up for an excellent album! This is one of my favorite organ-dominated Ra albums,
and it's got definitive versions of several of the standards he dwelt on: "Lightnin'," "Rose Room,"King Porter Stomp" (written by Jelly but the version here is based on Fletcher Henderson's
arrangement), "Yeah Man!" I am 100% with you on the Ray tic....I cringe every time he does it,which is just about every damn solo he ever took with Ra.
MARCH 17, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Thanks to reader Mark R, I was reminded of a vinyl-only reissue of The Soul Vibrations of Man,
which happens to be the next item in the discography. Since this record had never been officiallyreleased on CD (and my “needledrop” of an original pressing is a crackly mess), I decided to check itout. I had seen some of these Saturn LPs floating around the record bins, but was unsure of theirprovenance—were they merely bootlegs of the Evidence CDs? However, it appears that El SaturnResearch is now owned by Universal Music Group and these vinyl reissues are legit—almost twodozen so far and three titles (My Brother The Wind Volume 1, Universe in Blue and The Soul
Vibrations of Man), which have been out of print for decades in any format. Additionally, there’s arecent vinyl-only reissue of Of Mythic Worlds, a super-scarce LP originally released by Philly Jazzin 1978. All are pressed on 180-gram vinyl, housed in sturdy cardboard jackets and very reasonably
priced—a no-brainer for the turntable-enabled Sun Ra fan.
Intrigued, I decided to investigate some of the other Saturn titles in order to compare them to the
Evidence CDs, which suffer from some rather heavy-handed noise reduction and compression.
Other Planes of There, one of my favorite recordings from the magical Choreographer’sWorkshop era, sounds quite a bit more open and dynamic than the CD, leading me to believe it was
taken from the original, un-futzed-with tapes. That was all I needed to know: I’m going to have to271

get the rest of them while they are still available. A look at myplaylist from last week will show you
how far I’ve gotten on this project and more should be arriving this week. The problem is: where
will I put them? Well, there are far worse problems to have.
Incidentally, I wound up spending some time on eBay trying to track some of this stuff down and
was amazed to see a large collection of incredibly rare, mint condition Saturn LPs up for auction in
the UK. I knew albums like Invisible Shield and A Fireside Chat with Lucifer would attract a lotof bids, but I was not prepared to see these dozens of titles finally sell for such astonishing sums ofmoney: from $600 to over $1300 a piece! Apparently, two collectors got into a bidding war at thelast minute, with the victor spending many thousands of dollars to obtain these obscure Sun Ra
records. Obviously, there is a market for these things—so, how about it Universal? Why not reissue
the rest of the El Saturn catalog? Of course, the schism that developed between Sun Ra and Alton
Abraham during the 1970s means that the Phildelphia Saturns are not owned by Universal and arelikely stuck in perpetual legal limbo along with the rest of Sonny’s estate. Even so, there are still
plenty of Chicago Saturns left behind—like Continuation. And, speaking of Universal, they also
own the Impulse! catalog, which includes Astro Black, another classic Sun Ra album that is
impossible to find in decent condition for a reasonable price. Come on, folks! Let’s go!
I’ll be back with a detailed examination of The Soul Vibrations of Man next week. In themeantime, go out and grab yourself a copy—it’s a good one.
MARCH 31, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: The Soul Vibrations of Man (Saturn LP)
If Unity presents the more approachable, trad-jazz side of Sun Ra and his Arkestra, the next item inthe discography shows they were still capable of getting mighty strange during this period. Live272

recordings from the Jazz Showcase in Chicago in November 1977 were edited down and quickly
released as Saturn LP 771, portentously titled The Soul Vibrations of Man (see Campbell & Trent
pp.243-244). While original copies are extremely rare, it was reissued a couple of years ago on 180gram vinyl by El Saturn Research, which is now, apparently, a part of Universal Music. It’s one ofthose weird and wonderful Saturn LPs, with a cryptically symbolic cover and a metaphysicaldisquisition on the back, presumably by Ra, regarding numerology, astrology and “The Dead Past.”
In keeping with all that, no titles are given for the five tracks, instead, Side A is titled, The Soul
Vibrations of Man Part I Volume VII” and Side B, “The Soul Vibrations of Man Part II Volume
VII”. Okeydokey! Thanks to Prof. Campbell, Christopher Trent and Ahmed Abdullah, the individual
tracks have been identified (Id.)—and it is an unusual set to say the least.
Side A opens with “Sometimes the Universe Speaks,” in its first known performance. Two flutes(Marshall Allen and Danny Davis) play a long, slow, folk-like melody, sometimes in unison andsometimes harmonized but mostly a cappella. After a couple of minutes, the melodies get freer whilestill coming together on pre-determined chords as the pitter-patter of percussion builds up
underneath. Eventually, the melody ends and the drums take over, eliciting cheers from theaudience. Suddenly, Ra interrupts with a homily: “Sometimes the universe speaks/And all is silence/Haven’t
you heard how loud the silence has become lately?” This might have gone on for a while longer, but instead it
quickly fades out. More unaccompanied flutes (possibly three or four) lead the way on the pretty“Pleiades.” According to Prof. Campbell, Danny Ray Thompson, Eloe Omoe and James Jacson all
doubled on flute, so it’s possible they are all playing on these tracks. The side ends with “Third
Heaven/When There is No Sun,” picking up in mid-sermon, Ra preaching about how “Uranus is
the Seventh Heaven,” while the boys in the band echo his every word. Joking aside, this is actually
one of the more enjoyable space chants to listen to, with less shouting and a more musicalpresentation. After a few minutes, Sonny moves to the organ and fingers some chords to introduce“When There is No Sun,” which June Tyson and the guys sing in splendid harmony.
“Halloween in Harlem” opens Side B, a lumbering march that lurches rather than swings, itsdissonant harmonies and strained, wide-interval melodies giving off a campy, horror movie air.
Michael Ray takes the first solo, his trumpet blatty and smeared, with Sonny following up with abrief organ solo before the return of the theme. Next is an untitled improvisation, with Ra’s organ
outlining a ballad form while Ray solos. As the rhythm section quietly joins in, it almost sounds like
Ra is playing definite chord changes—is this really an improvisation? Who knows? In some ways,
this reminds me of “Taking a Chance on Chancey,” the improvised duet Ra would often play withVincent Chancey on French horn. Of course, Ray is a very different player—brash and forceful—and he indulges a bit in his trademark echo-echo effect at the close, which gets the desired rise outof the audience. After a blaring space chord, the band launches right into “The Shadow World” andhere’s where things get heavy. A series of outrageously intense, high-energy solos follow, with Allenand Davis on alto sax, Eloe Omoe on bass clarinet and, finally, John Gilmore, who shows them how
it’s supposed to be done. An incredible display of multiphonic split-tones, altissimo squeals andother impossibly extended techniques; yes, it’s another amazing Gilmore solo! Then Sonny follows
up with some wild, mad-scientist keyboards before the side abruptly ends.
Admittedly, the homemade sound quality is not that great, the edits are crude and the pressing is lessthan perfect—but The Soul Vibrations of Man is still a classic Sun Ra LP. The whole thing, fromthe crazy cover to the music contained in the grooves, has a deep, mystical vibe which neatly
encapsulates Ra’s “mythic equations.” I say get it while you can.
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JUNE 2, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Piano Recital, Teatro La Fenice, Venezia (Leo/Golden Years CD)
On November 24, 1977, Sun Ra returned to Europe to perform a solo piano concert at Teatro La
Fenice in Venice, Italy, a portion of which was broadcast in color over RAI (Italian Television).
According to Prof. Campbell (via Francesco Martinelli), “the videos in circulation are 45 minutes
long, the first and second unidentified titles are repeated, and there are only about 25 minutes ofmusic. It is possible that ‘Cocktails for Two’ (which is heard in the background during footage of Ra
walking in Venice, etc.) is from a rehearsal and not the concert itself” (Campbell & Trent p.245).
Additionally, an audio tape apparently circulates which is from a different source but also repeats thefirst two titles while omitting “Over the Rainbow”(Id.). The audio tape, however, “includes an extra
unidentified title (which develops into a blues) not on the videos in circulation” (Id.). I have neither
seen nor heard either of these supposedly circulating tapes and, given the sketchy information
provided in their discography (with only “Cocktails for Two” and “Over the Rainbow” being
identified), it would appear Campbell and Trent hadn’t either.
Then, in 2003, Leo released Piano Recital, Teatro La Fenice, Venezia on their Golden Years
imprint in a limited edition of 1500 CDs—but it is not sourced from these alleged RAI tapes.
Moreover, neither “Cocktails for Two” nor “Over the Rainbow” make an appearance in the setlist,
indicating they were not played at this concert and were probably recorded elsewhere. Althoughseemingly complete, the hour-long Golden Years CD is taken from an amateur audience
recording—a “bootleg”—and the sound quality leaves a lot to be desired. The tape was clearly madein the back of the hall and while the acoustics in the 1790 opera house (which burned down in 1996)
were obviously superb, the piano sounds distant and washed out on this primitive stereo recording.
To make matters worse, low-frequency rumbles, bumps and thumps repeatedly intrude as therecordist manhandles the microphone. It’s not the worst-sounding bootleg we’ve heard (far from it!)but a bootleg just the same. Even so, Sun Ra’s performance is extraordinary: a summation of theyear’s flurry of solo piano activity—and the last such appearance for several years. As such, the Leo
CD is an important (if flawed) historical document of Ra’s brilliantly idiosyncratic pianism.

