SUN RA SUNDAYS
by Rodger Coleman
This is a compilation of blog entries about SUN RA authored by RODGER G. COLEMAN
from 2008 to 2015 and posted at nuvoid.blogspot.com. Coleman's blog contains
hundreds of posts on a myriad of music subjects; we've culled only the Ra content.
We have added no commentary, preferring to let this writing speak for itself. The vast
Sun Ra knowledge base covered in Coleman's posts remains vital and historically valid.
Identifiable historic inaccuracies (generally based on best-available sources at the time)
are neither corrected nor footnoted. These are the posts and responses as they were
published online at the time—the verbatim historic record. All copyrights belong toColeman and the authors of the comments and quoted sources.
This chronicle was collected, formatted & edited by Irwin Chusid, with assistance from
Kristen Pierce, in November 2018. It is sequenced chronologically. Some unintentional
misspelling has been corrected; idiosyncratic spelling, abbreviations, and casual
disregard of capitalization niceties (mostly in the comments) were left as written. Most
dead links are omitted. Reader comments are highlighted in red (although salutationsonly comments have been omitted). Graphic images and photos from the blog are notincluded. (For graphics, see SAM BYRD's complementary collection of Sun Ra Sundays
posts; Byrd also arranged all entries in discographical order.)This content has been collected for preservation, research, and circulation. In somecases, recent findings have amplified, clarified, or superseded particular details or
assertions. It would be interesting to crowd-source updates with new information that's
come to light since these posts were published. Such an undertaking would constituteyet a third version of this compilation.
The opinions herein are exhaustive, authoritative, and worth reading. They are avaluable addition to Ra scholarship—particularly as regards Sun Ra's massive recorded
output—and should be preserved in case the www disappears. Thank you Mr. Coleman
for your monumental journalistic commitment. This chronicle belongs between covers.
Irwin Chusid
Hoboken NJ
November 2018
irwin@SunRa.com

FOREWORD
I am happy to have this writing preserved and shared with the world to help bring Sun
Ra's discography into focus.
After almost seven years, I eventually burned out on the Sun Ra Sundays project. There
was too much going on my life and the posts had started to feel like an unwanted
obligation. However, I am still proud of the writing. Looking back, it is astonishing to me
that I had so much energy to devote to it.
At some point in all that blogging, I talked about what prompted the whole Sun Ra
Sunday project. It was a combination of things. I was working in a high-pressure law
office where I was doing tremendous amounts of research and writing which was so
stressful that Sundays were unbelievably depressing. I found that listening to Sun Ra's
music cheered me up. Yet his massive (and ever-growing) discography was difficult to
wrap my head around. That sparked my curiosity to hear and write about every Sun Ra
recording I could get my hands on (official and bootleg), a task for which my law-officeresearch skills turned out to be immensely helpful. Also, while I especially loved theChoreographer's Workshop period (1962–65), it was scattered across myriad Saturnreleases. Sun Ra Sunday became a way to gradually map that part of Ra's discography.
Inevitably, of course, the research and writing explored deep into Sun Ra's recorded
cosmos.
And therein lies the burnout. But it was quite a run while it lasted.
An alternate PDF of all the Sun Ra Sundays was compiled by my friend and musicalcolleague Sam Byrd, who arranged the posts in discographical order. I had thought
about self-publishing, even in its incomplete form, but never got it together.
I'm happy for this work to be available to a wider, more interested audience. Thank you
so much for your kind words in the introduction as well as for the all the work you've
done formatting and correcting the text. I am honored.

Rodger Coleman
November 2018

INTRODUCTION

Rodger Coleman and I have a long history together, dating back to the late 1980s in
Boston with our band UYA. I had been aware of Sun Ra for some time before that—I
had a few LPs but was not yet attuned to them. Rodger set me straight, encouraging me
to check out Ra again—and I'm so glad he did.
When he first started writing about Ra, Rodger often focused on the Choreographers
Workshop era, but it soon became clear that his ambitions were much higher than that.
Week after week, blog readers were treated to an incisive chronological romp throughRa's recordings, with Rodger doing a great job contextualizing them, leaning heavily on
John Szwed's Space is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra for historical details
but depending on his own finely attuned ear to provide a unique perspective on themusic itself.
My humble involvement was only as a friend and a fan. I didn't comment nearly as muchas I wanted to. It's a busy world. After Rodger ended the series, I occasionally tried totalk him into revitalizing the feature, but to no avail.
After it was apparent that there were to be no more Sun Ra Sundays, I took it on myself
to grab all the postings and put them in a file. The version I compiled was both a labor oflove and the fulfillment of a selfish practical need to have it all in chronological order foreasy lookup in my ongoing journey of studying and learning about this music. I thenprinted it with Lulu and have a much-prized and well-thumbed copy of Sun Ra Sundays.
I'm so glad Irwin has taken the initiative to put this compilation together and circulate it.
Now you too can have it all in one place; after all, Saturn research continues.

Sam Byrd
December 2018

SUN RA SUNDAYS
September 1, 2008
Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Research Arkestra: Black Myth / Out In Space (MPS)
Recorded live Donaueschingen 10/17/70 & Berlin 11/7/70
It's after the end of the world! Don't you know that yet?!

September 28, 2008
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, and suitably cosmic while reigning in the full-blown freakouts that can make Sun Ra’s
music difficult for some (or maybe not quite the right thing on a Sunday evening). That is not to
say that these are lesser 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).

October 26, 2008
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 amass audience 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 relaxedvibe (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 a most 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 andedgy avant-garde weirdness of Heliocentric 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 history of 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” sounique 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 (bassclarinet, flute, flugelhorn, and the rarely-deployed electric guitar) creates beautifully floatingmelodies and ethereal textures while the agile and propulsive rhythm section of Ronnie Boykins
on bass and 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 a mere 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
bass anchoring the chaotic proceedings. “Space Aura” is slightly more conventional, beginningwith a march-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 aparticular delight. 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 thetheme, John Gilmore moans and wails on bass clarinet over some percolating bass andpercussion before the whole thing trails off inconclusively.
“Reflects Motion” points towards the future with its episodic construction: bass and drums duetand solo 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 therelatively succinct and swinging solo sections are interspersed with yet more percussioninterludes. John Gilmore’s fleeting tenor saxophone solo demonstrates a breathtaking commandof the instrument, from the growling lowest register to altissimo cries and multiphonic shrieks.
John Coltrane acknowledged Gilmore’s influence on the music he would go on to make acouple years later beginning with A Love Supreme (Impulse!, 1964), and here you can hearthat influence loud and clear. “Solar Symbols” closes out the album proper with a two-minuteforty-two-second spaceout, featuring echo-y sleigh-bells and pitter-pattering percussion withSun 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 culminatesin the vocal exhortation “all the way into space!” the rest of the piece is essentially a seventeenminute blowing session punctuated with further percussion blowouts. Marshall Allen shines witha 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 a little 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 thenovice to begin the interplanetary journey. Essential.
COMMENTS:
Roddus said...
A good description that leaves me looking forward to hearing it sometime in the future when I
get to it in my Sun Ra buying binge.
Sam said...
Hot damn, Rodger! You said better than I ever could. Yeah, this is a very special album and is anice companion piece to "Art Forms." That special Choreographers Workshop ambiance is infine evidence here.

November 2, 2008
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 theArkestra. That the musicians did not how to play them was the whole point, it was, according toRa, “a study in ignorance.” 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 and scraped; 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 like Iannis 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 must have for the connoisseur of Sun
Ra’s furthest interplanetary journeys. Thank you, Atavistic, for another fine Sun Ra Sunday!

November 9, 2008
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“spaced out barbeque music” with Ra playing the warm and woody Hammond organ andfeaturing two exquisite vocal performances by June Tyson on “Somebody Else’s World” and“Walking On the Moon.” 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 thisenlightening exchange with Sun Ra in Graham Lock's wonderful book, Forces in Motion (DaCapo, 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 aresome sounds that really upset ‘em and I like to shock them out of their complacency ‘cause it’sa very bad world in a lot of aspects. They need to wake up to know how bad it is, then maybe
they’ll do somethin’ 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
the music and used it to make money, but now people have heard so much of that musicthey’ve been sated 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 this planet are starving their spiritual selves. See, music is a spiritual language, ‘n’
that’s what I have to offer, so I’m gonna put it out there and maybe people will do somethin’right. They may not want to, but they be compelled to (chuckles).
COMMENTS: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 inthe moog's development as these recordings are, it sounds like the instrument was tailor-madefor him.

November 23, 2008
I’m laid up with a nasty cold, so I’m resting and re-reading John F. Szwed’s masterful Space isthe Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra (Pantheon, 1997). In his Introduction, Szwed
makes a remarkable 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 theaesthetic 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, andfor good reason I suppose. Szwed’s statement begs a host of questions: Can music be ethicalor moral? Or does music rely upon the extra-musical (e.g. biography, texts, performance) toconvey ethics and morality? What is an unethical or immoral music? Can ethical or moral music
be produced by unethical or immoral persons? Who decides what constitutes ethical ethics andmoral 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 showbiz trappings; he often stated that 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 andethical components 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 isan ethical and moral 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 anothermatter altogether.
Or maybe it’s just the Sudafed® talking.
COMMENTS:
mrG said...
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 ofparticular sounds.

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 heroworship 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 forusing music to proclaim his message of hope and love for all humanity. But people don't get thatmessage 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 comesfrom words. The music alone doesn't do it. 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 ethical components 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 andtherefore cannot be moral or immoral and that any deeper meanings can only be asserted bywords. On the other hand, there is that vague concept of the “spirit” which I believe *can* beconveyed through sound. I feel that at least part of what makes Sun Ra’s music so appealing
and worth listening to is the “spirit” that is imbued in the sound itself. I firmly believe that, while
middle-C as a pitch is value-neutral, the way that pitch is executed can convey the spirit of theperformer. 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 canactually *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the “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 to it, 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 havea 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 all that, and I have to say, no, I didn't hear it in the music. I loved the album, aware as I
was at the time that 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 themovie twice in a row when it first came out and loved it. It was only later that the music became
depressing. Although I have to say, "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. Notethat it's the titles of Bryn Jones's pieces that have the negative effect, NOT the music itself.

November 30, 2008
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 back to 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 itcomes back to you. And if you play something 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
was deeply suspicious of the notion of freedom, remarking that the only free person was in thegraveyard (id. p.309). In all of his work, he stressed the importance of discipline over freedom.
At the height of the 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 anddiscipline” (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 fromlushly harmonic voicings that vaguely hint at some forgotten jazz standard to interlocking atonal
arpeggios that 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 Allen solos 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 a 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 themes or chord progressions beyond the thickly
voiced space chords, “Other Planes of There” is organically structured, contemplative, and attimes sounds more like modern chamber music than the unrelenting “energy music” that was/is
propagated by many proponents of “free jazz.” For Sun Ra, meaningful freedom meant theimposition of severe limits.
“Sound Spectra/Spec Sket” is another, less ambitious attempt at group improvisation. Afterestablishing a chugging drum set 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 additionof bass and yet more percussion. Before anything else is able to happen, all the instruments
drop out and a reverb-drenched drum solo pitter-pats thoughtfully until the piece comes to asudden, 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
of multiphonics over the rapidly modulating chord progression. Then, the almost hokey chingching-a-ching of the cymbal signals a conventionally old fashioned solo from Ra before thereverb 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 some hip 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 be taken up years later in the “dub” music of Jamaican reggae but, again, Sun Ra wastruly ahead of his time – 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.

December 7, 2008
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 (tome, anyway) to learn that Sun Ra had been actively involved with doo wop vocal groups prior to
the establishment of the Arkestra. In fact, the very first release on the fledgling El Saturn label in1955 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 theArkestra’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 and dreams…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 kindof vapid slickness that might have aided any entry into the marketplace.
Released in 2003 on Atavistic, Spaceship Lullaby shed more light on this mysterious period inRa’s discography, gathering together several never-before heard rehearsal tapes of some of thevarious vocal groups Ra worked with in the mid-to-late 1950s. The Nu Sounds and The Cosmic
Rays were both (semi)professional groups and their repertoires are remarkably diverse: jazzstandards, show tunes, pop numbers, and Ra compositions that range from the proto-spacechant,“ 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 theSouth Side streets and introduced to disciplined arrangements and enforced self-respect byintergalactic community organizer Sun Ra. You can hear Ra working with them, getting them totry some odd harmonies before calling it a day. Nothing else is known about the Lintels beyond
this snippet of tape – not even their names. What remains is a tantalizing glimpse of the kind ofstreet-corner doo wop culture that 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 formon 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. Perfectfor a Sunday evening.

December 14, 2008
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 ofnever-before heard music from Sun Ra’s tenure in Chicago. The first thirty minutes of the discconsists of an 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 goodconsidering the era and the 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 andDemons at Play,” a slinky 5/4 ostinato groove with some pretty flute playing by Marshall Allen;

“Spontaneous Simplicity” featuring more beautiful flute work over gently rolling rhythms (but who
is the second flutist?); “Space Aura” swings hard and fast with a typically brilliant tenor
saxophone solo by John Gilmore. Next up are some earnestly goofy vocal numbers, including atruly bent version of “It Ain’t Necessarily So.” It’s interesting to note that Sun Ra plays bothacoustic and electric piano in a live setting, using the Wurlitzer for color, not convenience on thecramped stage. “How High The Moon” begins with a Sun Ra poem which leaves the audiencepuzzled, but things heat up with a cooking Gilmore solo and by that time the crowd 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 behind warbling, over-thetop 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 master recording, it’s pretty rough going sonically compared to the Wonder Inn stuff.
Nevertheless, it’s a sparkling performance by an eight-piece Arkestra and includes threepreviously unheard original compositions by Ra. It’s well worth fighting through the murky soundquality to hear these intriguing bits of music. What’s striking about this session is how polishedand well-rehearsed the Arkestra sounds, executing the variety of material with confidence andfinesse, especially in the ensemble sections where the rich orchestrations require precision andbalance. Too bad it’s so hard to discern amidst the noise and distortion. Still, it’s listenable if you
can acclimate yourself to the rather gnarly sound.
Shortly after these recordings were made, Sun Ra and his most dedicated musicians would
make their way to New York City (via Canada) and Philadelphia, never to return to Chicago forany extended period of time. With Music From Tomorrow’s World, Atavistic has provided us
with another glimpse into Sonny’s working life prior to fulfilling his alter-destiny and is therefore acrucial historical document for Sun Ra fans.

December 21, 2008
[Posts cover of Rolling Stone magazine from April 19, 1968, featuring Sun Ra cover story]
See: http://nuvoid.blogspot.com/2008/12/sun-ra-sunday_21.html

December 28, 2008
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 (FRa-Ta) 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 tomusic itself, rather than merely asserted by proclamation. Still, Dr. Stowe's paper is well worth
reading and thinking about (if you think about such things).

January 4, 2009
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 theseatoms vibrate that constitute all the various forms of 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 lackof 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 somepeople (like me), Sun Ra’s music is most useful; for others it might be Kenny G. For somepeople it is the explicitly sacred music of their personal faith; for others it is the pop music of theday. The art music world has taken a near-scientific approach to examining the phenomena ofmusic and its investigations have demonstrated that music’s possible manifestations are indeed
infinite. Whatever our tastes (and tastes 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 isthe 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 ofmoral character - even Sun Ra’s - are merely words and, while useful to those who aresusceptible to the message, are nevertheless unproveable claims and do not – cannot - inhere
in the music itself, except as suggestion, as context. And, as Sam pointed out, “context iseverything.” He helpfully pointed to an interesting article that suggests how meta-data influences
our interpretation of music by contrasting the inflammatory titles utilized by Muslimgauze (BrynJones) 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 as an effective propaganda tool, but
human motivations are complex and often contradictory. Even so, we need music in order tocomprehend 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 canand do 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 andethics are human constructs that music naturally resists when pressed. Music is what is,
unconcerned with human frailties. When we experience music, we know more than we can eversay.

January 11, 2009
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 ThothIntergalactic 7771, all at various points in the early to mid-1970s and all nearly impossible tofind. This CD gathers all the extant 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 spacetravelers.
A trip to Egypt was unplanned, but at the end of the 1971 European tour, Ra decided to sellsome concert tapes to Black Lion [FN1] to fund a pilgrimage to the land of the Pharaohs.
Thanks to the efforts of Hartmut Geerken, a handful of performances were arranged and, eventhough the Arkestra’s instruments were held up in customs, loaners were provided by a mostunlikely personage:[Salah Ragab was] a brigadier general and the head of military music in the Egyptianarmy and himself a jazz drummer. Though he was later disciplined for the contact, hecontinued to meet with the band under various disguises, including once when he camewith the son of [Egyptian President] Gamal Abdel Nasser, also a jazz musician.
Musicians and dancers were jammed into the house with several dozen guests, but they
still managed a light show and dancing, and a march throughout the house and into thegarden (while the Egyptian secret police kept watch from outside). (Szwed p.292-293)[FN2]This concert is typical for the period, although there’s a certain focus and solemnity to theArkestra’s demeanor that seems appropriate given the auspicious location. Sun Ra himself is inespecially good form with his propulsive piano, spooky “tiger organ,” and hair-raising rocket shipjourneys on the Moog synthesizer. “The Shadow World” makes another mysterious appearancewith its insanely complicated melodies. “Discipline #8” is especially beautiful with its slowly
oscillating two-note riff that subtly anchors the freely dancing drums and powerfully energetichorn solos, duets, and trios. Sing-alongs like “Enlightenment,” “Space is the Place,” and “TheSatellites Are Spinning” round things 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 thecharm. 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 ofCampbell’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).
COMMENTS:Sam said...

Question: how long is "The Shadow World" on this release? On the original LP it ends side 1
and sorta 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 versionof "Space is the 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 - i cannot 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 thefinest sun ra compositions)and the early version of "space is the place" with great organ andfiery alto sax solo by marshall allen.
i am waiting now to have opportunity to listen to horizon - extended version on art yard withcleaned and improved sound and 4 extra tracks.

January 18, 2009
No time to write today, but here's a one minute and twenty-three second clip of Sun Ra
attacking his electric organ at some unknown venue in 1980. Wild stuff!

January 25, 2009
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
first re-issued on compact disc by the French Buda label (82479) but the original CD apparently
suffers from 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 distantdrums. 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 therecording studio. According to French horn player (!), Vincent Chauncey, the Arkestra was
reduced to a core group of twelve musicians for this session due to the limited space (Campbell(1st ed.) p.73). Oh, but what 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 Rocksichord. Caught in the midst of a European tour, theArkestra sounds well-rehearsed, at the top of 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,
wire-thin, reedy sound quality, upon which he pours some molasses-thick phase-shifter thathisses away incessantly in the background. Now, in anyone else’s hands, this would beunbelievably cheesy, even amateurish. Yet Ra guilelessly tackles the wide variety material and,through his visionary technical abilities, 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,” “NeoProject #2,” and the aptly-titled “Jazz From an Unknown Planet” are transformed by Ra’sswooshing, 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 themood is pretty and mellow and perfect for a Sunday evening.
COMMENTS:Sam said...
Rodger, another great review--you're much kinder to this record than I've been in the past; I
need to go back and re-listen. Don't know what it is about it that has made me treat it in mymind as a "lesser" Ra album. It may be that the very thing that has drawn you to it--therocksichord--is the thing that kept me away. It's a very monochromatic instrument, if that's theright word--it's kinda one-toned. And its predominance throughout this album gives it a onedimensional feeling that the music doesn't overcome. At least that's what I've thought in thepast. 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
consistent mood 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...

February 1, 2009
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
Therapy stands out in its audacious, baldly prescriptive claim. But, to be sure, the title is no idle

put-on. 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 agroup of patients at a Chicago mental hospital…The group of patients assembled for thisearly experiment in musical therapy included catatonics and severe schizophrenics, but
Sonny approached the job like any other, making no concessions in his music. While hewas playing, a woman who it was said had not moved or spoken for years got up fromthe 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 thehealing 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 akind of electro-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 “tonescientists” (Szwed, p. 112) whose investigations and manipulations of musical phenomena
could help mankind in its earthly struggles. “People are disturbed and need your help 24 hours aday,” 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 a heart 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 playcertain 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
themselves properly and then the person will be in tune. There will be no discord, they will betuned up perfectly, just like each automobile 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 an important tool in Ra’s medic bag. On Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy, Raeschews 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 theproceedings by recordist/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 theeffect, 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 thehippies discovered LSD and invented “acid rock.” While Ra sought the kind of change inconsciousness that psychedelics promised (and, later, he certainly profited to some extent fromthe hippies’ taste for spacey freakouts), he abjured drugs and forbade his musicians fromindulging themselves. And no matter how outrageous his music might sound, it was never
merely a free-form “freakout.” No, the members of the Arkestra were sober, disciplined
scientists conducting advanced research and revealing their findings.

Much of the music on Cosmic Tones appears to be in the form of brief conductedimprovisations (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 and percussion exclusively. Known for his prowess as a tenor
saxophonist, Gilmore’s brilliant solo on the quasi-rhumba, “Adventure Equation” demonstrates
his remarkable virtuosity and inventiveness on 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 andClavioline. 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
features some snaky oboe, this time with echoey minimalist percussion tapping, scribbled flute
ornamentation, and Ronnie Boykins’s forceful pizzicato and delightfully singing arco bass.
“Moon Dance” 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 ofSpace” is a kind of an improvised concerto for Ronnie Boykins’s bowed bass, accompanied bystabbing organ chords, clattering percussion, and thick, heaving echo. Danny Davis shines onalto saxophone, weaving wiggly filigrees in the background or more aggressively battling thehissing 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 group mind 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, this can be an effective cure.
+++This CD also contains Art Forms Of Dimensions Tomorrow, recorded in 1962 and tenuously
connected to Cosmic 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 foranother day.

February 8, 2009
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 bandon percussion. Hunter subsequently purchased an Ampex 601 reel-to-reel tape recorder at apawn 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 Streetsand later at the Choreographer’s Workshop at 414 West 51st Street. Thanks to Hunter, theArkestra was able to rehearse and record rent-free on nights and weekends for the next three
years (see Szwed, pp.186-187). Ra had frequently recorded rehearsals back in Chicago, but
1961 would mark the beginning of a 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, 1sted., 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 also that pleasantly reverberant atmosphere that characterizes all of theChoreographer’s Workshop records: They have that Saturn Sound. Along with Ra and Hunter,the sextet includes Marshall Allen on alto sax and flute, John Gilmore on tenor sax, Pat Patrickon baritone sax, Ronnie Boykins on bass. They sound supremely relaxed, languidly exploringhoary standards and show tunes along with some rather conventional Ra originals. Gilmore is in
his usual fine form throughout but his oh-so-smooth solo on “Search Light Blues” is truly deepand soulful. Pat Patrick plays the unwieldy baritone saxophone with astounding grace on the riffbased “Ankh” and on the gently swinging “On the Blue Side.” But then “Exotic Two” points to the
future with each Arkestra member banging away on percussion instruments in dense polyrhythms while Ra punches out stiff chord sequences on the piano. (Small percussion
instruments can be heard chattering away on “Search Light Blues” as well.) The album closes
with a languorous ensemble arrangement of “And This Is My Beloved.” In all, Bad andBeautiful is a transitional, historically important album and its subdued atmosphere andsophisticated musicianship also makes for a simply pleasant Sun Ra Sunday.
+++
Evidence ECD 22038 also contains We Travel the Spaceways (Saturn 409), recorded atvarious places in Chicago during the late-1950s; it will be considered separately.

February 15, 2009
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 basementof the Choreographer’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 semiconventional Ra originals, Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow lives up to its title, moving
forward into the kind of experimental avant garde music that would cement Ra’s reputation in
the 1960s and 70s while also retaining a connection to the living tradition that would continue tocenter the Arkestra’s aesthetic throughout its career. To paraphrase Michael Shore’s commentin 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 it in earnest.
“Cluster of Galaxies” is a brief but portentous opening with its spacey “thunder drums,” “sunharp,” and “spiral percussion gong” all drenched in thick cosmic echo and reverb. Afropsychedelia 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 is another remake of “Ankh” which originally appeared in a more
florid arrangement in 1956 on the Delmark 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 rareappearance by Ali Hassan on trombone. The mood is brighter, less ominous than usual withsome 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 feedback ebbs and flows across the sonic landscape, sometimes threatening tooverwhelm everything until Tommy Hunter suddenly turns a knob, bringing things back 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 Thereand The Magic City (Evidence ECD 22069). With its total absence of drums, atonal piano, andknotty contrapuntal horn lines, “The Outer Heavens” sounds more like contemporary classicalchamber music than big band jazz and points the way to the later music of the AACM andAnthony Braxton. In contrast, a barrage of ceremonial drums and percussion dominates “Infinityof the Universe” with Ra agitatedly rumbling around in the piano’s lowest registers. Michael
Shore points out in the liner 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 with fleeting 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
to its cool, swinging combo mode. “Lights on a Satellite” was originally recorded in Chicago in1960 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 forRa’s Monkish piano. Unfortunately, the track fades out prematurely just as Gilmore begins to
blow. “Kosmos in Blue” 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 saxophone solo 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 Tones, the discography get a little murky – Sam, I think I’ll need your help sortingthese out! Please drop me a line!

February 22, 2009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 tosnag a couple of Saturn LPs while working at Strawberry’s Records circa. 1984 but they weretotally unlabeled, extremely poor pressings, and contained a mish-mash of material recorded atvarious times and places. Or at least that’s how I remember them since I have no idea what thetitles 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), and Leo (France) while crummy-sounding bootlegs of the classic ESP recordings
were also floating around the underground record shops. But for the most part Sun Ra’s vast
body of work was shrouded in mystery. When the U.S. major label A&M released the crisply
produced Blue Delight in 1988, Ra was suddenly something of a commodity and a steadystream 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 a revelation 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 the darkest recesses of Ra’s most obscure period. But in typical Saturnal fashion, thepackaging 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 effortsof Prof. Robert L. Campbell to compile a definitive Sun Ra discography began to circulate on thenascent 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 an understanding 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-print Continuation 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 wholestory). After a while, the horns enter with a simple, but affecting batch of riffs before eachpicking 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 more conventional Ra original with a mid-tempo blues structure but withsome 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 ofitself when it enters with the restatement of 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 this period’s most important work. It openswith 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 in with some angular piano figures before
fading out. Very nice.
The title track, “Out There a Minute,” remains somewhat of a discographical mystery. According
to Prof. Campbell, it could have been recorded at any time between 1962 and 1964, but to myears it 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 from Ra 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 andmore aggressively avant-garde approach, but probably not recorded at the Choreographer’sWorkshop (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 and heavy, tossing lines around with seemingly wild abandon. But
repeated listens reveal a tightly controlled compositional integrity that packs the wallop of John
Coltrane’s “Ascension” into a mere four minutes and forty-eight seconds. Incredible stuff. “Jazzand 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!

March 1, 2009
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
and George 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 andsuddenly this note would come from nowhere, and sound wrong,” 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, andwas quick to help any other members of the band in trouble. Patrick was the bestmusician 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 for a 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
home recording entitled, “Treasure Hunt,” documents Patrick’s already full-bodied sound andsmooth, 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, and Mongo 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
pssh-tap-bang rhythm and stolid walking bass that sets up a subtly killing groove. Ra takes abrief turn on the piano before Patrick enters with a burbling bari-sax solo that ranges freely fromthe 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 thelead with some funky, stop-start bass before fading out. This should have been a hit! The Bside, “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 issimultaneously suave and smooth and rough and edgy. At about 1:44, he blasts out one ofthose seemingly “wrong” notes that Jacson mentions, full of buzzing squeaks and harmonics
that somehow manages to resolve itself beautifully as the piano and bass navigate the lush
chord changes. Patrick concludes his solo with a flourish and the track quickly fades out. Farout!
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:

+++
Big thanks again to Sam Byrd for his assistance with this post!

March 8, 2009
My work life is seriously impinging on my home life these days, so my examination of theChoreographer’s Workshop recordings will have to be put off this week. In the meantime, here’s
some cool silent footage (with dubbed music) of Sun Ra and the Arkestra in Egypt and Italy
circa. 1971:

March 15, 2009
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 (andSun Ra fan) Robert L. Campbell began compiling a list of all known recordings, building upon
the work of Hartmut 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 fans contributed 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 sleevescontaining zero information – not even a title! Therefore, intensive forensic analysis was
required to even attempt to ascertain essential discographical details. The end result of thiscommunitarian 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, this second, massively enlarged edition was publishedby Cadence Jazz Books in 2000.
Campbell and Trent strive to document not only all of Sun Ra’s officially released recordings,
both as a sideman and a leader, but also all known live performances, unissued recordings, andrumored sessions. They also attempt to trace the Ra’s footsteps around the globe whererecordings 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 cross-referenced 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 havebeen brutally chopped off and the three-inch-thick text block is merely glued to a flimsy
cardboard cover. With any prolonged use, the spine will surely fail and pages will begin to fallout. 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 avanishingly 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: The Library ofCongress Endowment, another amazing bit of scholarship compiled by ethnomusicologist
James Wolf. From the years 1956 to 1973, Ra deposited a couple hundred pages of sheetmusic to the Library of Congress for copyright purposes and Wolf managed to retrieve andphotocopy the collection during the mid-1990s. Subsequently, the collection was made available
to members of the Saturn internet community for a nominal copying fee. Predictably, most of the“scores” contain only the barest information: a melody, lyrics, and perhaps some chord symbols.
However, as I was flipping through them today, I was surprised to find 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 mere transcriptions, 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).
COMMENTS:Sam said...
I hear what you're saying about the binding of the 2nd edition--the spine on mine is cracked,
and I'm worried that pages are going to start falling out. Admittedly, I've used it a lot--a lot!--but it
pretty much 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 and amplifications, not very extensive, maybe
10-15 entries.

March 22, 2009
Sun Ra: What’s New (side A) (Saturn 539)
The discographical murkiness continues with this 1975 LP containing four swinging
Choreographer’s Workshop recordings from 1962 on the A-side and a contemporaneousconcert 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 inevidence on the title 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
were also recorded at this Choreographer’s Workshop rehearsal. Newborn’s “Wanderlust” is arather 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 anaggressively electric guitar solo – a rarely heard timbre in the Arkestra’s recorded history. Rathen builds a solo around distant chordal substitutions before the head returns for the close.
Evans brings out the funky side of 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, noiseinfused comping beneath the ever-riffing 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 beautyof Gilmore’s playing, the band drops out during the second chorus, leaving him to blow an
acappella cadenza that miraculously holds the thread of the tune while overflowing withprodigious, 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 that marked 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 overfamiliar 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 ofTimes Tomorrow, Vol. 2, Janus, and Satellites are Outerspace. As mentioned above, thesetracks 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 toBlack Lion in 1971, but never issued. Finally, in 2000, some (but, bafflingly, not all) of thosetracks were officially released on Standards (1201 Music 90192). Like I said: very confusing! It
certainly would have been nice if all of 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 ThisBe 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 fullblown 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 some keening violin while the virtuoso drumming of Clifford Jarvis drives theArkestra with an infectious, toe-tapping groove. The saxophones and brass exchange complex,

interlocking lines at the head and riff 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, andthe more subdued Lex Humphries on drums. This lightly swinging number is the perfect vehicle
for another eloquent statement by Gilmore, punctuated by Ra’s roiling piano and Boykins’s rocksolid bass. Jarvis and Miller then return for the remaining tracks. Two takes of “Time After Time”
exist, but take one is inexplicably omitted on Standards. This familiar tune is taken at a briskly
bebop-ish pace and showcases Miller’s immaculate technique and burnished tone atop Jarvis’ssmooth yet hard-driving drums. On take two, Miller takes more chances, splitting tones into
multi-phonics and allowing for more open, silent spaces between his phrases. “Easy to Love” isanother 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 withthe trumpet to (somewhat raggedly) repeat the theme and end.
“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 anotherbrilliant Gilmore solo! But Miller reveals in one brief chorus what a formidable trumpet player hereally was and how sympathetic he was to Sun Ra’s vision – especially as it applied to the living
tradition and the so-called mainstream. While economic realities prevented Miller fromcommitting 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 jazzand Sun Ra was a master. But he could also write a tune like “State Street” that sounded as if it
had been composed during the golden 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 well-crafted.
+++
Special thanks once again to Sam Byrd for his help with this post!
COMMENTS:Sam said...
Another great Sun Ra Sunday! A couple of things to note:-- I completely agree with you on the underrated 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, andcontinue to send me back to the music.

March 29, 2009
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
first stereo 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 afairly 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, thisdocument 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 handdrums 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 a beautiful, 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 Latinsounding 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 thetonally shiftless piano to create a definite atmospheric tension – a bit of spiritual unease
despoiling the fantasy of tropical paradise perhaps?
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 uniquelyorchestral approach to keyboard accompaniment. “Calling Planet Earth” benefits as well fromthe 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 the tumultuous 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! This is 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 and breathtakingly wide interval leaps, all driven hard by Clifford Jarvis’s frenetic
drumming. Ra spins a mesmerizing piano solo before giving way to yet another incredible
Gilmore solo on tenor sax. Walter Miller again demonstrates his prodigious technique with abristling, angular trumpet solo before the reprise. (Incidentally, the melody for “Dancing
Shadows” is contained within the otherwise ultra-enigmatic “Twenty-First Century” suite in the
Library of Congress manuscripts.) “The Rainmaker” is more dizzying, harmonically restlessswing but with more polyphonic riffing throughout. Ra peels off another excellent piano solo andJarvis is at his Jarviest, bass drum pumping away maniacally. Gilmore enters with yet anotherpatented 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 some pinched, emphatic Walter Miller trumpet interjected here and there.
Meanwhile, the rhythm section explores a subtly shifting harmonic landscape. Interestingly, themanuscript barely outlines the opening piano figures which appear to be jumping off points for
improvisation. Again, this makes me 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 tracksuddenly ends. As it turns out, the second part of this piece can be found on the 1974 Saturn LP
entitled Space Probe (Saturn 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, 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 to digitally rejoin these tracks 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 gospelish 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 downright contentious 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 of continuous 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 mysteryof Mr. Ra to be infinitely pondered. Incidentally, the B-Side of Space Probe contains aneighteen-minute Moog freakout from 1970 a la My Brother the Wind Vol. 2 -- an odd pairing, tosay 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!
COMMENTS:
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
still in print – you can even stream a sample of the track at Amazon! I just listened to the CD forthe first time in years. We were definitely onto something. (Too bad we let go of it.) Still, it
amazes me that ours is the first track on the first disc – what an honor! I mean, there are someseriously 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 isthe last 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 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 in with 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 versionof "Dimensions in Time" with "Primitive" sometime.

April 12, 2009
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 SaturnLPs. 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 mostobsessed (and well-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 theChoreographer’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, theirpolyrhythmic 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 openswith a space 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 two-handed independence,then rumbling thunderously at the bottom of the keyboard against Boykins’s bass, aclangor 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:
Ra’s space…was alienated, de-naturalized, his use of echo more in common withpioneers of experimental electronic music, and he anticipated much later developments
in interactivity ranging from dub reggae to the live-electronics and computer
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 (stillreally is), and the extreme use of echo on these tracks 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 ofrecording which assured that the recording process itself would be invisible, themachinery of recording being used like a picture window through which an illusion was
created of “being there” with the musicians. But Sun Ra began to regularly violate thisconvention 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 the recording
process. On some recordings you could hear a phone ringing, or someone walking near
the microphone. It was a 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 swathedwith that charmingly de-centered “Saturn Sound” that epitomizes the period. Significantly, both
Corbett and Szwed touch on the importance of Ra’s use of new technologies as musicalinstruments and Ra’s visionary engagement with the record-making process, despite near-zerobudgets and ultra-limited distribution. Ra embraced mediation on its own terms and deliberately
created sonic objects which transcend the mere representation of some ideal performance.
Imbued with a do-it-yourself, hand-made 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 themellowest, lowest-registers to spar with the increasingly busy bass and drums, all of them echoecho-echoing in the lushly reverberant space. Miller is sadly underrated; yet he was such athoughtful 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 anotherpatented 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 moreneeds 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 -- an erotic 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 the piece. It would perhaps be too easy to interpret this piece as: ecstasy = being
at war and being in love. Nonetheless, it is interesting to ponder the wealth of symbolism in Ra’soeuvre.
“When Angels Speak of Love” is a quirky, slow-tempo ballad featuring Pat Patrick’s mostromantic 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 click-clackety percussion outlines a shaky beat. Gilmore and Robert Cummings(on bass clarinet) take brief, 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 of extended horn techniques producing “the shrillest notes
possible” with Ra “relentlessly spinning around a single tonal center with two-handed
independence, then rumbling thunderously at the bottom of the keyboard.” Here and there,ticking and tapping percussion rise and fall but the texture is chamber-like: piano, bass andhorns. As Gilmore, Allen and Davis shriek and honk, Robert Cummings weaves winding threadsof virtuosic bass clarinet while Walter Miller punches holes in space and glides effortlessly on
his silvery trumpet. Ra’s piano is uncharacteristically voluble and aggressive. At first listen, thepiece appears to be an anarchic free-for-all -- but that is hardly the case. As Ra explains in theliner 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 of Congress that contains sketches for the title track, “Next Stop Mars” and “Ecstasy ofBeing.” 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’s fierce control over the musical material, despite its surface aural appearance.
Even though his music sometimes sounded “free,” it was not about freedom, it was about
discipline.
+++
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 theArkestra made as unlikely sidemen in 1962-1963. Until then, here’s a poem by Sun Ra found in
the liner notes to When Angels Speak of 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
COMMENTS:Sam said...
What else can be said about "The idea of it all"? How about: why doesn't this show up in all the
fake books? This is what they ought to be teaching to all those crackerjack bebop kids in jazz
camps, or wherever the heck it is they go to play all those "charts." What a killer quintet! Could
this be from the 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-jd'; they are inextricably linked.
Not only this, but 'wajad', also from the same root, means 'to find'. What this all means in Islamicand Sufi metaphysics is that once you discover (wajad) and realise the miracle and mysteries ofBeing (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 thesetypes of spiritual realities, and of course we find this reflected in his music and poetry.
Let the intergalactic research continue!
By the way thanks for the good job you've been doing with all the Ra related posts!
Peace!

April 19, 2009
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, bothof 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 in tandem, Bland and Wilson continued to throw commercial
work the Arkestra’s way during this crucial 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 the nineteen-sixties progressed, Wilson eventually abandoned jazz forrock music went on to produce landmark albums by Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa & the Mothers ofInvention, 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 DVD). Bland shrewdly convinced the band to work for free in exchange for whatever
publicity the film 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 isremarkable about the Arkestra’s (uncredited) performance is the complete lack of irony orcondescension; it is professional to the point of anonymity. And upon close listening, one canconfirm 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 maneuveragain and again with the bar being lowered each time. The symbolism of this triumphant danceof life over death surely appealed to Ra’s sensibilities, even if this LP was ultimately destined forthe 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 isfleshed 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) released on 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”
was released 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 the apartment of the Jazz trombonist / arranger / composer Tom McIntosh (who cameto 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
Cooke wannabe” but the session isn’t quite as bad as all that. “Marlene” is a pleasant midtempo soul groove 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 alisten. On the other hand, “Do You Still Care For Me?” is a more pedestrian shuffle with someunremarkable horn parts honking away in the background. Someone (is it Popcorn?) whistles
aimlessly at the end. Another curiosity in the discography!
+++
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

and financed 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 theother side, “I’m Making Believe” is an old fashioned torch song full of maudlin emotion foreign toRa’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 to know 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
a minimal payment upon performance. It was perhaps enough to buy some groceries. 1964
would be an 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 whichplanted the seed for the Arkestra’s future. Attorney Bernard Stollman was in the audience in1964 and he would shortly thereafter sign Ra to his boutique label, ESP-Disk. Suddenly, things
were looking up.
COMMENTS:
Anonymous said...
I work for the reissue labels Poppydisc and Rev-Ola records, we are about to embark on a vinyl
reissue series of various album across many genres.
All of these albums will be remastered from the original tapes and are all licensed. However weneed your help. . .
One of our planned reissues is The Futuristic Sounds Of Sun Ra. (In the red bongo 'Harvey'
sleeve) We cannot find a vinyl copy of this for love nor money. Can anyone here please give ushigh quality scans of the lp sleeve or high quality pics of this. Front and back covers please anda dpi of least 300. we shall give you a credit on the new reissue and send you a finished lp.
contact me at brianmcneill1972@hotmail.com
THIS IS A GENUINE REQUEST
hope someone can help us
Brian

April 26, 2009
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 todefine the cutting edge of avant garde jazz. Shortly thereafter, Dixon and Taylor decided to forma 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, the Guild mounted series of concerts at Judson Hall
called “Four Nights in December,” the last of which featured Sun Ra’s Arkestra. Portions of thatconcert 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 awaiter at the Gene Harris Playhouse (where the Arkestra was playing to miniscule audiences).
Ra took him in and 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 alreadydeveloped 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 drumwith Sun Ra during this brief period. This recording is the only known document of Pharoah’sand Black Harold’s tenure with the Arkestra.
The rest of the personnel for this concert are kind of a mystery. The liner notes to this new CDgive the 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 altosax, flute, and percussion; and Robert Cummings on bass clarinet but he omits Boykins. It isdefinitely a largish Arkestra, though they rarely all play at the same time, so it’s hard to tell. I dohear 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 thenineteen minute mark (!), trombone leads the horns back in for some honking and shrieking to
introduce the space 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 track fades 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
turn on 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 withrumbling piano to a smattering of applause. Ra plays intricate, contrasting figures on piano andceleste 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 thathover and glide over a stumbling ballad tempo. Two altos and bass clarinet twirl around themeandering rhythm while trombone interjects clipped statements here and there. Ra thenestablishes the brooding three-note vamp of “We Travel the Spaceways” which the rest of theband takes up in song. The horn break in this version is particularly loose, fragile, andhauntingly 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…some applause…is it over? Then the bass riff returns and the applausedies down. Gentle percussion pitter-patters until a big conducted “space chord” charges in full of
honking and wailing and pounding drums. Then the bass riff starts up again with flutes andtrumpet dancing around. It sounds like they’re marching off the stage leaving only bass to end.
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 overwith some slyly dissonant piano solo that launches into the roiling up-tempo drive of “The World
Shadow.” The piano and rhythm section build up the agitated feeling similar to “The Shadow
World” with Pharoah approximating the knotty melody, but it sounds tenuous. Eventually, heglides into more of his leather-lunged multi-phonics and extreme over-blowing. Pealing trumpet
takes over as the rhythm becomes ever more intense and abstract. Suddenly, there is arelaxation of tension, leaving some polyrhythmic percussion and a droning conch shell. Morespace 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 some more on tenor sax over the scattered,
enervated rhythms, Ra stabbing out angular chords on piano. Pharaoh takes one last turnbefore 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 tosome of 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 outof the audience. Then, a widely-spaced ensemble chord introduces “Dawn Over Israel,” alurching ensemble piece with sing-song-y bowed basses, fleeting horn figures and Ra’s
convoluted piano. Ra suddenly takes over with a furiously 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 acrimonythat arises 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 wasdoing all the work. Despite its failings, the Guild’s efforts continued to resonate throughout thesixties and seventies with the Jazz Composers Orchestra, the Black Artists Group, the AACM
and others. More immediately, Bernard Stollman, a local attorney who represented musicians,
was inspired enough by the music he heard at these Guild-sponsored concerts to sign many ofthe performers, including Ra, to his ESP-Disk label. Stollman had previously established ESPDisk to promote his other obsession, the “universal language” of Esperanto, so he knew how tomake records with minimal expense. Stollman gave the musicians free reign (if limited budgets)to produce their music: “The artists alone decide what you will hear on their ESP-Disk” was themotto. 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.
COMMENTS:
Brian Barker said...
Interesting comment about Bernard Stollman and Esperanto.
It's unfortunate that only a few people know that Esperanto has become a living language.
During a short period of 121 years Esperanto is now in the top 100 languages, out of 6,800
worldwide, according to the CIA World factbook. It is the 17th most used language in Wikipedia,
and in use by Skype, Firefox and Facebook.
Native Esperanto speakers,(people who have used the language from birth), include George
Soros, World Chess Champion Susan Polger, Ulrich Brandenberg the new German
Ambassador to NATO and Nobel Laureate Daniel Bovet. According to the CIA Factbook thelanguage is within the top 100 languages, out of all languages, worldwide.
Confirmation of this can be seen at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8837438938991452670 A glimpse of the language can be seen at http://www.lernu.net
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 ofan otherwise interesting long piece. 13 minutes! Arg. I love Jarvis's playing with the rest of thegroup (his playing is especially understated and appropriate on "Strange Strings," of all things),
but Ra gave him far too much solo space on live gigs. Ra must have liked it enough to continue
to allow him to just wipe away whatever musical mood had been established by the band, withhis 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 was an otherwise brilliant span of composition, arrangement, andpresentation.
This was indeed (other than 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" (thePharaoh LP didn't come out the '70s). I think this piece came into its own with Gilmore leadingthe horn section through the incredibly complex 7/4 head. Over the years, it became ashowcase for some of Gilmore's most "out" solos and high-register explorations.
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A. Rafiq Obasi Bragg-El said...
In respect to the article's mention of Black Harold, aka Sir Harold, aka Brother Atu, he is aliveand doing well and just celebrated his 71st birthday... and you couldn't tell by looking at him! I
am a percussion student of "Baba Atu" (new moniker) and he is living in the Atlanta area andworking on promoting his life's work of sculptures. He is still involved with the music and takes it
extremely seriously, and has been teaching my group "AMUN- The Hidden Ones" everything
about rhythm and harmony. I have learned a lot about the brother Sun Ra from his manystories, and see the need for this vintage and beloved music to re-surface. Any further
questions, please feel free to ask!
A. Rafiq Obasi Bragg-El said...
With respect to the article in regards to Black Harold aka Sir Harold aka Brother Atu, he is alive
and well and just celebrated his 71st birthday... and you couldn't tell by looking at him! I am apercussion student of "Baba Atu" (new moniker) and he is living in the Atlanta area and working
on promoting his life's work of sculptures. He is still involved in the music and has tasught me agreat deal about brother Sun Ra and other great musicians. He is instructing me and my group"AMUN" about the importance of rhythm and harmony; it is truly a pleasure to be in thepresence of a mind and historian as him. Any further questions, please feel free to ask!
Rodger Coleman said...
@A. Rafiq Obasi Bragg-El
Thank you so much for your comment(s). It is fascinating to know that "Black Harold" is stillaround and inspiring people with his music!

May 3, 2009
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
Studio to 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 recordlabel, 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 overthe past year or so, Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 1 retains a similarly ultra-modern chamber music
feel throughout. Often the highest and lowest registers of the ensemble are emphasized withpiercing 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 other times, Ra plays piano and electric celeste simultaneously with stunning two-handed
polyphony or the horns improvise wildly swinging anti-bop figures. But the music is more about
contrasting textures than solos and accompaniment and there is a remarkable diversity ofmaterial approaches in each piece: 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 aconsistently mysterious mood, an air of tense expectancy that makes the diverse strains of outand-out weirdness cohere into a enormously compelling, vibrant whole.
While the music appears to be totally improvised, Ra is clearly in control. Regarding thesesessions, 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 stop it, and he’d give the drummer a particular rhythm, tell thebass he wanted not a “boom boom boom” but something else, and then he’d begin to try
out the horns, we’re all standing there wondering what’s next…
I just picked up the piccolo and worked with what was going on, what moods they set, or
what feeling they had. A lot of things we’d be rehearsing and we did the wrong things
and Sun Ra stopped the arrangement and changed it. Or he would change the person
who was playing the particular solo, so that changes the arrangement. So the one thatwas 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 tellyou (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
drop away in the moment to reveal a cymbal solo or a bass and tympani duo” (Id.). Horns
resolutely enter and 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
clichés. 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 thisrecord, it always sounds fresh, revealing deeper insights with each listen. All of my attempts at a
track-by-track analysis have been 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.
+++
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
COMMENTS: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 geta handle 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 ofouter 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, and bowed 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

May 10, 2009
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 retained some affection for his hometown, composing such homages as “Magic City
Blues,” “The Place of Five 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” was indeed 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 eitherof them. Disavowing the churning rhythms and fire-breathing onslaughts typical of “The New
Thing,” “The Magic City” maintains a chamber-music-like intimacy and reserve with horn duos
and trios forming and dissolving around Boykins’s arco bass, Ra’s fleet piano work and thereedy whine of the Selmer Clavioline. Only near the end does the full 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 the ensemble to make a single
statement” (p. 214) and “The Magic City” is a perfect example of this attempt. Gilmore statedthat the piece was never performed in concert because it was “unreproduceable, a tapestry ofsound” (Id.).
Ra had been working with the material that would become “The Shadow World” at least as far
back as “The Outer Heavens” (on Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow) and it appears inrough form on 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 the agitated difficulty of the piece, and noted that once during arehearsal 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
the discography, there is a twelve-inch test-pressing from Variety Recording Services inexistence 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 berehearsals for what would become “Heliocentric” and “Outer Nothingness” on HeliocentricWorlds 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 a little more extroverted with the saxophones taking a more
prominent role in the proceedings, but they are notably similar in structure with flittering solostatements set against rumbling bass marimba, pounding tympani, and singing arco bass. Veryinteresting.
+++Another track from these sessions entitled, “Other Worlds,” is available on the 1989 Blast First
compilation, Out There a Minute.
COMMENTS: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."
What really intrigues me about them is their relationship to each other. They are really hardpieces to write about, or even think about, because they're so abstract, and yet it's really fun tolisten to them. There's a flute motif that seemingly appears in both versions. How much of a
blueprint did Ra give the musicians before they started? And how could they tell when it wasover? One piece is over a minute longer than the other, but both go through the same distinct
passages--they just walk a little faster through one?

May 17, 2009
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-pieceArkestra returned to RLA Sound Studios to record Volume 2. “The Sun Myth” is another epiclength directed improvisation based upon a two-note figure that is freely extrapolated by theensemble across eighteen highly variegated minutes. Anchored throughout by Boykins’s sliding,microtonal bass, 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 and go, always yielding to the buzzing Clavioline and singing arco bass.
According to Campbell, this track 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
remastering removed the African voices entirely (2nd ed. p. 122).
Interesting! Were these vocals added in some kind of primitive overdub? After all, this album
was recorded 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 bysome soft percussion. Clavioline and piccolo return with some busy free-tempo counterpoint
until a held Clavioline tone and arco bass figures bring things to a gentle close. The album ends
with the aptly-titled “Cosmic Chaos,” a fifteen-minute New Thing-styled group improv punctuatedwith 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 post-bop trumpet. Curiously, what sounds to me like electronicallyprocessed bells peal in the background throughout. 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 systemperched above 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 abrotherhood which attempted to purify their souls to allow the initiates to escape the ‘wheel ofbirth’ and to aid them in the transmigration of the soul after the death of the body” (Szwed
p.217). Perfect!
COMMENTS: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
the Arkestra 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 the headphones for a closer listening to the bell sounds in "Cosmic
Chaos"--not sure what you're referring to.

May 24, 2009
I'm taking a little break for the holiday. In the meantime, check out this WILD performance of“The Shadow World” from West Berlin circa. 1986. The Arkestra literally tears up the stage. Any
ideas of the exact date of this performance?

May 31, 2009
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 HeliocentricWorlds Vol. 2. After some close listening, I am pretty certain this date is incorrect, althoughsome of this material might have been recorded at the April 20th session for HeliocentricWorlds, Vol. 1 (but then again, maybe not). Confusing? Yes! But these are the eternal
mysteries of Mr. Ra! Nevertheless, the discovery of previously unheard music from thenineteen-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

concertino groupings 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 the chamber-music-like instrumentation. Ra plays densely arpeggiatedpiano throughout and the piece climaxes 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 “The Sun Myth,” but the unmistakable presence ofDanny 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 ofTommy 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 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 abrief oboe phrase. At the four-minute mark, clattering percussion re-enters just before the track
cuts off. “Heliocentric Worlds” 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” is an interesting ballad form, obviously rigorously composed (ifsomewhat raggedly performed). After a piano/celeste introduction with bowed bass pedal, thickblocks of dissonant chords blare forth from 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 toend. After repeated listenings, this piece sounds 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 Therea 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 astunner, a full-throttled New Thing-style blowout with lots of two-fisted piano/celeste action,
intensely wailing horns, and hard-driving drums. Is it possible that Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 1,
side-2 of The Magic City and tracks 2-5 of Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 3 were all recorded at thesame session on April 20, 1965? For that matter, is it possible that When Angels Speak ofLove 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 mid-nineteen-sixties. Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 3 adds anotherfascinating piece to the puzzle, yet ultimately raises more questions than it answers.

June 7, 2009
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 Saturnlabel) would eventually establish Sun Ra’s reputation within the burgeoning subculture, thenineteen-sixties would remain penurious times for the Arkestra. Even Sun Ra himself would findit necessary to take paying 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 tobe led by vibraphonist Walt Dickerson and he summoned Ra and sometime Arkestra drummer
Roger Blank to participate in the recording sessions. Impressions of “A Patch of Blue” wasbilled 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 enjoyedtremendous box office success, Impressions of “A Patch of Blue” sold poorly and waspromptly 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 inthe early nineteen-sixties, winning Down Beat’s “New Star” award in 1962 and “Innovator of theYear” 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 thehead and using the motor and damper with the utmost restraint, resulting in a dry, clear, almost
staccato articulation even at 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 ofrecords 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 nineteeneighties and died, unjustly un-famous, in 2008.
Despite its apparent status as a (failed) cash-in attempt, Impressions of “A Patch of Blue” isa very fine album and well worth hearing – even beyond the novelty of Sun Ra’s presence.
According to session bassist Bob Cunningham, any connection to Goldsmith’s actual score wastenuous 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 the kind of cheese-ball commercial pabulum you might expect in such awork-for-hire situation; there is some 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 philosophicalunderpinning of Impressions of “A Patch of Blue” was provided by the lengthy
discussions about race and other matters he had with Sun Ra. “Our conversations
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 nomusical composition as such. Music was part of our extended 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.” Ra also lays down some tasty, bluesy funk on “Bacon and Eggs” and, sometimes, heplays piano and harpsichord 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” istruly astonishing, yet far from mere empty showboating. Cunningham and Blank make for asensitive 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.

June 14, 2009The 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 anotherquickie cash-in attempt, this time based on the campy hit television show and aimed squarely at
the children’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 “The Sensational 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 alongwith 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 Kulberg 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 andhungry 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,
jazzy élan that The Blues Project could never have pulled off on their own. Ra can be heard
playing some bumptious organ on four of the twelve tracks, his “space-age barbeque” stylecontrasting with Al Kooper’s more conventionally rock-ish approach. Gilmore and Patrick areclearly audible in the ensemble passages and Gilmore even takes an appropriately glib solo on“The Riddler’s Retreat.” (It is 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 peels off a number of stinging
electric guitar solos that might have seemed pretty groovy in a different context but, despite themusical 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 thisalbum was plundered from various 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
and Robin record, he discovers only a raggedy, ersatz rendition of his favorite TV theme and abunch of hokey tunes punctuated with incongruously psychedelic guitar solos. Needless to say,the record sold poorly and only became a pricy collector’s item due to Sun Ra’s (un-credited)
involvement and the connection 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 gray-market Ra reissues. While Batman and Robin is a fun bit ofcommercial ephemera of interest to hard-core Sun Ra fanatics, Blues Project aficionados (and, I
suppose, comic book geeks), it is pretty much worthless musically beyond its value as pure
sixties kitsch, a strange and curious artifact from a far-gone era.

June 21, 2009
No time for me to write today; so I’m going to let Sun Ra speak for himself. This fascinating fiveminute interview aired on VH1’s “New Visions” program circa. 1990:

June 28, 2009
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
to the 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 the music was recorded and later released on ESP-Disk’. Nothing Is,
released in 1969, captures the large-format Arkestra at the top of its game during this tour,
bravely navigating conducted improvisations while also swinging hard on the jazzier numbers
and otherwise bursting into space-chanting and polyrhythmic percussion freakouts ¬ it is theperfect soundtrack for the inspirational but imminently doomed counter-cultural revolution thenat its peak in the wake of the Summer of Love, Woodstock, and widespread demonstrations ofdissent. On the surface, Sun Ra’s music seems to fit right in with the outrageous sounds of thepsychedelic era, but as has been noted, Ra’s politics were more complicated and quasiauthoritarian 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 a benign dictator” (quotedin Szwed, p. 245).

Perhaps that is why, unlike much of the music of this period, Nothing Is still sounds fresh andnot like a hopelessly nostalgic curio from a distant past. In fact, it still sounds like music from thefuture. One can only imagine what those college students thought about it at the time; surely
many minds were blown. Nothing Is became 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 NoNoised 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 of bonus material (and improved sonics), the tracks are
disconcertingly rearranged. This album is indelibly etched into my brain through decades ofrepeated listening, so it was something of a shock the first time I heard the new CD. Uponreflection, it does seem likely that this rearrangement better reflects the running order of Ra’ssets of the time, but somehow the intensely visceral impact of the original 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 the record 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’s serpentine 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, denselycompacted 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 andpiano solos snuck in before the closing reprise. “Outer Nothingness” is fifteen-minutes ofdelirious, “New Thing” styled free jazz, marred only by an overlong drum solo by theirrepressible (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 disc with 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.

July 5, 2009
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 ever made and it is a fascinating document of his instrumental technique and singularmusical thinking. Ra does not possess a dazzling virtuosity, but he approaches the piano as animmense orchestra, full of vibrant colors and contrasting timbres. Like a child at play, Radelights in the resonant rumbling of the lowest octaves and the plinking, chattering chimes of thehighest notes above. But Ra’s two-hand independence is sometimes truly astonishing: eachhand 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 the notes” on a piano:Oh, yeah, I’m using these intervals. You see, the way you attack a note can create thoseeffects. 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 the touch, the attack, is very
important. When I hit a note, the undertones also sound. With the undertones andovertones blended, I can get quarter-tones. Not too many piano players have that touch.
[…] I sing that way too, dividing the octave 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 andyou 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 tumbling blocks of clashing harmonies. “Skylight” is a beautiful ballad form spiced withintensely 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 aclassic Ra blues, bright, uptempo, maybe a little old fashioned. The rhapsodic “Monorails andSatellites” 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 the end, this is far from your usual jazz piano album but it offersa 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 recordedat the same session (and would have easily fit on CD). Interestingly, “Astro Vision” opens with a
bit of musique concrete with Ra’s sprightly piano set against sheets of howling electronic noise,
generated by contact microphones and overdriven, distorted reverb (Boykins and Hunter are thelikely suspects). It sounds to me like the effect was overdubbed after the fact, since Ra does notinteract 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 thanon Vol. 1, but also more diffuse. Several of the longer pieces reply upon an improvised, episodic
construction that moves from ambiguous chordal statements through gentle ballad forms until
finally evolving into furiously dissonant two-fisted attacks. “Solar Boats” is a little different andsounds more pre-arranged: Ra’s left hand sets up an off-kilter 5/4 groove while his right handtosses off pan-tonal melodies and strident, 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
about Atavistic’s excellent reissue of this bizarre masterpiece here. 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
the nineteen-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 will take some time. So expect some more YouTube videos in lieu of writing as I
sort things out!

July 12, 2009
Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Spaceways (Freedom CD741047)
This record certainly has a tortured discographical history! In December, 1971, Sun Ra sold acache of 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 Primitone andInvisible Shield among others. Finally, in 1998, the German DA Music label released a threeCD box set entitled Calling Planet Earth (Freedom 7612), containing some (but not all) theBlack Lion holdings, wherein this album is stupidly re-titled Spaceways. I say stupidly because
another disc in this otherwise fine box set is inanely titled Outer Spaceways Incorporated,making an already confusing discography needlessly opaque. This is the kind of thing thatmakes 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 theclassic Nothing Is. Most of the music appears to have been recorded around 1966, given thepresence of the trombonist Teddy Nance (who died in 1967) and Ra’s distinctive
piano/Clavioline combo. Recorded in stereo, it offers remarkably good sound quality for theperiod. The first track, “Prelude and Shadow-Light World” (originally titled “Chromatic Shadows”
on the El Saturn LP), opens with a long, dramatic piano introduction which prepares the way forthe ensemble chant, “Sun Ra and His Band from Outer Space.” Then comes the notorious“Shadow World,” which is marked by a slightly 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 from 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 somefrenetic 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 SingThis Song,” indicating a probable 1968 recording date (the sound quality is also noticeably
inferior to the rest of the album). Her singing gradually trails off leaving the stage to Sun Ra’srhapsodic, thunderous piano. “Outer Space Incorporated” [sic] returns to the previous concert,with the bouncy 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 a friendly trombone duel, sometimes joined by Ra’s Clavioline 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 moreinterestingly 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 deftediting surreptitiously launches us into “We Travel the Spaceways,” which is clearly taken froma different concert, given the subtle change in soundstage (Boykins is suddenly stage left!). Thisversion 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 a delightful album and an important
live document of the Heliocentric-era Arkestra. The Calling Planet Earth box set is currently outof print, but can found on the secondary market for a modest premium. It is definitely worth
seeking out, even with its myriad documentary flaws.

July 19, 2009
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 about1970) 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 tocontinue our chronological investigation with the albums proper (along with contemporaneous
singles) before doubling back with the miscellaneous compilations that fill in the blanks. In otherwords, I’m putting off dealing with The Solar Myth Approach Vols.1 & 2 until all else has been
examined from 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 adopterof technology, 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 in rehearsal 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 barebones Arkestra: Gilmore can be heard from time to time on tenor saxophone, but these pieces
mostly feature Ra’s clavinet over beds of percussion 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 inthe 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 Rainterjecting some 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 telephonerings signaling a quick cadence to end.
The side-long title track was recorded live at the Olatunji Center of African Culture sometime
after May, 1967 and is essentially one long Ra solo on the other new keyboard in his arsenal: aGibson Kalamazoo organ. The Kalamazoo was a lower-priced copy of the Farfisa portableorgan made famous by rock musicians of the time (think “96 Tears”). Ra attacks the instrumentwith 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 spacehave 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 overpoweringmusic…[It] is one of the most monumental achievements of an artist who was always working insuper-colossal terms.” Essential.
+++
The Sun Studio session(s) also yielded a single (Saturn 911-AR) released in 1969 and isavailable on The Singles (Evidence ECD 22164). “Blues on Planet Mars” is a typically spacedout blues, this time 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, harmonizedhumming while drums tap away ominously in the background. Interesting! Neither of thesetracks would have conceptually fit on Atlantis, but are intriguing works in themselves and I canunderstand why Ra thought them worthy of release as a single.
COMMENTS:Sam said...
A couple of quick comments:--the band entrance at the end of "Atlantis" has always reminded me of Guy Lombardo (andthat's not a criticism).
--I agree that side 1 sounds more like undeveloped studies than finished pieces; perhaps forthat 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.

July 26, 2009
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” isan accompanied recitation of Sun Ra’s poem, “The Fire and the Dry Weeds,” which was later
published in the 1972 edition of The Immeasurable Equation. Ra begins with spindly, echoing
chords on electric organ and tremulous Clavioline until the horns and percussion enter withsqualling, distorted space chords, tautly controlled by Ra’s conducting. Mobarak Mahmoud (anaspiring actor then residing with the Arkestra) dramatically declaims the poem, his voice
swathed in claustrophobic, bathroom reverb. At the climactic line, “They must walk the bridge ofthe 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 noodlingand a final, blasting space chord wraps things up in suitably enigmatic fashion. Curiously, “TheBridge” 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 retooling the all-purpose space chant with a radically slowed tempo, transforming it into a kind of
funky march from the boiling, big-band swing of the original version heard on Interstellar 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 wasgiven 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 alarge, reverberant space in front of a sizable and enthusiastic audience, “Cosmo Dance” is aninteresting 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 areheard simultaneously during the ensemble section. So, is it Danny Davis on flute? It certainly
sounds like him. There is also some talking barely audible throughout – is that Sun Ra lecturing
the crowd or just random audience noise? In any event, this is a beautiful, prototypical Sun Ra
composition of the period, perfectly realized by his Arkestra.

August 2, 2009
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 andfounded the Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School (BARTS). Sun Ra remained downtown, but hewas intensely 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 hishometown in Newark, New Jersey where he established The Spirit House in a rented one-familydwelling. The first floor’s interior walls were removed to create performance/work space thatwould also come to house 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 theactors and improvised its parts by following cues in the script such as “Sun-Ra music ofshattering 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, … a violation 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 … wemust oppose the ‘creation of what does not need to be created.’” Even so, the play presents a
number of problems for white listeners such as me!
The work begins with a brief guided improvisation by the Arkestra which introduces the actors,
who enter 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 isstagy 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 iseverything.” A chorus of women screeches and screams when the while devil is unleashed.
Meanwhile, the Arkestra keeps a running commentary varying from splattery percussion and theplinking of “strange strings” to alternatively 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 the actors. Despite the ponderous, heavy-handed rhetoric,
Baraka’s play surely appealed to Sun Ra’s own black sci-fi mythology, even if Ra’s musicophilosophy was more ecumenical than insurgent. Interestingly, Szwed takes pains todemonstrate Ra’s influence on Baraka’s thinking during this period: “[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 thewritten, unleashing the phonetics buried in the printed word” (p. 209). Baraka would continue tobe an important advocate for Sun Ra and his music. In Eulogies (1996), Baraka wrote: “Ra wasso 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 a dangerously
incendiary piece of sixties countercultural history and a difficult, painful listen, despite thesometimes interesting music.

August 9, 2009
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
on trombone. Then, Pat Patrick jumps in with an incongruously aggressive solo on baritone
saxophone before giving way to Ra’s jaunty piano. A swelling space chord ends the piece withan 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 otherunidentified percussionists who construct throbbing, asymmetrical cross-rhythms while Art
Jenkins does his bit on space voice. Ra twiddles with his space organ and clavinet like a madscientist, emitting random blasts of noisy timbres, dense, lurching chords, or rapidly spinning
constellations of notes. This is a wonderfully strange piece.
The presence of Tommy Hunter and his echo-echo-echo machine on “Earth Primitive Earth”
and “New Planet” makes me think these tracks were recorded prior to 1968. In fact, the overall
ambience (and massively increased hiss) sounds like some of the Choreographer’s Workshop

recordings (but this might just be wishful thinking). Both pieces pit Ra’s echoing piano against 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 theecho 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 mostdifficult and unwieldy instrument). Incidentally, both of these tracks appeared on the 1989
compilation CD, Out There a Minute (Blast First), although “Earth Primitive Earth” was slightly
edited and re-titled “Cosmo Enticement” and “New Planet” was re-titled “Song of Tree andForest,” presumably at the request of Sun Ra himself.
Side B contains the nearly continuous nineteen-minute live concert segment from 1969, and it’sa corker. “Continuation To” opens with the Arkestra already in full flight over sultry African
percussion but Ra soon takes over with a roiling piano solo, full of booming left hand chords 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 the fall of 1968, manages to hold his own amidst the shiftingmusical landscapes and things really start to heat up when the Arkestra enters with big angularspace chords, full of wiry clarinets and blatting trombones. But just as Boykins begins to solo,
the track cuts off. “Jupiter Festival” picks up with the end of Boykins’s bass solo and he quickly
moves to the fast walking to introduce “Second Stop is Jupiter.” Ra joins in and the Arkestra
chants, climaxing with “all out for Jupiter!” A massive space chord erupts which melts into manicgroup improvisation. Gilmore emerges from the din with a lengthy, super-intense tenor
saxophone solo, full of “sheets-of-sound” flurries of notes, heroically over-blown honks andsqueals, and impossible multi-register leaps. Sun Ra prods things along with more furious
piano, conducting brief entrances and exits of musicians while Gilmore continues to wail. The
music finally simmers down a bit with the various horns exhaustedly sighing and moaning but
with Boykins agitatedly scraping away with the bow. At one point, there is a tense, held note
before the return of the busy piano figures after which screaming clarinets provide contrast
against some sweetly melodious alto sax and rippling brass, with Jarvis propulsively pounding
away in free rhythm. This deliciously complex texture continues on for some minutes before
abruptly cutting off. Argh!
Nevertheless, Continuation is another fascinating album from a fertile, if spottily documented,
period in Ra’s career and well worth hearing.
+++Good news! According to Amazon, Atavistic will be reissuing Continuation on October 6, 2009as part of John Corbett’s Unheard Music Series. Rejoice!

August 16, 2009
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 noisemachines or souped-up organs:
The Moog synthesizer in its potential and application to and for the future is tremendousin scope, particularly for those who are creative naturals. It most certainly is worthy of aplace in music. There are many effects on it which at present 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 adifferent technical approach, touch and otherwise in most efforts of behavior. It is achallenge to the music scene…The main point concerning the synthesizer is the sameas 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)
and booked time at Variety Recording Studio in New York City. He brought along only Gilmore(who mostly 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).
The title track consists of two wildly contrasting Moog voices: a breathy whistle in the highregister and a thick, reedy interval in the bass with Gilmore supplying some credible free drums.
Ra’s two-hand 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 another typically 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’s God” features resonant, bell-like sounds on one Moog while the otherrumbles around with a rounded, woody bass tone. Meanwhile, Allen and Davis twirl around on
piccolo and flute and Gilmore 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 inat 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 spinsdelicate webs of unearthly tones to end. According to Campbell, this piece was deliberately
speeded up and mastered out of phase, lending it a sort of humanly-impossible quality that only
adds to its considerable mystique. My Brother the Wind is essential Sun Ra and a great
example of his innovative artistry on early electronic keyboards. The Minimoog would remain astaple of Ra’s arsenal for the next decade and beyond.

August 23, 2009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 lushsinging voice and flowing dance movements, a woman’s full-time presence in the band posedsome problems. 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 a close confidant to Ra and remained a steadfast member of theArkestra until her death in 1992.
She sings beautifully on the lilting space chant, “Somebody Else’s World” and on the slinky,
jazz-funk number, “Walking on the Moon,” obviously written in response to Apollo moon landingin 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 half-tempo 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 theArkestra 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 sound wrapped in think reverb (was Tommy Hunter present?) until fadingout.
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 andfluttering 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 pitchshifting. Finally, “The Design – Cosmos II” conjures up some resonant, bell-tone sounds, withincreasingly 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 thenineteen-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 this material is the most toe-tappingly accessible in all of the
discography, but the Moog experiments are tough-going for even the most committed fan. Evenso, 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.