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Sonny begins his recital with a rhapsodic improvisation, effortlessly moving from lush romanticism
to furious atonality to bluesy noodling to impressionistic washes of harmony. In keeping with theornate, classical music surroundings, Ra has been provided a fine piano, expertly tuned, withsensitive touch and a rich, resonant presence. At times he seems completely absorbed in its lushsoundworld. An untitled blues follows. Is this an original composition? Some obscure cover? Anextemporaneous improvisation? It’s hard to tell as it sounds like a tune that’s been around forever.
In any event, Ra sounds like he is having fun and the large, enthusiastic crowd bursts into loud andlong applause at its conclusion. Loosely orchestrated renditions of “Love in Outer Space” and“Outer Spaceways, Inc.” are little more than jams but Ra’s unerring internal rhythm and innate senseof structure holds things together, delighting the audience with his effortless aplomb. “Take the ‘A’
Train” and “St. Louis Blues” are given relaxed, carefully considered performances with astonishingly
subtle dynamic shadings and fleet passagework. Ra is totally in his element here—and he’s justgetting warmed up.
After a brief intro to “Penthouse Serenade,” Sonny attacks the piano in three-handed fashion,
sounding like a slightly more mild-mannered Cecil Taylor, with fragments of the tune interjecting
themselves into the furious outpouring of notes. This is Ra as virtuoso pianist and when he suddenly
shifts back to the theme, the enraptured audience bursts into stunned applause as Sonny moves to aloping rag-time feel. At its conclusion, the crowd can barely contain their enthusiasm, hooting,hollering, cheering, clapping; Sun Ra was finally being given his due in one of Europe’s preeminent
art-music capitals. A short take on “Angel Race” returns to jamming mode with Sun Ra singing theverse. There’s not much to it, but the audience eats it up. “I want to invite you to attend a party,” Ratells them. “1980, on Jupiter.” Then he launches into an intense improvisation built around stabbing,Morse code-like rhythmic figures and towering block chords reminiscent of “Quest” (whichappeared on the WKCR radio broadcast on July 8, 1977 and later released as a single on the Saturnlabel).
“Honeysuckle Rose” starts off with a slightly off-kilter take on the melody before Sonny moves intoa “mad-scientist” keyboard assault. The independence of the hands and fingers is quite remarkableand his voicing of the thick, dissonant tone clusters strongly accents the consonant notes—meaning
the functional harmony still functions. Ra knows exactly what he’s doing! No matter how “out” itgets, the music is still deeply rooted in the old-time jazz tradition and this tour-de-force performanceis rapturously received by the audience, who vociferously demand an encore. “Friendly
Galaxy/Spontaneous Simplicity” is another genially tossed off jamming vehicle (and somewhat
overlong at almost eight minutes) but the audience loves it just the same.
Of the four solo piano recordings in 1977, Piano Recital, Teatro La Fenice is probably my least
favorite. Although Ra’s performance is riveting, the fuzzy sound quality makes it hard for me to fully
enjoy. However, given the rarity of such solo outings, it remains essential for the hardcore Sun Ra
fan. Personally, I’d love to get my hands on a copy of the video.
Sam said...
I'm a bit behind in my comments, sorry. I wanted to listen to this again before commenting. This isactually my favorite of the solo piano recordings of 1977. I don't think the sound is that bad at all,and what shortcomings there are there are more than compensated for by the sheer energy of theplaying. I think my favorite track is "Penthouse Serenade." "Angel race" is pretty cool, too.

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Rodger Coleman said...
@ Roddus - Thank you so much for your comments! I really appreciate it! @ Sam - This one might
be the most musically satisfying, but the amateur recording makes it difficult for me to fully enjoy.
Heck, I even prefer the WKCR broadcast to this. But, it's all good!
APRIL 14, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Taking a Chance on Chances (Saturn LP>CDR)
Also recorded at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago sometime in November 1977, Taking a Chance on
Chances was released as Saturn 772, the companion volume to The Soul Vibrations of Man(Saturn 771). Being the final release on the Chicago-based Saturn label, it is exceedingly rare: there
are only a hundred or so copies known to exist—but, unfortunately, all of them have a defective
pressing on Side A (see Campbell & Trent pp.244-245). That fact (along with the somewhat
mundane repertoire) makes this one a rather difficult and, ultimately, frustrating listen. The pressing
defect manifests itself in a woefully unbalanced stereo presentation and a near-constant overlay ofscratchy noises and horrifically ugly distortion which only begins to clear up towards the end of theside. Ugh. Pressing the mono button helps a little (if you have one) but not much. As listeners to
The Soul Vibrations already know, these are not great-sounding recordings to begin with; thepressing flaw renders them almost unlistenable.
In any event, the title track opens the album; but, of course, the correct name is “Taking a Chance
onChancey,” since it is the usual improvised duet between Ra (on organ) and Vincent Chancey on
French horn. Regardless, Chancey sounds remarkably self-assured on that notoriously unwieldy
instrument, confidently navigating Ra’s twisty chord changes. About four minutes in, Michael Ray
comes in with some blaring trumpet while the rhythm section starts to heat up and saxophones ad lib
swinging background figures.Interesting. The “Lady Bird”/”Half Nelson” medley follows—but thesound quality takes an even more disastrous turn for the worse, making even John Gilmore’s
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wonderful tenor sax solo hard to enjoy. Fortunately, the sound cleans up a bit for Sonny’s solo piano
rhapsody, “Over the Rainbow.” This tune had become a near-permanent fixture in the setlists
during this period but it is beautifully played and warmly received by the audience.
Side B sounds much better (though still decidedly lo-fi), starting off with a hard-driving take of “St.
Louis Blues,” led by Sun Ra’s fleet-fingered piano work and supported by Richard “Radu” Williams
on bass with Tommy Hunter and Luqman Ali on trap drums. Ra moves back to the electric organ
for an extended take on “What’s New?” wherein Gilmore takes one of those monumental solos that
only reconfirms his stature as one the all-time great post-bop tenor saxophonists. While hewing
close to the labyrinthine harmonic sequence, he takes it further and further out as first the organ andthen the rhythm section drop out from under him, leaving him naked and alone on the stage.
Despite considerable microphone distortion, his tone is still earth-shakingly huge, with brilliant ideas
spinning out in endless permutations. It seems like Gilmore could go on like this forever but Ra
eventually puts a stop to it with an emphatic organ stab, inviting Ahmed Adullah to take over on
trumpet. While nice enough (and a welcome contrast to Ray's cloying extroversion), it seems a little
anticlimactic after Gilmore’s astonishingly virtuosic display. The album ends with yet anotherrendition of “Take the ‘A’ Train,” notable for yet another incredible Gilmore solo. Sadly, my"needledrop" CDR starts to develop a horrible digital clicking sound about halfway through andbecomes completely overwhelming by the end. Oh well; I take what I can get.
Obviously, the ever-amazing Gilmore solos are what make the generally bad sound quality worth
suffering through on this one—particularly his tour de force outing on “What’s New?” But withseveral other, much better-sounding albums available featuring this sort of material, I can’t really
recommend Taking a Chance on Chances to anyone but the most devoted Sun Ra freak (orslavishly devoted Gilmore fan). Perhaps a proper reissue (a la The Soul Vibrations of Man LP)
would change my mind.
Sam said...
You're right, this is rough going, but the Gilmore solos are gold.
JUNE 16, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: The Bottom Line, New York, NY 1977-12-13 (CDR)
It’s unclear whether Sun Ra remained in Europe after the November 24 Piano Recital in Venice orreturned to the United States before heading back to Italy in January 1978. There are no entries in
The Earthly Recordings regarding the entire month of December and, in an interview with Keyboard
Magazine, Sonny spoke of the solo performance and the January ‘78 quartet concerts as if they werepart of the same tour (see Campbell & Trent, p.245). In addition, trumpeter Michael Ray states in his
liner notes to the 2007 reissue of Disco 3000 that, following the week-long run at The Jazz
Showcase (which produced the albums,The Soul Vibrations of Man and Taking a Chance on
Chances), “[t]he very next phone call from Sun Ra was from Rome Italy. He asked if I was able to277

come to Rome to record an album.” This seems to indicate that Sonny had stayed behind tonegotiate the Horo Records deal and set up last-minute concert dates for the New Year—andwithout even knowing who else might be joining him.
But, then, in the summer of 2008, two previously unheard Arkestra tracks were broadcast by Sun Ra
archivist Michael D. Anderson on the ESP Internet Radio Tribute, both of which were
purportedly recorded at The Bottom Line in New York on December 13, 1977. While I have no realreason to doubt “The Good Doctor” (and it would make sense, in a way, that Sonny would be backin the states during the holidays), upon close listening (and considering the information above), I’m
not totally convinced that date is correct.
In any event, the contiguous 16-minute concert sequence is certainly unusual, beginning with(apparently) the only known performance of “I Cover the Waterfront,” the 1933 hit song by Johnny
Green and Edward Heyman, which was popularized by Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and Ella
Fitzgerald. As with other old-timey numbers in this vein, it is mostly a vehicle for one of John
Gilmore’s extended flights on tenor saxophone, punctuated by harmonized riffing from the rest of
the band and a short organ solo from Ra. Of course, it is always delightful to hear Gilmore playing
in this sort of straight-ahead, post-bop fashion but, honestly, it’s not one of those jaw-droppingly
amazing displays he was routinely capable of. Instead, it’s merely great: tasteful, inventive andswinging. “Song of the Stargazers” appears here in a radically re-arranged version, with an odd
major/minor tonality, angular herky-jerky rhythms and lyrics that are antiphonally chanted by theband rather than sung. Even weirder, Sonny adds some cryptic declamations towards the end.
Interestingly, I don’t hear June Tyson or any trumpets whatsoever but Vincent Chauncey sounds
especially strong on the French horn and is later joined by someone (possibly Craig Harris) on awarm and brassy trombone. Frankly, the abject strangeness of this rendition makes me suspect a
different date—but then again, who knows?
Ultimately, this snippet of tape poses more questions than it answers, particularly when it comes tonailing down the chronology. Perhaps there is more from this concert in the El Saturn archive,
which might provide some more clues as to its origin. Regardless, the unusual repertoire andexcellent sound quality make it a highly enjoyable listen. There is a lot of other rare material to befound on the ESP Internet Radio Tributeand is well worth tracking down—even if the
discographical info is a little sketchy. So it goes with Sun Ra!

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JULY 14, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra Quartet Featuring John Gilmore: New Steps (Horo 2LP)
While it’s possible Sun Ra returned to the states in December 1977 to appear with the Arkestra at
The Bottom Line in New York, it seems more likely he stayed in Italy, where he worked out a deal
to release a series of albums for the Horo Records label (Unity (recorded by Ra earlier in the year)
and two new studio recordings, New Steps and Other Voices Other Blues, all of them double-LPsets). According to Prof. Campbell (via Gianni Morelenbaum Gualberto, who produced thesessions), “the Horo albums were made in a small studio [Horo Voice Studio] that specialized injingles, because none of the other studios in Rome were available at the time…[They] were recordedin such haste because Sun Ra was about leave Italy. But after they were completed, Sunny changed
his mind and extended his stay for another two weeks” (Campbell & Trent p.245-246). Although the
Venice gig took place back in November, this is further evidence that Ra remained in Italy throughthe end of 1977.
Regardless, there was good reason for Ra to want to do something with Horo. The Italian jazz label
was founded by Aldo Sinesio in 1972, and had released albums by local artists like Gianni Basso,
Giorgio Gaslini, Enrico Rava, and Giancarlo Schiaffini as well as American luminaries such as Max
Roach, Archie Shepp, Gil Evans, Don Pullen, Ran Blake and Lester Bowie. Yet, however prestigious
and critically acclaimed, Horo records were unfortunately issued in vanishingly small quantities andwere poorly distributed beyond Western Europe, making them extremely rare today (especially in
the U.S.). Rumors of the label’s resurrection have come and gone for years but nothing really hascome of it and these classic Sun Ra records remain frustratingly out of print. As with Unity, mycopies are merely OK-sounding “needledrops” but I’d sure love to have clean originals. Needless tosay, they go for big bucks on the secondary market. (The Mystery of Being (Klimt), which crams
the two studio sessions into a three-LP box set of dubious provenance, will be dealt with separately.)

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The Horo studio recordings are not only obscure and nearly impossible to find but also some of themost unusual in all the (already unusual) discography. The hastily gathered ensemble consists of amere quartet with Sun Ra on piano, organ and synthesizer, John Gilmore on tenor sax andpercussion, newcomer Michael Ray on trumpet and percussion and Luqman Ali on drums. This israre opportunity to hear Sun Ra in a small group setting. Moreover, the skeletal ensemble prompted
him to do something he didn’t often do: record overdubs on additional tracks. According to
Gualberto, Sonny found “a small cheap keyboard” in the studio and used it to program overdubbed
bass lines and other effects while the rest of the group provided additional percussion and drums(Id.). This gives many of the loosely constructed tracks an impossible, otherworldly quality that istruly unique. Nothing else Ra ever did (before or since) sounds quite like this.
New Steps was recorded first, on January 2 and 7 and released as a two-LP set in 1978 as Horo
HDP25-26 (Id.) and the opening take of “My Favorite Things” signals the difference in the quartet’s
approach. While the tune had appeared before on Some Blues But Not The Kind That’s Blue andUnity, here it is simultaneously stripped-down and souped-up. The ultra-laconic Luqman Ali makes
Tommy Hunter sound like Clifford Jarvis while Ra’s nimble piano figuration and bizarre,
overdubbed bass lines create a stuttering, bubbling counterpoint. This is a primo vehicle for
Gilmore, who naturally plays his ass off, referencing John Coltrane’s famous remake while doing his
own inimitable thing on tenor. Ray, holds his own throughout these sessions, playing with admirable
taste and restraint (especially for such a young kid) but Gilmore is clearly the star soloist here. It isaltogether fitting that these albums were billed to the “Sun Ra Quartet Featuring John Gilmore.”
Aside from such familiar fare as “My Favorite Things,” the old standard, “Exactly Like You” (in its
premiere performance) and “When There Is No Sun” (complete with group vocals), these Horosessions are all markedly experimental, with loosely structured head arrangements and an inspired,playful approach to multi-track technology. Sun Ra and his men are clearly enjoying themselves inthe tiny, cramped studio and that sense of pleasure and adventure comes through in the music.
“Moon People” and “Rome in Twilight” flirt with funk/rock grooves (a harbinger of what’s tocome later in the year) while “Friend and Friendship” takes on a more somber, introspective tone.
Interestingly, the longest tracks, “Sun Steps” (twelve minutes) and “The Horo” (more than fifteen),eschew studio trickery altogether and present the quartet naked and unadorned, improvising in an
abstract but not-quite-free manner. Chord progressions and melodies appear and recede in a
dreamlike reverie, spontaneous composition and guided improvisation at its most sensitive andrefined, a synchronized group mind at work.
New Steps is yet another neglected masterpiece in the Sun Ra canon – and the follow-up, Other
Voices, Other Blues, is perhaps even better. We’ll take a listen to that next time on Sun Ra Sunday.

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JULY 21, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra Quartet Featuring John Gilmore: Other Voices, Other Blues (Horo 2LP)The second Horo studio recording, Other Voices, Other Blues, was recorded at Horo VoiceStudio in Rome, Italy on January 8 and 13, 1978 and released later in the year as a two-LP set, Horo
HDP 23-24 (Campbell & Trent p.246). As with the other Horo titles, Unity and New Steps,
distribution was poor (especially stateside) and has never been officially reissued, making it one of
the rarer albums in the already obscure Sun Ra discography. What a crime! While all of the Horosare fascinating records, Other Voices, Other Blues is by far my favorite of the two Italian studiosessions.
Unlike New Steps, there are overdubs on every single track (an unusual practice for Ra, even into
the '80s and '90s), with Sonny adding synthesized bass lines (or other stuff) while John Gilmore,
Michael Ray and Luqman Ali contribute additional percussion to the mix of keyboards, saxophone,trumpet and drums. This greatly thickens the sound of the quartet and lends a consistently funkyand experimental flavor to the album. It’s easy to picture the four men crowded into the tiny studio,
earphones on their heads, gleefully constructing these oddly captivating tracks. Any tentativenessheard on New Steps is gone on this second day in the studio—they are going for it! Gilmore isagain the star of the show, delivering an endless stream of gloriously inventive solos, while Ray morethan holds his own amidst Sun Ra’s burbling, wheezing keyboards and rollicking acoustic piano,
only occasionally resorting to his patented (and often annoying) echo-echo trick. In fact, it appears
that the young upstart may have gotten under Gilmore’s skin, inspiring some of his most fiery andintensely brilliant playing on record.

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Yet, despite all these aural pleasures, there is something slightly dissatisfying for me about thesequartet sessions. It’s not just the absence of bass since Ra is adequately providing the bottom end on
synthesizer (at least most of the time), so I can only point the finger at the laconic—if not downrightsleepy—drumming of Luqman Ali. To be fair, his subtle, sensitive touch contributes to the relaxed,
dreamy quality of the albums. But I find myself wanting more from him on the longer, weirder
tracks like “Bridge to the 9th Dimension” or “Constellation,” where his boom-chick rhythms remain
stubbornly earthbound, only taking off with the addition of Gilmore’s overdubbed drums andpercussion. I realize that it is totally unreasonable to expect Ronnie Boykins and Clifford Jarvis to bein the rhythm section, but I can’t help but imagine what that might have sounded like.
Nevertheless, there is an undeniably magical quality to the Horos—and especially Other Voices,
Other Blues—which makes them uniquely special, with a loose, exploratory feel reminiscent of theclassic Choreographer’s Workshop recordings. Beyond Gilmore’s phenomenal soloing and the eartickling studio wizardry, it is Sun Ra’s uncanny ability to transform the cheesiest, most primitiveelectronic keyboards (and beat-up pianos) into powerfully expressive instruments that is mostimpressive here. Turning these humble tools into a virtual orchestra of tones, timbres and effects, Rademonstrates his mastery of electronic (and electrified) music while his compositions—mostly
thrown together in the studio—show his effectiveness as an arranger and bandleader, with thesimple but flexible heads allowing the small ensemble to wander far and wide. Curiously, Ra did not
bother to provide proper titles to these new works, leaving them to Horo to invent. “Springtime andSummer Idyll,” “One Day in Rome” and “Along the Tiber” (andNew Steps titles like “Friend andFriendship”) are probably not what Sonny had in mind and are embarrassingly incongruous to themusic. However, I suspect he signed away his publishing in order to make these records, so hedidn’t (or couldn’t) care what they were called. Whatever, these are inimitably Sun Ra compositions,however slight they may appear on the surface.
Quibbles aside, the Horo quartet records are an essential piece of the Sun Ra puzzle, with Other
Voices, Other Bluesbeing a near-masterwork. And Sonny was clearly inspired by this ad hoc, small
group setting: he booked at least two concerts for the band while they were in Italy, which wererecorded for release on his own Saturn label. We’ll take a listen to those in coming weeks on Sun Ra
Sunday.

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AUGUST 25, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Disco 3000 (Saturn/Art Yard CD)
Although The Complete Disco 3000 Concert (recorded at The Teatro Cilak in Milan, Italy)
contains all of the music found on the original LP, Art Yard also released Disco 3000 (CD 101) as astraight reissue (with alternative artwork) in 2009. I’m glad they did because it is a classic—and very
strange—Sun Ra album that deserves to be heard in its original form. Moreover, listening to theentire two-hour concert is a considerable time commitment, which, in some ways, dilutes the impactof the original Disco 3000 LP in my opinion.
The first side consists of the twenty-six minute title track while side two contains “Third Planet,”“Friendly Galaxy” and “Dance of the Cosmo Aliens.” While you can my descriptions on my review
of The Complete Disco 3000 Concert, what is interesting to me is how much more effective“Dance of the Cosmo Aliens” is when it is shorn from its original context, the twisted electronica
bookending the album with “Disco 3000.” Or maybe my ears got tired by the time it was played,over an hour into the original concert. Hardcore fans will want both, but Disco 3000 is essential.
In typically Saturnal fashion, Michael Ray’s liner notes (penned in 2007 and contained on both Art
Yard CDs) are both enlightening and confusing. “It was here,” he says, “that most of my early dues
were paid.”
Sun Ra would tell me “You playing your horn alright but try my way, unless you have some sort of mental block.”“Play that apple. Remember it is round so think of 360 degrees of sound and color. It’s red which means its energy
deals with the first chakra, you have to be able to play the vibration.” We rehearsed like this from early in themorning to late at night for days. It was like having someone erase your mainframe and reboot your hard drive! Sunny283

always said expect the unexpected. “We might have a gig on Mars one day so you got to be swinging on your horn,
because they don’t party like earthlings.”
Elsewhere, he writes:
The Winter of ’78, I headed to Rome not knowing what to expect…Sun Ra would get up every day at dawn. We
would then drive over to Media Dreams, a small studio run by Andreas and Alfie, very good friends of the band.
Andreas was credited with the development of the Walkman, which he sold to Sony Company.
Huh? “Andreas” is presumably Andreas Pavel, inventor of a proto-Walkman, which was (according
to Wikipedia) patented in Italy in 1977. So, it is certainly possible that he was in Rome in January of
1978—but, as far as I can tell, he had nothing to do with the Horo Records label or the “HoroVoice Studio,” where New Steps and Other Voices, Other Blues were (presumably) recorded (seeCampbell & Trent pp.243-246). Ray makes no mention of Horo—is he referring to those albums orwere there other studio recordings made in Italy in January 1978? If so, where are they? I'm "friends"
with Michael Ray on Facebook; maybe I should ask him...
AUGUST 18, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: The Complete Disco 3000 Concert (Art Yard 2CD)
The quartet of Sun Ra, John Gilmore, Michael Ray and Luqman Ali performed at Teatro Cilak in
Milan on January 23, 1978, apparently at the very end of their extended stay in Italy. While their
exact movements are poorly documented during this period, they were certainly back in the states
on or before January 29, where the Arkestra appeared at the Famous Ballroom in Baltimore (seeCampbell & Trent pp.247-250). The Teatro Cilak concert was recorded and portions were released
later in the year as Disco 3000 (Saturn LP CMIJ78) and reissued by Art Yard in 2009. Prior to this,284