August 30, 2009
I need some more time to work up the next installment of our chronological slog through thediscography; so this week, I hereby present two scenes from Space is the Place (1974):

September 6, 2009
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
and yet another new electronic keyboard in tow, the RMI Rocksichord. In his perceptive liner
notes to this CD, John Corbett describes the sound of the Rocksichord as an “unforgettablenasal quack,” and that’s a pretty accurate description of this primitive, transistorized electric
piano. In another person’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, justexactly perfect. Unfortunately, the original tapes were unsalvageable, so this reissue had to besourced 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 lessthan-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 feelof 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 appearancewith the Arkestra. “Sun Earth Rock” sets the tone with the quacking Rocksichord changes overa 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 some mellifluous flute to Ra’s gently rippling chords. Gilmore’s tenor solo on “Impromptu
Festival” is another example of his sheer genius: opening with a sort of fanfare, he bends andtwists the two-note 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
the experimental improvisations found of My Brother the Wind Vol. 2, 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 arubato 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 oftime with free abandon. “21st Century Romance” is another lilting ballad with James holdingdown a throbbing pedal point with Gilmore’s simple, but effective drumming. Meanwhile, Davis
extemporizes on the richly woody alto clarinet along with Ra’s thrumming Rocksichord. “Danceof 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 a staple in the Arkestra’s songbook. Davis alternates between alto clarinet andbongos, 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
from a 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. Whilethese tracks are mostly inconsequential, they are conceptually similar to the Minimoog andRocksichord solos found on the album proper, and serve to further demonstrate Ra’s brilliantly
coloristic approach to electronics. An appropriate appendix to a near-perfect album.
COMMENTS: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 thismood. 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 ofevolved into a more aggressively waltzy percussion feature, also acquiring vocals along theway, but he never returned 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 know, the discography is spotty from 1967-1970. I need to dig out what I havefrom the period. Thanks for commenting!

September 13, 2009
Interlude: 1967-1970
Although the Arkestra was finding an increasing amount of paying work during the late nineteensixties, maintaining a residence in Manhattan was becoming untenable. Szwed describes thesituation:
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 wasregularly warned about the noise at rehearsals. So when the landlord decided to put thehouse 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 the fall of 1968 Sun Ra moved to what he called ‘the city
Brotherly shove,’ the ‘worst place in America,’ ‘the headquarters of 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 were merely 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 phonebook as ‘Ra, Sun.’ (the phone was sometimes 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 wasmore difficult 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 frominadequate rehearsal time. Philadelphia also lacked a thriving jazz scene so any paying work
would entail travelling back and forth to New York City. Soon, relentless travelling would cometo define the Arkestra’s existence: first out to California, then to Europe and beyond.
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 Farfisa,
the RMI Rocksichord electric piano, and a Moog Minimoog monophonic synthesizer. Along withthe acoustic piano, these instruments would comprise his arsenal throughout the nineteenseventies. On stage, Ra appeared to be piloting a spaceship from behind his cockpit of
keyboards with their myriad knobs, switches and twinkling lights. The core members of theArkestra were by now wholly committed to Ra’s expansive vision; brass players and rhythm
section members would come and go, but these musicians would remain stalwart accomplices
to the end. Sonny was refining his compositional approach, writing specifically for these coremusicians and incorporating conducted improvisations into the structure of his compositions.
Soon he would embark on his ambitious “Discipline” series (which eventually numbered wellover 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 lightshow, Sun Ra was transforming live performances into a ritualized “cosmo drama” full oftheatrical choreography, sanctified exhortations, elaborate space chants, and maniacal
percussion workouts — perfect for the psychedelic-ized audiences of the time. But at the sametime, Ra could now rely on his “micro-Arkestra” consisting of John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, andDanny Davis to realize any new music, as The 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 thismaterial out will be the focus of the next several Sun Ra Sundays.

September 20, 2009
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 andphotographer and hardcore jazz fan, Jacques Bisceglia was enlisted to attract some of theexpatriate Americans to Paris 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 alsoplanned an Actuel Festival to be held in Paris, but the French government denied them
permission given their (tenuous) connection to the riots of 1968. The festival finally occurred in
October, 1969 in the Belgian town of Amougies and while it was an economic disaster, themusic was excellent and provided further material for the fledgling label. By 1972, BYG/Actuel
had released almost fifty LPs documenting the cream of American and European free jazz andexperimental musicians, but financial difficulties caused the partnership 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 the years, lending
credence to these allegations. Georgakarakos went on to found Celluloid while Young started
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 the market. (Currently, the BYG/Actuel label has been seemingly resurrected andis re-releasing titles on LP only, but I haven’t heard any of them.) Ethical issues aside, the musicis uniformly wonderful and well 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, whichwere released 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 iscarefully 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 angular counter-figures on baritone sax. The drummer-lesstexture sounds more like contemporary classical music 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-minute excursion for straining trombones andfrenzied oboes, with Gilmore and Ra engaged in pitched battle, 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 and response 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 Come Back” is a short but
tantalizing composition that calls to mind both Béla Bartók and Duke Ellington with its interludeof fiercely rumbling piano and ringing, childlike celeste before a dramatic full stop and beautifully
rendered coda. Volume 1 closes with “Adventures of Bugs Hunter,” which starts out as agroovily 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 andrhythm, all of which is swathed in Hunter’s patented echo/reverb effect. Far out, man! A perfectending 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 andrelease across the 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, withdroning trombone and bassoon 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 eightminutes of thoughtful knob-twisting, wah-wah-ing filter effects, buzzing noise, and farting,sustained pitches. The piece ends with an almost Vangelis-like swirling fade-out. Ra turns toclavinet solo on “Pyramids,” at times sounding more like a harpsichord or Spanish guitar on thismoody, harmonically shiftless set-piece. “Interpretation” presents another delightful Strange
Strings session, recorded in spacious and spacey stereo. Sadly, the fragile instruments weredestroyed 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.” Upnext is a ponderous re-make of “Ancient Ethiopia” (originally titled “Ancient Aiethiopia” on the1959 Saturn LP, Jazz in Silhouette), with Allen musing on low-register flute and Ra scattering
chords around the piano’s tinkling, uppermost range. Volume 2 ends with “Strange Worlds,” alive 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 through various 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.

September 27, 2009
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 discographicalconfusion. Be that as it may, this album (whatever its title) is drawn from an excellent stereo
recording of a live performance in New York City circa. 1968 and provides a rare, hi-fi glimpse of
the newly evolving “cosmo drama.”
The Arkestra declaims, “Somewhere There!” and immediately blasts off into full-blown, New
Thing-styled energy music, Gilmore taking the lead with an astonishingly fleet tenor solo.
Unfortunately, a good 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 finallyinterjects some aimless 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 somerubato free improv until Ra introduces the bouncy chord progression, taken at a bright tempo.
The Arkestra chants the words in increasingly dissonant harmony before brief, quiet solos frompiano and bass. The free rubato section returns with braying horns, busy percussion, andcacophonous piano before quickly fading out to modest applause. “Intergalactic Motion,” whose
correct title is actually “Ankhnaton,” is a jaunty 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 over with a typically virtuosic bass solo
before the horns return for a ragged reprise to end. “Saturn” is 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 andfurious swing changes. It is the perfect vehicle for Gilmore’s prodigious talents and he does notdisappoint 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 thatmight be right. (If it’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’s patented “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.

October 4, 2009
Sun Ra: Janus (1201 Music CD)
Janus was apparently conceived by Sun Ra as a self-contained album around 1970, but it wasnever issued. 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 scattered across various obscure Saturn LPs of the seventies and eighties, such as

Invisible Shield and Space Probe and only on exceptionally hard to find, hybridized pressingsat 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 was mostly recorded around 1967 to 1970, although there is atantalizing expanse of music from the magical Choreographer’s Workshop period tacked onto
the title track – a precocious bit of editing that demonstrates Ra’s skills with a razor blade andsplicing tape. Despite their variable sound quality and sometimes haphazard packaging, Sun Ra
constructed his albums with great care and considered the LP as something more than mere
documentation of his work, but as works of art in and 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 isbeautiful 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 asparse solo consisting of floating piano chords before Allen returns to lead into the final,
peaceful refrain. What a lovely way to begin the album.
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 fromthree different performances and the one segues directly into the other. (Still, I’d rather haveeach title separately indexed and the label is misleading.) Recorded live in 1970, “The Invisible
Shield” opens with an outrageous alto saxophone solo by Marshall Allen, accompanied by
Danny Ray Thompson on the ghostly Neptunian Libflecto (a bassoon with French Hornmouthpiece) 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-five seconds 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 “spacevoice.” A final edit ends the piece with quietly chiming bell sounds. Ra’s sequencing of thiswildly 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 toprovide frenzied support. After a while, the full ensemble resumes its scattering of contrary lines,
honks, and squeals and Ra plays rippling, romantic chords on piano along with pure-toned
whines on the Clavioline. The music gets slowly quieter while Jarvis takes over with a typicallymanic drum solo that abruptly cuts off after a minute or so. Did the tape run out? Or is thisanother deliberate edit? Either way, I’m grateful; there is no doubt Jarvis went on and on forseveral more minutes! Certainly, it is an odd ending to an otherwise very interesting piece ofmusic.

Janus not only contains precious documentation of a crucial period in Sun Ra’s music, but it isalso a supremely well-crafted album in its own right. Covering a wide range of material in amere thirty-five minutes, it would make an excellent introduction to Ra’s sixties era music for thenovice; for the connoisseur, it is absolutely essential.

October 18, 2009
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 feeling overwhelmed by Ra’s official discography! And so while such recordings (andI do have quite a few) are sometimes of extremely high quality, they are simply outside thescope of what I’m trying to do with 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 thisperiod. Recorded in mono, likely with a single microphone to a reel-to-reel machine, the soundquality 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, theinstrument'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,asymmetrical ensemble section, but once a solid groove is established, a lengthy sequence ofsolos and percussion jams is absolutely mesmerizing with Alan Silva’s cello giving this section
an eerie, almost “Strange 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 withan 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
through various moods and instrumental groupings (notably more oboes and French horn, of allthings), 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 tape cuts off just as things start to heat up again. With a hearty chant of“Calling Planet Earth!,” the Arkestra 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, anearly version of “Somebody Else’s Idea” is chanted rather than sung by an unidentified female
vocalist —definitely not June Tyson. This is 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 thatsummer/fall. After choogling along for several minutes, Ra signals the ending with someemphatic, churchy organ chords that lead into the gentle “space ballad,” “Spontaneous
Simplicity,” a vehicle for Marshall Allen’s mellifluous flute. But as the percussion gets heavier
and Ra’s organ gets more dissonant and distorted, the music verges on the kind of dark funkMiles Davis would get to later on the nineteen-seventies. And from there it disintegrates into acaustic noise fest that brings to mind primal Sonic Youth before returning to the burbling exoticaof 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 theaudience. Ra then 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 oneof 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 nineteenseventies. Fascinating stuff!

October 25, 2009
I’m still conducting research for the next installment of Sun Ra Sunday, so I’ll have to be brief.
The news is that Atavistic’s reissue of the classic Saturn album, Continuation, is scheduled tobe released on Tuesday, November 6th. Mark your calendars!
In the meantime, here is a cool two-part documentary courtesy of ESP-Disk’:November 1, 2009
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 theArkestra stranded in New York City, impoverished and almost virtually unknown. Yet Sonny
persevered with the small group of musicians that remained, rehearsing, recording, and picking
up gigs here and there 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 the confines 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 ofpreviously 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, theArkestra began a long-term Monday night residency at Slug’s Saloon in 1966 and the regularpaying work attracted fresh young musicians to Sun Ra’s interplanetary big-band concept. Withan enlarged band of more or less dedicated musicians with which to work, Ra began to develop
his unique stage show, which he dubbed, “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 talkabout is no good; we need to do the impossible, for everything possible has been tried andfailed. Truth (the possible) equals death; myth (the impossible) equals immortality…Music could
be used to coordinate minds. It could touch the unknown part of the person, awaken the part ofthem that we’re not able to talk to, the spirit” (Id.) The Cosmo Drama would often begin with the“thunder drum” 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 raveups, solos and duos, space chants and oracular proclamations would proceed acrosssometimes vast expanses of time, 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, the Arkestra had “as many as fifteen different
arrangements of the same piece – such as “El is the Sound of Joy” – and any one might beused. 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’s outrageous theatricality and fanciful
costumes, combined with colorful stage lights, films, and slideshows could make for an overstimulated, multisensory “happening” that suited the times.
By 1968, the United States found itself suffering from violent convulsions as the civil rights andanti-war movements gathered momentum and self-styled intellectuals, college students, Black
Nationalists, hippies, and Yippies alike were all drawn to Ra’s spaced-out mysticism, theArkestra’s high-spirited musicianship, and the accompanying quasi-psychedelic spectacle,
although the mainstream “jazz” community remained mystified and dismissive. Sun Ra madehis Carnegie Hall debut in April and The New Yorker dismissed it out of hand: “It wasn’t a goodmovie, and it wasn’t a good concert, and it wasn’t good Dadaism. 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, at Wayne State University. The MC5 so revered Sun
Ra, they co-credited “Starship” with him on their debut 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, theArkestra made its first trip to California, playing concerts at the College of Marin, San Jose State
College, the Oakland Auditorium Theatre, and the San Francisco Art Institute. They made asecond, 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 thesuspiciously named Maryjane Coffeehouse in Sacramento. However, on their way back east theArkestra’s van overturned on Route 80 between Fernely and Lovelock, Nevada. Thankfully no
one was injured, but most of the fragile Strange Strings instruments were completely
destroyed. Sinclair again hosted the Arkestra for the Detroit Rock and Roll Revival at theMichigan State Fairgrounds in May, where they shared a bill 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 fourthousand people 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 theArkestra in full flight, making no concessions whatsoever to the elitist, patrician atmosphere. To
be sure, the sound quality is pretty dreadful, but an approximation of the music can bediscerned amidst the murk.
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 sectionalright out 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 aprecursor to the famous “Discipline” series of compositions Ra would begin in the nineteenseventies (see Campbell & Trent, p.151). Ra then wrestles the band into a blistering rendition of
the fiendishly complicated “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 aPleasant Place)” in a pure, soulful tone over a skittering, atonal accompaniment. Soon,
however, the instruments take over with some raging sonic chaos which gives way to a madscientist organ solo. Ra then introduces the loping 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 the cartoony group sing-along, “Enlightenment”
and the Tyson-led space chant, “Somebody Else’s Idea,” which cuts off after a minute and fortyeight 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 Yorkvenues in 1968 and 1969, including a month-long run at the Garrick Theatre, a stint at the Squat
Theater, and even a performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Opera House. No matter
what the establishment critics and jazz traditionalists thought about Sun Ra, it was becoming
apparent that he knew 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 andMyth Rituals to the people of the Earth. After a period of scant documentation, the discography
begins to overflow with live albums, radio broadcasts, and, yes, audience recordings. Sortingout the seventies is the task ahead here on Sun Ra Sunday.

November 8, 2009
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) whichappeared on the original cover of The Solar Myth Approach, Vol. 1. Santa recalled that “thefirst night featured six hours of continuous music; the second and third nights slacked off to amere five hours, without a break” (see Campbell & Trent, p.161-162). It must have beensomething 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, themusic itself is terrific. How bad does it sound? Well, the volume levels fluctuate wildly whileconsistently retaining a significant amount of distortion; there’s some serious wow and flutter
issues; and the monophonic, single-microphone recording is boomy, muddy, and generally
indistinct. It doesn’t sound quite as bad as the 1969 Newport Jazz Festival recording, 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 better-sounding recording. Nevertheless, the large-ish ensemble
sounds particularly well-rehearsed (perhaps in preparation for their upcoming trip to France) andthe free-wheeling performance goes to some very 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:a loping bassline holds down the jaunty groove while the entire Arkestra gleefully bangs on
myriad percussion instruments, with Ra stating the simple, joyful melody and soloing on electricorgan. After a brief pause, Ra segues into a quiet, spooky organ improvisation accompanied byAlan 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 an adventurous turn on trumpet, with Ra rumbling away on organ. Pat
Patrick follows with a typically ferocious bari-sax solo while the rhythm heats up and shiftinghorn sections provide riffing punctuation. After settling back down, the horns return with the oldtimey 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, the piece 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 andecstatically chants, but much of the preaching and carrying on is difficult to hear. However, theloud, 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 then-recent composition which would appear on the studio recording, My
Brother the Wind Vol. II, in 1971. Not much happens beyond several repetitions of thelurching, block-chord melody over a gospel-ish vamp, but the effect is hypnotizing. After a brief
organ and synthesizer solo (with some barely 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’s sure-footed tenor solo demonstrates his uniquesynthesis of pre-war swing, hard bop grit, and avant-garde extended techniques.
The tape concludes with a spectacular, thirteen-minute rendition of another My Brother theWind Vol. II composition, “Pleasant Twilight,” According to Campbell and Trent, there are noother known 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 thebrightly swinging composition. The tempo then slows down by half and, while the ensemble
gently rocks back and forth between two lushly sustained chords, Gilmore peels off a starkly
contrasting, barn-burner of a solo on tenor sax. Holy smokes! The Arkestra plays their parts withincredible restraint while Gilmore wails away with a terrifying fury. After a honking, emphatic

conclusion, Gilmore leads the Arkestra through a half-time run through of the head before
returning the original tempo for a high-spirited trumpet solo from Akh Tal Ebah. The Arkestra
adds complementary horn riffs and, as the intensity 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 the repertoire.
Given the atrocious sound quality, I cannot recommend that anyone but the most fanatical seek
this recording 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, thisone is worth having for that reason alone.
COMMENTS: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 thinkthat's Ebah at the end? I would have guessed Kwame Hadi. I'll go back and listen again withthat 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!

November 22, 2009
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 totravel to Europe ever since. When they offered to arrange for the Arkestra to appear at theprestigious 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 thedesk 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 recalledthat 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!”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 thateither 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
some different stuff.” (p.278)
Passport in hand, Ra and a nineteen-member Arkestra traveled to St. Paul de Vence andperformed three concerts on August 3, 4, and 5, 1970. The Fondation Maeght is one of thefinest small museums in the world and, with its focus on blue-chip modernism, Ra’s appearancein 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-sponsoredradio station and portions were later released on LP as Nuits de la Fondation Maeght
Volumes 1 and 2 by the French Shandar label in 1971. These records have been widelybootlegged 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
not heard this material. Again, Szwed provides a vivid description of Sun Ra’s outrageouspresentation and 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, and when they arrived they saw the Arkestra spread out
before them like elaborate décor: musicians in red tunics, seated in a forest of
instruments on stage, dancers in red dresses. On a screen behind them was projected asky full of stars, then planets, 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 isthis?” 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 aburbling organ 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-grooveon 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 hetailored this piece to the unique qualities of the venue:

One of the things which most impressed listeners at the Fondation Maeght is thepassage for six flutes ad lib, six flutes playing in harmony. I could say improvising inharmony. I’m inspired by it to do something else which would be totally different. I
believe it’s a musical idea which would be totally different. I believe it’s a new way ofusing flutes. It’s at once both very melodic and harmonious and at the same time so
distant, as if the music was heard in the distance 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 the same time because the flutes would be bothered by an echo that theaudience fortunately wouldn’t hear at all. So above this the trumpets entered in, played asort of ad lib riff because this light echo didn’t allow them to understand the rhythm.
(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 andbrass 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 the Electric Circus tape from 1968,
this a fine performance with the massive ensemble sections sounding particularly powerful andprecise. 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 a delirious eleven minutes, ending to some genuinely
enthusiastic applause.
“The World of Lightning” picks up in the middle of some crashing gongs and cymbals, theaudience 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 saxophoneand cello, with other horns joining in the fray at its screaming climax, the entire Arkestra wailingaway 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 of musical 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 that eventually crossfades to some overloud
applause. The album ends with a fragmentary piece entitled, “Key,” which starts off with someintertwined oboe (possibly James Jacson) and cello but is soon interrupted with an explosion ofcacophonous 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, whichdocuments the August 5th concert, might be even better. We’ll take a listen next week.
COMMENTS: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.
Like some 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...

November 29, 2009
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 acall and response 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 Sadness
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 aquick 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 whilesmall 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 thenbringing it back down 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: theinsanely complex, hocketed melodies are performed flawlessly, setting the stage for Gilmore’sutterly hair-raising solo on tenor saxophone, complete with a squealing and wailing a cappellacadenza. Ra then takes over with a skittering, swirling organ solo until cueing the horns for ahuge, pulsating space chord. The braying and howling horns eventually subside, leaving Ra to
sketch out the dramatic chord sequence on organ to end. This is a truly stunning performance of
one of Ra’s most significant 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…
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 & 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) withsupport 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 lessthan a total success. But at the time, Ra was excited to return to the Old World -- there waseven talk of going 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 afire-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 in the 12th, but their Paris debut turned into a near riot. Just days prior totheir scheduled appearance at Les Halles, a nightclub fire had killed a number of people and at
the last possible 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” 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 hishead, 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 Arkestra, and the chosen few, marching straight through the police
phalanx and down the street. And the crowds followed as they all circled around theblock. When the procession returned to the front of the theater the police officials gave
Sun Ra a salute as he passed their shattered ranks and marched into the theater, thistime 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, thehome front 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 minutebroadcast was issued on CD by Motor Music in 1998. (The Motor City issue also contains asecond disc recorded 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 thesmall town of Donaueschingen. The piece was performed only on this one occasion and it is atension-filled four minutes for piccolo, electronic keyboards, and scraping, clanging percussion
which sounds just as 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 andtrumpets orchestration found on Nuits de la Fondation Maeght Vol. 2. Here, the rhythms areheavier and Ra plays much more aggressively on both piano and electric organ. In addition,
Eloe Omoe (or possibly Danny Thompson) plays a riveting solo on the Neptunian libflecto (abassoon with a trumpet mouthpiece) and the entire Arkestra enters toward the end with somespirited group improv before Ra closes the piece 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 to stunned 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 and colors, from the keening wail of oboes, saxophones andlibflecto to the staccato brassiness of trumpets to the microtonal whine of Alan Silva’s viola.
After about eleven minutes, Sun Ra introduces a clangorous space chord on the piano which ispicked up by the Arkestra. In its aftermath, Tyson and Gilmore exclaim: “It’s after the end of theworld! Don’t you know that yet?!” The Arkestra then launches into some more ecstatic free-jazzskronk just as the track fades. What a shame! “We’ll Wait for You” concludes the recording witha quick space chant followed by a long series of thoughtful solos over a deliberately murky andmumbling rhythm section, deftly conducted by 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 that brings 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“that was abound with ignorance and rubbish.” Clearly Sun Ra was not immediately accepted
into the rarified realm of the European cultural elite despite his appearance at Donaueschingen.
Nevertheless, the Arkestra’s performance was a landmark event. Critics still debate thegenuineness of Sun Ra’s music, but the proof is in the listening. Listening to theDonaueschingen performance reveals a large band at the height of its powers, playing Sun Ra’smost cutting edge musical conceptions with razor-sharp precision and prodigious invention
while Ra himself displays his unequaled mastery of electronic keyboards. I know I say it all thetime, but this is another essential Sun Ra disc that belongs in every fan’s collection.

December 13, 2009
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 that capacity to this very day. The significance of this formerly-sacred now
publicly-funded venue was no doubt meaningful to an exhausted Arkestra who managed todeliver a ragged yet truly inspired performance. Campbell lists a thirty-five minute audience
recording (p.166), but ninety minutes of the original VPRO radio broadcast has recently
surfaced in fairly decent sound quality and it is definitely worth seeking out.
The recording begins with the radio announcer introducing the musicians (in Dutch, of course)
and a spirited rendition of the strutting “Watusi,” including a long percussion segment featuring
the booming “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 be happening musically, the audience is clearly enjoying the visual spectacle. Up next isperhaps the first (or rather a prototype) of what would later be called the “Discipline” series ofcompositions. Both Szwed (p.285) and Campbell (p.170) state that Sun Ra did not begin workon the “Discipline” series (which numbered over one-hundred compositions) until the Arkestra’s
brief move to California in early 1971; but this (and another two works performed at Paradiso) isconceptually similar enough to indicate 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 hocketed horn lines, with each horn playing within a two- to three-note
range, a cyclical melody developing out of the fragments, each person playing his parts
scrupulously with no deviation whatsoever” (p.285). Sun Ra told journalist Robert Palmer in1974 that “the slightest variation would destroy the whole thing” (Id.), emphasizing that thesepieces 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. Thisparticular 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 thelimits 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 knowthat yet?!” This signals another blast of high-energy group improv which quickly segues into thelilting “We Travel the Spaceways,” complete with clanging bells and gongs and some nice
Xenakis-like portamento bowing from Alan Silva while the Arkestra moves about the audience,chanting the theme.
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 overcrazy polyrhythmic percussion and free drum set pummeling, until Ra enters with a dissonant
organ chord, grinding over and over until moving direction into some two-handed polyphony. A
wheezy synthesizer 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 be interrupted by the radio DJ who once again introduces the bandpersonnel. Obviously, things continued in this vein for some time; oh well! Applause fades up
and Sun Ra has moved to the acoustic piano for a series of duets with Silva’s cello, (possibly)
Eloe Omoe on Neptunian libflecto and (probably) Akh Tal Ebah on trumpet. Sonny is at his mostaggressively 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 improvisation coalesces into what appears to be another “Discipline”
series composition, with Ra leading the way with a series of harmonically ambiguous piano
chords. The ensemble sounds a bit tentative, but the haunting beauty of the composition isaffecting 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 acappella saxophone 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, and thereafter 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 with a rubato solo on the buzzing Rocksichord, concluding

with a weirdly unresolved chord. The DJ then interjects a quick announcement over asmattering of applause.
After a tinkly Rocksichord introduction, another “Discipline”-type composition follows, asequence of richly orchestrated, contrapuntally derived chords, sometimes sweet, sometimes
sour, ending ambiguously with a dense block of widely-spaced pitches. A spacey, conductedimprovisation arises within the harmonic space established by the composition, featuring a
massed oboe choir, of all things. You don’t hear much jazz oboe, but its pinched, exoticsounding wail is an integral element of 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 with full-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-songy organ, 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(and more 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 failureof French 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
to hang on until their next scheduled performance at the Berlin Jazz Festival on November 7th(see Szwed p.283). We’ll take a listen to that concert next week.

December 20, 2009
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 appearedat 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
the music appeared on It’s After the End of the World (MPS 2120746) in 1971. (SeeCampbell & Trent, p.168 for the gory details of how that album is cobbled together from the twoconcerts.) The extant eighty-minute broadcast reels were issued for the first time on this Motor
Music CD and it is another fantastic performance from this first European tour preserved in truly
extraordinary sound quality. However, Szwed describes this concert as a tense confrontation
with a dour and skeptical crowd:
The audience on November 7 at Berlin Jazz Days at the Kongresshalle in West Berlin was notready for what they saw. The Arkestra opened for the premier European-based free jazz big

band Globe Unity Orchestra, led by Alexander von Schlippenbach, a German pianist. Globe
Unity had established itself as a grimly serious representative of the new jazz, but one which
also owed less to American musical tradition than European groups of the past. The audience
was not sure that what they were witnessing with the Arkestra wasn’t a parody. The sermonizing
and call-and-response declamations on outer space were unsettling to begin with, but the final
blow came when Sun Ra peered through a telescope aimed at the roof of the hall, and claimed
he could see his native Saturn. When some of the crowd began to boo, Sonny stunned theminto 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 “withfire in his eyes and signaled for a kick-ass space chord,” said [James] Jacson. “And he hit thesame chord on the organ. Blam!” Then he called out to Pat Patrick, and baritone screams
echoed through the theater, growing wilder with each chorus, producing the essence of what
New York musicians were calling “energy music,” until the audience was subdued, if not entirely
overcome (p.283).
That particular altercation is not documented on this recording (as far as I can tell), but there 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 preand-post-war American swing and his sense of high-camp sci-fi infused theatricality. This stuff is
far from the “grimly serious” and Eurocentric approach of Globe Unity and their ilk. I like theirmusic 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 ofSonny’s life, even if many critics continue to dismiss him as a charlatan, a fake.
The CD opens with Alan Silva playing some brooding bass over tinkling percussion. June Tyson
sweetly sings, “Out in space is such a pleasant place…a place where you can be free, truly free,with me.” After a while, Sun Ra signals a swelling space-chord and we’re off on an almost fortyminute conducted improvisation, centered around a long, dramatic synthesizer solo, punctuatedwith frenzied group improv, and ending with a series of unaccompanied solos by Silva (oncello), Eloe Omoe on Neptunian libflecto and finally John Gilmore on rip-roaring tenor sax. After
this tumultuous journey into outer space, Ra moves to the piano to introduce anotherperformance of one of the “Discipline” series compositions first heard on the Paradiso tape from
October 18. The improved sonics of the Berlin recoding allows one to really hear the detailed
orchestration of this beautiful, through-composed work. Utilizing a somber, quasi-ballad form,
the piece moves through a series of richly voiced harmonies, sometimes sweet in an almost
Guy Lombardo (or rather Duke Ellington) fashion, other times sour and dissonant, with a tonallyvague conclusion. Very interesting. Ra moves to the twangy clavinet to introduce “Walking on
the Moon,” which features a honking bari sax solo by Pat Patrick and some additional (perhaps
improvised?) lyrics by Tyson (“If you fall down, get up and walk some more; You’re like a little ababy who never walked before; So take your first step into outer space…” etc.) The super hi-fisonics make this rare live performance of this short-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
and Tyson 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 some jaunty swing with “Why Go to the Moon?” which suggests a number ofalternative 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 the concluding “We Travel the Spaceways,” sung by the Arkestra andTyson as they parade out through the 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.

December 27, 2009
I’m taking the holidays off and so should you! I'll continue with Sun Ra Sunday in 2010.
(Thanks to Lizzy for making my idea of Sun Ra in a Santa hat a reality!)

January 3, 2009
We’ll continue where we left off next week, but in the meantime, here are two televised excerpts
from the Arkestra’s performance at the Chicago Jazz Festival on September 2, 1981:

January 10, 2009
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
just in time for their scheduled performance on November 9, 1970. Unfortunately, the logistics ofthis concert were vexed from the beginning. Originally to be held at the glamorous Rainbow
Theatre, the show 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 sound technicians arrived three hours late, resulting in unacceptably bad soundquality (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 and Imaginary Worlds (London: Serpents Tail, 1995):[Sun Ra’s] first UK performance…was one of the most spectacular concerts ever held inthis country. Not spectacular so 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
outright dismissal or complete intuitive empathy with a man who had chosen to discard
all the possibilities of a normal life, even a 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 fromSun Ra on Farfisa organ and Moog synthesizer, futuristic lyrics of the advertising age
sung by June Tyson – “If you find earth boring, just the same old thing, come on sign up
for Outer Spaceways Incorporated” –saxophone riffs repeated over and over by Pat
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 the time as distractions from the music. But those who concentrated solely on themusic ignored Ra’s role as political messenger. (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 hewitnessed was perhaps the very peak of the Arkestra’s gonzo, multi-media theatricality andcutting 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
is only for the irredeemably fanatical. During quiet passages, it is barely listenable; but when themusic gets loud, it is nothing but a distorted roar of undifferentiated white noise. Maybe it’s notquite that bad, and after a while, you do get used to it, yeah, yeah, yeah – but, sheesh! Thatsaid, our intrepid recordist did manage to preserve a nearly complete performance from this first
European tour and a little perseverance offers intermittent rewards. A blow-by-blow description
would be even more tedious than usual, but I want to point out a few highlights. First of all, Raseems to have been provided with a decent concert grand piano, upon which he spends morethan 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 arrangement with 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 duetwith 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 fullArkestra lurches into another one of those dirgey, old-fashioned-sounding compositions thatbrings 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 anda 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
first sounds like a conducted improvisation featuring Ra on piano and Silva on bowed cello. But
upon closer listening, it sounds to me like Ra is outlining a pre-conceived harmonic structurethat comes to a definite conclusion. After a brief pause, Ra launches into a piano solo that also
sounds through-composed. Is this a suite? Or does the bewildered audience just not have theopportunity to react? Ra’s playing becomes more rhythmically agitated, each hand playing indifferent 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 overamidst intermittent Arkestra blasting and churning percussion. The poor quality of the recording
makes it difficult to hear what exactly is going on here, but it is certainly intense! A crashinggong 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 aswirling, roller-rink organ solo by Ra. Despite the poor sound quality, you can still hear that theArkestra is tight and well-rehearsed on both of these swinging big-band numbers. The first
known performance of “Pleiades” begins with a brief statement of the theme on the reedy
Rocksichord before a lengthy electric keyboard solo full of whooshing synthesizer and terrifying,pile-driving organ cluster-bombs that anticipate the industrial noise-making of Einstürzende
Neubauten. Clearly, Sonny was very much ahead of his time. All of this builds up to a frenetic
group improvisation featuring Silva’s viola, Pat Patrick bass clarinet, Eloe Omoe on Neptunian
libflecto, and (perhaps) Akh Tal Ebah on long-breathed trumpet. Finally, after almost 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 the stage, chanting “Ra, Ra, Ra.” This mass movement was
catalyzed by one guy in a business suit, who leapt to his feet waving an umbrella, totally
involved in the music. On this night, fire-eaters performed on stage during the concert, and thelight show featured projected photos, ciné film of Sun Ra in the Sun Studio, starry backdrops,
and rock-style lighting effects – a truly multimedia performance. The music ranged frompercussion ensembles in which the whole Arkestra seemed to participate, to unaccompanied
solos by John Gilmore and Sun Ra, Alan Silva cello features, space chants, 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 theback of the auditorium and 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 hall featured 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 Osibisa, 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).

January 17, 2009
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 Philadelphia, New York and Chicago. Szwed mentions a gig at
the beginning of 1971 at the Village Vanguard as well as a concert at the Metropolitan Museumof Art’s prestigious “Composers in Performance” series in February (p.285). According toCampbell and Trent, the Arkestra also played Sunday and Monday nights at The East Village In
in March (and perhaps at other times later in the year) (p.170). But the West Coast beckoned
once again and in April, the Arkestra 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 band every 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 the Black Panthers’ goals but was skeptical of their incendiary politics; not surprisingly,
this move brought 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 thebiggest 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 theparks – 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),
one of the first presidents of the University of California -- and a virulent racist. In 1907, Widney
published a two-volume manifesto entitled, Race Life of the Aryan People (Funk & Wagnall),which predicted that Los Angeles would someday become the center of white supremacy (Id.).
Widney’s malevolent spirit seems to loom over the proceedings: For while the concert was wellreceived by the audience, “things turned ugly when the custodial staff – not knowing Sun Ra’spractice of playing 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, and ended 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, who provides 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 pure distortion (not to mention the serious wow-and-flutter issues
throughout); but the microphone’s position on the stage otherwise provides some immediacy tothe music, making less-loud portions (almost) listenable. What is notable about this recording,besides the return of Hunter on drums, is that 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 theband 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 groove on 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. Afterabout fifteen minutes, Ra enters with a dramatic organ chord to introduce the first known
performance of “Discipline 15,” a through-composed dirge, similar to the “prototypes” they wereplaying in Europe. Basically a sequence of sweet 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 byroaring bass and pounding percussion. June Tyson sings “They’ll Come Back” with a surefooted 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 thetheme, 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 the last known
performance of “Walkin’ on the Moon,” but the tape quickly fades out after the first couple ofminutes.
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 andrighteousness:
The darkness means nothing to you. It’s my home. And my people are dark andblack….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 notplaying 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!...Donot ever 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 have nothin’!
Sun Ra ends with an explicit threat: “The birds don’t have to stop playing at one o’clock; whyshould I? You just had one earthquake…you might expect another!” Whoah. This followed by aneerie minute or so of the audience exiting the auditorium, muttering in stunned disbelief;
meanwhile some woman 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 aperfect 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 tragiccommentary 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 themighty 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
it was). 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!
COMMENTS:WOO DOPS said...
I found a copy of this concert after I read your post. don't mess with the Ra! The tape distortionis unfortunate but I can handle that, even quite like it. Sun Ra could always make the best noise
anyway. Great blog and keep you the terrific work.