though, Art Yard released the entire Milan performance on two compact discs as The Complete
Disco 3000 Concert (CD 001) in 2007. As with Media Dreams, these welcome reissues not only
make available some of the rarest of all Saturn LPs, but also provide additional material that puts
these weird and wonderful recordings into a wider context.
The concert opens with “Disco 3000” and, right away, you can tell the small band has really started
to gel after several weeks working together. While Media Dreams is dominated by Ra’s electronica(wonderful as it is), Disco 3000 is much more of a cohesive group effort. There’s still plenty of
mad-scientist keyboard extravaganzas, with the Crumar Mainman organ and cheesy rhythm box
establishing an uneasy, mutant disco vamp—but here, Ali locks in comfortably with the beat and thehorns are given plenty of space across its epic twenty-six minutes. About five minutes in, they
suddenly launch into “Space is the Place,” but, curiously, not in the re-arrangement found on Media
Dreams. After a couple of minutes of chanting, things take off again, with some absolutely killer
tenor saxophone from Gilmore and hypnotic, quasi-ambient keyboard effects from Ra. It’s tempting
to just say “Disco 3000” is the crowning achievement of the quartet’s brief existence and leave it atthat. A classic Sun Ra track.
Not that there isn’t more great music on these discs! After a short drum solo, “Sun of the Cosmos”
continues in the guided improvisation vein, including more crazed keyboard work from Sonny andanother outrageous tenor solo from Gilmore, where he explores the entire range of extended
techniques from altissimo screams to impossible split-tone multiphonics. Whew! Ra then moves tothe piano for “Echos [sic] of the World,” a pretty ballad with Gilmore in the lead. “Geminiology”
picks up the tempo with some jaunty swing and a riff-based head arrangement but Ra takes it way
out: thunderous low-register tone clusters and furious parallel runs, just a total assault on the piano.
Then it’s suddenly back to the cheery jazz feel for Ray’s extended solo on warm-toned trumpet. “SkyBlues” is exactly as the title suggests, a swinging blues riff, with Gilmore delivering the sermon. Lord
have mercy! This is another incredible Gilmore solo, a blues history lesson: from honking, hokey
gutbucket to dizzying post-bop harmonic labyrinths to the most out-there avant garde wailing—all
without losing the thread of tradition and ending with an emphatic flourish. Dammmnnn.
Disc one concludes with six minutes of “Friendly Galaxy,” given an angular and dissonant
rearrangement, fading out on Ray’s muted trumpet solo. Disc two then fades up some time later (thereel flip evidenced by the increased wow-and-flutter at the beginning of the track) and, after about aminute of noodling on “Friendly Galaxy,” Ra signals “Third Planet.” The two horns sound supertight and Gilmore once again plays a mind-bendingly great tenor solo, this time accompanied onlyby the drums. Ali is uncharacteristically aggressive here, swinging like a mo-fo while Gilmore blows
the doors down. No wonder Sonny picked this track for release on the original Disco 3000 LP!
“Dance of the Cosmo Aliens” was also included on the original LP and it’s another spaced-out
electronica-fest, with Gilmore and Ray putting down the horns and picking up percussion
instruments. Even so, the expanded rhythm section struggles a bit trying to follow along with thecrude electric drum box. Even so, Ra’s keyboard playing is otherworldly and the crowd eats it up,
bursting into rapturous applause at the end.
“Spontaneous Simplicity” is given an electrified rearrangement with lots of wild keyboard effects
and some blasting trumpet work from Ray, but is perhaps overlong at fourteen-some minutes. Thissegues into “Images,” which is given a tighter reading than on Media Dreams. While Gilmore’ssolo is probably not the equal of “Twigs at Twlight,” it’s still pretty freaking awesome. Although the285packaging says this includes “Over the Rainbow,” it actually appears on the following track, “When
There Is No Sun,” which is given a gentle, gospelized feel, with Gilmore and Ray sweetly singing
and Ra accompanying the on churchy organ. Then Sonny erupts into another electronic frenzy
before slipping over to the piano for a brief sketch of “Over the Rainbow.” Finally, the concert ends
with a reprise of “Space is the Place,” with Ra vamping on piano for a while before joining in on the
chant. Interestingly, this rendition shares the quickened phrasing of the unique rearrangement heard
on Media Dreams, but lacks the horn parts and countermelodies.
Sonny obviously thought highly of this concert, releasing not only the Disco 3000 LP but editing
the title track and “Sky Blues” down for release on a seven-inch 45RPM single (Saturn 2100) which
can be found on the two-CD set, The Singles (Evidence ECD 22164-2). Retitled "Disco 2100," thesprawling original is reduced to two minutes and and 43 seconds of Ra's swirling, primitiveelectronica while the flip side focuses on the first two-and-a-half minutes of boogie-woogie. I don't
expect it got a lot of airplay.
While all of the Art Yard releases are essential in my opinion, The Complete Disco 3000 Concert
is really something special, presenting Sun Ra in this unusual quartet situation where everything justcomes together. You not only get Sonny at his most adventurous, demonstrating his inimitable
mastery of electronic keyboards (as well as some virtuosic piano playing) but the young newcomer,
Michael Ray, plays with admirable taste and restraint while Luqman Ali more than holds his own as
the lone member of the rhythm section. And Gilmore—well, what more can be said? Incredible!Get it
before it goes out of print forever.
Jean K said...
Spot on Rodger! One of my favourite post-Boykins (my watershed for some reason..) Sun Ra
records.
Sam said...
Yes, this is an amazing release. Great write-up as always, Rodger. Sorry I haven't commented somuch on the past few Horos, etc....really haven't had anything to add. If I had to say anything about
your Horo reviews, it'd be that you were perhaps too harsh on Luqman Ali's drumming...I think hissparse, understated style really underpins the Horos and strengthens the group interplay. But we've
already had that conversation! :) Anyway, great write-ups on what I know were hard subjects. This
Italian sojourn yielded some amazing music, especially since Gilmore is just so on-fire throughout!
Rodger Coleman said...
@ Jean K - thank you! And so good to see you on the VC! @ Sam - yeah, maybe I was a little harsh
on Ali regarding the Horos - but he certainly makes up for it on the live stuff. In fact, what's mostinteresting to me is how this unusual quartet came together during this lengthy stay in Italy.

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AUGUST 11, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Media Dreams (Saturn/Art Yard 2CD)
Sun Ra: Sound Mirror (Side B) (Saturn LP>CDR)
Obviously pleased with the Horo Voice Studio recordings, Sun Ra lined up some live gigs for thequartet, touring Italy until at least January 23, 1978, where they performed at Teatro Cilak in Milanand recorded Disco 3000 (Saturn CMIJ 78). There were other concerts during the intervening
weeks, as documented on two other Saturn LPs, Media Dream (Saturn 1978) and Side B of Sound
Mirror (Saturn 19782) but the actual dates and locations for these recordings are unknown (seeCampbell & Trent pp.247-249). Originally issued in miniscule numbers, these three albums are someof the rarest and most desirable El Saturn LPs in existence. Thankfully, the intrepid Art Yard labelcame to the rescue. In 2007, they released The Complete Disco 3000 Concert (CD 001) on two
CDs (with the original LP edit reissued as CD 101). Then, in 2008, they put out another two-disc set
entitled Media Dreams (CD 002), which presents the original Media Dreamalbum on one CD anda 50-minute concert fragment on another. Taken together, these Art Yard reissues present analmost-complete picture of this highly unusual (and haphazardly documented) tour of Italy. In his
liner notes for Media Dreams, Trent points out that while the discovery of some (but not all) of theoriginal tapes from this 1978 sojourn “clarifies some questions, establishing long suspected links
between various Saturn albums,” it also “raises as many questions as it answers.” Aside from theTeatro Cilak concert, actual dates and locations remain a mystery. And so it goes with Mr. Ra...
In fact, most of the tracks on original Media Dream are not to be found on the concert recording
contained in the Art Yard reissue and those tracks were significantly edited for the official release.
Was it all taken from the same concert? Judging from the overall ambience, it could be—or it could
be from more than one—but the sound quality on the second disc is significantly degraded, making287

a direct comparison impossible. According to Trent: “This particular tape is no longer in audiophile
condition. It does appear to be the original master, rather than a copy, but is now in a poor state. Art
Yard have rescued it in the nick of time and have gone to considerable lengths to improve its
quality.” They did the best with what they had and while it sounds pretty good, the tape has dearly
suffered the ravages of time.
What is most notable about these live quartet recordings is how they transferred the Horo studioexperiments to the stage. While he has been provided with decent pianos at these gigs, Sonny spends
the bulk of his time with a variety of electronic keyboards, including a Moog synthesizer and a
Crumar Mainmain organ. Media Dream opens up with “Saturn Research,” a three-minute blast ofominous, dissonant organ and synth, accompanied by dramatic drums and percussion—and Sonny
is only just getting started. On “Constellation” (confusingly not the same composition found on
Other Voices, Other Blues), Ra switches on the Mainman’s crude rhythm box, which plays aslowed-down cha-cha beat supplemented with a simple, synthesized bass line. Now, in anyone else’s
hands, this would be unforgivably cheesy—yet Sonny somehow makes it work and the primitive
Mainman organ gives these recordings a uniquely retro-futuristic feel. After a scribbly “Yera of theSun” (whose Morse Code rhythms vaguely recall “Quest”), the Mainman gets another workout on“Media Dreams,” a thirteen minute tour de force. Starting out as a weirdly beautiful ballad form, with
twittering organ, legato synth chords and all sorts of electronica effects, Michael Ray takes a long,warm-toned solo on trumpet, ably following Ra’s harmonic twists and turns. Then it devolves into
Ra's wild, mad scientist display. At the ten-minute mark, John Gilmore comes in with a folk-like
melody on tenor saxophone but just as Ra starts to heat things up again, the track quickly fades out.
It sounds to me like this could have gone on forever.
Only the last two tracks on Media Dream are taken from the concert recording found on disc twoof Art Yard’s reissue and they both feature Ra on acoustic piano. The curiously (mis)titled “Twigs at
Twilight” is actually “Images,” but brutally edited, picking up about half-way through and beginningwith Gilmore’s tenor solo. Although Gilmore takes many liberties with the tune, in retrospect, it isimmediately recognizable as “Images.” Anyway, this is definitely another one of the all-time great
Gilmore solos, not overly extended but still sublime. After a brief piano excursion and drum break,the track fades out before the return of the head, further obscuring its origins. Finally, “AnUnbeknowneth Love” begins with rhapsodic piano and boom-chick trap-drumming from Luqman
Ali – but someone (Gilmore?) is playing tympani, adding slippery and dramatic percussion effects:
BOING! BOING! Ra gets into an aggressively dissonant, avant-garde mode before the drum solo,
which fades out to end the album. Very interesting.
The second disc contains seven pieces, picking up with “Friendly Galaxy,” which is quite different
from the version found on The Complete Disco 3000 Concert, where it was combined with“Third Planet.” Ra starts out on piano but quickly moves to organ, eventually getting the Mainman’s
drumbox/bassline thing happening. Unfortunately, Ali drops in and out, unable to find the groove.
Ra is going crazy with his ragbag arsenal of electronic keyboards but this is not a wholly satisfying
group performance. “An Unbeknowneth Love” follows, with the drum solo leading immediately
into “Of Other Tomorrows Never Known.” This track appeared in slightly edited form on theSound Mirror LP and it is another virtuoso performance from Sonny. Woozy string ensemble
chords and bubbly bass synthesizer seem to outline a basic structure from which Ra builds his
quirkily original electronic music, full of astonishingly variegated textures and intertwined melodic
lines. Meanwhile, light-handed drums scrape and murmur in the background. About six minutes in,288

you can hear Ra barking out instructions—though you can’t quite make out what he says. Soon
thereafter, Gilmore plays an extended cadenza as Ra hints at the chord changes to “Images.”
Despite Ra's commands and a fluid introduction, the horn players fluff their entrance—and while
Ray and Ra solo admirably, it really isn’t until Gilmore comes in that things really take off. No
wonder this version of "Images" was edited (and retitled) for official release! Next up is one of theearliest known performances of “The Truth About Planet Earth” (a/k/a “Bad Truth”), one of Sun
Ra’s patently hectoring space chants. When he accompanies himself with a soulfully swinging piano
vamp, this has an almost-commercial pop-song feel—but Ra eventually abandons the instrument
and everyone takes turns at the microphone, a spacey echo effect added to the voices at thesoundboard. At nearly seven minutes, it goes on a bit too long for casual listening (although I'm sureit was thoroughly entertaining live). A brief rendition of “Space is the Place” offers an intriguing
rearrangement of this concert staple, with new lyrics and alternative countermelodies, which
immediately segues into “The Shadow World.” Don’t get too excited, though! It cuts off after only acouple of minutes.
That leaves the humorously titled “Jazzisticology” as the remaining track from Sound Mirror thatwas recorded on this Italian tour but is not found on either Media Dreams or The Complete
Disco 3000 Concert. It is impossible tell if it belongs with its companion, “Of Other Tomorrows
Never Known,” or if it is from a different concert altogether. The sound of Gilmore’s microphonesounds more gritty and immediate than elsewhere but it doesn't help matters that my "needledrop"of Sound Mirror is a crackly mess. In any event, “Jazzisticology” is another improvised post-bop
number similar to what was done in the Horo Voice Studio, with Sonny cueing the arrangement andtelepathically communicating the chord changes to Gilmore with his sparse piano comping. Then
Ray solos over Ali's drums before the sax and piano return rubato, only to fade out too soon. An
inconsequential track, perhaps, but there are other reasons to seek out Sound Mirror(which we’ll
get to anon).
Needless to say, Art Yard's Media Dreams is an essential, if still discographically mysterious,
release. The Complete Disco 3000 Concert may be even better—we’ll take a listen to that one nexttime on Sun Ra Sunday. [see above!--Sam]

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JULY 28, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra Quartet: The Mystery of Being (Horo/Klimt 3LP)
There have been several dodgy, grey-market reissues of the Horo records over the years and thelatest is a vinyl-only box set, The Mystery of Being, released back in 2011 on the tiny French label,
Klimt, which crams the two January 1978 double albums onto three LPs. Sound quality is actually
pretty good – certainly better than my crackly needledrops—but at the same time, I suspect these aretaken from vinyl sources and then (aggressively) de-noised. Moreover, the sides are excessively long,resulting in diminished dynamic range and susceptibility to noise. Sadly, one side of my copy has anasty pressing flaw, which causes the stylus to skip—and they are now out-of-print, so it is not soeasily replaceable. Bummer.
Although there are neither mastering credits nor any liner notes whatsoever, this set purports topresent the music in chronological order, providing recording dates on the labels. According tothem, the sessions occurred as follows:
Side One: January 2: My Favorite Things, Moon People, Rome at Twilight, When There is No Sun
Side Two: January 7: Sun Steps, Exactly Like You, Friend and FriendshipSide Three: January 8: The Horo, Sun Sky and WindSide Four: January 13: Springtime and Summer Idyll, Constellation
Sides Five and Six: January 2, 7, 8, 13: One Day in Rome, Bridge to the Ninth Dimension, Along theTiber, Rebellion, The Mystery of Being
That makes some sort of sense until you get to the last disc, which could have been recorded on any
one of those dates. Huh? This is less than helpful and just another indication of this set’s dubious
provenance. I would guess that basic tracks for New Steps were recorded on January 2, withoverdubbing taking place on January 7. Similarly, basic tracks for Other Voices, Other Blues likely
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took place on January 8, with overdubbing happening on January 13. That’s just a guess, but thatwould mirror the usual progression in a multi-track environment. Then again, such was a highly
unusual practice for Sonny, so who knows how it went down? As with so much in the Sun Ra
discography, not much can be known with certainty except that the music is fantastic.
I cannot whole-heartedly recommend The Mystery of Being, although if you can find one for adecent price, it might be worth it. Otherwise, I’d recommend ponying up for the rare originals. Me?
I’m still waiting for a proper reissue of these classic Sun Ra albums. May I live so long...!
SEPTEMBER 28, 2008
Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Myth Science Solar Arkestra: On Jupiter (Art Yard CD)
Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Myth Science Solar Arkestra: Sleeping Beauty (Art Yard CD)
These two 1979 Saturn sessions present Sun Ra at his most accessible – groovy, dreamy, spacey, andsuitably cosmic while reigning in the full-blown freakouts that can make Sun Ra’s music difficult forsome (or maybe not quite the right thing on a Sunday evening). That is not to say that these arelesser albums. Quite the contrary! This is simply beautiful music! Essential! Note that these CDs are
extremely limited editions and sparsely distributed. I got mine from Downtown Music Gallery. See
also Lanquidity (Evidence).
Sam said...
You're scaring me with this "extremely limited" business. I'm gonna have to settle for my vinyl rips
for now, my budget being what it is! These are two wonderful albums, for sure. So, who do you
think is playing the tenor sax solo on "UFO"?

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MARCH 25, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Pat Patrick’s Baritone Retinue: Sound Advice (Saturn LP)
Pat Patrick had recently returned to the fold and in 1976, joined with Arkestra alum, Charles Davis,
to form Pat Patrick’s Baritone Retinue for a few one-off gigs. One of these concerts was recorded
and released on an LP entitled, Sound Advice, in 1980 (Saturn ESR 770) and it is one of the few nonSun Ra albums ever issued by El Saturn Records (and, as it turns out, the last) (see Campbell &Trent pp.229-230). Curiously, Sound Advice is also one of the only Saturn albums ever released on
cassette (Id.). It’s an odd grouping: eight (8!) baritone saxophones (with some doubling on alto andflute) accompanied by a rhythm section consisting ofHilton Ruiz on piano, John Hart on bass, Steve
Solder on drums and Babadefmi Humphries on conga. Both Patrick and Davis contribute tunes andarrangements while sharing the solo spotlight on this mostly straight-ahead affair.
The album is bookended by two crudely edited takes of Benny Golson’s “Stablemates” sans solos, acurious way to open and close the record—especially given the ensemble’s rather severe intonation
problems! Jimmy Heath’s “Funny Time” starts out as a bumptious rhumba but settles into swing
changes for the solos. Patrick goes first with a gruff and soulful outing, marred only by a squeaky
reed, while Davis is smoother but also maybe a bit too slick for my tastes. This pattern repeats formost of the album. Patrick’s “Uptightedness” boasts an evocative title but is merely a medium bluesof little interest but Davis’s “Eastern Vibrations” is better: a snaky melody over mysterioso pianoand bass, a bit of jazzy exotica with sweet and sour harmonies. The bridge moves into movie-music
swells before medium swing for the solos with Davis up first with an effortless couple of choruses
and Patrick taking over with more adventuresome fare, which gets a nice round of applause fromthe audience. A tasty piano solo from Ruiz then rounds things up for the reprise.
Antônio Carlos Jobim’s “Sabia” opens side two with a mellow samba rhythm, the melody arranged
for baritones, altos and flutes. Patrick is in the lead, doing his best Harry Carney impersonation: big,wide vibrato and breathy, romantic articulations. Very nice. Next up is the most interesting track on
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the album: “East Of Uz” an early Sun Ra composition (c.1956) the score of which was deposited in
the Library of Congress, but never recorded by Ra (as far as I know). It’s a Latin-inflected spacegroove with descending harmonies set against an oddly dissonant melody and the arrangement hereis fairly intricate with loping counter-melodies orchestrated for baritone choir. Ruiz really shows his
stuff with a sprightly solo in parallel octaves, which elicits some applause before Patrick and Davistake their turns at the mic. This is possibly one of the hundreds of tunes rehearsed by the Arkestra
but never performed—too bad as it would have been nice to hear Sonny’s take on this weird little
number. “The Waltz” is another composition by Davis and it’s just what it sounds like, a modal,
three-four romp that dances in place while the soloists take flight. Then it’s another incomplete takeof “Stablemates” to conclude the album.
Sound Advice is a pleasant enough listen and it’s always a pleasure to hear Pat Patrick taking the lead.
But the indistinct recording job, sloppy ensembles and other technical problems prevent it frombeing everything it could have been. Soon after this recording, Patrick would abandon the baritone
for the more easily deployed alto saxophone—a shame as he had a unique sound and melodic
sensibility on the bigger instrument. Sound Advice would be Patrick’s only recording under his own
name and is worth checking out for that reason alone.
OtherPlanes OfThere said...
Just picked up the "Pat Patrick and the Baritone Saxophone Retinue" Sound Advice CD on
ArtYard. Just can't get enough of Pat Patrick, Marshall Allen, and John Gilmore. I have to agreewith your comments, interesting music but technically not at a high standard, with a squeaky reed,
dull sound and an under rehearsed ensemble. Still it is wonderful to be able to capture this momentin the world of Pat Patrick. This is available on the KS Art Yard Series #B0130HVNOQ as a CD
and also as an LP from Forced Exposure.