January 24, 2010
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 ofCalifornia at Berkeley via the Regents’ Program and the newly-formed Department of AfroAmerican Studies. As Szwed points out, such an outlandish appointment was “only conceivablein the early 1960s and early 1970s”:
Every week during the spring quarter of 1971 he met his class, Afro-American Studies 198: “TheBlack 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 theirparty dress. The classes ran like rehearsals: first came the lecture, followed by a half hour ofsolo 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)] -- withclass 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, abook 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 Bonesand Poetry for My People; LeRoi Jones’s and Larry Neal’s, Black Fire; David Livingston’s,
Missionary Travels and Researches 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 (which contained poetry by Sun Ra): John S. Wilson’s,
Jazz: Where It Came From, Where It’s At(published by the United States Information Agency);
Yosef A. A. Ben-Jochannan’s, Black Man of the Nile and His Family; Count Volney’s, Ruins ofEmpire; the King James version of the Bible (listed on the syllabus only as “The Source Book ofMan’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 the books were not available in the bookstores and were either
missing from the library or had never been there in the first place, 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 astute sense of what universities expect their student’s papers to deal with:“The Striving of the Black Bourgeoisie,” “Negritude,” “Planning for the Future,” “The Role ofTechnology in Music,” and “Developing Relevant Culture.”
In a typical lecture, Sun Ra wrote biblical quotes on the board and then “permutated” them -rewrote and transformed their letters and syntax into new equations of meaning, while membersof the Arkestra passed through the room, preventing anyone from taping the class. His lecture
subjects included Neoplatonic doctrines; the application of ancient history and religious texts to
racial problems; pollution and war; and a radical reinterpretation of the Bible in light of
Egyptology. Sun Ra the southern black man, the jazz musician, the militant, the hippie icon, theavant-gardist, 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 taperecording of 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 soundquality is exceptionally good, all things considered, and you can clearly hear the sound of chalkon 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 embracehis “alter-destiny.” While it would be easy to dismiss all this as the ravings of a lunatic (or purecharlatanism or fakery), that would, 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 bybreaking the bonds of logic and received wisdom and thereby “decoding” mystical texts,
humans could realize their spiritual nature, transcend earthly existence (death), and “do theimpossible”:
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 tosomething else. Totally impossible. But everything that’s possible’s been done by man, I have todeal 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
the impossible” and his guileless statement about how this makes him “feel good” indicates thisis, in fact, more than just mere bullshit. The truth of this assertion is evidenced by the music andstructure of the Arkestra, where true freedom exists within the confines of extraordinary
discipline and where a strictly hierarchical organization allows for genuine self-expression withina utopian society based upon the harmonious relations between people. Szwed devotes twentyfive pages to an extended paraphrase of Sun Ra’s philosophy, drawing upon a vast bibliographyof interviews and articles in which Sonny expanded upon his ideas, from the nature of God andspirit, good and bad, angels and demons, life and death, truth, history and myth, racial relations,and music’s innate ability to overcome 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” (quoted in 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 is unsurprising that apermanent faculty appointment was not forthcoming. It is nonetheless a fascinating 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 amere two days before the Arkestra’s concert at J.P. Widney Jr. High School in Los Angeles
and the band appears to have different personnel. (This concert is not listed in Campbell &Trent – I think it’s time for a third edition!) Specifically, the extended drum solo on track threesounds suspiciously like Clifford Jarvis, who does not appear on the June 12 show. Then again,
Ronnie Boykins is definitely 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 the soundboard (vocals are way up front, drums way back), but it’sdegraded in a most unfortunate fashion: the original master probably sounds very good(wherever it might be), but this CD is clearly several 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,conceptually similar to “Discipline 15” but with differently un-resolving harmonies. Spacey
improvisational sections follow statements of the slow, somber theme, featuring Boykins’s
inimitable thrumming and 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 black-power sentiments, interspersed with moments of bashing free-jazzskronk. It is interesting to compare 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 affectationsof 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 selfindulgent as usual, resulting in a musically satisfying prelude to Sun Ra’s typically inventivesynthesizer solo. Ra coaxes worlds of sounds from his MiniMoog, once again demonstrating his
quick mastery of that technologically sophisticated instrument 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 foryears. 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 a percentage from their sales. That is all very well and good, butcopyright law does not (as far as I know) recognize “moral rights” and, even if it did, it isquestionable whether or not Allen retains those rights with regard to these recordings.
Nevertheless, I have to admit that any effort to bring these tapes to light should be applauded bythose of us who are fanatically obsessed with Sun Ra’s music. For the merely curious, I would
suggest staying away from the Transparency CDs and sticking 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: 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
tarmac transaction 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 ofunissued 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 audiencestamping 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 andimpossible stacks of harmonics and multiphonics. Wow, this is truly an astonishing tour deforce. Incredible! It sounds to me like there are two bassists here, one of whom is unmistakably
Ronnie Boykins. Perhaps Alzo Wright is playing cello? Whoever it is, he bows away with amaniacal, Strange Strings-like abandon. Oboes and flutes join in the fray, weaving webs ofspindly counterpoint until June Tyson enters with mumbling glossolalia, chanting “Strange
Worlds” over the reedy din. Gilmore quickly joins in to sing “It’s After the End of the World” andthe bumptious “Outer Spaceways Incorporated,” which is anchored 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 solo on the Neptunian
libflecto. This is greeted with a huge round of applause followed by two minutes of stamping andcheering…in fact this is the same stamping and cheering that begins the segment, creating aneat, 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 sidesound like? 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 here that it is another decent-sounding board tape containing some very adventurous
music. Bootleg or not, this is a must-have disc for the hardcore Ra fanatic.

February 7, 2010
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
they straggled 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 afirm date of August 17, 1971 but insists the venue is Slug’s Saloon in New York City (seebelow). Who knows? In any event, behind the striking, psychedelicized album cover awaits atasty selection of smoky, 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
Hammond-like 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! Someamount 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 then takes 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 atall. In this instance, Sonny is playing a wandering walking bass with his left hand, soloing all thewhile with 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
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
tribute to 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.) Aftersome polite 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 asa roiling groove is built up in the rhythm section, Pat Patrick leading the band with the hypnotic
three-note riff on baritone sax. Suddenly, a male voice (Eloe Omoe?) starts yodeling andcarrying on hysterically, compelling Tyson to resume her incantatory singing. At the elevenminute 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 "thepath 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 anddistant, muted trumpet. Another fifty-three minute segment posthumously entitled, “I Roam the
Cosmos,” starts out with a brief solo statement 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 the audience about the usual subjects: race, outerspace, and doing the impossible -- “Give up your death for me!” he insists at one point, withTyson echoing virtually every word of his tirade. Meanwhile, the Arkestra noodles around on thetwo-chord vamp with Hadi and Akh Tal Ebah providing running commentary on trumpet andflugelhorn, 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 oneof the warmest, most approachable albums in the discography. ESP-Disk’ or Atavistic or Art
Yard or some other perspicacious label should compile all this material together and reissue
Universe in Blue in a deluxe, two-disc edition; I’m sure it would be a big hit.

February 14, 2010
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 a window into the inner workings of the core Arkestra as Sun Ra
pontificates on various subjects and works 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,
Sonny is bemused by the apparent racism of this “mean” technology and chortles: “You gotalking about equal rights and here you got an instrument that won’t play for you if you’re black!”
Even so, Ra is interested 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 anunidentified title that sounds somewhat similar to the “Discipline” series, with lushly harmonizedhorns playing slowly interweaving parts over a repeating bass ostinato. After a couple ofminutes, Ra cuts things off to enquire whether James Jacson has been reached on thetelephone 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 the drummers 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 a recording with nothing but
drums, drums, drums, drums, drums. That’s what I used to try to tell Clifford Jarvis. Now, hetook 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 playingthat number for ten years and can’t play it yet!” Ra explains that he wants the melody playedwith “anticipatory rhythms” – a little bit ahead of the beat. “If you play it right on time, you’regonna be wrong! It’s designed for sound,” he says. Ra then demonstrates on the keyboard,
playing the “in-time” bassline and the “out-of-time” melody simultaneously. “See? I’m not asking
you to do something 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 aboutit. You just have to do this like I’m talking. And I’m not measuring my words and saying, ‘onetwo-three’…I can’t do that. Music is a language, so you not supposed be counting. I might holda word a little bit longer than usual if I want to emphasize what I’m saying. That’s the way musicis.

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 runthrough, Ra really starts to preach it:
It’s all about togetherness. The white race is together. Don’t let ‘em fool you what theytalking about revoltin’ and revolutin’. 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, notno peace, they don’t need nothing like that. They need unity, precision, discipline.’ That’s
it. That’s the only thing white 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 piececlearly 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 is through-composed in intricate, close harmony. The ensemble sounds tentative at best.
After a lurching, 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 clearlycommanded attention and elicited a fierce loyalty from his most devoted disciples. As “crazy” as
Sun Ra might 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.”
COMMENTS:Sam said...
About "Intergalactic Universe," you say: "a gently floating space vamp in 5/4 meter. The piece
was never 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 instereo. You mentioned this in your review of that LP: "a fifteen-minute 'Intergalactic Research'follows with another 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"Live Highlights": "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 a perfect 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 ofevery single show from this tour, but it is interesting that it doesn't show up on even one. [Wrongagain!] What amazes me is how Ra could neglect this wonderful piece; it certainly deserves
more attention. It's a soul-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."

February 21, 2010
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, theitinerary 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 electric bass 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 clearly energized and inspired by the lavish surroundings. In anothermeasure of how well Sun Ra was treated in Europe, the state-run radio station broadcast sixty
minutes of the performance, a copy of which 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 the period 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 aradical rearrangement of the “official” version which was recorded just weeks later and releasedon 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 Iam) suggests they are playing an early version of “Sometimes the Universe Speaks,” acomposition 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 are accompanied by saxophone and trumpet harmonizations and there isa swinging fanfare section midway through that I do not hear on the LP version. In any event, it
is a lovely composition that gives way to a very pretty duet with Ra on synthesizers and William
Morrow on vibraphone before the coda. Afterwards, Sonny launches into a prototypical “madscientist”-style organ solo with the Arkestra 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 thinkthat is correct either. 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, fadingout to Ra’s spacey, vibrating organ clusters. Whatever the actual titles, this thirteen-minutesequence 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
fire-breathing 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, threenote riff, harmonized in modal parallels which repeat endlessly, undergoing subtle permutationsof tone and timbre 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 fluttertongued flute, followed by a brilliantly 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 “TheRainmaker,” 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 the organ and vibes only hint at the composition, the horns enter with a surprisingly
adept run through the 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 to conclude 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 in a heartbeat. And perhaps more of this concert was recorded than was broadcast…? One
can dream…

February 28, 2010
I’ll return with more from Sun Ra’s 1971 European tour next week. In the meantime, here is avery entertaining video of the Arkestra performing in front of a large audience in Japan on July
30, 1988. Enjoy!

March 7, 2010
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
two-and-a-half-hour concert was broadcast by the Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE. An offthe-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. (If anyone out there has heard this, I’d love to know your opinion!) The
circulating tape is slightly hissy and probably more than a few generations away from themaster, but it is recorded in stereo and sounds 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, the Arkestra launches into another unidentified number in the “Discipline” series ofcompositions, readily apparent by the dirgey blocks of harmonies in the reeds and brass floatingover freely rubato drumming. At the conclusion, June Tyson and John Gilmore sing “Theme of
the Stargazers,” which leads 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 some tasteful vibraphone which is countered by Ra’s wiry
Clavioline-like sound, making for a hauntingly beautiful texture. “Discipline 8” follows in a muchless expansive arrangement than we heard in Stockholm, although Gilmore’s tenor saxophonesolo is typically brilliant. Pat Patrick picks up the electric bass to propel an extended “Love inOuter Space” into a trance-inducing groove that just goes on and on and on, no doubt
accompanying a parade of dancers and other shenanigans. Meanwhile, Sonny keeps up a
frenetic, electrically chiming keyboard accompaniment right through to 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 and apocalypticorgan clusters.
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 anotherglistening 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, overquietly 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 and perhaps 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 a brief coda, Ra launches the band into “Angels and Demons at
Play,” which was last heard on the 1960 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 anothersprawling, chaotic percussion jam and more space-age theatrics. Oh well. Next, Tyson and averitable Greek chorus sing the lilting “The Satellites Are Spinning” as they march around thetheatre 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, theleaves 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,
the overall 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
which leads to some overlong and self-indulgent episodes which were no doubt visuallyentertaining at the time but do not translate well to audio tape. That said, Ra’s own playing isoutstanding and the lovely unidentified title for flute choir in the second set makes this tapeworth seeking out for the duly obsessed fan.
COMMENTS:Sam said...
I am in total agreement with your assessment of this, Rodger. The first half of the first set is thereal kicker here--the rest doesn't wear as well for those of us not fortunate enough to be there to
see the spectacle of the dancers and all the visuals that were surely in effect. Is the only othervocal appearance of "To nature's god" the one on "Dark Myth Equation Visitation"? It's always
nice to have 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--the sound quality is a true bonus. But as a whole, it's not nearly as transcendent as
Stockholm 1971-10-21 was, or as the 1971 Egypt concerts yet to come.
Rodger Coleman said...
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 the European tour.

March 14, 2010
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,
Denmark on 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 likethe recordist 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
going on with the music. Of course, the intrepid fan is to be commended for making the effort;
there are no other known recordings of this concert. But, really, this tape borders on theunlistenable.

Which is 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
which leads to a spectacularly far-out synthesizer and organ solo from Ra. But the sound quality
is so awful that 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 beheard for the first time at the beginning of this tape (p.176). As the legend goes, Jacson madethe 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 fixtureof 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!

March 21, 2010
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 andbroadcast it on November 14. According to Campbell and Trent, portions of this concert werealso 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 threehour concert was re-broadcast in 2001. The sound quality is exceptionally good and it’s awonderful performance to boot.
The first set starts off with glistening vibraphone arpeggios over roiling drums, each of thevarious percussion instruments nicely captured in a wide stereo image. After a brief pause, theArkestra 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 note-perfect 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 thistime it’s taken at a more relaxed tempo than usual, 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 much happens musically until Ra enters to state thetheme a few times on a wheezy electric organ at the end -- but that’s OK.
Sonny then signals the space-chant, “Space is the Place,” which is full of soulful groupvocalizations over the mellow groove. Until, that is, the saxophones enter with some dissonantsquealing and the rhythm 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 of solos and various ensemble sections including Ra’s “madscientist” 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 aroundunderneath. A beautiful trumpet solo follows (probably Kwame Hadi) accompanied by somespacey vibraphone, which gets a nice response from the audience. Morrow then takes over withRa 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 the intergalactic dawn!” Thenthe 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-blownskronky 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 avant-garde 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 with vocalized horns and gently tapping marimba and percussion. At
times, an eerie, “Strange Strings” --like atmosphere arises only to move in other, equallycompelling musical territory. Finally, Gilmore steps up with an anguished saxophone cry andtakes over with a typically mind-blowing solo, which is 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 thelater ’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, andthe rhythm section never quite attains the stately grace the work requires. Hadi ventures firstwith an uncharacteristically modest but tasteful solo while Morrow provides some rather aimlessfilling on vibes, 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 renditionof “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 pealsof squalling horns and energetic free drumming. The mix is a little weird until Tyson enters witha lovely solo rendition of “They’ll Come Back,” which elicits an enthusiastic response from thecrowd. 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 theheaving chords of “Discipline,” this time with hysterical vocalizations from (perhaps) Malik
Ramadin. Interesting. The 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 of times before Gilmore takes over with another spectaculartenor solo, bringing down the house to stunned applause. Ra then moves to acoustic piano for arare 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 by dissonant organ stabs, with an onomatopoeic whitenoise 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 anothernumber in 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 a tight 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 to end. Sonny then taps out the tune, “To Nature’sGod,” on Rocksichord, but drops out for Tyson and the guys to sing the song over a hypnotic
two-chord vamp supplied by vibraphone and electric bass. “Sometimes you should appreciate
the work of Nature’s God! -- Give credit where credit is due!” they implore. While it’s sort ofunderstandable 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 fleetfingered runs of notes, which again elicits a round of applause from the audience. Pat Patrickhonks 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 everliving 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-wire trumpet solo, full of rubber-lipped special effects which is greeted withrespectful applause. Ra furiously assaults the organ with remarkable, ten-fingered dexterity,
producing a richly textured, purely electronic sound. Then the Arkestra suddenly enters with awobbly space chord, serving to introduce a brief untitled composition, perhaps from the“Discipline” series, scored for long-breathed flutes and alternately moaning and riffing horns.
Very interesting! After a spacey vibraphone interlude, Ra returns with an extended synthesizer
excursion, again demonstrating his mastery of electronic keyboards in the early nineteenseventies. After a solemn conclusion, Ra deftly segues into the closing space chants. First,
there's a short romp through “The Second Stop Is Jupiter,” with Tyson 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, chanting andsinging. 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 insuch vivid high-fidelity sound! This one is a keeper, for sure! Unfortunately, the haphazard
booking of the European tour was taking its toll on the Arkestra’s finances, which led to an ugly
scene back at the hotel after this concert. Szwed explains:
The performances were spread so far apart that the money they were receiving ran thin, andthree of the musicians began demanding to be paid. After the Delft concert one of them tried totake the money by force in Sonny’s hotel room, and was stopped only when other band

members came by and heard what was going on. Sonny fired the three of them, 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 thisone 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 in West 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 foreigncountry while working only once every few weeks, so it was inevitable things would come to ahead with the less-experienced Arkestrans. Fortunately, the core members of the bandsoldiered on, enthusiastically agreeing to a last-minute trip to Egypt, despite the impossible
logistics, which included some hastily arranged gigs in Denmark in December which wereintended to pay for the excursion. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. A fragment of the Paris
concert and one “officially released” recording from Copenhagen still await us. See you next
week.
COMMENTS:
Anonymous said...
june tyson blew my mind as did the whole band, one night in manhatan near the chelsea hotel
for $17 in 1985 or '86. unreal. and the description here about this older recording reminds me
clearly of the goosebumps and dynamics

March 28, 2010
Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Solar Research Arkestra:
Théâtre du Chatelet, Paris, France 11-29-71 (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 wassomething else! Everyone stared at us. We were a sensation…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, underrecorded yet boomy, woefully unbalanced, and just plain bad. The remaining fifteen-minutesegment 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 grandentrance 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 tenor solo while the Arkestra heaves and sighs around him, but it’s difficult
to hear exactly what is going on within the music. After a brief keyboard interlude, the bandlaunches 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, electrometallic din over the polyrhythmic percussion jamming to unsettling effect. Despite the poorsound quality, you can tell this is a particularly intense version of this sometimes throw-awaypiece. There’s a churning darkness to Sonny’s organ playing that reminds me of textural effects
found on Miles Davis’s On the Corner album (which did not come out until 1972). Interesting.
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 (inFrench), and piano introduction from Ra, Tyson sings “Somebody Else’s Idea” accompanied byhypnotic 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 just handful densely through-composed ensemble chords, which quickly gives way
to an a cappella Gilmore solo. Sadly, the tape cuts off just as things start to get cooking. Toobad, 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 isstill 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.

April 4, 2010
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 core musicians dutifully carried on with the shoe-string adventure. As it turned out, theDanish promoters failed to pay, and Sonny financed the trip by selling a batch of tapes to theBlack Lion label, the desperate transaction taking place on the tarmac as the Cairo-bound planeawaited 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 DAMusic/Freedom label as Calling Planet Earth in 1998.
The homemade stereo recording was made from the stage (probably by Tommy Hunter), andwhile it sounds fine, there is some distortion during the loudest parts and you can hear theseams of a hasty editing job. Hunter’s voice (likely recorded in the hotel room afterwards)
announces the date and venue before cutting into a brief turbulent percussion jam, which serves
as an introduction to “Discipline 5.” The through-composed sequence of sweet-n-sour
harmonies rises and falls over the busy percussion section, yielding to an unaccompanied alto
saxophone solo by Danny Davis, and returning for the reprise. Kwame Hadi remains as the only
brass player, but the saxophone section is full and lush: besides Davis, mainstays Marshall
Allen, John Gilmore, Pat Patrick, Danny Thompson, 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 enters with a fiercely overblown solo on tenor sax.
Unfortunately, he’s way off-mic and hard to hear. Even so, 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 havebeen 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 harmonicareas of 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 organ solo 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,” the Arkestra slams into “The Outers,” some high-energy freejazz skronk: the horns wail, the drums bash, and Sonny attacks his electronic keyboards withfists and elbows. This goes on for a while, until Sun Ra takes over for good with an agitatedmad-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 that never quite seems to gel. Ra again
leads the way with a genially meandering organ solo, while the Arkestra 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 trackfades 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 so manytantalizing but rarely performed works scattered throughout the discography!
While there is some interesting music here, the Arkestra sounds hesitant on the newer materialand some of the more exciting improvisational music has obviously been edited out from amuch 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.
COMMENTS:Sam said...
Yeah, you're definitely spoiled! :) I quite like this CD, and while I agree that "Adventures" maynot quite 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!

April 11, 2010
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 withwhom 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, andthey woke up the next day to see the morning fog slowly lifting to reveal the pyramid of Giza. A
day later Tommy Hunter began taking motion pictures of members of the Arkestra as they faced
the pyramids, while the wind made their costumes billow so it appeared they were flying. These
were the films that Sun Ra would later project behind the band at Slug’s and at concerts (p.292).
Here is the film:
Thanks to Sun Ra fan, Hartmut Geerken, a German writer and free musician who was teachingat the Goethe Institute in Cairo, a series of performances were arranged, including an invitationonly 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 ajazz drummer. Though he was later disciplined for the contact, he continued to meet with theband under various disguises, including once when he came with the son of [Egyptian
President] Gamal Abdel Nasser, also a jazz musician. Musicians and dancers were jammed into
the house with several dozen guests, but they still managed a light show and dancing, and amarch throughout the house and into the garden (while the Egyptian secret police kept watch
from outside) (pp.292-293).
The Arkestra also performed at the famed Ballon Theatre in Cairo on December 17 courtesy of
the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, who had cancelled ballet previously scheduled for that date(p.293). The concert was recorded from the stage (in mono) by Tommy Hunter and released on
various impossible-to-find Saturn LPs over the years (see Campbell & Trent, pp.180-183). Mostof this material was finally compiled onto a CD entitled, Horizon, and released by Art Yard in2008. It is a truly special performance: after the cold, grueling tour of Europe, the Arkestra
sounds well-rested and inspired by the ancient, mystical-- and warm -- environment. Ra sets thestage with some ominous electronics before a brief “Theme of the Stargazers” and a howling acappella solo from Danny Davis on alto sax. The band then launches into “Discipline 2,” amoody 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 “TheShadow World” and we’re off to the races. This is a spectacular, seventeen minute rendition,with Ra driving the band hard and the ensemble responding with near-perfect execution of theextraordinarily complicated melody lines. Ra takes the lead with a skittering organ solo before
an energetic group improvisation section that yields to Gilmore’s furiously wailing tenor sax.
Yes, it’s another incredible Gilmore solo! Kwame Hadi also takes a turn on trumpet and acquits
himself well, ranging around from high-wire acrobatics to smeared, low-register noodling before
Ra signals the reprise. After a brief pause, Ra lightens the mood by moving into
“Enlightenment,” which is joyfully taken up by June Tyson and her male choir. “Love In OuterSpace” predictably follows and while this version lacks the menacing darkness heard in Paris,
there’s plenty of exciting organ work and another tasty solo from Hadi.
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
this concert! Ra takes a bumptious, barbequed organ solo as the rhythm section starts to reallyheat up, only settling down again for the return of the head. Sonny then lurches into somedissonant 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, andmeanwhile Marshall Allen squeals 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 toblow some honking bass clarinet until Gilmore takes over with a blistering display of highpitched harmonics, howling multiphonics, and low-register growls, joined at the end by the altos
in an all-out saxophone battle. After reaching a feverish pitch, the saxophones subside, leaving
Hadi to brood. All the while, the Arkestra’s riffing continues to heave and sigh, rising and fallingwith contours of the soloists' excursions. After a cued ending, June Tyson chants “We’ll Wait forYou” 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 and supported 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 particularly focused and intense.
Given the pleasantly spacious acoustic of the recording, this makes for a must-have CD for any
Sun Ra fan. In 2009, Art Yard released Nidhamu + Dark Myth Equation Visitation, whichcontains three more tracks from this concert, along with portions of the Heliopolis performanceand a TV appearance taped on December 16. We’ll have a listen to that one next week.
COMMENTS: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 marred by that sucky Michael Ray echo thing, but otherwise is really nice. I
included both of these on "Further Live Highlights 2."

April 18, 2010

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 tofind Saturn and Thoth Intergalactic LPs over the years, making this an essential companion to
the magnificent 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 ensemble of saxophones, flutes, and oboe with a detuned synthesizer obbligato. The
yearning, dissonantly harmonized melody and rubato drums feels conceptually similar to theDiscipline series of compositions and may be a completely different piece. Ra then takes anunaccompanied solo on dual synthesizers which focuses more on pitch and rhythm thanspaceship noises for a change. After moving to Rocksichord and outlining a bluesy set ofchanges, the ensemble returns with a lushly orchestrated coda that echoes the big-band riffingof the original “Space Loneliness.” After some polite applause, Ra introduces “Discipline 11”
with a spacey organ solo until trumpet, flutes, and saxophones enter with the dirge-likecomposition. After some more organ chording, Marshall Allen takes a mellifluous, heavily
reverb-ed solo on flute until Sonny interrupts with more scary electronic mayhem. 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 totsunamis of white noise -- all the while maintaining a loose internal structure built around a jittery
four note figure that appears and disappears 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 preservedin the station’s archives (Campbell & Trent, p.181). “Discipline 27” fades into Kwame Hadi’s
trumpet solo while Tommy Hunter’s voice (probably dubbed later) announces the date andvenue. Hadi plays nicely, as usual, supported by a swelling 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 skitteringruns 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. “TheLight Thereof” opens with an enervated organ solo before the ensemble takes up the mournful,densely arranged composition, which was apparently performed only this one time (Campbell &Trent, p.827). Another lost masterpiece! An ensemble of saxophones, flutes and trumpet
improvise simultaneously while Gilmore takes the lead with a display of tenor pyrotechnics until
Ra points the finger and the piece stops on a dime, eliciting enthusiastic applause from thesmall 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 then takes a meditative solo, slowing the tempo to a full stop before launching into the singa-long arrangement of “To Nature’s God,” which is taken up by June Tyson and Gilmore withgusto. 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 paradearound the room. 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 spacechant, “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 appearson this Art Yard CD, it seems unlikely. But you never know what might surface…
+++
The Egyptian sojourn was supposed only last a few days, but they wound staying two weeks “asthey rode camels, shopped, hitchhiked, and went sightseeing” (Szwed, p.293). They evenventured into the great pyramids, where the lights dramatically went out as soon as they entered
the mystical King’s Chamber. As they made their way back out in pitch darkness, Sonny calmly
remarked, “Why do 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 hotelwith a candle and piece of paper covered with long rows of numbers. It was not numerology;
they were again out of money, with not even enough 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 Sonny left 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 toEurope again until the fall of 1973. They did, however, make a movie: the pseudo-Blaxploitation
classic, 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 & 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 a possible thirty-minute documentary about the Arkestra to be aired on PBS. While thatidea never panned out, with the help of director John Coney, a different kind of film wasenvisioned: Space Is the Place, “part documentary, part science fiction, part blaxploitation, partrevisionist 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 space for some years in a rocket ship propelled by music as fuel, Sun Ra
locates a planet which he deems suitable for the resuscitation of the black race. He returns toearth and lands in Oakland, circa. 1972 (where in real life the Arkestra was staying and where
the Black Panthers were under stack by the police and the FBI). Throughout the film 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 byquitting 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 whileit’s fun to watch, it’s really not a very good film (we fell asleep watching it last night). My favorite
scene is the flashback to 1943 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 theOverseer, Ra plays an increasingly cacophonous piano solo which literally blows everyone outof the bar in a cloud of smoke and atonal fury. Hilarious!
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 ofthe movie during concerts and it eventually earned some status as a “cult classic.” But Sonny
had high hopes 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 andPlexifilm released an expanded version on DVD in 2003 -- both of which are now long out of
print. Here are a couple of clips to give you an idea of what it’s like:
The Arkestra also entered a real recording studio for the first time since leaving New York torecord the soundtrack to the film, which was released by Evidence in 1993. We’ll have a listen
to that next week.
COMMENTS:
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 the hospital has been restored (to the overall detriment of the film).
To me the absolute best part of the film (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 the 1972 Slug's shows.

May 16, 2010
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, SpaceIs 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 primarilyon drums rather than saxophone, there are several interesting bits of music which make thiswell 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 typicallybrilliant oboe solo by Marshall Allen. Finally, Sun Ra takes a thoughtful MiniMoog solo on“Cosmic Forces” and launches into some portentous declamations on “I Am the Alter-Destiny”
and “I Am the Brother of the Wind,” the latter allowing Eloe Omoe to shine on raspy bass
clarinet while the ensemble 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, butthese have not 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, thesetracks are in mono and 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.
COMMENTS: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 addedon top ("At first there was nothing...").

May 23, 2010
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 blackaesthetics 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, hisacademic career (such as it was) was now over (Id.). Moreover, the Black Panthers evicted theArkestra out of their house 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: “we got kicked out by Eldridge Cleaver or somebody” (Id.). And sowith little paying work and no place to live, the decision was made to leave California in May,
1972 and move back to Marshall Allen’s house 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
minute concert 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 the band’s arrival back east. On the other hand, the presence of Pat Patrick on baritone
sax and electric bass is suspicious for a later date (he does not appear on the soundtrack or in
the film, Space Is the Place). So who knows when exactly this was recorded? In any event, I’m
sticking it here for the time being.
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
with a surprisingly subdued MiniMoog solo, full of gentle, swooshing noises and lazyportamentos. 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 conducted improvisation which begins with some noodling electric bass over asmattering of percussion; but as things start to heat up, Kwame Hadi comes in with some highregister trumpet acrobatics, his rich tone full-bodied and warm. Suddenly, Ra cues theensemble in an energetic group improvisation which is abruptly silenced by a gigantic blast oforgan, 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 uponan endlessly repeating two-note figure which is passed around the Arkestra in various
instrumental combinations. (Interestingly, Ra is heard on acoustic piano on this track.) 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 (wheneverit 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 and to go into the studio to make a bunch of new albums (Id. p.333). According to Ra, thelabel promised "to spend almost a million dollars in publicity" (Id.). ABC/Impulse! was, of course,
the home of John Coltrane’s late recordings, which had spawned “The New Thing” and a streamof semi-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 turnout as well Sonny had hoped; but for a brief while, Sun Ra records were widely available instores and helped take the band to the next level. The Arkestra would make its first recording forthe label, the classic Astro Black, while in Chicago on May 7, 1972 (Campbell & Trent p.185).

COMMENTS:
Anonymous said...
Strange that among all the recent Sun Ra reissues, Astro Black is still OOP. Where do the rights(and extant masters) for this album live?

May 30, 2010
I’m taking a break for the holiday weekend -- and so should you. Instead of reading my rambling
drivel, have a listen to the man himself in this brief interview from WTZA-TV 62 which was aired
to promote the Arkestra’s appearance at The Getaway in Saugerties, New York on June 13,
1986. Note that the death of Bennie Goodman, “The King of Swing,” is announced right after
Ra’s segment.

June 6, 2010
Sun Ra: Astro Black (ABC/Impulse! LP)
According to the jacket of Astro Black, Sun Ra’s first new recording for ABC/Impulse! wasmade at “El Saturn Studio” in Chicago on May 7, 1972, but that date is questionable since theArkestra 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 the mass 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 heis prominently featured here, driving the band to great heights. The Arkestra is augmented withboth Akh Tal Ebah and Kwame Hadi on trumpets, Charles Stephens on trombone, Alzo Wrighton violin and viola, along with several conga players, who give much of this record its avantexotica feel. But Boykins’s clearly inspires Sonny and his fluent explorations on organ andsynthesizer 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 someenergetic episodes of free 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 the uppermost registers of his instrument. Nice. A brief rendition of“Discipline 99” again demonstrates Boykins’s ability to provide a rock-solid rhythmic andharmonic 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 note-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 discographysuch 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’s delightfully quacking and squealing oboe an almost constant presence within
the restlessly shifting instrumental textures. The oboe is not an instrument you hear much injazz except for Marshall Allen and here he distantly evokes the ancient Middle Eastern nay
amidst all the cosmic afro-futurism 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 effortless élan which allows the rest of the band to freely take flight.
Really, Boykins’s playing on this album is quite 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
the albums (which included a number of reissued Saturn titles). To add insult to injury, AstroBlack has never been re-issued on CD or otherwise, despite the label’s continued exploitationof other perhaps less-worthy “New Thing” titles in its catalog. It boggles the mind that thisclassic 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 oneof the finest records in Sun Ra’s discography.
COMMENTS: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 more mysterious. Ra's use of the synthesizer is restrained and darkly
calm.
"Discipline 99" is one of my favorite Disciplines--here, we get a fine Gilmore solo. It'll beinteresting for you to contrast this version with the one on "Out Beyond the Kingdom Of," whichfeatures a wonderful exploratory, 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, this one is upper-echelon Ra due to its group dynamic, its excellent synthesizer, and theplaying of Boykins.

paul dean said...
It recently occured to me that Astro Black might be a response to Afro Blue, the jazz classic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiHS8Hf7Tb4
I found your site while looking for the lyrics to Astro Black, but apparently they are not to befound anywhere and I’m just gonna have to listen carefully. Of course you know this version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WKjCgrN6Y8
Nice discussion here!
Roddus said...
Paul, The lyrics are to be found on the cover scans of the downloadable copy of this set
available at http://fromnowherehere.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-rip-sun-ra-astro-black-1973.html

June 13, 2010
THE SHADOW OF THE FIRE
The vibrations of the sounds seem the same
But the meaning of the sounds
Take separate directions
At the crossroadsof the Cosmic point of the arrow…
Beyond this Age
Through the darkness of the light years
And the light years of the darkness
And the pure darkness of the pure light.
The light is as the darkness
Because the light is the image
And the shadow of the fire.
-- Sun Ra

June 20, 2010
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 welcomedback to Slug’s Saloon, the legendary Lower East Side nightclub where the Arkestra regularly
held court from 1966 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, the club 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 a complete set from their appearance on June 7 wasrecorded from the audience and circulates amongst devoted collectors. The mono taperecording 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
membership was, as usual, in flux. Once again left without a bassist, Alzo Wright steps in withsome 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, theband sounds well-rehearsed and they tackle a bunch of new Ra compositions and rearrangements with gusto. After an opening improvisation for arco cello and oboe followed by along 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 Come Back” gets a dramatic vocal performance from June Tysonand ends with a brief but exquisite moment of “Strange Strings”-style orientalism. Ebah’ssmeared tonality contrasts nicely with the churning skronk on “Calling Planet Earth” and, after ashort 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
enters with the oddly swinging, interlocking riffage. Ra takes one of his patented barbequedorgan solos before Ebah attempts his own high-register acrobatic act, showing he was Hadi’s
equal in terms of brilliant ideas, if not in their flawless execution. Personally, I love Ebah’s warm,
mellow tone and find 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 drop-outs, obscuring the composition’s subtle intricacies.
As the drums devolve into more tribal sorts of rhythms, Gilmore takes a truly incendiary solo on
tenor sax that gradually but insistently pushes the band towards its ultimate destination: “TheShadow World!” As the sound quality of the tape begins to improve, Sun Ra lays down theenervating chord sequence at a blindingly fast tempo. Astonishingly, the Arkestra erupts with anote-perfect rendition of this fantastically complicated composition. This inspires a tense, “madscientist-style” organ solo, Sun Ra spraying cluster-bombs of notes about the room with wildabandon, much to the crowd’s obvious delight. Not to be outdone, Gilmore returns with anotherblistering solo before the band returns with a tight reprise. Outstanding! Shifting gears, Sonny
plays a pretty organ interlude over a set of melancholically descending 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 along-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 bandstill 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 the extended
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
from the 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 soundand 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 widely-circulated “bootlegs,” despite their obvious flaws.
COMMENTS: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 awonderful piece of music--just one of seemingly dozens that Ra never "officially" released. It's amiracle, really, that we have what we do.
Another thing to mention is that this 7/4 vamp is sandwiched in between (again, I believe theonly, though I may be wrong) an instrumental shuffle-driven of "Along Came Ra" --a piece
usually reserved to introduce Ra in the mid- to late-80s corridor, sung by June Tyson (anexcellent version is in the film "Joyful Noise").
I hope somebody chimes in about the Transparency versions of these Slug's shows; I too am
curious.