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APRIL 21, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Living By Lanterns: New Myth/Old Science (Cuneiform CD)
I’ve recently been filling some holes in my collection of Mary Halvorson and Ingrid Laubrock discs
and came across this one, which I had somehow missed when it came out last year. Sun Ra
afficianadoes will definitely want to check it out:
Living By Lanterns is a group convened by Chicago drummer Mike Reed vibraphonist Jason
Adasiewicz, in order to fulfill a commission by the Experimental Sound Studio (ESS) to create aperformance based on material contained in the Sun Ra/El Saturn Audio Archive at ESS. The
archive contains dozens of master tapes and rehearsal tapes as well as recordings of Ra’s poetry andlectures and “audio research” such as a television documentary about Duke Ellington and a radio
talk show discussing the benefits of self-hypnosis (a jaw-dropping work-in-progress catalog of thearchive’s holdings can be found here). Reed was provided an iPod with 700(!) hours of material
culled from over 400 reel-to-reel and cassette tapes recorded from 1948 to 1985 and Adasiewicz,
chose “Reel 43” to work with, an hour-long rehearsal tape labeled “NYC 1961,” which features Ra
on electric piano, John Gilmore on tenor saxophone and Ronnie Boykins on bass. Reed describes
the tape as “a stream-of-consciousness songwriting session with few details worked out but manyideas played through” (quoted in Terri Kapsalis’s liner notes). Adasiewicz isolated themes andharmonic sequences and, with Reed, developed new compositions for an all-star nine-piece band,featuring Greg Ward on alto saxophone, Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet, Ingrid Laubrock on tenor
saxophone, Tomeka Reid on cello, Mary Halvorson on guitar and Tomas Fujiwara on drums.
Beautifully recorded at ElectricalAudio in Chicago on September 3 & 5, 2011, the results werereleased in October 2012 on the venerable Cuneiform Records label as New Myth/Old Science.
Sonny’s voice can be heard admonishing and lecturing on the opening sound collage, “New Myth,”with Laubrock’s long split-tones and wispy melodic figures blowing in and out of the soniclandscape. Then it’s right into “Think Tank,” the longest and most viscerally intense track on thealbum. After a majestically rubato ensemble section, Halvorson delivers a blistering guitar solo fullof metallic distortion and massive power chords over a propulsive, double-drum groove. “2000West Erie” is built around a twisty, post-bop head and yields an incredible tenor solo from Laubrockover a swinging rhythm section and scrabbling guitar. Although sounding nothing like him,
Laubrock is clearly Gilmore’s heir as master of the tenor saxophone. “Shadow Boxer’s Delight”
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more overtly evokes Sun Ra’s unique style, with spacey electronics, a loping ostinato in 7/4 and avaguely Egyptian-sounding theme. “Forget B” is another updated post-bop number with anotherastonishing solo from Laubrock while “Grow Lights” moves back to a leisurely space-groove kindof thing, with Abrams taking the lead on upright bass with Boykins-like authority. The album
concludes with “Old Science,” an up-tempo rocker with another outrageous solo from Halvorson.
New Myth/Old Science is an intriguing album: rather than presenting Sun Ra’s music as a mererepertory project, sketchy, raw material has been transformed into entirely new, original music,
performed by the leading lights of 21st Century jazz. It’s a fitting tribute to Ra’s genius andcontinuing influence—plus you get to hear some of Mary Halvorson and Ingrid Labrock’s finest
playing on disc. Good stuff!
+++
Another interesting item from the Sun Ra Audio Archive, ESS and ThreeWalls Gallery is Black
Utopia, an extremely limited edition 2-LP/DVD set compiled by filmmaker Cauleen Smith,documenting her two-year residency and research on Sun Ra for her exhibition, “The Journeyman,”
which the gallery describes as “an installation, recording studio and library about artistic process.”
The recording contains music and other material from the Sun Ra Archive as well as original pieces
created for the exhibit. Although I suspect they are all sold by now, I was able to order a copy online
directly from the gallery—I’ll let you know when/if it arrives.
Who knows what else from this stash of rare Sun Ra material will see the light of day?

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APRIL 28, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

Black Utopia (A Cauleen Smith Movie) (ThreeWalls 2LP/DVD)
I was pleasantly surprised to find a copy of Black Utopia in the mailbox this week (after all, only 40
copies of the special “collector’s edition” were pressed) but I guess I got lucky. It is a stunningly
gorgeous piece: two heavyweight colored vinyl LPs housed in hand-silkscreened jackets; an oversize
booklet containing photographs, texts and interviews; a flyer commemorating filmmaker Cauleen
Smith’s 2012 exhibition atThree Walls Gallery, "The Journeyman"; a giant newsprint foldout listing
the various books on display from the Sun Ra/El Saturn Research library; a signed and numberedcertificate of authenticity; and, finally, a data DVD-R containing all four sides in 24bit/96kHz highresolution WAV format. Black Utopia is clearly a labor of love.
The album is presented as an “audio documentary,” a movie for your ears by Smith, who spent thelast couple of years in Chicago, researching the Sun Ra archives at the University of Chicago and theExperimental Sound Studio. Culling material from the 700 tapes in the audio archive (supplemented
by rare LPs from the Dorchester Projects’ Dr. Wax Record Library), Smith has divided the foursides into movements (or episodes) entitled, “Gemini,” “Shaped Notes,” “Speculations” and “TheLearned & The Learned,” formed out of snippets of Arkestra rehearsals, live performances andlectures by Sun Ra as well as cut-up radio documentaries and poetry by Krista Franklin and Avery R.
Young. In conjunction with the print materials, it is a fascinating document of DIY scholarship andcontemporary mythmaking that explores the esoteric intellectual pursuits and intensely “radical black
creativity” that Sun Ra epitomized.
I have only had a chance to listen to it through twice, so I cannot really comment in detail—but it issuperbly well-done and definitely worth the premium price. More than just a “record,” Black Utopia
is a rare and beautiful work of art. It looks like I got one of the last copies of the “collector’s
edition” (it is no longer listed on their website) but the “fan” edition (containing just the LPs and296

booklet in a slightly different jacket) is apparently still available—but you better hurry! It too is alimited edition of only 100 copies.
NOVEMBER 27, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

Ronnie Boykins: The Will Come, Is Now (ESP-Disk’ CD)
Ronnie Boykins was one of the first members of Sun Ra’s fledgling Arkestra, joining the band inearly 1958 and his innovative yet rock-solid bass playing was a key element in the music’s rapid
development up through the mid-1960s (it was also Boykins’s car that carried the band from
Chicago to Montreal in 1961 and, thence, to New York City). Boykins had been classmates withJohn Gilmore and Pat Patrick at Du Sable High School (where he played sousaphone in the band)
but he had already established himself as an in-demand bassist prior to joining the Arkestra, having
played with such diverse figures as Muddy Waters, Johnny Griffin and Jimmy Witherspoon. In 1966,
Boykins left the Arkestra to pursue other opportunities, (notably including work with Rahsaan
Roland Kirk) and, as we’ve seen, Sonny had a hard time finding his replacement, opting on manyoccasions for doing without the bass altogether. Boykins intermittently performed with Arkestra
thereafter with his last known appearance being at Hunter College on June 16, 1974 (portions ofwhich were released as Out Beyond The Kingdom Of ). While Prof. Campbell suggests he might
been a part of the two-week stand at The “New” Five Spot in June, 1975, he is not present on thebootleg tape which circulates (Campbell & Trent p.220). According to Szwed, growing animosity
between Boykins and Ra over money and lack of composer credit for some of the Arkestra’s
recordings caused him to quit the band for good sometime during this period (Szwed p.119).
But ESP-Disk’s Bernard Stollman recognized Boykins’s genius early on:
I first met Sun Ra during the October Revolution festival in the Cellar Café (in 1964), and he invited me to hear theArkestra perform in a loft in Newark, New Jersey. It was there that I singled out Ronnie Boykins, and invited him
to record for ESP. He told me he would let me know when he felt he was ready. During the decade that followed, I
heard his work in the Arkestra, and late night sessions with Sam Rivers in Studio Rivbea on Bond Street, and in
Ornette Coleman’s Prince Street loft. Ronnie called me in 1975, to announce he was ready to record his first album asa leader (liner notes).
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As it turned out, Boykins waited too long and The Will Come, Is Now is the only record Boykins evermade under his own name—he died suddenly of heart attack in 1980 at the age of 45. And ESPDisk’ was in serious decline by 1975, this being one of the last few recordings the label released
before finally going under. Accordingly, it was cheaply made, pressed in miniscule quantities andpoorly distributed, resulting in one of the rarest ESP discs of all. Fortunately, the resurrection of thelabel at the turn of the century has brought nearly the entire catalog back in print on CD, including
Boykins’s one and only solo album, nicely remastered from the original tapes. Although neither
Sonny nor any of the Arkestra appear on it, Boykins’s importance to the Sun Ra saga is undisputed
and, therefore, The Will Come, Is Now merits a mention here.
Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I found this album to be something of adisappointment. It certainly looks promising: Boykins composed six ambitious pieces for the album,
featuring a septet of himself on bass and sousaphone; Joe Ferguson, Monty Waters and James Casson saxophones and flutes; Daoud Haroom on trombone; Art Lewis on drums; and George Avaloz
on congas. And, to be sure, each of the pieces showcases Boykins’s unique compositional voice andhis flair for rich orchestration but the album suffers from a basic lack of rehearsal and slip-shod
recording technique. The title track is typical: a loping ostinato in 7/4 with a twisty, complex headarrangement followed by a series of modal solos—but the sound is boxy and indistinct and the offcenter groove never quite solidifies, almost dissolving completely during Boykins’s bowed bass solo.
“Starlight At The Wonder Inn” appears to be an evocation of the early days in Chicago: a slightly
old-fashioned ballad form with sweet ‘n’ sour horns and Boykins carrying the melody on arco bass—but, this time, intonation problems undermine the piece’s nostalgic beauty.
On the other hand, the three-minute “Demon’s Dance” works a bit better, a riffing post-bop
number with everyone soloing at once, Dixieland-style. Even more intriguing is “Dawn Is Evening,
Afternoon,” which sets yearning, unresolved harmonies and dissonant counter-melodies against aswinging solo section. The humorously titled, “Tipping On Heels,” is an appropriately tipsy, stopstart, big-band type number where, after stating the theme, soloists pair up for duo improvisations.
At least here the ensemble sounds like they’re in their element but the abrupt ending appears to be aclumsy splice rather than a planned conclusion. The last track, “The Third I” could have been a realmasterpiece: it begins with a ritualized percussion segment with everyone clanking on cowbells,
shaking rattles and jangling tambourines before Boykins starts rumbling away on the giant
sousaphone. Unfortunately, the blast of low frequencies caused the recordist to panic (Marzette
Watts as it happens), resulting in disconcerting volume fluctuations throughout the rest of the track.
Oh well. This eventually gives way to a genially meandering jam for flutes and horns which finallycoalesces into a 15/8 ostinato laid down by Boykins on the bass. Finally, at around the ten-minutemark, the full band comes in with stabbing horn tattoos and a weirdly harmonized melody—
exciting!—but then the track fades out just as they get going. Argh! Obviously, this piece continued
for quite a while longer but was cut down to save space for other works on the album. That is reallyfrustrating since "The Third I" might be the most compelling thing on the album. And so it goes…
Ultimately, The Will Come, Is Now is all unrealized potential and it is tempting to fantasize about what
the Arkestra could have brought to this material, even with limited rehearsal time and amateurish
sound quality (which was, after all, the norm for them). It is also reasonable to speculate on whatsort of music Sonny would have made with Boykins continuously at his side. Well, for whateverreason, it was not meant to be and, sadly, Boykins has never achieved the acclaim he deserves. Even
though he played with several luminaries of the loft-jazz scene in the 1970s, very little of it was298