June 27, 2010
FLIGHT
What I thought I am
I am notWhat was and is
Is notWhat dreams were mine
I am notWhat was and is
Is not
The laughter, the tears
The fleeting years
Are not
Gone like a sighOr a bird swift
In sudden flight.
-- Sun Ra

July 11, 2010

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 soundquality is both better and worse than the June 7 tape. There’s a bit less generational loss andmore presence to the sound -- but perhaps a bit too much presence as when things get loud,the tape overloads and distorts badly, making for a sometimes difficult listen. Too bad, as it’sanother excellent performance. The Arkestra is further enlarged with the return of Pat Patrick tothe 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 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 (see Campbell & 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 and propelled by Ra’s up-front organ comping. From there, we’re immediately in “TheShadow World,” and it’s a rip-snorting version with bracing solos from John Gilmore, Omoe andHadi, 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 fromRa and a nicely articulated trombone solo thrown in before the first overlong drum solo of theevening. Without bothering 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 anothertedious 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 and flutes twitter about. As the drums start to get heavy, Patrick cues
up a composition last heard on the Space 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 long-breathed, vaguely Arabian-sounding melody on top.
Perfect. (But what is the correct title? And why did they stop playing it? Who knows!) While theArkestra is busy riffing and vamping, Ra enters with a quasi-Biblical declamation: “At First There
Was Nothing.” It goes on and on, punctuated with crazy-sounding stage-laughter and it’s hard tohear exactly what’s going on, but it sounds like some kind of crypto-cosmic theater piece. The
Arkestra starts taking liberties, playing around with their parts, 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 to launch into “Angels andDemons 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 andthen someone starts up with the 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 notmissing 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) that leaves 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, close-cropped 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.
Tyson and the chorus inform the audience: “We’ll Wait for You” and after some skronkymadness, Gilmore takes over with a short but intense solo on tenor. This acts as a prelude toanother unknown (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 theheat and the intensity level rises as more and more instrumentalists join in the fray – and thetape 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 thecentral 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 declamationfrom 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 theoscillating riffs of "Discipline 27-II" throughout the entire twenty-three minutes duration. In fact,
the tape cuts out before they’re even finished. The Arkestra is obviously well-rehearsed and intoit.
Tyson and Gilmore sing through “Theme of the Stargazers” before a breezy rendition of “Spaceis the 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
swirling synth/organ solo that emerges from “Calling Planet Earth," but the sound is totally
overdriven and distorted on the tape -- especially when the drums start really pounding -making it hard to appreciate 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 choiraccompaniment 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," oneof the most fascinating compositions in Ra’s catalog. Ostensibly jazzy, it is thickly scored forgrouped reeds and brass with piccolo, flute and oboe on top, but the trombone stomps off while
the horns wander around in various time signatures. Meanwhile, ensembles come together andfall 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 notheard it. Can anyone out there comment on this? In the meantime, I’m happy to have thesewidely-circulated “bootlegs,” despite their obvious flaws.

July 18, 2010
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 performeden plein air at the South Street Seaport Museum in lower Manhattan on July 9, 1972. Twenty
minutes of this concert 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 forvery 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 song a handful of times while
Gilmore adds some scribbly saxophone obbligato. Then Sonny cues a big blasting space chordthat 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 this sort of thing, Sun
Ra cues a break and takes over with low-register synth and organ squiggles with 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
monophonic horn. Classic Gilmore solo! After another quick organ interlude and reed-splitting
libflecto outing from Thompson, we get another early performance of “Discipline 27-II.” Basicallyconsisting of the main riff from “Discipline 27” slowed down to a dreamy sway, the ensembles
gradually metastasize through endless repetition. Usually this was accompanied by a hortatorydeclamation from Ra (e.g. “What Planet Is This?” and/or “Life is Splendid”), but here we have apurely instrumental rendition and the spacious stereo recording allows one to really hear thesubtle shape-shifting of the instrumental textures. Unfortunately, after about seven minutes ofbliss, our recordist experiences technical difficulties and the sound quality deteriorates
markedly, with suddenly distant sound and intermittently violent tape warbles. It could be thevenue itself was experiencing electrical problems as someone right up next to the microphonesays, “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 a fifty-minute audience
recording from Paris on September 8, 1973. It sounds pretty good but we’ll get to that one indue course.

July 25, 2010
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-cultural icon, 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 anedited version of Sun Ra’s “Life Is Splendid”) was released in 1973 as Atlantic SD2-502 (andlater reissued as ATL 60058) (See Campbell & 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 tapeof 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 morelistenable than many 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 theArkestra, 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 aspectacle, I’m sure—but not always compelling listening (or maybe I’m getting tired of thisproject).
Anyway, another annoying thing about this CD is the total absence of indexing; it’s just one
thirty-seven-minute long track, making it impossible to isolate the individual compositions. Put it
on and you’re committed. Oh well, so it goes with Mr. Ra's records. The tape picks up with theusual “Enlightenment," complete with flute choir and muted trumpets accompanying June Tyson
and the Space Ethnic Voices. Despite the unbalanced sound, you can tell the Arkestra isluxuriating on a spacious stage in front of a large, receptive audience. But Ra keeps an
accordingly tight leash on the band, making sure they deliver a carefully choreographed versionof the “Cosmo Drama” for mass consumption. This is probably to be expected given theheightened circumstances (and after all, Ra's music was about discipline), but it results in a lessthan totally satisfying recording.
Sonny’s gritty organ self-propels the afro-space-groove of “Love in Outer Space” but doesn’t go
on long 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: roiling drums, battling altos, a jaw-dropping Gilmore blow-out, and some superfreaky electronics from Sun Ra—but hyper-compressed into a handful of minutes. “Discipline
27-II” supports a series of pontifical declamations, including “What Planet Is This?," “Life Is
Splendid” and “Immeasurable” delivered with a stagey theatricality. The full-bodied Arkestra
sounds supremely confident on the languid, flowing arrangement, improvising laughing riffs here
and there in response to the hysterically antiphonal vocals. But again, Sonny cuts things shortwith a dissonant organ cluster to signal the inevitable “Watusi.” The Arkestra swings right intofull-throated statement of the head but then it’s the standard percussion workout led by Lex
Humphreys and (mysterious multi-instrumentalist) Azlo Wright on drums (Jarvis is notable forhis absence at this high-profile gig.) The clattering and banging, dancing and carrying on isallowed 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. Somerocketship 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 andthere are several fleeting moments of truly inspired music-making to be found here. Who knows,
it might even 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 selfconsciously playing to the crowd, never letting things get too "out."
Then again, maybe I’m just getting tired of this project, or at least tired of the rather repetitious
and bad-sounding live recordings we’ve been listening to recently. Fortunately, dear reader, Sun
Ra returned to the recording studio in the fall of 1972 and dropped 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 this next phase in Sun Ra’s
multi-faceted career. Stay tuned.

August 1, 2010
THE ENDLESS REALM
I have nothing
Nothing!
How really is I am….
Nothing is mine.
How treasured rich am I
I have the treasure of nothing….
Vast endless nothingThat branches out into realm beyond realm.
This and these are mine
Together they are nothing.
The idea of nothing
The notion of nations
Nation….notion
I have the treasure of nothing
All of it is mine.
He who would build a magic worldMust seek my exchange bar
In order to partake of my endless
Treasure from my endless realm of nothing.
—Sun Ra

August 8, 2010
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! in February 1998. Why Impulse! chose to release this instead of their own (arguably
superior) Astro Black 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-space chanting and beyond.
By 1972, sixteen-track recording was becoming more common and it is apparent from the sidelong title track that Ra (and/or producer Michel) was keen to take advantage of this newtechnology by the use of overdubbing and elaborate stereo mixing strategies. Unfortunately, it
doesn’t always work as the whole album was no doubt hastily completed during these two
marathon sessions. One can picture Sun Ra and his crew manning the board, turning the mix
into another performance, track faders 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 theelectric bass to support June Tyson and a full complement of Space Ethnic Voices on thissignature anthem. To keep things interesting, the rhythm section brings things to an intermittent
boil and the horns occasionally wail with wild abandon. 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.
Side two is more compelling, beginning with the revival of “Images,” a Sun Ra original datingback to 1959’s Jazz 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 theirfluent dexterity navigating the highly chromatic chord changes. Ra himself even turns in atastefully understated chorus at the end. The reappearance of this tune signals the broadeningof the Arkestra’s stylistic palette that was beginning to occur to encompass pre-war jazz amidst
all the trappings of pan-African-futurism. “Images” would thenceforth become a regular featureof the live set. “Discipline 33” follows in an intricate arrangement for low reeds, flutes andtrumpets with a meandering melody that floats above the tonally ambiguous harmonies andlanguid rhythm. It’s just lovely—and a perfect example of Ra’s sophisticated and adventurous
approach to structure and orchestration.
“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 andprecision. As the rhythm 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 to a neatly choreographed saxophone battle, with Gilmore
emerging on top of the start-stop rhythm section. A somewhat awkward edit cuts into Ra’spatented “mad-scientist-style” organ solo before Hadi’s high-register fireworks heralds thereprise of the taut and twisted theme. A splash of smeared harmonies brings things to adecisive 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 small-group 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 spacechant. Taking advantage of the multi-track environment, this version is densely layered withoverdubbed vocalizing, clattering percussion and swooping synthesizers. Much too strange forradio 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 some of Sun Ra’s more interesting compositions, which, combined with the hifi stereo sonics of the recording, 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 a pathway to unknown worlds. Space is, indeed, the place—and
Sun Ra can take you there.
COMMENTS: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 piecedevelops 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 is indeed the place. If not endlessly fascinating, it's at least compelling all the way
through. I love the way 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-long chestnut from these sessions, "Discipline 27-II"(coming up soon, I hope!).

August 15, 2010
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
tie-in, Space Is the Place (also recorded at these sessions), the magisterial Astro Black, and aslew of classic 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, althoughbootlegs and fan-created “needle-drops” are readily available to the intrepid fan. Apparently,
enough material was recorded at these marathon sessions to produce four full albums: asecond Blue Thumb release was planned but never issued and another Saturn LP wasproposed to Impulse! for distribution but ultimately rejected. Prof. Campbell lists a number oftantalizing titles in his discography, including “East” parts 1-3 (!) and “Piano of Never” but themaster tapes have supposedly disappeared (see Id. pp.190-192). What remains are a pair ofuneven 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
come up 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 debt 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 theoracular influence of Sun Ra’s presence 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 andwillingly 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 others much less gifted who went on to make aname 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 staggeringbrilliance. Yes, it’s another incredible Gilmore solo! Kwame Hadi, Sun Ra and Eloe Omoe taketurns 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 tothe head although Sonny wants to keep on going. The track ends with a long fade out on Ra’ssmoky 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 thewide open spaces. This is a fine example of Ra’s genius as a composer and orchestrator.
“Discipline 8” is not 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 nicemedium swing number with plenty of Sonny’s tasty space-age barbeque sauce ladled on withhis crude electric organ. A wild group 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 overamidst the pealing trumpets of Hadi and Ebah and all hell breaks loose in the rhythm section.
But Sonny deftly reins it all in with some expectant vamping before Tyson alone chants: “Haveyou heard the latest news from Neptune?” Yes, we have—and it is good news indeed.
Side two, on the other hand, suffers from the same kind of aimless self-indulgence that mars thetitle track to Space Is the Place. Consisting of a side-long rendition of “Discipline 27-II,” with afull complement of the usual space-chants and hortatory declamations, it further lacks theadventurous mix-down techniques of the latter (probably due to time constraints) that might
have added some much needed auditory interest—or at least made the densely layered
recording sound marginally coherent. It is a sprawling, twenty-five-minute mess with the dreamlike, subtly shape-shifting ensembles buried under innumerable wacked-out vocal tracks, which
are also murkily mixed and hard 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 even then, 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” isassuredly one of Sun Ra’s least successful studio efforts. Whatever; the magnificence of side
one more than compensates for the obvious deficiencies of 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 erraticallyfascinating records. You never know with Sun Ra…
COMMENTS: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 repeatedly used throughout the rest of the '70s and into the '80s in live gigs. Somemade their way onto record ("I, Pharaoh," etc.), but it's on umpteen concert recordings. I know
he had to get the message 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 is something I would probably overlook if I wasn't
listening to this stuff so closely. The whole thing is just tossed off, but, wow, it's a killer track.

August 22, 2010
VISIONS OUT
Metamorphosis Vision
Transmolecular light
Transcendent darkness rule/measure of the outerness
Black, chromatic
Synthesis on
It is yon diamond project differential
Sapphire beam rubyGem-Gemini
Plane transcendent / visions out.
-- Sun Ra

August 29, 2010
Sun Ra: “The Mystery Board” (Thumbs Up! (boot) 2CD)
A bootleg CD entitled "The Mystery Board" appeared on the mythic Thumbs Up! label sometime ago purporting to have been recorded November 2nd or 3rd 1972 “for a possible Saturnrelease.” As with any bootleg, all this needs to be taken with an enormous grain of salt. Yet the1972 date seems 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 asatisfactory LP out of this mess, had he so desired. Such as it is, "The Mystery Board" is arough listen with the mix suffering from the usual deficiencies of a soundboard tape made in asmall venue: the vocals and soloists are way up front, with the drums and everything else (withthe notable exception of Ra himself) almost entirely inaudible. Accordingly, all the ensemble
sections are woefully unbalanced, but some of the less instrumentally dense material actuallysounds 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 ariot is about to break out. Sometimes the Arkestra plays some halting swing but for the mostpart Sonny is just furiously preaching it. Thankfully, after about five minutes, Ra segues into abrief, 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 all these 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 Ebahshare vocal duties while the band intermittently erupts into bouts of free-jazz skronk. Gilmore
takes a typically brilliant tenor sax solo, but as he wanders on and off mic, the effect isconsiderably lessened. In fact, the mix is so murky that the remainder of this track is hardly
worth bothering with.
The next thirty-minute segment, on the other hand, is quite interesting, featuring threesomewhat 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 and Sonny even takes a gently floating solo of his own. The mix is muchclearer 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 and drums with the flute choir playing long-breathed,dissonant melodies above and around a moderately 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 five providing 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 asqualling climax of piercing multiphonics and rapid-fire glissandos. Yes, it’s another incredible
Gilmore solo! Kwame Hadi gamely follows with his typically fluent articulation in all registers, butwhen the Neptunian libflecto enters (Thompson?), the tape abruptly cuts off. Too bad; 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 the enervating 5/4 ostinato while Allen plays the lead on alto saxophone rather than theusual flute. This provides a relatively rare opportunity to appreciate Allen’s brilliance on that
instrument as he takes a long, labyrinthine solo exhibiting a vast range of timbral variety andexpressionistic melodic invention—so good it elicits a round of polite applause from theaudience. 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 ofscreaming 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 andhorrifically distorted. Nevertheless, Ra’s extended solo segments are a delight, withkaleidoscopic tone colors courtesy of his “space organ,” Moog synthesizer and a battery ofelectronic effects, including repeaters, tremolos, phasers and some deliberately nasty distortion.
Excellent. “Space Is the Place” arises from the ashes with Akh Tal Ebah joining June Tyson andthe Ethnic Space Voices on this signature anthem. Sadly, the mix is again abysmal with thehistrionic singing much too prominent and the rhythm section almost non-existent. Interestingly,
what sounds like electric bass is clearly audible, casting some doubt on whether or not Boykins
is really present on this recording, or if this segment is possibly from a different 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 andkeep up with all these unknown “Discipline” pieces without having to contend with further
discographical confusion! (Like I said, I really need to create that spreadsheet.) This version isincomplete, 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 know that yet?” the band drops out for some full-throated declamations:“A cosmic equation was sent to you, men of Earth, and you couldn’t solve the problem!
Therefore, the universe sent me to converse with you!” Wow. The Arkestra later revives therepeatedly descending theme behind the declamations, but it’s all rather distant-sounding andhard to hear. And again, it is clearly an electric bass 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 tape abruptly 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 orderof the 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 withthe “Cosmo Drama” dividing the two discs. Then again, I also suspect this material might
actually be from two different concerts, with Boykins on some of it and an unknown electric bass
player on the rest. But who knows? This is truly a “Mystery Board” and while much of it borders
on the unlistenable, there’s enough compelling music here to make it worth seeking out. Caveat
emptor!

September 5, 2010
"A Space warning from Sun Ra to the Planet Earth" via Pat Griffiths in Friends (London),February 2, 1971. (Click to enlarge)

September 12, 2010
SPIRAL OUTWARDLY
When there is confusion
Chaos reigns with multi-dimensional song
Where like some bird
Sound ecstatic
To fly around the crossroads
Whence dimensions meet
And wind their way
Of circular paths spiral outwardly.
-- Sun Ra

September 19, 2010
OTHER PLANES OF THERE
The displaced years
Memory calls them that
They were never were then;Memory scans the void

And from the future
Comes the wave of the greater void
A pulsating vibration
Sound span…..bridge to other ways andOther planes of there…..
-- Sun Ra

September 26, 2010
I apologize for the lack of substantive writing on Sun Ra Sundays of late. Honestly, I’ve been
taking a little bit of a break. Moreover, I’ve been working on a different kind of Sun Ra project
the past few weeks: My friends, Scott and Rose, are getting married next week and they asked
me to come up with some “Happy Ra” for the wedding reception. What an amazingly cool idea!
Here’s what I came up with:
Disc 1:
1. Dreaming (The Cosmic Rays) (from The Singles) (Saturn/Evidence)
2. Stranger in Paradise (Nu Sounds) (from Spaceship Lullaby) (Atavistic)
3. ‘Round Midnight (from Sound Sun Pleasure!!) (Saturn/Evidence)
4. You Never Told Me That You Care (from Sound Sun Pleasure!!) (Saturn/Evidence)
5. Hour of Parting (from Sound Sun Pleasure!!) (Saturn/Evidence)
6. Back In Our Own Backyard (from Sound Sun Pleasure!!) (Saturn/Evidence)
7. Enlightenment (from Sound Sun Pleasure!!) (Saturn/Evidence)
8. I Could Have Danced All Night (from Sound Sun Pleasure!!) (Saturn/Evidence)
9. But Not For Me (from Holiday for Soul Dance) (Saturn/Evidence)
10. Day By Day (from Holiday for Soul Dance) (Saturn/Evidence)
11. Holiday for Strings (from Holiday for Soul Dance) (Saturn/Evidence)
12. Dorothy’s Dance (from Holiday for Soul Dance) (Saturn/Evidence)
13. Early Autumn (from Holiday for Soul Dance) (Saturn/Evidence)
14. I Loves You, Porgy (from Holiday for Soul Dance) (Saturn/Evidence)
15. Body and Soul (from Holiday for Soul Dance) (Saturn/Evidence)
16. Keep Your Sunny Side Up (from Holiday for Soul Dance) (Saturn/Evidence)
17. Paradise (from Sound of Joy) (Delmark)18. Dreams Come True (from Sound of Joy) (Delmark)19. Sometimes I’m Happy (from Nuclear War) (Saturn/Atavistic)
20. Tapestry from an Asteroid (from The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra) (Savoy)
The first disc was a no-brainer, consisting of Sun Sound Pleasure!! and Holiday for Soul Dancein their entirety. These albums find Sun Ra and his Arkestra at their most straight ahead andeasy to digest, including some romantic crooning that should fit the mood. Of course, this being
Sun Ra, the arrangements are sometimes a little strange and already in the 1950s Sonny was
exploring electronic keyboards to interesting effect. I also had to include a couple of love-sick
doo-wop tracks just for fun along with some otherwise stylistically congruent tracks from Sound
of Joy and Nuclear War. Finally, “Tapestry from an Asteroid” (from The Futuristic Sounds of SunRa) is so pretty, I couldn’t help but tack it on at the end.
Disc 2:
1. Lullaby for Realville (from Sun Song) (Delmark)2. Fate in a Pleasant Mood (from Fate In a Pleasant Mood) (Saturn/Evidence)3. Ankhnaton (from Fate In a Pleasant Mood) (Saturn/Evidence)
4. Reflections In Blue (from Visits Planet Earth) (Saturn/Evidence)
5. Planet Earth (from Visits Planet Earth) (Saturn/Evidence)
6. Interstellar Low Ways (from Interstellar Low Ways) (Saturn/Evidence)
7. Plutonian Nights (from Angels and Demons at Play) (Saturn/Evidence)
8. Rocket #9 (from The Singles) (Saturn/Evidence)
9. Love In Outer Space (from The Singles) (Saturn/Evidence)
10. Island In the Sun (from Janus) (1201 Music)
11. Sun-Earth Rock (from Night of the Purple Moon) (Saturn/Atavistic)
12. Dance of the Living Image (from Night of the Purple Moon) (Saturn/Atavistic)
13. Otherness Blue (from My Brother the Wind, Vol. II) (Saturn/Evidence)
14. Walking On the Moon (from My Brother the Wind, Vol. II) (Saturn/Evidence)
15. Drop Me Off In Harlem (from Nuclear War) (Saturn/Atavistic)
16. Celestial Love (from Nuclear War) (Saturn/Atavistic)
Disc two was a little more complicated, with lots of strong contenders which just didn’t make thecut. I tried keep the mood light (but not too jumpy) and rejected any tracks that suffered from
especially poor sound quality or just got a little too weird, while still capturing some of themagical qualities of Ra’s music in the Sixties and Seventies. No easy task! I’m listening to thedisc as I write this, and I think it works pretty well, moving as it does from late-Fifties rocking andriffing to floating space rhumbas to Rocksichord boogaloos—and, of course, there is a heaping
helping of Sun Ra’s patented space-age barbeque organ thrown on top to boot. Maybe that will
get people up and dancing.
Disc 3:
1. Song No.1 (from Antique Blacks) (Saturn/Art Yard)
2. Where Pathways Meet (from Lanquidity) (Saturn/Evidence)
3. That’s How I Feel (from Lanquidity) (Saturn/Evidence)
4. Twin Stars of Thence (from Lanquidity) (Saturn/Evidence)
5. On Jupiter (from On Jupiter) (Saturn/Art Yard)
6. UFO (from On Jupiter) (Saturn/Art Yard)
7. Door of the Cosmos (from Sleeping Beauty) (Saturn/Art Yard)
8. Sleeping Beauty (from Sleeping Beauty) (Saturn/Art Yard)
If that doesn’t work, then disc three ought to get the booty shaking, gathering plum tracks fromRa’s “disco” albums, Lanquidity, On Jupiter, and Sleeping Beauty, while opening with theextended groove-fest, “Song No.1,” from the otherwise disturbingly polemical Antique Blacks.
Then again, perhaps this stuff really is too “out there” for most people. We’ll see how it goesover. In any event, it’s been a lot of fun to put this all together and I’m pretty sure the bride andgroom will enjoy it—and that is what counts.
(Thanks (as usual) to Sam Byrd for his invaluable input on this project!)

October 3, 2010
The wedding was lovely and I was glad that the three-CD compilation of Sun Ra music I madeturned out to be a delightful accompaniment to the luncheon/reception at the beautiful LothianHouse on the Delaware River (photograph). There was no dancing (except for the happy
couple’s first dance to “Love In Outer Space”), but I did learn how to play Bocce. I'll be back witha real Sun Ra Sunday post next week, I promise!

October 10, 2010
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, and they 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 ofJune Tyson’s vocal on “Strange Worlds” implies a post-1970 date. So, my best guess is thiswas recorded in late-1970/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 fromthe master (presumably lost) and there is plenty of generational distortion, including wow andflutter, 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 longorgan/Rocksichord solo buoyed by murmuring percussion. But after about nine minutes, Jarvis
can hardly contain himself and comes charging out of the gate. Ra counters with some dark
funk before bringing things around to a mellow space-rhumba. The vocalists proceed to sing awordless three-note figure while oboes and flutes 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’treally 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 Sonny turns in an
insistently nattering solo atop the medium swing before the big reprise, which sounds
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 drum sets 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 the rhythm 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 contemplativeclavinet 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 theotherwise subdued audience. After some dissonant organ chords, Danny Davis takes over withsome similarly adventuresome alto, but just as a 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
bad sound. 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 tointimate a reprise 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 no twenty-minute Jarvis solo this evening, at least not yet). After some stunned
applause, Sonny plays a pretty 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 toclavinet 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 theboys, with a ticking hi-hat and clonking cowbells keeping easy time. Nothing too unusual. Next
up is the ecstatic chanting of “Outer Spaceways, Incorporated” and “Prepare for the Journey toOuter 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 ahuge tone that easily cuts through the din. 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 anextremely curious solo—but what instrument is this?? At times it sounds like Ra’s MiniMoog, butother 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. earlySeventies). 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 soundquality requires a lot of work to penetrate—yet there are moments (however fleeting) of rare andsublime music that (sort of) reward the effort. As a historical document, it poses more questions
than it answers, only adding to the overall sense of frustration. Accordingly, I cannot
recommend this to anyone but the specialist or truly obsessive. For them, it is a tantalizingly
inscrutable text worthy of monastic study. Most anyone else might be understandably repulsed.
Caveat emptor.

October 17, 2010
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, anddistorted. Only about thirty-seven minutes long, there’s hardly enough here to even consider.
What’s remarkable is how 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 the part 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 then some eerie, otherworldly vocalizing follows, similar to what was heard at
the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz 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, thisbrief segment is still quite impressive. A jaunty “Enlightenment” emerges from stunned applausewith “Space Is the Place” right behind. It’s the usual 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 the microphone says, “Hey, what’s
happening brother?” it’s startling and funny like some kind of homemade musique 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 delicatearrangement of flutes and trumpets, with Gilmore taking the lead on low-register tenor sax.
“Lights on a Satellite” is one of my favorite Ra compositions and this performance is nearly
perfect, the interlaced ensemble floating peacefully above a gentle space-rhumba 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 and it sounds likeit’s going to be a good one as the ensemble begins to execute the hocketed melodies withterrific 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 to recommend 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 ouranonymous recordist for making the effort.

October 24, 2010
ABSTRACT PLANES
The cosmic roles
Are written on sundry parchments
Tinted with fireBlue vibrations of pulsating flame
Energies…G-Force dimensions
Abstract planes of sound and sight.
--Sun Ra

October 31, 2010
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 finallyreleased in early 1973, along with a batch of Saturn reissues, pushing Sun Ra’s music into themainstream 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 new recordings made at Variety Recorders in New York and prepared forrelease in the then-trendy (and now 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 was ever released, in a vanishingly small pressing, justbefore the label pulled the plug in 1975. (See, Campbell & Trent pp.193-196; and Szwed
pp.333-334.) The remaining titles remained the subject of intense conjecture until Evidence
finally reissued them in 2000 (remixed to stereo from the original four-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,at least in the short term. Furthermore, Michel points out that the contract was the result ofsome highly unorthodox negotiation techniques on the part of Alton Abraham:
A standard Artist’s Contract (“Everything You Have Is Ours…,” spelled out in some detailover seven pages) was presented. Alton put it in his briefcase, shook hands all aroundand 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 theSaturnians—rather than engage in the point-by-point wrestling and mud-slinging matchthat constitutes most recording-industry contractual discussions—simply retyped thecontract, turning everything on its head, with ABC, rather than Saturn, at the short end of
the stick.
[…] 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 a counter-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 proffered turned 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 a while, 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, atthe time, extremely rare) although Sonny was unable to really capitalize on this cache ofintellectual property during his lifetime. This was exacerbated by a dispute with Abraham overownership of the masters 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, for the 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 to have been another in a line of great blues-based records a la My Brother The Wind,
Vol. II and Universe In Blue, with Ra leading a small-group Arkestra from his patented “spaceage barbeque” organ. Significantly, Ronnie Boykins is back in the band with his huge-toned
bass adding heft to these five loosely structured pieces. “The World of the Invisible” opens thealbum with some portentous spookiness, ghostly organ chords and a herky-jerky rhythm section
supporting a serpentine 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’sskittering 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 some authentically soulful roadhouse wailing on tenor saxophone, slowly building
up to an astonishing climax 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 insome typically hermetic organ while Boykins steadily walks and drummer, Harry Richards, andconga-player, Derek Morris lackadaisically shuffle alongside. Alone in the trumpet chair for achange, Akh Tal Ebah delivers a long and thoughtful solo, his warm tone and smeared
articulation offering a nice contrast to Kwame Hadi’s usual showy virtuosity. Sadly, the trackfades 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
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. Thistime, Danny Davis gets a rare solo spot on alto saxophone, coming out from behind the shadowof Marshall Allen, who was apparently absent at this session. Again, the track fades just as thesoloist starts to get going, which is a little frustrating. Nonetheless, this track—and the album asa whole—is really all about Sun Ra’s interaction with the masterful bass playing of Boykins andthe almost amateurish drumming of Richards. It is this dynamic but unstable rhythm section thatprovides the cool, elusive mood of this fine 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 more experimental compositional techniques and radical orchestral strategies. A fullcontingent of Arkestrans is present, although Boykins is notably absent and no one steps in toplay bass. It doesn’t really matter as Sonny is by now well used to this arrangement and fills out
the space with his electronic 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, indicatingfrom the first moment that this is going to be one of those Sun Ra records that will fry yourtweeters and blow your mind. Oh yeah. After sketching out a quasi-twelve-tone row, drums andcongas enter with complex, overlapping rhythms while Marshall Allen plaintively reiterates thetheme. Prof. Campbell states in his liner notes that 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 to skitter in the background. In any event,a rich texture is created and sustained, similar to what was heard 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 theinterlocking riff constructions found in Ra’s numbered ‘Discipline’ series of compositions” andthe 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 fromthere, 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 comes and goes along with Ra’s
sea-sick organ, which takes the lead unaccompanied just before the horns return. Foregoing a
restatement of the theme, the track fades out on some full-on group improvisation. Veryinteresting.
“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, Afroexotica percussion jam that Sun Ra was so fond of. That description makes it sound like itwould be boring and self-indulgent, but in actuality, it is a monument to Sun Ra’s genius as acomposer and Gilmore’s unheralded greatness as soloist. Opening with a magisterial statementfrom 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 tonallyambiguous melodies. At about the eight-minute mark, Ra’s shapeshifting organ begins to coax
the rhythm section into a duple-meter reverie while Gilmore follows along with more writtenmaterial 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 andfinally disappearing into the hypnotic percussion ensemble. A crash cymbal is ceremoniallystruck 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
grateful to the folks at Evidence for locating the tapes and finally issuing them on CD. The
Evidence label also rescued Pathways to Unknown Worlds from the dustbin of history andwe’ll have a listen to that one next time. It's a doozy!
COMMENTS: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's nice 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.

November 7, 2010
THE POTENTIAL
Beyond other thought and other worlds
Are the things that seem not to be
And yet are.
How impossible is the impossible
Yet the impossible is a thought
And every thought is real
An idea, a flash of intuition’s fire
A seed of fire that can bring to be
The reality of itself.
Beyond other thought and other worlds
Are the potentials…
That hidden circumstanceAnd pretentious chance
Cannot control.
--Sun Ra

November 14, 2010
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 alongwith the rest of the catalog licensed from El Saturn Records. That meant literally cutting off thecorners of the jackets and dumping the remaining stock below wholesale, thereby cutting off
Sun Ra from any royalties that would have otherwise been due (see Szwed p.333). For a brief
period in the mid-1970s, Sun Ra records could be found in the sale bins of mom-and-pop record
stores across America, but they quickly disappeared for good and, by the end of the end of thedecade, 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 obscurediscography 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 wereoriginally conceived as part of a proposed trilogy that would have progressed from earthy bluesof Cymbals (AS-9296) through the hyper-modern 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 apuzzling 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 of skronky free-jazz-noise (even so, I would be very interested inhearing these original “surround sound” mixes!). In 2000, Evidence remixed the album to stereo
from the multitrack tapes and, in the process, discovered an additional (untitled) track that wasomitted from the original LP, expanding it to a (slightly) more reasonable thirty-four minutes ofmusic.
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 andsupple rhythm section Ra would ever enjoy (sadly, it was intermittent at best and ultimately
short lived). Joined by a full complement 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 oftightly controlled chaos and this album stands with the best of 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 Frenchhorn), making it possible to really compare them side-by-side. Sometimes, Ebah shoves acontrabassoon reed into the mouthpiece to create the “Space dimension mellophone,” rendering
an earth-shattering blast of sound akin to the Neptunian libflecto (a bassoon with either aFrench 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 is interesting: 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 thisperiod, 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 israther 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 thewhole being much more than the sum of its parts—hence the pointlessness of a detailed
description. Together with The Great Lost Albums, these are some of the crowningachievements 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) and Tone 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 565) were found in a box and issued for the firsttime, appended to Pathways to Unknown Worlds.
Unfortunately, Boykins is once again absent but the laconic Harry Richards returns on drums
along with Atakatune (Stanley Morgan) on congas and they provide a relaxed, contemplativerhythmic feel throughout. 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’scompositions during this period—in fact, the horns play a repeating, five-note figure towards theend 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 each deliver delightfully contrasting brass excursions and Danny
Davis is featured throughout on alto saxophone. Danny Ray Thompson even coaxes somesurprisingly tender melodies from the unwieldy Neptunian libflecto. But Gilmour’s tenor sax solo
on part four is the real standout, an especially soulful, bluesy meditation seasoned withastonishing extended techniques and punctuated with pregnant silences. Yes, it’s anotherincredible John Gilmour 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 not touring 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, withthe release and widespread distribution of the brilliant Astro Black and the reissue of a numberof classic Saturn LPs, Sun Ra’s fortunes were looking up: the Arkestra would make its
triumphant return to Carnegie Hall in July, in a concert recorded and broadcast by Voice ofAmerica, 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 established amongst the hip-jazz cognoscenti and newrecords would continue to pour forth from Saturn and various independent labels, likebreadcrumbs on an intergalactic space trail. His music was treated with near-reverential respectabroad 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 insome quarters, he provoked outright hostility, summarily dismissed as charlatan, a fake. By the
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 theneo-conservative 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 mostambitious. Hopeful of a better world realizable in sound, Sun Ra sincerely thought he couldchange the world, and in some not-so-small ways, he did. These albums are essential
documents of one of the Twentieth Century’s most widely misunderstood and underappreciatedmasters.

November 21, 2010
TO OUTER UNSEEN WORLDS
Come my brother, you are dear to me
I will take you to new worlds
Greater in splendor than anything earth possesses.
If you are fearful, you are of the futile persuasion
If you are strong, you will be as I
I am nothing
My symbol is the name of nothing
And yet I speak as the living pattern
For the spirit.
The spirit is as I
Nothing can withstand my will
I cover the earth
And hold it like a ball in my hand
I can dash it to bits if I will
Or with the power of many forces
I can take it in seconds
To another galaxy
And set it gently in another place.
--Sun Ra

November 28, 2010
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
discuss them and thank my kind benefactors: Thank you so much!
+++
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 whitephotographs. Edited by Alton Abraham’s son, Adam, the book provides a comprehensive
selection of Ra’s literary works, including numerous, side-by-side alternates and revisions alongwith introductory essays by James L. Wolf and Hartmut Geerken which seek to contextualize
these idiosyncratic writings within the otherworldly, messianic persona Sun Ra constructed. As
Wolf points out:
[Ra’s] poems are so bravely and unabashedly un-poetic. I know of no other poet who
uses fewer concrete nouns than does 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 is presenting to us in his volumes, crossings from one place to another, points ofintersection where changes of direction become possible. Beyond these two, there arealmost no moments in his entire written corpus that could be called “images” whichsuggest 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 uponancient mythology and western metaphysics, suggests that he achieves “a kind of
cosmic formula about life and the world which can be employed to harmonize theindividual, society, science, politics and art”(p.xxv):
Sun Ra’s poems untie language following the recipes of the Dadaists, the structuralists,
the lettrists, the futurists and the cosmologists. Above all, his poetic texts consist ofenergies. 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 less automatically and spontaneously. The reader of Sun Ra’s poems“enters a while and free world, a world without a pope, without kings, without religion,
and without refuge. He becomes a tree, a bird, a dancer, a barque, a wave—parts of acosmos which creates all possibilities and destroys all certainties” (p.xxvi). [Quotationfrom 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 ofboth. He was a man born Herman Poole “Sonny” Blount, who reinvented himself as Sun Ra
from the planet Saturn. The transformation was total: he legally changed his name to Le Sony’r
Ra and disavowed his earthly mortality. This was decades before Prince! Sun Ra created his
own reality—at least while he was alive—and his written works are keys to his mind. These
Collected Works make for 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 ofpreviously unreleased Sun Ra music from the ‘Sixties is reason enough to celebrate, but thisrelease exceeds all expectations. Of course, Nothing Is…is a perfect album in itself, but it was
skillfully edited to showcase the more out-there extremes of the Arkestra’s live act. Thisexpanded edition restores the concert’s proper sequence, including some of the old-timey swing
numbers and groovy space chants which were omitted from the original album; to hear thisedition of Arkestra rip through some of the ‘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 fromthere.
This was one of the best bands Sonny ever assembled: Ronnie Boykins and Clifford Jarvis in
the rhythm 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 moreusual trumpets on top, there are the trombonists, Teddy Nance and Ali Hasan, who give theensemble 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 badidea); 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 themusic for the lie of empty technical displays. Usually, Sonny has to finally cut him midparadiddle 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
heave and 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 whatsounds like a rehearsal but, curiously, applause can be heard at the end. Is it merely tacked on?
Who knows? Regardless, College Tour Vol. 1 is a most welcome addition to the Sun Ra
discography, an essential document from this most fertile period. The Arkestra played fiveconcerts 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 the meantime, this will certainly do!
Thank you, Kath & Justin!

December 5, 2010
SOUND/SILENCE
What can I say other than the music itself?
Music?
Yes, to the ears that dare to hear
That dare to hear
Both the silence and the sound!
Music?
Yes, the silence/sound duality necessity belongness . . . Balanced
projection pointless
Cosmo-Nature/natural feeling sensitivity
Dial pointer vibration-intensity indicator
Express image expression need necessity being code alterotherness continuanceContinuance On . . On . . On
The music is in the word of words ON . . . . . . .
--Sun Ra (1972)

December 12, 2010
Sun Ra: The Singles (Evidence 2CD)
In 1974, at the height of the Impulse! deal, the resurrected Saturn label released two seven-inch
45-RPM 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 tocertain favored record stores for cash on the barrelhead, making them extremely rare andhighly-prized collector’s items today. Thankfully, the Evidence label has collected all the known
Saturn singles onto two CDs, 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 andspeculations to fit them into the chronology.
“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 Willner (see, Campbell &Trent pp.209-210). The vocalist is Sam Bankhead (who appeared in the Space is the Placemovie) and there’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.
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’sboing-ing MiniMoogs, the head is tightly arranged for the tangy ensemble of Marshall Allen’soboe and John Gilmore’s tenor sax. Probably recorded at Variety in May 24, 1973, the “MicroEnsemble Unit” actually sounds surprisingly well rehearsed and polished on this almost-popworthy 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 theunbalanced and overamplified sound. Clifford Jarvis swings hard on drums and Gilmore andJune Tyson duet while Sonny churns out some gritty organ accompaniment. After a bluesy solofrom 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 theHouse of Ra in Philadelphia sometime between 1970 and 1974, this stripped down version isreally quite affecting. The tempo is slow and deliberate, held together by Gilmore’s remarkably
supple drumming and Sonny’s orchestral clavinet playing. Gilmore and Tyson sing with fullthroated sincerity and, even though 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 thatinimitable “Saturn Sound.” A nice rendition of this sometimes overplayed song.

December 19, 2010
THE ROSE WILL BLOOM
The rose will bloom
The broken bowl
Will never know
The perfect self
It once was shaped.
And though the heavens
Are as far from man
As all the past,
They are not lifelessOr insensitive
As one would think . . . . . . .
Seeing they are so distant;
Even as the past knows all the ways
Knows all the ways of man,So the vastAnd
Timeless firmament knows:
And being what is,
It bides that we should search
For celestial-cosmo-truth of myth;That we should know at last
Our true worth and insignificanceIn proximity to theEndless-Eternal Myth . . . . . . . . .
--Sun Ra

December 26, 2010
Happy Holidays from Santa Ra!
COMMENTS:
Anonymous said...
Hello from Belarus, Rodger!
Sorry for my English if something is wrong, Russian is much more easier 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 surprisedthat there are just a few comments, so this is somewhat of my comment. I hope (and wish youthat) 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 and Giza and to see the Pyramids. But it was not less exciting experience for me to see
the Sound and Light Theater, where the Grateful Dead shows took place in 1978, it is just few
rows of seats (now much less than I saw on the pictures of the event) in the shadow of Sphynx.
Since then I had a bit of interest on who else of artists visited Egypt with concerts and found justa few ones in my research: Jean-Michel Jarre, Agitation Free, and... Sun Ra. I only begin todiscover Sun Ra's music for myself, so you can imagine my headache when I tried to get any
information and to organize a huge mountain of releases in my mind. But sometimes surprises
happen, and I manage to find very useful places in the space. Last Sunday it was Sun Ra
Album-by-Album Thread and then a link to your wonderful blog. Thank you (and Sam Byrd, too)for excellent analyses you do. All your posts are very interesting. I have enjoyed reading. It isjust 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) forcompleteness? 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,- AndreiRodger Coleman said...
Andrei—Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments! I can’t tell you how gratifying it is to know that
half-way around the world you are reading my humble blog with such interest! Your English isquite good—much better than my Russian could ever be (or Japanese for that matter). Yourtrip(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 know that yet?” Later, when I started to get “serious” about it, I began with The
Choreographer’s Workshop period because I am particularly fond of those recordings and they
are scattered across various releases, causing considerable confusion in my mind. I do notpretend to be any kind of expert on Sun Ra, although I am, obviously, a huge fan; I am basicallyfeeling my way through the discography to get a handle on what is there. Now, two years later(!), I do kind of regret not starting from the beginning, but I’m committed now, I guess. My plan(such as it is) is to continue through 1980 and “Sunrise In Different Dimensions” and thendouble back to the very beginning, leaving the 80s-90s for later (if ever). I started doing this formy 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 actuallywould 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 tomaybe 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
for some 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 this when I saw him on Monday and I can report that the sound-quality is superb—
especially as compared 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 hearsome trustworthy first-hand reports confirming such before I’m willing to shell out the cash. Thisis 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 yours in the New Year!
--Rodger

January 2, 2011
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 in1973 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 of multi-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 Placemovie, with Sonny and Tommy
Hunter flying to California in late 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 beheard (and seen) in the film (Id. pp.198-199). On July 4, Sun Ra appeared with a small groupconsisting 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 this performance 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 can tell (see, Id. p.199).
[Some of the information in this post is incorrect; please see my update here.]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 haveseemed completely 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 byresearcher 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, finallyreleased these recordings on their Golden Years 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 contingentof low brass, including two trombones and tuba (likely played by Charles Stevens, Dick Griffin
and Hakim Jami, respectively). Sonny often had to make do without the rich, warm sonorities of
the trombone in his working ensembles, but he would usually recruit players for high-profile gigs
such as 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 double-bass, 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 solosthat 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 delicate bass 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 swingof “Discipline 27,” led by Pat Patrick’s baritone sax riffing. The Arkestra sounds great, with thetrombones and tuba prominently featured amidst the reeds and trumpets. But Ra is playing a
different kind of organ than usual (or perhaps he’s just poorly miked)—it sounds oddly muffledand distant here. Fortunately, he was provided a decent grand piano and, in the long
improvisation which follows, he makes excellent use of 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 “The Mighty 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 theshifting hues of Ra’s keyboards and held together by Boykins’s macroscopic sense of structureand groove (not to mention the thrilling crescendos of tympani). Various solos and ensembles
are queued by Ra, giving shape to an improvised construction of remarkable cohesiveness andexpressive 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 intolush and dreamy versions of “Enlightenment” and “Love In Outer Space.” These arguably overplayed numbers could sometimes sound glib and tossed-off in performance, but here theysound poised and purposeful, aided, in part, by the relaxed drumming of Humphries and therock-solid bass of Boykins.
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 improvisationthat 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 andsubsumed within 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 celloproviding some “Strange Strings”-style bowings and Marshall Allen wailing away on a plangent
oboe—both of which 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 beentransported, 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 “TheShadow World” and needs to be heard to be believed. “Watusa” and “Discipline 27-II” conclude
the set in the usual fashion, with a percussion/dance workout and a seventeen-minute sermonof cosmic declamations. Yet the ultra-spacious sound quality and the richly textured Arkestra’s
near-definitive performances make them worth 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
them off to some remote storage facility of the LOC, never, they hoped, to be heard by anyone
else ever again. 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 care about is having the opportunity to hear this music after all these years, bywhatever means. Please don’t get me wrong: Leo is a well-established label with impeccablebona fides—their loving devotion to Anthony Braxton’s most ambitious music is to bewholeheartedly supported—and I do not mean to impugn the label’s business ethics in slightest.
For all I know, everything is kosher, the rights-holders 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!

January 9, 2011
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 arare opportunity for Sun Ra to play in front of a large audience, appearing on the final night of
the festival on a bill with Luther Allison, Hound Dog Taylor, and Otis Rush. The entire concert
was broadcast over the radio, including most of Sun Ra’s seventy-three minute set (seeCampbell & 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 a real 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 hestarts 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 batteryof conga players) they kick up a suitable din for a series of solos and duos, climaxing with somebarn-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 sounds well-rehearsed on this lush, intricate arrangement with Gilmore
briefly taking the lead with a soulful, 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 theusual fashion, with Sun Ra furiously preaching the Cosmo Drama, his rhetorical—sometimes
downright inflammatory—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. Evenso, at over twenty 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 as Life Is Splendid) and the crackling opening improvisation and beautiful renditionof “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.

January 16, 2011
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 Parison September 8, 1973 while Szwed says the first concert was on September 9 at the Fête del’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 de l’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 Fêtede l’Humanité, an event sponsored by the Communist Party and which almost turned into a fullscale riot. Recorded from the stage (presumably by drummer, Tommy Hunter), you can hear asizable audience 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 wasthat their arrival in limos had been enough to set that volatile post-May ’68 crowd off). When theArkestra reached the stage a moratorium began as the crowd froze in amazement: 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 avantgarde theater?. . .[F]or whatever reason—shock, delight, puzzlement—the Arkestra brought theaudience to its feet seven times that day, clapping and cheering. “Music,” Sonny said matter-offactly, “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 the Minister ofCulture of Mexico credited the Arkestra (pp.335-336).
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’salways worth paying attention to how the arrangement changes from night to night: it’s neverquite the same, the instrumentation subtly shifting with each repetition of the theme. Ronnie
Boykins is present 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 ofstately organ chords introduce “Discipline 99” in yet another rearrangement: the tempo is a little
faster than we heard in Ann Arbor while flutes and piccolos take the lead amidst some added
horn riffing. This is one of Sun Ra’s more interesting compositions, with a wistful, slightly
melancholy mood evoked by the descending minor-mode melodies. But, apparently, he wasdissatisfied with it as it was performed only a handful of times during this period before being
briefly resurrected in the early-‘80s and then abandoned (see Campbell & Trent p.818). Sonny
takes a short but dramatic solo before Gilmore lays down some deeply 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 finally takes over with adelightful flute solo and the texture starts to thin. Rather than recapitulating the theme, it just sortof dissipates, which is kind of disappointing, given the fact that “Watusi” is up next. It’s the sameold 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 the spectacle!
But then something happens: Kwame Hadi starts into a pealing high-register thing and therhythm shifts into high gear, Boykins setting down an insistently throbbing bass line. Swirlingorgan and quicksilver horns enter the fray and now we’re into a ferocious group improv—only tohave Sonny suddenly signal the reprise of “Watusi.” Wow! This gets a big hand from theaudience and Hunter boldly steps up with a (relatively rare) drum solo. Unlike Clifford Jarvis, hekeeps it short and tasteful, 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 amysterioso bass solo and is later joined by Marshall Allen’s oboe and Ebah’s flugelhorn, a rareand 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-raisingaltissimo runs and someone (Ra?) starts honking what sounds like a car horn (?). Just as theintensity level becomes almost unbearable, the tape cuts off. Argh! Surely there was a lot moreto 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 asecular group like this move forward and progress, or would they be trapped forever in theirrituals like the Church? Whatever they were, the Arkestra was disrupting critical predispositions
and habits, their show calling attention to the critics’ limitations. A performance like this would
require multiple levels of readings, and a fuller understanding of different genres, different formsof media, and different styles of playing (pp.335-336).
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 ofexactly when or where it was recorded, this volume of the Lost Reel Collection (which also
includes a fragment from 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 soundquality is not great—clearly several generations away from the master (presumably, um, lost)—
but it’s certainly listenable, as these things 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 the bootleg sound quality. Newbies should start elsewhere,
but Sun Ra aficionados who know what to expect will be amply rewarded by The Lost Reel
Collection Vol. 5.

January 23, 2011
Sun Ra: Live In Paris at the “Gibus” (Atlantic—France/Universe CD)
Unlike the previous European tour (an extended sojourn which ranged widely across thecontinent, culminating in an impromptu trip to Egypt), the 1973 visit seems to have consisted ofbarely a handful of gigs in and around Paris. Also unlike the well-documented 1971 excursion,
there were no high-profile radio broadcasts and very few amateur recordings survive. The tour
likely began with the ill-fated Fête de l’Humanité at the end of September (possibly found on
Transparency’s Lost Reel Collection Vol. 5) and while Prof. Campbell mentions a 180-minuteaudience tape from the Nancy Jazz Festival on October 14, that’s about it (p.203) (and I haven't
heard this tape). Otherwise, it seems the Arkestra settled into a multi-night stand at the famed
Gibus Discotèque in Paris until their return to the states sometime in mid-to-late-October.
Fortunately, the French division of Atlantic Records recorded a portion of this gig and released it
as Live In Paris at the “Gibus” (Atlantic 40540) in 1975—but only in France (Id.). It remained
an obscure collector’s item until 2003, when the Italian Comet label reissued it on CD on their
Universe imprint in a deluxe, gatefold mini-LP package with excellent sound quality. Finally! Thisis 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 andsplicing tape). Who knows?—the liner notes are deliberately vague. The album begins with twoof Ra’s most whimsically captivating compositions, both of which had been out of the setlists fora while and are now radically rearranged. “Spontaneous Simplicity” dispenses with the hornstatements altogether and becomes a feature for Ra’s chiming organ and the “space-rhumba”
groove is a bit looser, with Boykins leaning heavily on the riff. Suddenly, Ra goes into a frenetic
double-time feel but the rhythm section keeps right with him to the end. An interesting reimagining of this piece. The beautiful and tranquil “Lights On a Satellite” which follows is
intricately through-composed, from the flute and trumpet harmonizations right down to the arco
bass pedals and pitter-pattering percussion figures—and it is taken at a glacially slow tempo.

The Arkestra sounds a little restrained but they deliver a note-perfect performance of thischamber-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
intense by 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 finally takes over with an apocalyptic fury before another surgically precise edit
dramatically brings the track to an end. Wow! It would be nice to have the whole thing, but this isa 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-wheelingarrangement of Jelly Roll Morton’s “King Porter Stomp,” a proto-jazz number dating back to
1923. This signals a brash new direction for the Arkestra: resurrecting the old (if not oldfashioned) practices of the swing-era big bands within their futuristic space music and reconnecting the so-called avant garde to the deepest roots of early jazz. This kind of stuff wasalways 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 elsein the band by a number of years and had worked with Fletcher Henderson in Chicago back in
1946. Henderson was Herman Poole Blount’s childhood 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 theforgotten 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, andsensing a shift beginning in 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 thesame: “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 cancompare 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 musicophilosophy, which was about discipline, not freedom, and this little swing revival within theArkestra 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 re-creations made for nostalgic, easy listening. No, the music is as
sweaty and funky as a roadside saloon, a room full of crazed jitterbuggers ecstatically dancing
the night away. The music is alive! Thence forward, every concert would feature a number ofswing 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 outer space. “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/organ solo full of scary spaceship sounds;
hieroglyphic counterpoint; weird, microtonal effects; and hair-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’s bull-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 interestingsong selection 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 hismagic. Pushing sixty, he was well aware of transient nature of fads and fashion and was
positioning himself, as always, for the long haul. Live At The Gibus documents the Arkestra at
a mid-career peak and showcases Sun Ra’s outrageous musicianship to stunning effect. An
absolute must-have record.
COMMENTS: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 (and in 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!)

January 30, 2011
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:First and foremost, it offers further documentation of the Arkestra’s stand at The Gibus
Discotèque in 1973. Secondly, it comes from the collection of Tommy “Bugs” Hunter, who often
served as recordist 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 andsince it is mastered from the original tape, it does not suffer from the kind of gross distortion andgenerational 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 in direction, 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 songcomes to a conclusion and a blaring space chord signals a brief group improvisation. The music
quiets and one of the Space Ethnic Voices does her crazy, super-high-pitched vocalese trickalong with some twisty trumpet obbligato from Kwame Hadi. Impressive, but very strange! This
goes on for barely a minute or so before Danny Ray Thompson’s baritone sax riff introduces“Discipline 27,” which is taken at a relaxed, 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 thereprise. Nothing special, but a solid performance nonetheless.
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 comingfrom monitors at the other end of the stage. That’s OK since, as is usual, the endlessly
morphing horn arrangement 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 andJune raise their voices (which happens often enough), you can hear them loud and clear. Afternearly twenty-seven minutes (!), the Arkestra finally abandons the composition and descends
into a chaotic group improvisation with terrifying saxophone battles, bashing drums andthrobbing 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 series of space chants, cutting in on Tyson’s leadon “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 swamped by layers of distortion and feedback—yet
you can still our unknown Space Ethnic Voice doing her screeching thing amidst all themayhem, 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 fromthe ever-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 mostinteresting thing here is the weird, post-Yoko vocalizing of the anonymous Space Ethnic Voiceon “Astro Black” and during the closing chants, but that’s not saying a whole lot. Fanatics andcompletists 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.

February 6, 2011
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
the end 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 ESP-affiliated 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 disappointment that followed its weak display. In retrospect,
the deflation of naïve idealism that accompanied Kohoutek’s passage by our planet seems tofittingly 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 deathand twenty years after its recording. The times had indeed a-changed—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
and photographs which accompanied the ZYX version. Instead, we get a bizarre, two-pageessay by ESP-Disk’ founder, Bernard Stollman, wherein he accuses Sun Ra of stealing theoriginal (presumably stereo) master tapes from his apartment, which necessitated the use of amono reference 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, whatever the veracity of these allegations, the tone of cynicism and bad
faith is certainly in keeping with 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: theoutrageous experimentalism would thereafter be tempered by an increasingly regimented
formalism and the space-age cosmo-philosophy would be subsumed into more a morecalculated sense of showmanship. Sure, he continued 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., whoearnestly attempts to narrate a slideshow of NASA space photographs. The Arkestra can beheard noodling around 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 to hear more about [Leary’s] Terra 2? Otherwise, I’ll get the f*** off.”
The audience responds with resounding 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 sings a cappella, then with quiet accompaniment from bass and drums, ringing
cymbals and cowbell. 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, a heaving minor key vamp in five. But again, while Boykins tries to anchor therhythm section, the multiple 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 over with 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! After some more scary electronics, Sonny launches into
“Enlightenment” and it’s the usual, with Tyson and Gilmore singing in harmony along with theSpace Ethnic Voices and host of clanking percussion. Unfortunately, Marshall Allen’s flute
obbligato is off-mic and hard to hear, but it’s still a nice 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
applause after 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 well-rehearsed, unfazed by Ra’s weird and increasingly frenetic organ plinking. After
its solemn conclusion, Sonny takes charge with another display of electric pyrotechnics, full ofthunderous, low-register rumbling; two-handed, staccato runs; and dissonant organ clusters. A
cued space chord signals the entrance of bass and drums and then things get really crazy, withRa 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, allheld together by Boykins’s endlessly creative bass playing. Thankfully, it doesn’t go on too longand everyone 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 theOuter Space Employment Agency!” and short but super-funky version follows. Only forty-sevenseconds long, I would have liked to hear a bit more of this killer groove, but before things areallowed to get going, it's interrupted by Ra’s insistence on “Space Is The Place.” After an overamped organ introduction, the singing, dancing and chanting begins in earnest, with Akh Tal
Ebah doing his soul-man thing along with Tyson’s more reserved crooning. Eventually, thepercussion drops out leaving the vocalists supported only by Boykins, who is riding the wave, inthe 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!” This gets a big hand from the audience. Saxophones scribble,
the Space Ethnic Voice shrieks and screams, while Boykins just keeps on rockin’ until finallybringing 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 mosthair-raisingly intense to be found on record and his control over the Arkestra’s resources iscomplete, deftly steering the music in contrasting directions as it unfolds. Despite theacrimonious history surrounding the tapes and the less-than-perfect sound quality, this is still aworthy addition to the official canon. If the original stereo masters still exist somewhere, let’s
hear ‘em! Until then, Concert For Comet Kohoutek (particularly the expanded and remasterededition) is highly recommended.

February 13, 2011
TRUTH IS BAD/GOOD
Truth is bad
Or truth is good
It depends upon where
And how and who you are.
The word truth must be considered carefully
And the precepts of that which is called truth
Must be equationized and balanced
And understood.
Or else, it must be abandoned
And another truth placed in its place.
This is the idea of the greater age
The outer worlds of etherness
This is the word from the Cosmic-Cosmo-Tomorrow.

--Sun Ra
COMMENTS:
Anonymous said...
I have a Sun Ra question for you:
I have heard that there are hundreds of compositions in Sun Ra's Discipline series. However,when I look through the chunk of his discography I've managed to get my grubby paws on, I
notice much less Disciplines than that. Are the songs given regular titles? I was expecting them
to be numbered. What's the story?
Q
Anonymous said...
One more comment.
The Norton releases of Sun Ra doo-wop outtakes/rehearsals has some really great moments onthem. (I've heard two of the three). Have you heard them?
Q

February 27, 2011
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 toLouis 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?, notrealizing this track was missing on the official release. Oh well—just goes to show I should
never get rid of anything without more careful consideration! Big thank you to the Sun Ra fans
who pointed out my error 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 ofRa on electric 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 to it, as if it had been organized at the last possible minute. The announcer isharried and clueless, first introducing the bassist as Reggie Workman and then, after the bandcorrects 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 thegain, making it distort, adding skittering, polyphonic voices while Boykins and Harris set up achurning, free-jazz groove. Now Ra is really going for it, attacking the keyboard with two-fisted
fury—but the engineer freaks out and turns down Sonny’s volume, greatly reducing the effect.
Argh! Gilmore enters with what sounds like a pre-composed, modal theme and a set of fullthroated, late-Coltrane-style variations. Despite the wonky 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 acappella, continuing in an atonal, post-bop vein, peppered with bluesy call and response effects
and concluding with a dramatic flourish. Although brief, this is yet another incredible Gilmoresolo!
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 withceleste-like chording to surround the pleading, arco bass solo while Harris starts to turn up theheat. 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 renderedthin and incoherent on tape (maybe it 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 haplessM.C. rushes back to the microphone to defend this outburst of avant-garde mayhem to an
audience that was perhaps expecting to hear a more traditional-sounding tribute to “Satchmo”: “Iknow a lot of you are thinking…well, you know...but it’s the energy that Louis had and allmusicians have which comes out in a little bit different form, and yet a very valid thing as far asthese 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 havemade this a much 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 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 beheard on one of Ra’s earliest known recordings as a leader (see Campbell & Trent p.43). Warewas well-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 healthissues and drug abuse and he had relocated to Philadelphia, where he hooked up with theArkestra for this impromptu jam. “It’s quite different, you know, to hear him play what you mightcall 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 isactually Sun Ra who guides the Arkestra through the improvisation, cueing entrances and exits
and various changes in feel in his own inimitable way. Despite Ware's personal difficulties
during this time, he sounds great here, playing with supreme confidence and big-eared
sensitivity, exploring the entire compass of the instrument and even pulling out the bow for ashort interlude. Rarely do all eight 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 on bass clarinet. Sometimes the horns drop out
altogether, leaving Ware to duet with Sun Ra’s keyboards; at other times they engage in fleetingbouts 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 goingwith strong yet supple support, no matter what’s going on around 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 bandfor good after 1974). From the evidence, it seems like Ware would have been a good fit for theArkestra. 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 canpossess and key 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 to destroy 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 theplanet 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 unification anddiscipline. Because they have to be disciplined to play music. If they’re in a band, they got tolisten to somebody and that’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
tape presents an opportunity to hear this underappreciated musician in an unusual context and,for that reason alone, is worth checking out. (Photo of Wilbur Ware by Francis Wolff/Blue Note
Records.)

March 13, 2011
THE NAME OF SOUND
The name can be music
Played by infinite instruments
The name can lift nothingness
From nothing to reality
And keep the myth parable apparent.
Like once silent voices burst into song
The name strikes the ear

And the sound of it
Rushes like a wild thing
To take its place
As the core
Of the music, the infinite instruments
And the vital vibration
Of the meaning
Of the name.
--Sun Ra

March 20, 2011
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 Dutchlabel, Kindred Spirits). This nicely packaged two-CD set officially came out last fall, but has
been somewhat difficult to find here in the States. I’m not sure why that is, but it’s worth making
the effort to track down. As we know, this concert from November 29, 1971 was broadcast by
French radio and a horribly degraded tape fragment circulates amongst collectors. Therefore,
this upgraded 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 unique music has been edited out of this otherwise excellent release! Mastered from what
appear to be the pre-broadcast reels, the sound quality is superb with spacious ambience andstartling instrumental clarity. But according to producer, Peter Dennett, about an hour of music
was omitted due to technical problems with the tapes and to limit the release to a more
economical two CDs. That is completely 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
and cracking 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 a groovy, blues-inflected electric piano solo on a “pre-mitotic” version of “Discipline 27” while
the hypnotic, 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 a la Night Of The Purple Moon while Ra’s space-age barbeque organ makes anappearance on “Discipline Number Unknown.” And, finally, the album concludes with anastonishing 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 anddeparture of the alien spaceship to take us back to Saturn. Wow! This is truly one the all-time
great Sun Ra epics! If there was ever any doubt of Ra’s visionary genius and sheer instrumental
prowess, this release should put that notion to rest for 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 Jordan,

exhibits remarkable restraint throughout). A meandering “Angels and Demons At Play” isperhaps overlong, but Marshall Allen’s evocative flute periodically adds interest to thepercussion jamming. Particularly noteworthy is the discovery of yet another never-before-heard“Discipline” composition on disc two wherein characteristically interlocking horn riffs are castupon an enchantingly off-kilter space-groove in seven. During a series of solos (Kwame Hadi on
trumpet, Ra on BBQ organ and Eloe Omoe on bass clarinet), the arrangement gradually morphs
into a wild group improvisation for massed saxophones and skittering, clattering polyrhythms.
Pretty exciting stuff!
So, what’s missing? The “Enlightenment” after the opening improvisation has been cut andwhile that 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 moststrikingly 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 the Arkestra—I suspect “The Shadow World” made an appearance at thisconcert and no doubt Gilmore did his thing there (and elsewhere). So, that’s a little frustrating.
Regardless of any technical anomalies, I, for one, would love to hear the rest of the tapes fromthis gig and would have gladly paid extra for a complete, three-CD set. Oh well. Perhaps, if thissells well, a volume two will be forthcoming.
But I quibble. Art Yard and Kindred Spirits have done a fabulous job with The Paris Tapes andit is an essential purchase for any self-respecting Sun Ra fan (if you can find it). Despite theabsence 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 the most casual of listeners, making this a most highly recommended release.

April 10, 2011
Sun-DayThis is my day
A sunny day
This is my day
With so much to give to all
Bright beams
Striking at the shadows impartially.
This is my day
I have so much to say
Out of the sun colors comeLike spores the rays strike the earth
And forms of being take shape to be
Being raises itself accordingly
To the vibration of the ray to which it synchronizes itself.
The invisible light is the ultra-light . . . . the darkness
The darkness is the cosmo-light . .
The all pervading all
Thus the cosmo-equation of the light
Is that the darkness is as the lightSo distinguish the meaning of thisAnd ultra BE: an Ultra-being.
--Sun Ra+++
I'll be back with more record reviews next week--I promise!

April 17, 2011
Sun Ra: Space Probe (Saturn 527/Art Yard CD 011)
Space Probe is another super-obscure Saturn release with a tortured history. Originallyreleased in 1974, early discographies assigned a catalog number Saturn 527, although noknown copies bear this number (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 of Space
Probe with a completely different B-Side (See, Id. for all the gory details). And that’s just the
beginning of the discographical weirdness. So it goes with 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 itall. Thankfully, the Art Yard label has recently reissued the original version of Space Probe in
an expanded CD edition which includes unedited performances and several 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 otherelectronic mayhem. While not as hair-raising as later live performances would be, it’s still anadventurous solar voyage and demonstrates his near-osmotic mastery of the complex
technology. Michael D. Anderson, Executive Director of The Sun Ra Music Archive, makes aninteresting (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] Sunny began 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 somuch 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 inhis biography. I just figured he went digital like everyone else by the mid-80’s. In any event, it’strue: the big 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 just a 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 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 tracksuddenly 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 twopieces 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 wasmad at him that day…
More discographical mysteries: Originally titled, “The Conversion of J.P.," Art Yard has retitledthis track, “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 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, downright contentious relationship with theChristian church? Indeed, the tension between the pagan percussion/Pan-flute and theholy-rolling piano never quite comfortably resolves. Another curious thing about thistrack is that, at almost fourteen minutes, it is by far the longest stretch of continuousrecorded 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 a smoother 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 forty-seven 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 the plodding 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 with Sun Ra’s densely figured piano andsparse, eerie percussion. Ra is playing at an astonishing level of virtuosity here (albeit on abeat-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 reminder that 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 tolisten to every day. However, the Choreographer’s Workshop stuff is where it’s at for me. Thereis a certain vibe to those recordings—the sound, the ambience, the relaxed, experimental
approach—that was never quite replicated as the Arkestra became more professional androutinized. 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 ofpromise. So for me, this is an essential purchase (the complete “Primitive” and “The Conversionof J.P” are classic tracks, whatever the titles). But the merely curious should consider starting
elsewhere and go from there.

April 24, 2011
VOICE OF THE TIMELESS SPIRIT
What can I do to help the world?
What could I do?
It is not my world.
Or at least I think it isn't.
Have I forgotten something?
Am I to blame?
Did I create this?
What did I do wrong?
What does the creation groan and suffer?
If I can help in any way
Should I?
We do not accept each other.
I have so much to offer them.
What do they have to offer me?
They are spiritually poor. I have sympathy
For them, they have no sympathy for me.
What can I do?
I do not wish that they should think or say
I am their god but if I help them - what would
They say?
They have been
Alone so long.
-- Sun Ra+++Sorry, folks, time got away from me this week. The next album in the queue is significant andrequires more research to write about coherently. I'll have the review up next week (I hope).

May 1, 2011
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
the course of the year, including several reissues from the old Saturn catalog. In addition, theSaturn label had been resurrected and new releases were being pressed in tiny editions for saleat gigs and at select record stores. Given the fact that all this product was suddenly flooding themarketplace, 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 February, 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 andallowed for a triumphant performance of Ballet Folklórico de Mexico. While the musicians were
given “plush accommodations,” by the grateful Mexican government, the musician’s union
protested and prohibited them from performing—as musicians. The Actors Union interceded
and the shows went on as “Sun Ra and His Cosmo Drama.” Szwed writes: “Sun Ra told theband that an earthquake would even the score, and later it was said that the Union’s officebuilding had been leveled [in 1985]” (p.338). The Arkestra stayed in Mexico two or threemonths, 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 whilepeople rowed around them in boats”) (Id.), the University of Mexico, and in front of the Pyramidof the Sun at Teotihuacán. The Arkestra also appeared on TV in Mexico City on Siempre en
Domingo, “a variety show rather like Ed Sullivan’s” (Campbell & Trent, p.206). According toFrancisco “Ali” Mora, a Mexican drummer who joined the band during the tour, concert tapes
probably exist (Id.) but no recordings have surfaced to date.
On June 16, the Arkestra performed at Hunter College in New York City and the concert 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 theivories. “Discipline 99” is given a stately, confident reading by the band and features a long
piano solo, alternating pretty harmonies with flurries of dissonant tone clusters. The following
medley of old standards (an impossibly romantic ballad, “How Am I To Know?” and the uptempo, “(Keep Your) Sunnyside Up”) allows Ra to show off his inimitable, inside/outsidecomping skills behind John Gilmore’s big-hearted, languorously swinging tenor solos. “How Am
I To Know?” is a thing of rare beauty and the presence of Ronnie Boykins on bass and Clifford
Jarvis on trap drums gives new life and humor to the old-fashioned rhythms of “(Keep Your)
Sunnyside Up.” Good stuff!—and a harbinger of things to come: a mini-set of jazz standards
would increasingly become a fixture of the Arkestra’s live sets as the ‘70s rolled on.