recorded, leaving this as his only solo statement. As such, The Will Come, Is Now is an important
document of Boykins’s wide-ranging musical conception and inimitable instrumental prowess. But it
is less than completely satisfying on a musical level, if only because it could have been so muchbetter. Then again, my expectations might be too high.
Sam said...
Great assessment of this LP, Rodger. I have always been vaguely dissatisfied with it, but not able toarticulate why. For me, the true greatness of Boykins lies in his work with Ra: especially"Heliocentric," "Nothing Is," and "Astro Black."
Rodger Coleman said...
I really wanted to like this record more than I did. When I first got it, I liked it well enough. But as I
started listening to it closely, intending to write about it, its shortcomings became more and more
apparent. If it was a double-LP and "The Third I" took up one complete side, I might feel very
differently!
MAY 22, 2011
Sun Ra Sunday

The Sun Ra literature is depressingly thin. Aside from Szwed’s excellent biography and Prof.
Campbell’s exhaustive (but now out of date) discography, there’s not much else out there.
Fortunately, a couple books came out recently to help to fill the void.
After a long delay, the third and final volume documenting the spectacular 2006 exhibition,“Pathways To Unknown Worlds” was published last year by Whitewalls. Curated by John Corbett,Anthony Elms and Terri Kapsalis, the first volume in the series, The Wisdom of Sun Ra: Sun Ra’s
Polemical Broadsheets And Streetcorner Leaflets collects facsimiles (and transcriptions) of Ra’s earliest
writings while the second volume, Pathways To Unknown Worlds: Sun Ra, El Saturn And Chicago’s AfroFuturist Underground 1954-68serves as a catalog for the exhibition with high-quality reproductions ofalbum art and other business ephemera along with essays by Corbett, Glenn Ligon, Adam Abraham,
and Camille Norment. Finally,Traveling The Spaceways: Sun Ra, The Astro Black and Other Space Myths
compiles presentations from a two-day symposium held at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago in
November 2006. I haven’t read the whole thing yet, but our own Prof. Campbell offers his researchon Sonny’s earliest years in Chicago and there are essays by all the curators as well as notable critics,
Kevin Whitehead and Graham Lock. Like others in the series, it is a slender but lovingly produced

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volume and, taken together, they make a wonderful reference source regarding Sun Ra’s Chicago
years.
Additionally, good old John Sinclair has put together a book for Headpress simply titled, Sun Ra:
Interviews & Essays and it looks pretty interesting. Collecting journalism from various sources, thebook makes available writings that would otherwise be impossible to find—like an interview Sinclair
conducted with Ra in 1966 for the Detroit Sun or a 1994 interview with trumpter, Michael Ray,
published Offbeat. Again, I haven’t had a chance to read much of it yet, but I’m grateful to have it.
Saturn Research continues!
DECEMBER 26, 2010
Sun Ra Sunday

Happy Holidays from Santa Ra!
Anonymous said...
Hello from Belarus, Rodger! Sorry for my English if something is wrong, Russian is much moreeasier for me, but my friend from Japan says Japanese is the easiest :)Just found your blog and must say "Thank you very much!!!" a lot of times. I was a bit surprised that
there are just a few comments, so this is somewhat of my comment. I hope (and wish you that)many more people to know about your blog in the future.
Last year's September (and last September again!) I visited Egypt. It was amazing to trip to Cairo andGiza and to see the Pyramids. But it was not less exciting experience for me to see the Sound andLight Theater, where the Grateful Dead shows took place in 1978, it is just few rows of seats (nowmuch less than I saw on the pictures of the event) in the shadow of Sphynx. Since then I had a bit ofinterest on who else of artists visited Egypt with concerts and found just a few ones in my research:
Jean-Michel Jarre, Agitation Free, and... Sun Ra. I only begin to discover Sun Ra's music for myself,300

so you can imagine my headache when I tried to get any information and to organise a huge
mountain of releases in my mind. But sometimes surprises happen, and I manage to find very usefulplaces in the space. Last Sunday it was Sun Ra Album-by-Album Thread and then a link to yourwonderful blog. Thank you (and Sam Byrd, too) for excellent analyses you do. All your posts arevery interesting. I have enjoyed reading. It is just what I wanted. As I see you begin since 1961 NY
Workshop recordings onward. And now we are somewhere in the middle of 1973 (after two years of
blogging!). I look forward to new Sun Ra Sundays and hope there will be the continuing of the story
soon, not only the poetry. Any chance for Chicago albums digest and "The Futuristic Sounds Of
Sun Ra" (1961) for completeness? And how about San Ra Other Days for additional
information/upgrades, i.e. "The Paris Tapes 1971" and "Live In London 1970" have been released.
A lot of new interesting releases and discoveries for you in New Year! Best wishes and Happy New
Year, - Andrei
Rodger Coleman said...
Andrei— Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments! I can’t tell you how gratifying it is toknow that half-way around the world you are reading my humble blog with such interest! Your
English is quite good—much better than my Russian could ever be (or Japanese for that matter).
Your trip(s) to Egypt sound fascinating. I would love to hear more about that!
To tell you the truth, Sun Ra Sunday came about by accident, actually. As the whole “financial crisis”
unfolded in 2007 I could only think of Ra’s refrain, “It’s after the end of the world, don’t you knowthat yet?” Later, when I started to get “serious” about it, I began with The Choreographer’sWorkshop period because I am particularly fond of those recordings and they are scattered acrossvarious releases, causing considerable confusion in my mind. I do not pretend to be any kind ofexpert on Sun Ra, although I am, obviously, a huge fan; I am basically feeling my way through thediscography to get a handle on what is there. Now, two years later (!), I do kind of regret not startingfrom the beginning, but I’m committed now, I guess. My plan (such as it is) is to continue through1980 and “Sunrise In Different Dimensions” and then double back to the very beginning, leaving
the 80s-90s for later (if ever). I started doing this for my own edification but it is nice to know others
find it worth reading.
Re: “The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra.” That is one of my very favorite albums and it actually would
have made an excellent starting point or prelude to The Choreographer’s Workshop recordings.
Alas, it will have to wait until…when? Your comment has certainly inspired me to maybe pick up
the pace a bit….
Re: “The Paris Tapes 1971.” I have had some difficulty locating a copy of this here in the states forsome reason. After several vexed attempts to order online, it has supposedly shipped to me today
from California. I can’t wait to have this CD in my hands! Sam Byrd played me selections from thiswhen I saw him on Monday and I can report that the sound-quality is superb—especially ascompared to the atrocious bootleg tape I previously reviewed. Believe me: I will update my post
regarding this concert once I have had a chance to absorb this new release.
Re: “London 1970.” To be perfectly honest, I am wary of the Transparency label. On paper, thislooks to be a significant upgrade from the dismal recording that circulates but I need to hear sometrustworthy first-hand reports confirming such before I’m willing to shell out the cash. This is301

another excellent concert where the circulating tape sounds just awful. Have you heard it? How does
it sound? Please let me know! Again, thank you for your comment and best wishes to you and yoursin the New Year! --Rodger
yotte said...
Hey Rodger, I have to agree with Andrei, your blog and reviews are a treasure. There are so few
thoughtful reviews of Sun Ra's material available - it's so nice to read through the Sunday posts. I'm
glad you found a copy of The Paris Tapes. I think it's absolutely fantastic from beginning to end. re.
the Transparency release, you are welcome to email me (contact info is in my google profile) and I
can help. There are some great moments but the recording is distant and the track labels could be
more accurate. I sure wish you a happy new year to come and look forward to your weekly
gratification of my Sun Ra obsession! -yotte
Rodger Coleman said...
@yotte -- thank you so much for your kind comments and sorry for the delay in responding. It's
funny, just as I was wondering what the point of all this is, I get these two nice comments fromstrangers expressing their appreciation. It was really the boost I needed to pick up the pace a little
bit. While I am mostly doing this for myself, it IS nice to know others are reading. Best wishes andHappy New Year! --Rodger

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NOVEMBER 23, 2008
Sun Ra Sunday