Side two shifts gears, with an emphasis on space chants and ensemble freak-outs and is,frankly, a lot less interesting to my jaded ears. But to be fair, this record must be considered incontext, as a historical artifact. An obsessive collector in the year 2011 will have heard theseroutines 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 homewith you from the Cosmo Drama. As such, side two is fun, with June Tyson and Ankh Tal Ebahat their soulful, hortatory best and Boykins and Jarvis keep things grooving nicely. The highlightis “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 untilthe very end of “Journey To Saturn,” when some 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 othertapes 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.
+++Prof. Campbell describes two different audience recordings made at this concert. One is ninetyfive minutes 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 theBoykins/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
solo from 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 noiseand distortion on the tape. Ugh. With that out of the way, Boykins then picks up the bow for abeautiful 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 wretchedsound quality almost completely obscures the details of what’s going on. Well, the audience
liked it and they 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 achange. 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, butwhen Kwame Hadi comes in just at the right time with the aching, long-toned melody, it almost
makes it worth the while. Almost.
The tape then picks up in the middle of “The Satellites Are Spinning,” June Tyson with her allmale chorus soulfully singing it and Boykins laying down some heavy-duty bass riffs. Ra theninterjects some “mad-scientist” keyboard inventions before they venture off into “The Shadow
World.” It’s a fractured, 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 andgentlemen: it’s another incredible Gilmore solo! Too bad the sound is so funky. Then Danny
Davis does his thing on the Neptunian Libflecto and it gets a big rise out of the audience. Just

as Hadi starts to play, the tape cuts 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 “HowAm I To Know” and “(Keep Your) Sunnyside Up” as heard on Out Beyond The Kingdom Of(but in significantly worse sound quality).
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 “Tape2” or is it something else? Whatever it is, it sounds atrocious, like the microphone was stuffed
down the recordist’s pants. We get “How Am I To Know” and “(Keep Your) Sunnyside Up”
again, only this one 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 andbaritone sax riffs. Very interesting—yet another lost Ra composition (and a nice flugelhorn solofrom Ebah)—too bad the recording sucks. “Sun Ra And His Band From Outer Space” ends thetape (and the set) with a thud.
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 someintrepid label will make it happen.
COMMENTS:Sam said...
One thing that rally 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 for him!
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. andi'm sorry but i don't like "out beyond" at all... my opinion on it is so bad that i excluded this record
from my sun ra collection and i put it into other house where i keep obsolete things. i haveseveral reasons for it - the music isn't interested from my point of view, the sound on the LP isvery so-so, i can't find even the interesting free solo parts and sun ra is almost inaudible for thepart of the LP. i think that 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 rabootlegs from the red garter 1970-07, j.p. widney los angeles 1971-06-12 and stockholm 197110-12 that i started looking for them and finally got them all.
thanks.
best regards.
paul w.

May 8, 2011
PLANES OF NATURE
If they would rise up above their knowledge
They would be able to see with their intuition’s heart
They would be able to see beyond their sight
Their spirit’s eye could pierce the night
Where earth dwells in hooded shame
Yes, earth was once a noble name.
If they would rise up above their yes-bound self
They would know the things to no . . . . . . . . . .
Then they would see nature as it is
And at long last they would feel
The touch of the Cosmo-Real
And they would know that they know they know
That there is no need to know,
If you cannot feel.
--Sun Ra (1980)

May 15, 2011
These things only come around a couple times a year, so I got up this morning and headed overto the Holiday Inn by the airport for the Alpha Music Record Collectors’ Convention. I got there
just after they opened and the tiny meeting room was already jam packed with fanatical record
fiends. Wow! I didn’t find any Sun Ra records (and I didn’t really expect to) but I did find a few
treasures (see if you can pick them out of this coming week’s playlist!). Consequently, I spent
the rest of the day cleaning records and listening to them; so, no time to write a big review.
Honestly, the next Sun Ra album in the queue is one the strangest records in a very strange
discography and I’m more than a little intimidated. Check in next week and see if I’ve found thewords to describe it. I’m not making any promises!
+++
By the way, I see the re-constituted Saturn label has reissued The Soul Vibrations of Man(Saturn 771) (1977) on vinyl only. Has anyone out there heard these new Saturn LPs? Any
information you could share would be most appreciated! I see them around sometimes andwonder how they sound (as nice as the Evidence CDs are, they went a little overboard with thenoise reduction, in my opinion). However, with no CD issue of this one in sight, I might have topick it up and find out for myself. I’ll keep you posted. Maybe this means its companion, Taking
A Chance On Chances (Saturn 772), will also be forthcoming…?

May 22, 2011

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 (andtranscriptions) of Ra’s earliest writings while the second volume, Pathways To Unknown Worlds:
Sun Ra, El Saturn And Chicago’s Afro-Futurist Underground 1954-68 serves as a catalog forthe exhibition with high-quality reproductions of album art and other business ephemera alongwith 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 froma 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 research on Sonny’s earliest
years in Chicago and there are essays by all the curators as well as notable critics, KevinWhitehead and Graham Lock. Like others in the series, it is a slender but lovingly produced
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,
the book 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 trumpeter
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!
+++
I know: I punted again. Tune in next week for more record reviews—I promise!

May 29, 2011
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 a live radio broadcast at Temple University in Philadelphia on August 17 [FN1]. While notmaking any direct references to Nixon, Ra took the opportunity to sermonize at length and hefelt strongly enough about the performance to edit the recording for an LP entitled, The AntiqueBlacks, released on 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 themystical 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 a bonus 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
by burbling percussion (including Clifford Jarvis on trap drums and Atakatune on congas) andSonny’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 aterse but beautifully melodic tenor sax solo: starting with burnished low-register figures and thenflying 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 15year-old Dale Williams (p.313). Whoever it is plays with a rocked-out, psychedelicized abandon
which works well enough in this setting, despite a severe intonation problem. Then Akh Tal
Ebah enters with one of his smeared, expressionistic trumpet solos. Kwame Hadi is absent at
this session, giving Ebah a rare opportunity to stretch out. While Ebah doesn’t hit every notewith refined precision (like Hadi), his melodic ideas are unique and interesting. Gilmore enterswith a tasteful counter-melody and, after some 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 thenpauses to make his declamations, the Arkestra periodically entering with pulsating space
chords, ensemble freakouts or out-jazz solos. Gilmore is joined by Marshall Allen and Davis fora 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 apositively ripping solo on the otherwise unwieldy bassoon. For the most part, Ra sticks to
Rocksichording incongruous harmonies and skittering runs, except at the end where we getsome spaceship synthesizer. But, most of 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
the heavy silence there?” Then he warns: “Some people are on the right road, but they’re goingin the wrong direction. They need to turn around. The arrow points to pointlessness.” And it
goes on from there 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, aninvitation to join him in outer space. It might be interesting to transcribe the declamations and dosome sort of exegesis, but I’m afraid I’m not the man for the job. And it is also tempting todismiss this stuff as the rantings of a crank and accuse him of blatant charlatanism. But thatwould be unfair—and completely miss the point (whatever it is). Sun Ra is speaking in code andI lack the esoteric knowledge required to decipher 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’s God” 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 arrangementof “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
Place movie, which was still unfinished in the summer of ‘74 (see p.209). The Art Yard CD
states it was recorded on August 17 and while the sound quality is reduced, it is almost certainly
from the same session. 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 torecognize you!...I am The Magic Lie! Greater than your truth!” Meanwhile, the Arkestra titters inthe background and spare horns and ominous 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 outof hand. Ra’s philosophy (such as it is) may be shrouded in hokum and showbiz and fail tocohere into a 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 thefollowers 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 andmakes this essential for the truly obsessed fan. As usual with Art Yard, the sound quality andpackaging is first rate so if you want this, rest assured you get your money’s worth (and some ofthat money goes to the surviving Arkestra). But I wouldn’t recommend The Antique Blacks tonovices.
+++[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 thebroadcast have surfaced (if indeed it even occurred). Another discographical mystery.
COMMENTS:Sam said...
Great description, as always! This certainly is a strange album, but it's not like we shouldn't
have been 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/bandcall-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 "SongNo. 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 thepreaching. Also, I love how the guitar 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/funkderived 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 "hungmy hat" 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.

June 12, 2011
Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Sub-Underground (Saturn LP>CDR)
The appropriately titled Sub-Underground (also known as Cosmo-Earth Fantasy and Temple U.)
is another super-rare artifact, badly in need of upgrade and reissue. Originally released as
Saturn 92074 in late 1974, Prof. Campbell posits side one was recorded at Variety Recorders in
New York City sometime in 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, thesound quality is somewhat murky and my less-than-perfect transfer of the original LP does nothelp to clarify much. Despite (or perhaps because of) its difficulties, Sub-Underground afascinating 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 avariety of 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 on some 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 to pick 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 wheezing around the corner. At the half-way mark, ahigh-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, Eloe Omoe on bass clarinet and(possibly) Dale Williams on guitar (Id.), but I just don’t hear them on 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 distantand boomy drums indicate it was indeed recorded live, although, curiously, any applause has
been deftly edited 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 and dry 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
the great long-form improvs, notable for its unusual instrumentation and “Love Is For Always” isalso 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 willrescue Sub-Underground from its willful obscurity.
COMMENTS:Sam said...
It will be interesting when you get to "Song of the Stargazers." "The Song of the Drums" hassome affinity with a couple of the minor percussion-oriented pieces there, in mood andambiance. I find this 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 Africa" is a sweet melody that shows up in some live shows in the late '70s--it'svery appealing, but it doesn't really go anywhere--not that music has to go anywhere, really, but
if the destination is out, then having a destination implies a direction...on the other hand, I lovestatic 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 of the rest ofside 2.

June 19, 2011
THE OTHER SIDE OF MUSIC
Some music is of specialized interpretation.
Some music is of synchronization precision.
Every light is a vibrational sight and sound:
It is rhythm in harmony with beam/rays/intensificationand projection visibility.
Music is light and darkness . . . precedentof vitality . . . stimulation extraordinary
Equational harmonic differential pause prelude
to the sound that is on its way . . .
EVERY PLACE THERE IS, IS MUSIC, CHAOSIS MUSIC AND HARMONIOUS PEACE IS MUSIC
What direction does it: decides the way until . . .
Silence is music.
There are different kinds of silences:each silence is
A world all its own.
In a lesser but not least important sense,
Silence is an integral part of all music:
in a fractional sense,
When judged metrically.
We must not forget transposition.
Transposition always results in achange of color.
Behold the vastness of music,
It is as vast as the greater allness
and the greater neverness . . .
And too music in its meta-phases
must not be ignored.
Are you thinking of metaphysics
alone? Well, don’t.
In the future (and even as of Now),
you will have to contend with andrecognize METAMENTAL and METASPIRIT:
also you will come face to face withoblique METATHESIS.
--Sun Ra (1972)

June 26, 2011
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, “theband 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 were repeated” (Campbell & Trent p.215). Sadly, there are no known tapes fromthis 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 performance well 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,
the saxes 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 theband comes 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 the inimitable 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 altosax, Gilmore on tenor, our unidentified bassist (who earns a nice ovation) and, of course, Rahimself.
“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 anotherincredibly 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 apart sometimes) 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 cantell the Arkestra is tight and well-rehearsed: it’s a note-perfect performance, short and to thepoint; beautiful, in spite of the dreadful sound quality.
Sonny introduces “Barbizon” as an original piece he wrote “in France, near Fontainbleau, anartists’ 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 of the 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 unusual forms and creative arrangement. Then again, theaudience 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 andnot 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 an astonishing display of multiphonic pyrotechnics. Wow! Gilmore is on fire!
This elicits several outbursts of whooping and hollering and stunned applause when he finallyfinishes. Not even five minutes long, this is probably one of the shortest performances of “TheShadow World” ever, but boy is it ever potent! “Space Is The Place” follows, but, unfortunately,
the tape cuts off after only a minute 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 shortleash. Sonny's straight-faced spoken intros are also highly unusual. Whether it was the venue’s
posh ambience 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 was completely 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.
+++
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 10, 2011
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.
Collect the whole series! Hadi and Ebah! Pat Patrick, Boykins and Jarvis! Wind him up and heplays a thirty-minute drum solo! They could have an interchangeable wardrobe of space-hats ,capes, and space-boots. 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 Place is the smash hit movie of 1974, spawning a hugely popular Saturday
morning cartoon show and generating all kinds of merchandise tie-ins, such as Sun Ra Arkestra
Action Figures. Wouldn’t that have 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 justgoes to show: I am no expert on this stuff! As it turns out, this particular album does not appear
in Campbell & Trent’s discography (which badly needs a 3rd edition) and, despite my best
efforts to organize my collection of Sun Ra recordings, I had completely forgotten about it.
Obviously, my organization 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 started Sun
Ra Sunday: to listen carefully and try to sort it all out in my mind. Not an easy task—and sincenobody is paying me to do 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)

July 17, 2011
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 waslooking to be more of 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 the event. Ra’s Impulse! albums had started hitting the stores earlier in the year,
garnering favorable press. Moreover, there were plans for a sixteen-track recording and a film
documentary of the festival; 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 toclean 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 “multiton marijuana deal that, unhappily for all, failed to come off” (Id.). But there was more to it than
that: political machinations 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 themunicipal power struggle. “The Establishment” was fighting back against the hippies and, as aresult, 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 festival organizers were invited to bring the banned event across the Detroit River andinto the lovely outdoor amphitheater at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario … Canada. Radiopowerhouse CKLW-AM agreed to serve as sponsor of the event, pledging lots of free ad spots,
and the Canadians waxed enthusiastic in their professions of support for the orphaned 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
was detained while escorting the Arkestra through Canadian customs. Ultimately, he wasdeported 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 ever seen in America being allowed entry
into Canada while I was turned back as “too far out,” I was struck hard with the 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 featurefilm never materialized when the master tapes were “quite reasonably withheld” by theirrecordists after payment was not forthcoming (Id.). Sadly, these tapes seem to havedisappeared for good. Nevertheless, Sun Ra’s sixty-four minute set on Friday, September 6,
was preserved on a cassette tape 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, totheir sub-underground status, Sonny and the band were not dissuaded by the small crowd or
the tense backstage atmosphere and deliver a typically committed performance while they“visualized their paychecks floating off into the darkening gloom” (Id.).
The opening improvisation is particularly intense, with pummeling percussion, pealing trumpets,
skronky blasts of saxophone and Neptunian libflecto—and some crazed, psycho-delic guitar
from Dave Williams, whose nastily distorted, wah-wah-infused tone brings to mind the sort ofdark, metallic funk Miles Davis was brewing up with Pete Cosey during this period. Wild! Afterabout thirteen minutes, the strutting baritone sax riffs of “Discipline 27” emerge from the chaos.
But while bassist, Reginald “Shoo-Be-Doo” Fields, tries his best to hold down the odd-meteredgroove, Clifford Jarvis is his usual hyperactive self, overplaying the drums and nearly derailingthe 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, drumheavy mix. Still, it’s a pleasant romp. 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 witha fearsome tenor sax solo, accompanied by chattering electronics and bashing drums, followed
by Hadi’s high-wire acrobatics and a brief arco segment from Fields, all of which receives around 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 ashort leash. As June Tyson exclaims, “The Second Stop Is Jupiter!,” all hell breaks loose, with
one of the Space 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 theheaving chords of “Discipline 27-II” set the stage for Ra’s rhetorical question: “What Planet Is
This?” Fortunately, the declamations 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 finallygets an extended turn at the mic, his mellow, slightly smeared sound a nice contrast to Hadi’s
forthright virtuosity. Gilmore follows, picking up on Ebah’s staggered phrasing and graduallybuilds up to a thrilling climax of impossibly fast runs, multiphonic glossolalia, and heart-stopping
altissimo squealing. Yes, folks, it’s another 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 ofthe doomed festival (and likely never performed again, that is until its posthumous resurrectionin 1996 (Campbell & Trent, p.763)). As Ra pounds out a repetitive diatonic chord sequence, theband gleefully sings their heads off: “It is forbidden, it’s strictly forbidden to touch on the tree ofthe knowledge of the good and evil!” It’s tempting to hear this as a gentle rebuke to Sinclair andhis muddle-headed politics, but I could just be projecting. “Watusi” follows and Jarvis is finallygiven 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 some outer 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 appearedat the Jazz Showcase in Chicago on September 8, 1974, playing a very different sort of set(which I wrote about (prematurely) here).
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 a historical document. But this is the one I’m more likely to pull off the shelf. My only
quibble is their continued failure to index any of the titles on the disc, requiring an hour-longcommitment from the listener. Well, maybe that’s the way it should be heard: with commitment,with Ra-like discipline, as it happened in real time. Highly recommended.

July 24, 2011
Can you tell me about the music you make?
Sun Ra: Well, the music, it’s about feelings, it’s not about what I know. It’s about what I feel. If
we lose feeling then we’re really dead. Most people on this planet have no feeling anymore
because they don’t care about each other. They turn to religion and philosophy and they thinkthat’ll do it. But it hasn’t done it yet.

July 31, 2011
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 stayedon 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 the Afro-American Historical Society in San Francisco (Id. pp.215, 217). Of theseknown performances, only the Santa Cruz concert is documented (in a typically grungysounding audience recording), although Peter Hinds asserts that a tape exists of the New
Year’s gig (Id.). However, in 2009 the Transparency label unearthed a hundred-minuterehearsal tape purportedly recorded in San Francisco in December, 1974 and released it asDance Of The Living Image, volume four of The Lost Reel Collection. I say “purportedly”
because, as usual with Transparency, the documentation is spotty (if not outright wrong) but I
guess we have to take some things at face value while trying to correct 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 a surprisingly bawdy sense ofhumor. It also corroborates the musicians’ accounts of rigorous rehearsals of material that wasnever actually played in concert.
The first disc opens with two takes of “Dance Of The Living Image,” the first a mere fragment
and the 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
never performed 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 the first 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 track is 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 with additional sax and trumpet lines and some jazzy electricguitar 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
just come out on the newly rejuvenated Saturn label. While it was performed at The Red Garterin 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 sigh while Williams hits a dissonant, wah-wah’d clank on the one…Then Ra getsright up to the microphone 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 ofcollapse. Whoah! “Astro Nation” (misidentified as an “unknown title”) is another vocal number,an odd-metered space chant precariously set against a bumping rhumba. Despite its seeming
simplicity, it requires several minutes of unsteady repetition before the band starts to gel.
Despite this inauspicious beginning, the song quickly became a live staple, at least through theend of the ‘70s.
Disc one concludes with two tracks, wherein two (or three?) previously unknown titles are heard
for the first and only time. This twenty-minute sequence is really quite fascinating. Track sixshows the band 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 soundtwitchy and unbalanced, though the trumpets (Hadi and Ebah) sound confident on the fanfarelike bridge. But just as it seems they’re building up a head of steam, Sonny calls a halt (though
Williams and Jarvis continue to play around with their parts). There’s a discussion in the
background about what tune they just played, 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 a complicated chart. Ra counts aloud in five andstops 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 the band falls in behind him withwhat sounds like an already well-rehearsed arrangement (although never performed live or on
record)[UPDATE: this composition has been identified as "Sun Procession"--see comments fordetails]. 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 neverlets 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
Ra from the Rocksichord, calling out the chord changes and sometimes providing some(inaudible) instructions. Unfortunately, the twenty-two minute instrumental version never reallygoes anywhere and Jarvis’s jittery drumming fails to provide a satisfactory groove (he soundsbored, 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 from Savannah, 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. The 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 fastor you’ll make music with your ass—passin’ gas!” Well, it’s good to know it wasn’t always superserious Astrometaphysics 24/7 with Ra. Hilarious!
Continuing the old-timey, pre-War vibe, Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady” follows. During
this period, Ra was trying to integrate historical material into the Arkestra’s repertoire, but it’sunclear whether this particular tune had entered into the set at this point. The band sounds likethey’re familiar with the arrangement, but Sonny periodically stops to lecture them on the finer
points of the rhythmic feel required. Hadi takes an exquisite solo, punctuated with daring, highregister squeals, followed by Gilmore, who is, unfortunately, way off-mic; nevertheless, it istypically brilliant. Finally, the rehearsal concludes with something that is definitely not “Watusi,”
despite what the liner notes say. Another unknown composition, the Arkestra struggles with the
intricately interlocking melodies. “Are you playing the two or the one?” Ra asks. After someindecipherable discussion, the band tentatively starts again. The effect is hypnotic but the bandsounds completely unsure of itself. Then Gilmore and Davis trade licks while Allen plays a longtoned 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” track seven and the absurdly amusing “Passin’ Gas”). However, all the previously
unknown titles are interesting in their own right, even if incomplete or badly played. Well, for me,
the whole thing is essential listening—if only to peek behind the veil, to hear the master at work.
Good stuff.
COMMENTS:
Anonymous said...
Hi Rodger.

There is one other version of this Sun Ra composition at the beginning of disc 2 of the now outof 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) that invoke both lost ancient worlds and the dark
immeasurable cosmos.
Keep up the great work.
PG
Anonymous said...
Hi again- Just to clarify, my earlier post refers to the concluding 'hidden' track of disc 1 of 'Danceof 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
to believe. 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!

August 7, 2011
NEW HORIZONSMusic Pulsing like a living heartbeat,
Pleasant intuition of better things to come . . .
The sight of boundless space
Reaching ever outward as if in search of itself.
Music spontaneous rapture,
Feet rushing with the wind on a new world
Of sounds:
Invisible worlds . . . . vibrations . . . tone pictures . .
A new world for every self
Seeking a better self and a better world.
Music akin to thought . . . . . . . .
Imagination . . . !
With wings unhampered,
Unafraid . . . . . . . .
Soaring like a bird
Through the threads and fringes of today
Straight to the heart of tomorrow.
Music rushing forth like a fiery law
Loosening the chains that bind,
Ennobling the mind
With all the many greater dimensions

Of a living tomorrow.
--Sun Ra

August 21, 2011
THE SUBSTITUTE WORDS
How carefully laid the scenes
How brilliantly superimposed
The substitute words to say and do.
How forced the seeming way of the pseudo-life.
If they would believe that vanity has them captive
If they would but believe the earth-gravity
Has them chained to its earth-plane vibration
Then they would come to know
Beyond the thing they call
The Beginning and End of knowledge-wisdom.
They would come to know
And they would know they know.
--Sun Ra

September 4, 2011
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 thesound quality 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 periodically rewarded 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 psycho-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 an epic tour de force guided by Ra’s scumbling keyboards; after a series of evergreater climaxes, Ra signals the reprise to end, leaving the audience clearly stunned. Wow!
Despite the poor sound, this version 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 a full horn arrangement. “Images” makes another welcome appearance, but the tape cuts inand out and the levels go up and down, making it impossible to tell what’s really going on. Yetabout half-way through, the band has settled into a sultry groove, the audience clapping along,when all of a sudden, Gilmore comes in with a rip-snorting, gut-bucket, blues-drenched solo.
He’s blowing his lungs out, “walking the bar”—but also spinning off complex chromatic runs
punctuated with keening, multi-phonic wails, chasing the rhythm section in spiraling circles—on
and on, coming back again and again to a three-note flourish and ending with a bang. Whew!
Yes, it’s another incredible Gilmore solo! And again, while the sound quality is dreadful, thisperformance needs to be 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 aswelling space chord, “Astro Nation” follows in its first known performance. It’s come a long way
from the rehearsal 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. (Itwould take a while for the band to get this odd little tune together.) Soon, Hadi pierces the dinand the saxophones begin to take it out and things really start to get interesting—but as Sonnytries to bring the vocals back around, it falls apart and just sort of dissolves. Then a superintense improvisation rises up over Ra’s droning organ, with loud, distorted guitar, pealing
trumpets and squalling saxophones but, sadly, the tape 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 anddistorted. 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 aroundthe rest of the band 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 in on some swing/rap silliness, repeating the refrain accompaniedby the Yoko-esque shrieking from one of Ethnic Space Vocalists—is this impromptu or preconceived? It’s hard to tell. The craziness subsides, replaced by the tranquility of “Pleiades,”pretty flutes and rubato percussion, with Damon Choice’s glistening vibraphone faintly audible inthe background. Very nice—but Ra continues with the 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
ready to write this one off as yet another dismal sounding bootleg, but I kept listening—and myears 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 havegone by…well, this is how it seems to go. Is it worth it? I suppose so; there is someextraordinary music here (Gilmore is in particularly good form), even if it’s a struggle to discern.
It may not be the worst-sounding bootleg out there—like I said, my ears got used to it—but thisone is strictly for hardcore fans only. Frankly, I’m looking forward to moving on to 1975…

September 11, 2011

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 sixtyminute recording but the band sounds a bit ragged, exhausted, perhaps, by the long-distancetravel 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 (seeCampbell & Trent p.218). Whoever it is, he provides an unusually funky bottom-end to theproceedings. The Arkestra had to make do without a bassist at many shows during this period(particularly after the final departure of the inimitable Ronnie Boykins in mid-1974) making therhythm 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 fromcareless microphone placement and poor balance than subsequent 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, our anonymous 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 asymmetrical 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” in a new, rhythmically clipped vocal arrangement, ending a cappella. Sort ofinteresting, but nothing special. Then “Love In Outer Space” follows, propelled by Ra’s BBQ
organ comping. Curiously, the theme 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 bleating horns, but it ends inconclusively.
“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 thepulsing 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 combinedwith an uncharacteristically subdued performance is disappointing: rather than hypnotic, it ismerely boring. Oh well. Next up is a long keyboard solo which also seems to be less than totallyinspired. It’s the usual spaceship synthesizer noises and dissonant organ clusters and the factthat the tape repeatedly fades up and down (and cuts in and out) doesn’t really help mattersvery 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 alugubrious tempo and accompanied by walking (well, plodding) bass. The Arkestra 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 not super- human. But then Sonny and Thomas start mumblingand crooning the rarely-heard lyrics about the seemingly “sophisticated lady” who cries alone at
home. But their mocking attitude is somewhat 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 regularfeature of Arkestra concerts from here on out, but there was never another performance of“Sophisticated Lady” quite like this—and that’s a good 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 anddistortion—and the presence of trombones on the bandstand. Probably recorded in the mid-‘70s
sometime, I have no 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 rarelytranslates 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.
COMMENTS: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 that 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 thebass is overdone. Gilmore's solo is not as off as you say, though---it's got some nice lyricalparts. 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 not just the bass!

September 18, 2011
Sun Ra: The Singles (Saturn/Evidence 2CD)
Although the Arkestra was fairly active in 1975, with several known performances up and down
the east 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 whichwas (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, inany 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 theuniverse “using the planets as stepping stones” but the sound quality is extremely noisy anddistorted, rendering it virtually unlistenable. Since there’s really not a whole lot going on
musically, I see no real reason to go out of your way to locate this impossibly rare pressing (anamateur “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 CDset, 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 Akh Tal Ebah (?) sings, shouts and screams into the microphone while the horns riff inthe 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 superfunky drumming (by someone 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” issomewhat inexplicable—maybe it was the campy costume—but this odd little ditty (written byLacy 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 A-side 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! This is, of course, a classic track from one of the all-time great Ra albums andthe vocals manage to add a touching sweetness that is truly unique. The flip-side, “Mayan
Temple,” was probably recorded June 27, 1975 at Variety Recorders in New York and it’s anearly 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 ismore 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 forproviding me with a bunch of rare stuff I was missing—I couldn’t do this without his help!

COMMENTS:
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 themmore closely...
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
already on 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!).

September 25, 2011
SAGA OF RESISTANCE
Resist me ------Make me strong.
Resist me ------Make me strong.
For since I cannot be what you will
I shall always be that much more so
What I will.
Resist me ------Repulse my dreams
Thus is a spark brought from nothing . . . .
Stone rubbed against stone
Upon the thirsty grass,
Dried and baked by a burning sun . . . . . . .
Then suddenly: flame.
Flame feeding flame.
. . . Now, nothing is the same:
The stones are blackened ------The grass is ashes
The burning is still no less itself
But all else is changed
Nor ever shall be as it was before.
--Sun Ra (1966)

October 16, 2011
POINTS OF THE SPACE AGE

THE SPACE AGE CANNOT BE AVOIDED.
The greater future is the age of the space prophet
The scientific airy minded second man.
The prince of the power of the air.
The air is music.
The music is power.
The power of the past was its music.
The greater power of the future greater
Is its greater music.
Greater music is art.
Art is the foundation of any living culture.
Living culture is skilled culture
Skilled beautifulness, aim and care
And love of beauty is the only way to produce art.
Skilled culture is the new weapon of nations,
The new measure of determination as to whether a nation
Is ready to be a greater nation is art.
A nation without art is a nation without a lifeline.
Art is the lifeline because art is the airy concept
Of greater living. It is the airy foundation of the airy
Kingdom of the future.
TOMORROW BEYOND TOMORROW IS THE GREATER KINGDOM.
--Sun Ra (1984)

October 30, 2011
I picked up this cool little book at Downtown Music Gallery while we were in New York: This
Planet Is Doomed: The Science Fiction Poetry of Sun Ra, which contains a number ofpreviously unseen poems as well as a forward by Amiri Baraka and an overview of Ra’s literary
pursuits by Bhob Stewart. Published by Kicks Books in association with Norton Records andMichael D. Anderson of the Sun Ra Music Archive, it’s definitely a worthy addition to the Sun Ra
bookshelf. Here’s a great example (from page 73):
infinity is the language
all created art is musicart
choreography
sculpture
poetryartworks
photographs
paintingarchitectural designs found in naturetreesflowers
grassevery thing’s vibration is a different
degree of music
there is music everywhere
infinite infinity is the language ofenduring impression
I apologize for the sporadic posting lately (I’ve been busy!) but I’ll be back with more reviews
next week—I promise!

November 6, 2011
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 withastounding authenticity. Szwed suggests that this was a shrewd business maneuver as muchas anything:
It was a move both oppositional and prescient: he had seen the limits of the avant-garde, andsensing a shift beginning in 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 royalties otherwise due him. Accordingly, Ra’s revival of the standard jazzrepertoire might seem to anticipate the rise of 1980s conservatism and the shallow, “welldressed jazz” of Wynton Marsalis and his ilk. But Sun Ra was deeply affected by the recent
deaths of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington (Id. p.337) and it must be remembered he wasalso of that era. Ra was by now in his sixties, much older than most of the members of theArkestra and his growing audience of college students and urban hipsters. Moreover, I’m notsure 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 the wild spacey stuff. Instead, I believe Sun Ra’s
intention was mostly pedagogical, to teach his musicians and audience about this beautiful,highly disciplined music that was in danger of disappearing into the past (or coopted andsmoothed 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 looseygoosey renditions previously heard, the Arkestra sounds super-tight and thoroughly wellrehearsed. When they 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 hissy mono recording sounds like it’s from a distant time-zone, an intergalactictransmission faintly audible on our humble earthbound receiver units. Nevertheless, it sure

would be nice to hear this in high fidelity! Well, we take what can get and this one is a keeper,
despite its sonic flaws. Sonny rhapsodizes on “Yesterdays” at the piano for a few minutes
before Gilmore solemnly announces: “And now, Duke Ellington’s 'Lightnin’'!”—and they’re totallysmoking, with Ra turning in a rollicking piano solo. Ellington’s “Slippery Horn” from 1932 ispresented in an unusual arrangement with Robert Northern taking the lead on French horn (!)
and Gilmore making a rare appearance on clarinet. Just lovely! Finally, the “mini-set” ends witha romantic piano interlude and a rip-snorting “King Porter Stomp.” Gilmore helpfully informs thecrowd it was “composed by Jelly Roll Morton and arranged by Fletcher Henderson.” Taken at aslightly more relaxed tempo than later versions, the performance is confident and assured with
newcomer Ahmed Abdullah coming through with a weirdly swinging trumpet solo. In all, a
scintillating ten-minute history lesson from the Sun Ra and his Arkestra.
The rest is more typical of the era, but played at an extremely high level. Notable is thepresence of a very 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 oneof 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 “The Shadow 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 show with a ferocious outburst of saxophone
pyrotechnics. Yes, it’s another amazing Gilmore solo! After a 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 the side-B of What’s New.
Aside from a slight change in sound quality and volume level, the ambience and energy of theperformance fits right in with the rest of the “New” Five Spot show—the unknown bass player
certainly sounds the same. Could this be from the same gig? Is this “bootleg” actually an onstage recording copied from Sonny’s stash, another “Lost Reel”? Who knows? In any event, thistrack 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 forthe expertly performed “mini-set” of obscure jazz classics and spectacular version of “TheShadow World.” That it may also contain the missing material from What’s New just makes it all
the more tantalizing.
COMMENTS: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" aretwo brilliant 30s-era Ellington pieces--I wish Ra had returned to them a bit more often than hedid some of 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!

November 13, 2011
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 thestage at Jordan Hall in December 1975. But although NEC was (and always will be) a bastion of
stuffed-shirted classical music snobbery, its president at the time was Gunther Schuller, who
was hip enough to allow Ran Blake to start the “Third Stream” department (where weirdoes likeme were admitted) and encouraged the development of a “jazz” curriculum to compete with the
Berklee College of Music down the street. So I guess it’s not so surprising that Sonny wasinvited to perform in one of the most acoustically perfect concert halls in the country—not thatyou would know it from the sound of this primitive audience recording. Gosh, it sounds awful!
Hissy, warbly, distorted, unbalanced and, to make matters worse, most tracks cut off with a loudpop. 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 overominous 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 theband at this point so the high-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 Spot is 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 thehead. 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—asound that would dominate the Cosmos album the following summer (one of my favorite Ra
albums of all time). 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 andback again before the band comes in with a stately melody. With its lumbering rhythms andsweet’n’sour harmonies, the piece brings to mind the Discipline series of compositions but withthe relaxed, 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-wiretrumpet. Mostly, though, it’s Sun Ra’s creamy Rocksichording that keeps things interesting.
Again, it’s a terrible shame the sound quality on the tape is so poor since the gently floating,interlocking bass and percussion parts are just about impossible to make out. Well, it’s a rareand beautiful composition, badly recorded.
“Space Is The Place” follows but is presented as a hyperactive rhumba, with Eddie Thomas andJune Tyson deliriously 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 and ending with weird portamento organ effects from Ra. “Discipline 27-II” slows thingsdown for a series of space chants, Eddie Thomas doing the substitute preaching—interestingly,
Sonny keeps his mouth shut throughout and the pontificating is kept mercifully brief. The
following “mini-set” of old jazz chestnuts is just two tunes, but they’re perfectly executed: “HowAm I to Know” is a maudlin 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 fullthroated Gilmore and pealing trumpet from Abdullah, all punctuated by Ra’s relentlessly
stabbing organ chords. Finally, the concert concludes with a vanishingly quick “Calling Planet
Earth” and a fast-paced romp through “We Travel the Spaceways,” as the band marches off thestage 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 theatrocious sound quality, there’s enough interesting music here to make it worthwhile to fanaticalcollectors. “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 anddistortion; you are hereby dutifully warned.
COMMENTS:
George said...
I really enjoy reading about your musical exploits, especially Sun Ra. For the life of me I can't
figure out how/where one gets these amazing audience CDRs. I Google them and don't findanything. One place talks about doing "trades," but how do I get anything to trade?
By the way, I'm wondering if you ever listen to Henry Cow, the amazing avant-rock RIO bandfrom the 70's. I bought their 3 box sets a few years ago and really enjoy them! And what about
Burnt Sugar? I think you'd enjoy much of their electric-Miles-meets-Sun Ra-huge bandeclecticism.
Rodger Coleman said...
@ Nicolus - Thank you for your comment. I'm not really comfortable posting my email address
to my blog. You can communicate with me via the comments section or, if you prefer, you canalso find me on Facebook (although I hardly ever hang out there).
@ George - First of all, welcome to my humble blog and thank you for commenting. I canappreciate your frustration in trying to find these "bootleg" CDRs if you are just starting out. I am
blessed to have a friend who is even more obsessed with Sun Ra than I am and he has kindly
passed on a lot of items I didn't have. Sometimes, his enthusiasm for my blog far exceeds myown! But beyond setting up trades with people, this stuff appears occasionally on certain
BitTorrent sites (legal and otherwise). Keep in mind that part of the fun of being a record
collector is the "chase" and, as I try to warn in my little reviews, the recordings themselves canbe pretty rough listening! There are a fair number of items listed in Campbell & Trent that I do
not have but would love to hear--no matter what they sound like! Good luck with your search!
P.S. Love Henry Cow but do not have the three-box set. I should probably bite the bullet and get
it before it goes out print...