I’m laid up with a nasty cold, so I’m resting and re-reading John F. Szwed’s masterful Space is thePlace: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra (Pantheon, 1997). In his Introduction, Szwed makes aremarkable statement:This is the biography of a musician who confronted the problems of creating music for an audience who expected
nothing more than to be entertained, but who at the same time attempted to be a scholar and a teacher, and to take his
audiences beyond the realm of the aesthetic to those of the ethical and the moral. (p. xviii)
The realm of the ethical and the moral is a realm that most music criticism tends to avoid, and forgood reason I suppose. Szwed’s statement begs a host of questions: Can music be ethical or moral?
Or does music rely upon the extra-musical (e.g. biography, texts, performance) to convey ethics andmorality? What is an unethical or immoral music? Can ethical or moral music be produced byunethical or immoral persons? Who decides what constitutes ethical ethics and moral morality?
These questions are not easy to answer, even in the case of Sun Ra, who explicitly espoused such
ethical and moral concerns amidst the afro-cryptic, space-age show-biz trappings; he often statedthat he was sent here from Saturn to help people.
In my re-reading, I will be looking closely to see whether Szwed merely asserts the moral and ethicalcomponents of Ra’s music or instead seeks to articulate how this realm is manifested in the music
itself (beyond, of course, lyrical statements). Personally, I believe that, yes, there is an ethical andmoral component that was central to what Sun Ra was attempting to accomplish through his music
and that component is audible; to say exactly where and how is another matter altogether.
Or maybe it’s just the Sudafed® talking.
mrG said...
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A key paper to investigate is David Stowe's "From Ephrata to Arkestra" wherein he draws distinct
lines connecting others who similarly believed Man may be 'saved' by the intercession of particularsounds. The same sentiment may be found in the music of John Cage, the tip-off being in his essay
lamenting our losing the be-hear-now sense of medieval sacred music after spectacle hero-worship
emerged from the Renaissance; John's work after that realization had an explicit intent to awaken his
audience to a mindfulness in an earnest Buddhist hope this would lead directly to ethical and moral
change. This of course doesn't prove either of them were successful (tho' I believe they were, having
repeatedly witnessed live both masters in action) or that their theories matched their actual practice,
but it maybe lends credence to the possibility of success, no?
Sam said...
Finally getting around to commenting--I'll try not to feel so intimated by the thoughtfulness andinsight you bring to Ra's music (and Szwed's work). But, in my opinion: it's the Sudafed talking. In
spite of Ra's dictum that "music can wash clothes," I don't think music can have a moral purpose
just because one says it does. Don't get me wrong, I love that Ra, as a proper Tone Scientist, claimed
that his music had healing powers and that he had peaceful purposes for using music to proclaim his
message of hope and love for all humanity. But people don't get that message from the music, they
get it from him talking about the music. Purely instrumental music, musical sounds, beautiful
playing--these mean nothing on their own. They just exist. Any moral or ethical lesson supposedly
going along with or coming from the music actually comes from words. The music alone doesn't doit. I don't know how much further you've gotten in Szwed, but as far as I recall, he doesn't address"how this realm is manifested in the music itself." Rather, he "merely asserts the moral and ethicalcomponents of Ra’s music"---in words, which is all anyone can do.
Rodger said...
Mr. G and Sam – thank you for your thoughtful comments. I am contemplating a longer blog post
about this, now that I have finished re-reading Szwed’s book. On the one hand, I agree with Sam
that, empirically, music cannot “mean” anything and therefore cannot be moral or immoral and thatany deeper meanings can only be asserted by words. On the other hand, there is that vague conceptof the “spirit” which I believe *can* be conveyed through sound. I feel that at least part of whatmakes Sun Ra’s music so appealing and worth listening to is the “spirit” that is imbued in the sounditself. I firmly believe that, while middle-C as a pitch is value-neutral, the way that pitch is executed
can convey the spirit of the performer. It is this “spirit” that allows the music to transcend any
number of potential obstacles, from sometimes poor sound quality to sometimes sloppy
performances.
I think, by contrast, one can point to music that is either “positive” or “negative.” Take, forexample, the Beatles. It is not merely knowing the facts and circumstances surrounding _Let It Be_
that conveys the pain, ill-will, cynicism, and overall “bad vibes” of the sessions, you can actually*hear* it in the music. Wouldn’t you agree, Sam? Further, I would assert (and, if you grant the above
premise, the *sound* of the music supports this assertion) that their earlier work was “positive” (i.e.
it “helps” people) while _Let It Be_ is “negative” (i.e. it “hurts” people). Perhaps that is taking
things too far, but it is an inescapable conclusion to my mind. Anyway, just some half-formed
thoughts on this topic.
Sam said...
Several things to say here! I definitely know what you mean about the "spirit", but context iseverything. You say: "part of what makes Sun Ra’s music so appealing and worth listening to is the304“spirit” that is imbued in the sound itself." Tell that to my wife! She actively dislikes all the Ra she's
heard (even something as innocuous as "Brainville"!)--how much of that is the baggage she brings toit, from her active dislike of post-'30s jazz to her distrust of Ra as a shaman? That spirit is not
making itself known to her (as much as I've tried!).
Now, "Let It Be" is an extremely interesting album to bring up in this context. It's true that I have a
hard time listening to this stuff now, knowing what I know about what was going on and how they
were treating each other at the time. BUT... when the album first came out, we weren't aware of allthat, and I have to say, no, I didn't hear it in the music. I loved the album, aware as I was at the timethat it was no "Revolver" or White Album, but still enjoying the songs immensely, especially "Get
Back," "Don't Let Me Down," and "I've Got a Feeling." I went to the movie twice in a row when it
first came out and loved it. It was only later that the music became depressing. Although I have tosay, "Two of Us" and "Long and Winding Road" would, for me, fall into the "positive" camp.
So, read this: http://www.futureofthebook.org/blog/archives/2008/12/music_is_metadata.html
It's about music, metadata, and how that knowledge of the music changes our perception. Note thatit's the titles of Bryn Jones's pieces that have the negative effect, NOT the music itself.
DECEMBER 28, 2008
Sun Ra Sunday

Reader Mr. G commented on my post from a few weeks back regarding Sun Ra's music andmorality and he suggested that I check out professor David W. Stowe's paper, From Ephrata (F-RaTa) to Arkestra which draws a parallel between Sun Ra and early-eighteenth century mystic Conrad
Beissel. Fascinating stuff, but I'm still skeptical that any ethical component inheres to music itself,
rather than merely asserted by proclamation. Still, Dr. Stowe's paper is well worth reading andthinking about (if you think about such things).

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JANUARY 4, 2009
Sun Ra Sunday

Photo by Hans Kumpf
Some more half-baked thoughts on music and morality: Science tells us that all matter is vibrating
atoms and that it is the frequencies at which these atoms vibrate that constitute all the various formsof matter, visible and invisible. The substance of music consists of the audible spectrum of vibration(roughly 20Hz to 20kHz) and, as such, reflects the sublime order of the universe. Therefore, when
we listen to music, we are (for lack of a better way of putting it) contemplating the divine.
So, does this make the musician a priest in some quasi-religion? Here, things get tricky. Like all
human endeavors, music is made by imperfect beings and is therefore imperfect in practice. But the“stuff” of music is the ultimate abstraction of universal truths - a form of prayer - and it is thiselement that binds people to its endless, necessary, performance in all its variegated diversity ofstyles and genres. Some music is explicitly sacred, some is as nihilistic and offensive as possible; but
its usefulness resides in that contemplation of “cosmic vibrations.” For some people (like me), Sun
Ra’s music is most useful; for others it might be Kenny G. For some people it is the explicitly sacredmusic of their personal faith; for others it is the pop music of the day. The art music world has takena near-scientific approach to examining the phenomena of music and its investigations havedemonstrated that music’s possible manifestations are indeed infinite. Whatever our tastes (andtastes are, of course, nothing but a cultural construct - learned behavior), our need for music arises
from its fundamental substance: it is the exact representation of the vibrating universe. This is why
we listen to music.
From that we can conclude that all music is intrinsically “moral” in the sense that its essence is the
audible manifestation of vibrating matter and our attention to it allows insight (even if unconscious)
into profound truths. But to go further and suggest there is more-moral or, conversely, an immoral
music is, while tempting, probably too divisive to be useful. Assertions of moral character - even
Sun Ra’s - are merely words and, while useful to those who are susceptible to the message, arenevertheless unproveable claims and do not – cannot - inhere in the music itself, except assuggestion, as context. And, as Sam pointed out, “context is everything.” He helpfully pointed to aninteresting article that suggests how meta-data influences our interpretation of music by contrasting
the inflammatory titles utilized by Muslimgauze (Bryn Jones) to the rather anodyne music itself; any
supposed “morality” or “immorality” is wrapped up in a title irrevocably tied to a piece of music in
which such controversy or intent is patently absent. Obviously, music’s power can be harnessed as306

an effective propaganda tool, but human motivations are complex and often contradictory. Even so,
we need music in order to comprehend our place in the cosmos, even if our understanding is
fractured and incomplete.
So, for me, today, it is Sun Ra (tomorrow it will be someone else). For others, it may be
Muslimgauze. Our susceptibility to the proclamations of composers (and others) may allow us to“hear” the morality (or immorality) of their musical creations, but words and their contexts can anddo change and what remains are simply the vibrations, the sound itself which so easily expresses the
inexpressible and exists beyond the words. The very concepts of morality and ethics are humanconstructs that music naturally resists when pressed. Music is what is, unconcerned with humanfrailties. When we experience music, we know more than we can ever say.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2013
Sun Ra Sunday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO1qSAirUPI
Wherein I take Sun Ra Sunday to the YouTube Vinyl Community.

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DECEMBER 16, 2012
Sun Ra Sunday

Hello, again. You probably think I had completely given up on Sun Ra Sunday, having not posted
anything since the end of July. Around that time I ordered The Eternal Myth Revealed, the mammoth
14-disc box set on Transparency which collects most (if not all) of Sun Ra’s earliest recordings,
including some speculative tracks that may or may not have some connection to Sun Ra. I figured
I’d need to have it should I ever circle back around and cover the period leading up to theChoreographer’s Workshop recordings, where I (accidentally) began Sun Ra Sunday in earnest backin 2008.
I have not listened to one note (or word) of this box set—in fact, I haven’t listened to any Sun Ra
since my last post. This situation cannot is intolerable! So much great music awaits—not just thecontents on this box but going forward where we left off: more solo piano sets, the legendary HoroLPs and the complete Media Dream and Disco 3000 concerts recently resurrected by Art Yard. My
intention remains to examine Sun Ra’s recordings up through 1980 and Sunrise In Different Dimensions,which seems like a good cut-off point. After that, I plan to start over from the beginning, startingwith the material found on The Eternal Myth Revealed. One day, I hope to publish this chronologicaloverview of Sun Ra’s recordings as a monograph—ha!
2013 promises to be a big year—but even if I can get back to a weekly posting schedule, it will take along time to complete this project. Stay tuned!

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MARCH 1, 2015
Sun Ra Sunday
While I was record shopping in Birmingham, Alabama I made a point of driving out to the
Elmwood Cemetery to visit Sun Ra's grave. The humble marker was not easy to find--even with amap!--but it was incredibly moving (if a little bit creepy) to be standing at the site of Sonny's earthly
remains. Someone had left behind a pair of joss sticks (which I was unable to get lit in the wind) andsome plastic flowers atop a small pile of pinecones. I found a pinecone and put it on the pile andlooked around, surrounded by miles and miles of dead bodies, their grey stone sentries looming
across the landscape. I'm pretty sure this not where Sonny wanted to wind up. I swept off thegravestone and paid my respects. I apologized for letting him down with the Sun Ra Sunday project-and, I swear, I could hear him laughing at me down there under the ground. Well, maybe I'll getback to it one of these days. Making this pilgrimage was inspiring--and there's not much time left forme on this planet! In the meanwhile, check out Sam Byrd's excellent post over at World of Abstract
Dreams for an excellent overview of the recent iTunes-only remasters (which I don't have). There's
also another vinyl-only release out on Roaratorio, a previously unheard studio album from 1974
called, Sign of the Myth. You don't need me to tell you that it is essential listening; if you are reading
this, you need it. Sun Ra may be gone, but his music lives on.

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