November 20, 2011
MY WORLD IS A SPACE AWAY
my world is a space away
and that's the way to another dimensionof living
the arial concept of being aliveout on the vibrating planes of outer space
my world is a space away
the broad road that never ends
an endless channel
that connects worlds upon worldsof cosmic space
there is the doorway of my world
pause at the threshold, think a while
before you enterbut once having entered
there is no turning back--Sun Ra

November 27, 2011
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 theband) but he had already established himself as an in-demand bassist prior to joining theArkestra, 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 many occasions for doing without the bass altogether. Boykins
intermittently performed with Arkestra thereafter with his last known appearance being at HunterCollege on June 16, 1974 (portions of which 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 the bootleg tape which circulates (Campbell & Trent
p.220). According to Szwed, growing animosity between Boykins and Ra over money and lackof composer credit for some of the Arkestra’s recordings caused him to quit the band for goodsometime 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 heinvited me to hear the Arkestra 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 theArkestra, 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 torecord his first album as a leader (liner notes).
As it turned out, Boykins waited too long and The Will Come, Is Now is the only record Boykins
ever made under his own name—he died suddenly of heart attack in 1980 at the age of 45. And
ESP-Disk’ 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 minisculequantities and poorly distributed, resulting in one of the rarest ESP discs of all. Fortunately, theresurrection of the label at the turn of the century has brought nearly the entire catalog back inprint on CD, including Boykins’s one and only solo album, nicely remastered from the originaltapes. 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 thealbum, featuring a septet of himself on bass and sousaphone; Joe Ferguson, Monty Waters andJames Cass on saxophones and flutes; Daoud Haroom on trombone; Art Lewis on drums; andGeorge Avaloz on congas. And, to be sure, each of the pieces showcases Boykins’s uniquecompositional voice and his flair for rich orchestration but the album suffers from a basic lack ofrehearsal and slip-shod recording technique. The title track is typical: a loping ostinato in 7/4
with a twisty, complex head arrangement followed by a series of modal solos—but the sound isboxy and indistinct and the off-center 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 andBoykins carrying the melody on arco bass—but, this time, intonation problems undermine thepiece’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 countermelodies against a swinging solo section. The humorously titled, “Tipping On Heels,” is anappropriately tipsy, stop-start, 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 a clumsy splice rather than a planned conclusion. The last
track, “The Third I” could have been a real masterpiece: 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 finally coalesces into a 15/8
ostinato laid down by Boykins on the bass. Finally, at around the ten-minute mark, the full bandcomes 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 really frustrating
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 tospeculate on what sort of music Sonny would have made with Boykins continuously at his side.
Well, for whatever reason, it was not meant to be and, sadly, Boykins has never achieved theacclaim he deserves. Even though he played with several luminaries of the loft-jazz scene in the
1970s, very little of it was 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 andinimitable instrumental prowess. But it is less than completely satisfying on a musical level, if
only because it could have been so much better. Then again, my expectations might be too
high.

December 4, 2011
ONCE UPON A TIME
time upon timeupon timeupon timeupon time is time
time once upon
once upon is time once
once once once
once upon a timea time once
upon time a once
once once
upon a timeonce once once timein time in time in the past oncethe past
once the past
once time oncethe past past the past pasttime in time time in time in it time in ittime in it
the in time out out time out time out
comes beyond time beyond time
before a time
before a time is time out
time out time out
there is no time whentime is out time is out
time is out--Sun Ra

December 11, 2011
The next couple of records in the discography are some of faves, so it's taking a while to get thewords together. In the meantime, check out Sun Ra's appearance on David Sanborn's "NightMusic" from 1990. You know, I always thought Dave Sanborn was a cheeseball, but this show
was some of the best music television ever. For that, Sanborn deserves enormous props. Sun
Ra takes full advantage of the opportunity. Good stuff! See you next week.

December 18, 2011
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 anddemonstrators flared up outside the church during the concert (see Campbell & Trent p.222).
The “revolution” was on 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
semi-obscurity, the band playing down the block at the Red Carpet Lounge to a neighborhood
audience of twenty, or at outdoor free concerts in the parks of North Philadelphia, to whichsometimes no one came (p.341).
While very little documentation survives of this tour, Live At Montreux was to become awatershed album for Ra. Recorded for a state television broadcast at the legendary Swiss jazzfestival on July 9, 1976, it was first issued as a two-LP set as Saturn MS87976 and reissued by
Inner City as IC1039 in 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, formany people my age, their first (and perhaps only) exposure to his music. But what a greatrecord it is! Ra was provided a decent piano and he makes good use of it (along with his batteryof electronic keyboards), guiding the Arkestra through a remarkably inventive setlist. The
enormous band includes many returning alumnus, including Pat Patrick on baritone sax andflute, 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’senormous discography. In many ways, Live At Montreux is the definitive 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,
but they 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 themusic. 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 find it suffering from such callous neglect in the CD era(thankfully, I kept my old LP). Finally, in 2008, Inner City reissued Live At Montreux domesticallyin its complete form, remastered from the original tapes 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, which lets the music seamlessly
unfold, rather being interrupted by having to flip and change the records 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 frombeginning to end. Everyone plays at such a high level 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” whichneeds 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 “A-Train” being one of his mostimpressive solos on record, a history lesson tracing the development of the instrument fromragtime to avant-garde and on into outer space. If there is one Sun Ra album I would take to theproverbial “desert island,” it would probably be this one. Live At Montreux is just about 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?
COMMENTS:
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. Whatreally 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!"
Anonymous said...
Thought you should know about thisSpecial Show - www.wwoz.org - Air Time: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 - 10:00pm Wednesday, December 28, 2011 - 12:00am - Central Standard Earth TimeThe KItchen Sink Tone Scientists of Ecstatic Space will bring you the annual Sun Ra New
Year's Party on WWOZ. At least 2 hours of Sun Ra from the over 60 recordings that the
Scientists have accumulated. Expect Space, Time, Jazz, Space Time Jazz, and the Astro
Infinity Arkestra from the limitless repertoire of Sun Ra. Doo Wop, Swing, Avant Garde - it will all
be here. And as an added bonus, we'll be featuring Sun Ra poetry from the Kick Books(http://www.nortonrecords.com/kicksbooks/sunra.php) edition of "The Planet is Doomed"
published in 2011.
Roddus said...

This was one of the first Ra albums I heard after borrowing a copy from our public library. What
always stood out in my memory was the monumental piano solos on disc one. It was many
years later that I managed to get my hands on a digital copy and not long after I discovered theInner City release which now resides in my collection and my memories of those colossal Pianosolos are vindicated.

January 1, 2012
LIGHT FROM OTHER WORLDS
I have forgotten
the old ways
the old paths
I seek
I seek a new way
not like this new place of one dimensions
not like this place
this place of shame confused with glory
but a vaster realmof profitable enlightened visiona region of chromatic truths
abstracts of living design
full of warmthand sundry planes of light from otherworldsand sundry planes of light from otherworlds--Sun Ra

January 8, 2012
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 in the year as Cosmos (COB 37001). I originally wrote about this album way backin 2009, when I first started posting Sun Ra Sunday (and before I started the chronologicalassessment) and this is what I had to say:+++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
first re-issued on compact disc by the French Buda label (82479) but the original CD apparently
suffers from 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 distantdrums. 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 therecording studio. According to French horn player (!), Vincent Chauncey, the Arkestra was
reduced to a core group of twelve musicians for this session due to the limited space (Campbell(1st ed.) p.73). Oh, but what 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, ofcourse, Sun Ra himself on the electric Rocksichord. Caught in the midst of a European tour, theArkestra sounds well-rehearsed, at the top of 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,
wire-thin, reedy sound quality, upon which he pours some molasses-thick phase-shifter thathisses away incessantly in the background. Now, in anyone else’s hands, this would beunbelievably cheesy, even amateurish. Yet Ra guilelessly tackles the wide variety material and,through his visionary technical abilities, 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,” “NeoProject #2,” and the aptly-titled “Jazz From an Unknown Planet” are transformed by Ra’sswooshing, 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 themood is pretty and mellow and perfect for a Sunday evening.
+++
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 (!)
of listening to what came before. While it is like visiting an old friend, I now hear Cosmos asclearly a minor effort compared to many of the classic albums of this period. It’s an odd mixtureof remakes of 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, andare essential listening, in my opinion. Cosmos is worth seeking out for those tracks alone;everything else is just a bonus.
COMMENTS:
93curr said...
I can't guarantee that the Spalax CD sounds identical to the Cobra LP (I only ever owned theInner 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 cartridgewith a quarter 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. theInner 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 theserecords. It used to be that Japanese editions were almost always better, but that is not the caseso much in the digital era.

January 15, 2012
STRANGE WORLDS IN MY MIND
strangeworlds
whirl
in
my
mind
with a glow like sunset and apillow-like dawn
strange worlds whirl in my mind
with the living people of the living
dreamsstrange dreams in my dream world
a world
awhirlstrange dreams
strange world
awhirlawhirldreamswhirl
awhirl--Sun Ra

January 22, 2012
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 tourat 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-minuteportion of their performance was broadcast on RAI, Italian state television but I have not seen
this (I do not believe a 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, after recording Cosmos at Studio Hautefeuille in Paris, concluded thetour with two shows at Châteauvallon on August 24 and 25. (See Campbell & Trent pp.222227.) 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 thesound 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 onmost 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 oldtimey 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 toenthusiastic applause. After a world-shattering space chord, “Discipline 27” follows. The bandsounds big and full-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 the fanatically 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 sounda little shaky and Ra’s phasey Rocksichord sound is just plain strange. Meanwhile “Watusi” isthe usual (including an overlong drum solo from Clifford Jarvis), but it has an unusually skronky
improv in the middle that makes it worthwhile. The old Noble Sissle/Fletcher Henderson
stomper, “Yeah Man!” is even better, with Gilmore on clarinet for the surrealistically authenticsounding 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,” isgiven one last performance and yields a nice trombone solo from Craig Harris. Too bad thistune was apparently dropped from the repertoire; it definitely had some promise. Next up, Ra’sswirling organ gives “Take The A-Train” a circus-like feel and although Gilmore tries his best
during his solo, he never quite builds up a full head 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 theyeffortlessly segue into “Lights on a Satellite,” which features a gorgeous tenor solo from Gilmore
atop a delicate arrangement of swooshing Rocksichord and twittering flutes. Although the
woefully unbalanced recording is difficult to hear through, it is a lovely rendition of one of myfavorite Ra compositions. A hypnotic “Love In Outer Space” is driven by Sonny’s furious
comping on the Rocksichord and a tasty 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” andconcludes with “Calling Planet Earth.” The singing and chanting is ultimately overwhelmed bywaves 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 goes completely nuts on the electronic keyboards,
driving the crowd into a spaced-out frenzy. Just when you can’t take it anymore, Ra eases theband into “We Travel The Spaceways” to end the set. Wowza!
This show is a decidedly mixed bag with iffy sound and inconsistent performances—yet thegroup 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!

January 29, 2012
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 the same person. Unfortunately, the copy which circulates contains several glaring
errors in the text file and 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,with more defined bass and drums and slightly less hiss and distortion—but it’s still pretty roughgoing. 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 from start to finish, from the opening improvisation (featuring Marshall Allen’s
keening oboe) to the closing space chants. The ensembles are spirited and tightly disciplined
while all the soloists are in fine form, especially Gilmore, who simply plays his ass off all night
long. Take “Velvet,” for instance: 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 the finest tenor saxophonists of his generation and nowhere is this more
apparent than here. More mind-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,”but abandons 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
to me. 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 “TheShadow World”; “Angels & Demons At Play”; and “Watusi” into the stratosphere. These last two
tunes 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 his horn. Totally outrageous! There is one mystery tune that is particularly intriguing(disc 2, track 2). Is this a 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, theharmony wandering further and further afield until Vincent Chancey comes in on his
precariously intonated French horn. Then Ra pushes a button, 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;
just take 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, “RoseRoom” and “Satellites Are Spinning” appear on the 1978 double-LP, Unity (Horo—Italy HDP 1920) (see pp.226-227). Frankly, I’m not so sure about that—we’ll have to try and figure it out
when we get there. 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 (orwhatever is extant) would certainly be a worthy addition to the discography—are you listening,
Art Yard? Ah well, one can dream, 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 on Downtown 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 to two. Anyone out there know for sure what the deal is with this? Please let me
know!
COMMENTS: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 (athttp://fatteningblogsforsnakes.blogspot.com/2011/12/sun-ra-and-his-arkestra-live-at-ann.html),
there's no extra material here. However, like they say, "It Is Forbidden" is indexed, so that'scool. I'll try to dig around more on this...maybe somebody out there has it and can confirm 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 are culledfrom the Blast First releases. As usual with Art Yard, the packaging is gorgeous.

February 5, 2012
Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Rehearsal, Unknown Location 9-76 (SBD? CDR)
This thirty-minute rehearsal tape, recorded at an unknown location in September, 1976, wasplayed on WKCR-FM’s Sun Ra memorial broadcast in 1995 (Campbell & Trent pp.227-228) andcirculates widely amongst collectors. There is a small audience present, indicating this was
actually a soundcheck at a venue, rather than a rehearsal proper and, accordingly, there isneither in-depth working out of arrangements nor any verbal instruction whatsoever from Ra,
unlike what we’ve heard 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 (bass and vocals are notably way up front while drums sound distantand indistinct). Perhaps this comes from 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 skronkygroup 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 onorgan, but soon drops out as the head commences. Meanwhile, everyone gets to take a solo
(both with and without accompaniment) across its twenty-three minute duration: Marshall Allenand 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 goodon paper, this is not the most compelling version of this showpiece, with the soloists sounding a
bit listless (aside from Ra himself, who plays brilliantly as usual) and the ensembles failing tocohere. Well, it is a rehearsal and/or soundcheck after all.
While the unusually decent sound quality makes this an enjoyable listen, it is ultimately not verysatisfying; a curious bit of filler that will be of interest only to the most committed Sun Ra
completists.

February 12, 2012
I need to catch my breath here but, in the meantime, check out this amazing French television
footage filmed at the House of Ra circa. 1969. Enjoy! I'll be back with more reviews next week!

February 19, 2012
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 LeftBank 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
sometime in 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 aresketchy at best. However, the sound quality is actually quite good for the period with thestereophonic 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”
and it’s the usual thing but with a particularly exuberant trumpet solo from Ahmed Abdullah.
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 two bass players here, one playing arco and one pizzicato. There is some nicesoloing from Ra on piano and “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 thefifteen-minute duration. Sonny seems to be keeping the band on a pretty short leash. Twoclassic big-band numbers follow: “Yeah Man!” and “Lightnin’,” which are taken at absurdly fast
tempos—yet the band is super-tight and, of course, John Gilmore rips it up on tenor sax.
Although Ra has been provided a piano, he sticks to the buzzing Rocksichord and roller-rinkorgan, giving these old-timey numbers a weirdly modernized sound. Good stuff!
Then an unusual thing happens. Sun Ra speaks: “Not all of America is dis-integrated, there
some things that are unified. With me tonight, I have two members of the band who have beenwith me for about twenty years, Robert Barry and John Gilmore [who will] improvise some outerspace 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 ariveting four minutes. Then Ra introduces Tommy Hunter and Marshall Allen, who duet in amore 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 thetape ends. I’m not sure what Sonny was up to here. He seems to be trying to school these
Conservatory kids on the art of instant composition—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—theambience is 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 Lesh would duet with synthesizer player Ned Lagin between sets in themanner 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 hearsomeone 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
sound quality and the brief but powerful duo segments make it worth the effort to track down.
There is some excellent playing here—I just wish we could hear the rest of the concert!

February 26, 2012
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 portablecompact cassette recorders 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 thetechnology 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 andoccasionally 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 to discover 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 myantipathy towards the exercise is no doubt reflected in my sometimes hastily concoctedjudgments. I try to be fair: I listen to everything several times (which is partly why this project istaking so long) and there is almost always something worth hearing, even on the worsesounding tape. But I must apologize for the lack of enthusiasm I often demonstrate whenconfronted with yet another dodgy “bootleg.”This ninety-minute recording from the Jazz Showcase in Chicago from November 27, 1976 is acase in 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 is dominated by an overlong declamation segments and interminable
percussion jams that might have been highly amusing in concert but are almost intolerable tolisten to on tape. Moreover, the CDR dispenses with any index markers, meaning you can’t skip
to the good parts. I quibble, but there you go (it’s my blog and I can cry if I want to).
Nevertheless, there is some interesting music here and there, 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 and bows and the horns interject skronky improvisations. Well, OK then! Ra moves

to organ and we get a bouncy, slightly uptempo “Friendly Galaxy No.2” but, unfortunately, thedelicate flute arrangement 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 an enjoyable (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 andthings start to get a bit tedious. The ensemble tries to maintain interest by displacing andelaborating upon the hypnotic tattoos of “Friendly Galaxy” but Ra is intent on hectoring theaudience: “Who’s gonna save you now?,” he demands. Moving back to the organ, Sonny brings
the proceedings to a close and introduces “The Satellites Are Spinning,” which is also played ata faster than usual clip. After a brief sing-along, “Calling Planet Earth” signals more bashing outjazz improv, culminating in a frenzied, “mad-scientist-style” organ solo from Ra. Sadly, the tapecuts 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 and honking 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
not disappoint, 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-backdrumming style, although it still goes on for far too long. This was undoubtedly a visual
spectacle, what with the dancing and carrying on that accompanied the percussion workout, butthat stuff just doesn’t come across 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 (and nicely executed) but Chancey’s three-note
solo seems perversely out-of-place amidst the continuously cycling pre-Bop chord changes.
Frankly, it is not the most satisfying version of this big-band classic. “What’s New” begins withanother rhapsodic organ solo before the head arrangement—but then the bottom drops out andit’s just Gilmore and drums. Gilmore gamely keeps the tune’s structure intact during his lengthy
improvisation but he ultimately sounds restrained by 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!
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
the sonic 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 iscolored by the technical flaws which make this recording difficult to listen to, despite thereasonably good sound quality. But that’s how it goes with “bootlegs”: I’m happy to have themas historical documents, but I don’t necessarily enjoy listening to them. Your mileage may vary.

March 4, 2012
Before we finish up with 1976, check out this television footage from Live At Montreux which
recently turned up on YouTube:
COMMENTS:Anonymous Anonymous said...
That's an excerpt from the half hour available on the Transparency DVD (Volume Three (0172):
Solo Piano/Montreux And Lugano) although it does seem to come from a better looking source.

March 11, 2012
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 (see pp.205, 229). I don’t recognize the music quietly playing in the background, but it isobviously pre-recorded: 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 treatedwith dramatic space echo. As kooky as it sounds, he is deadly serious and the two halves play
like two sides of an album. This session 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 a child, 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, hehooked 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 hipluminaries as Langston Hughes and Allen Ginsburg, cementing Ra’s reputation as anunderground poet of note. After a deal with Doubleday fell through, Sonny and Alton Abraham
self-published The Immeasurable Equation and Extensions Out—The Immeasurable Equation
Vol. 2 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: “He had read Sidney Lanier’s The Science of English Verse when it wasargued that sound could serve as artistic material, the body as a musical instrument. Poetry
offered him a chance to compose with language 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 a reaction. In the same way if you put together certain words you’ll obtaina 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 eternal life. 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 would change 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 wasmost 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, withheavy echo and delay in the studio sometimes reducing the words to pure sound without
meaning (Id. pp.320-321).
Another fifteen minutes of Sonny reading his poetry over pre-recorded music appeared on theeleven hour ESP Radio Tribute back in 2005 and while no dates are provided, it sounds very
similar to this 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 awhole lot more, compiled by “The Good Doctor” (Michael Anderson, director of the Sun Ra
Archive). The completest in me says I need to have 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 pieceof the Sun Ra puzzle.
COMMENTS: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 Hartmut Geerken (500+ pages, 2005). I
have no idea how the content compares to Abraham's version.

March 18, 2012
This BBC documentary, Sun Ra: Brother From Another Planet, is fun but a little disappointing. It
neither works as a compelling overview for newcomers nor presents anything new for longtime
fans. Nevertheless, there's some nice footage, so it's definitely worth watching. Enjoy!

March 25, 2012
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 wasrecorded and released on an LP entitled, Sound Advice, in 1980 (Saturn ESR 770) and it is oneof the few non-Sun 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 Saturnalbums ever released on cassette (Id.). It’s an odd grouping: eight (8!) baritone saxophones(with some doubling on alto and flute) accompanied by a rhythm section consisting of Hilton
Ruiz on piano, John Hart on bass, Steve Solder on drums and Babadefmi Humphries on conga.

Both Patrick and Davis contribute tunes and arrangements 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” sanssolos, a curious 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 for most of the album. Patrick’s “Uptightedness” boasts an evocative title
but is merely a medium blues of little interest but Davis’s “Eastern Vibrations” is better: a snaky
melody over mysterioso piano and 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 firstwith an effortless couple of choruses and Patrick taking over with more adventuresome fare,which gets a nice round of applause from the audience. A tasty piano solo from Ruiz thenrounds 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 themost interesting track on the album: “East Of Uz” an early Sun Ra composition (c.1956) thescore of which was deposited in the Library of Congress, but never recorded by Ra (as far as Iknow). It’s a Latin-inflected space groove with descending harmonies set against an oddly
dissonant melody and the arrangement here is fairly intricate with loping counter-melodies
orchestrated for baritone choir. Ruiz really shows his stuff with a sprightly solo in paralleloctaves, which elicits some applause before Patrick and Davis take their turns at the mic. This ispossibly 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” isanother composition by Davis and it’s just what it sounds like, a modal, three-four romp thatdances in place while the soloists take flight. Then it’s another incomplete take of “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 from being 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 aunique 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.
COMMENTS:
Anonymous said...
Thanks for your review!
I think you are one of few lucky dogs who listened this music. I searched for it for a long time but
it was impossible to find. I'm an Italian fan of Sun Ra. I saw him and the Arkestra at 1983 Italian
tour and the concert was so amazing I went the next night in another city to see again Sun Ra.
Few years ago I saw the Arkestra leaded by Marshall Allen and I talk with Charles Davis about
pat patrick and he told me Pat Patrick dead by leukemia in 1991, a great loss. If it's possible I'dlike listen this music and you can send me the file or a copy of cd-r I will be very thankful. My
mail is beacei@libero.it and my address is Alessandro Polin via XXIV maggio 14 31044
Montebelluna Italy

Thanks
Alessandro

April 8, 2012
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 rereleased in complete form as A Quiet Place In The Universe (Leo LR 198). It’s unclear when
this material was recorded since, according to Chris Trent’s liner notes, the original tapeprovided to the record company merely contains a handwritten label identifying some (but notall) 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 “bestguess” is “early 1977” but there are some anomalies (such as Pat Patrick’s presence on alto
saxophone) which make a date certain impossible to determine (see p.235). In any event, it is aterrifically 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.
After an 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 andstrange, 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” seriesof 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 enthusiasm forthe music! After an elongated reprise, the piece ends with a flourish from Gilmore and anotherannouncement: “’A Quiet Place In the Universe’, a composition by Sun Ra!” And what a greatcomposition it is!
“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 betedious (to say the least), but the recording manages to minimize the distorted vocals andenhance the delicate flute arrangement, making for a surprisingly enjoyable listening
experience. Although the next track was labeled “Images” on the original tape, that’s not what
was played. Instead, we essentially get a duet improvisation between Ra’s electric organ andChancey’s French horn, with the rhythm 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
hit for Mildred Bailey in 1932. The tune would become a regular in Sun Ra’s live sets in theyears to come but this version is unusual in that Pat Patrick takes the lead on alto saxophone.
This suggests a later date than 1977, but then again, who knows? Patrick was in and out of theband during this period 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 adelight, 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 greatloss 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 alittle hit-or-miss, but this one is a keeper.

April 22, 2012
I'll be back with more reviews next week (I hope). But in the meantime, check out this 1971
interview with Sun Ra, which also includes some excellent Arkestra footage as well. Dig thosegroovy shades!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=AMMWNwVhq5k

June 3, 2012
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 areview 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 withblues, 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 Festival of the Arts and Culture” in Lagos, Nigeria scheduled to begin
at the beginning of February. Performers from sixty-two different countries were invited, allrepresentative 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 evenconsider it, but Sonny was adamant: “Your ancestors came into America without a cent. How
much money do you have?” When one of the musicians 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, hethought—and he assumed that having 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 soldmine. This is no longer my home!” At each performance the artists displayed flags from theirown countries; but when Sun Ra got on stage he raised a purple and black banner that hecalled “the flag of death.” He was annoyed that they were only allowed to play at the festival
twice, and it was made worse when the Arkestra played overtime as usual and a large numberof people left to catch the last buses back from the hall: misunderstanding their exit for rejection,
Sonny saw it as typical of blacks to not respect one another. But at their second performancethe lighting man was so impressed by the music that he lowered the lights after they left thestage 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 shouldbe treated 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 them dancing to the Arkestra’s music at informal performances. The band wasinvited to visit the flamboyant and politically rebellious Fela Anikulapo-Kuti at his house andnightclub where he was staging a counter-FASTEC, but Sonny thought it unwise and told theband not to go—a decision which he said was justified later when Fela’s place was attacked andburned down by troops of the Nigerian army. The trip ended on a bitter note when the Arkestra
was not allowed to march in the final grand parade because Ra would not agree to give theraised fist salute of Black Power. Then afterwards, when National Public Radio reported on thefestival, one woman interviewed said his music didn’t represent black people in the UnitedStates.
After the festival was over they returned by way of Egypt, and this time traveled in that country
more widely, and wound 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 from their performance in East Lansing, Michigan apparently circulates but I have notheard 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, the rendition of “Bye Bye Blackbird is “slow and dozy and, if one does notlisten 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 andsomewhat repetitive setlists and give Sun Ra Sunday a rest for a little while. But the fact
remains: Ra made a bunch 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’m actually 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 “goodstuff” to be found on these amateur concert recordings—it just takes a whole lot more effort todiscern.
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!

June 10, 2012

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, this venue 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 the 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.
Greetings from 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, the circulating 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 thatgoing for it. The problem is that the (decidedly lo-fi) microphone has been placed right up next toSonny’s amplifier so the organ is much, much louder than anything else on stage—and when hesteps 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) andpicks up the alto for a gorgeous rendition of “I’ll Never Be The Same.” But what’s mostinteresting are all those unknown titles such as the above ballad, the tangy “Discipline”-styled
piece (disc 2, track 3) or the phase-shifty Rocksichord and French horn duet (disc 2, track 7),
with Vincent Chancey sounding more assured than ever on that unwieldy instrument. It isalways 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 tosit 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 stayfar, far away.
COMMENTS: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,"make this worth returning to. The treatment of "Bye Bye Blackbird" is similar to what RLC
describes of the version from the WKCR show, and it's a pleasure to hear Gilmore's take on"Embraceable You."

June 17, 2012
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
ambience and 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 recordinglevels go up and down; there is considerable distortion when things get loud; and, about halfway
through, the surreptitious recordist panics and tries to hide the microphone, causing the soundquality to deteriorate 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 a short, hour-long set with few surprises. All that said, this is a half-decent
recording of the band on a pretty 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 joinin the chorus, 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 riffof “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
the rest 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 overplayedtune, 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-minuteduration, from the frenetic opening ostinatos to a deep, dark funk jam to wild, free-jazz bashing.
Jacson’s bassoon solo 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 of tiny cells of notes, effortlessly incorporating the entire range ofextended techniques from impossible-sounding multiphonics to keening altissimo cries, all thewhile maintaining a coherent structure with a lyrical melodicism all his own. Yes, folks: it’sanother incredible Gilmore solo! After the Arkestra returns with a super-tight reprise of theinsanely complicated head, the audience is left in stunned disbelief. This is another fantastic
rendition of a composition which could never be “overplayed” in my book—the highlight of theset, for sure.

“Enlightenment” cuts off after about thirty-five seconds—no great loss, I guess—and then wepick up 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 getsshoved under the table in an effort to avoid detection by the band or nightclub staff; in any
event, the sound quality takes a severe nosedive from here on. “When There Is No Sun” isspiritedly sung, but suffers from muffled sound, 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 rockfeel—but Sonny puts the kibosh on that pretty quick! Next up is an unknown title, possibly oneof the “Discipline” series of compositions and it sounds vaguely familiar: strained, broken
harmonies; braying horns; abstract drumming; dissonant, dramatic organ chords—but withweird, murmuring vocals. Very interesting. Then Walt Dickerson takes over with a long
vibraphone solo—too long, if you ask me. Dickerson is a fine player, but he’s just noodlingaround 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 goes on 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 thevibraphone 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 forthe inclusion of the baritone counter-melody in the head arrangement, a subtle but welcome
variation to this concert mainstay. After an extended vocal segment, the Arkestra marches off
the stage and that’s it.
No doubt there was a lot more music played on this night, but this is all we have: a flawed yetmostly 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 & 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 astudent-run 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 theater with a large stage, nice acoustics and student volunteers would serve
natural foods between sets—hey, it was the ‘Seventies! Weekends were mostly reserved foravant-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-hour audience 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) theoriginal (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 in elevated hiss and distortion that was clearly not present on theoriginal recording. To make matters worse, this horribly degraded tape was then sloppilytransferred to digital, evidenced by audible clicks and digital distortion present throughout,getting progressively worse and worse as it goes along. Ouch! That said, there is, as usual,some great (and not so great) music buried beneath all the noise—you just have to struggle tohear 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 makeout exactly what’s going on. And it goes on for quite a while, moving through a variety ofrhythmic 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 theSpace Ethnic Voices starts singing, “Make Way For the Sunshine.” But then June Tyson comesin with “(The World Is Waiting) For The Sunrise” and the two songs are sung at the same time inweird, 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 anextended 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 that gets a nice round of applause. But Ra is clearly frustrated with theRocksichord and abandons it altogether to join in the singing, only to let the song sort of peter
out. Oh well. “Love In Outer Space” 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-bandclassics, “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 Bflat clarinet (a/k/a “The Misery Stick”) on “Yeah Man!” 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 get to 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: the ensembles are ragged andthe band sounds unsure of the arrangements at times. It doesn’t help matters much that thesound 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 feelto “Taking a Chance on Chancey” and other French horn duets we’ve heard, Sonny is outlining
definite harmonies while Allen freely extrapolates on alto saxophone—whatever it is, it’s justlovely. “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. “TheMayan Temples” settles into a gentle, spacey groove with flutes on top and Ra taking apleasantly ruminative electronic solo—but the recording is marred by numerous technicaldifficulties, 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 a complexly hocketed vocal arrangement and Sonny pontificating
amidst an increasingly enervating din. Whoah! I’m not sure if we’ve heard this arrangement
before (or if we’ll hear it again), but it is an unusually 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 astonishingvariety 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 mostoutrageous — yet he is firmly in control of every nuance possible from his crude electronic
keyboards. A string of horn solos follows, both accompanied and a cappella, with James Jacsondelivering another lengthy and impressive display instrumental facility on the difficult andunwieldy bassoon—but then Harris destroys the mood with an overly cute, bluesy pastiche ontrombone. He manages to elicit some bemused chuckles from the audience but our recordist isclearly not impressed; running short on tape, he shuts off the machine until mid-way throughGilmore’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 tapewould resurface and be given a fresh transfer as it would sound a lot better than this inferiorfacsimile. 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.
COMMENTS:Sam said...
Getting caught up here...
Okay, yeah, I'm one of the ones who know who I am! I really like this show. 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 a pound. 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 spice here (suchas the "Outer Spaceways" arrangement) to keep things hopping. Thanks for another great writeup!
Anonymous said...
This post brought back my own memories of Sun Ra at The Empty Foxhole, but this was backin either late 1970 or early 1971 -- wintertime, for sure, as there was precious little heat in thevenue. And there was no "large stage," just a tiny one in a tiny room. The acoustics were about
the same as someone's living room. And Ra's organ was deafening! The whole experience was
overwhelming to me and my friend -- we were both green suburban teenagers getting our ears
cleaned out. I have equally vivid memories of hearing the Sam Rivers Trio, Charles Mingus, andMcCoy Tyner in that space. (The Tyner gig was in the summer, and it must have been 100
degrees in the club! A wonderful place, the Foxhole...

July 1, 2012
FAST FADING ECHOES
they taught me to share all I had
with them
I did
and I got nothing in return
one day I found that because I did,
I diedthen another tomorrow they never told

me ofcame with the abruptness of a fiery gun
and spoke of cosmic equations
the equations of sound similarity
a secret code of eternal elasticity
clear only to those meant to live beyond
the law of earth
who must choose to understand themeaning of thedeath insuranceof cosmic surety
and use it as a shield against thepretendersof the fast-fading
echoesof the damned
yesterdays--Sun Ra

July 15, 2012
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
the recondite 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, take a 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 wascapable of:Though many recognized him as capable of playing bombastically, and of using the piano forcolor, 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 aband. If anything, he felt, the band was a cover for his insecurity. Early in 1977 Bley convinced
Sonny to do a series of piano duo performances with him in New York and Europe and to recordfor 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 (seeCampbell & Trent p.236). The first in a series of solo piano recordings made in during the year,
Volume 1 is also the most satisfying.
Alone in the studio, Sonny is in a reflective mood, ruminating on a handful of originalcompositions and choice covers. “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” is given ahauntingly abstract reading, alternating between enervated, polytonal passagework and serene,

floating chords. The following “Cosmo Rhythmatic” continues this rhapsodic, orchestral
approach while “Yesterdays” is played mostly straight, with an occasionally bubbly ragtime feelthat fittingly evokes Sun Ra’s early days on the south side of Chicago. On “Romance of Two
Planets” Ra stacks up unstable blocks of 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 countermelodies. Finally, “To A Friend” demonstrates Sun Ra’s peculiarly inventive take on the blues: a
two-chord vamp over which he elaborates in seemingly endless variation, sometimes in several
keys simultaneously. As Szwed points out, “those who had known him for years understoodthat his origins were in the blues and assumed that side of his playing: ‘Sun Ra could play theblues for twenty four hours without repeating a phrase’ they claimed” (p.343). Even at sevenplus 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: 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 wasalone 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 found here.
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 andshowy. “Ohosnisixaeht” is a rhapsodic blues with impressively fleet soloing, but the music
wanders rather than gets anywhere. W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues” is better, updated with acomplex, polytonal arrangement. 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 and skittering 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 breezy ragtime.
Side two is more interesting, containing three originals that show off Sun Ra’s compositional
skills as well as his brilliant keyboard work. “Sky and Sun” is onomatopoeic: drifting chords
represent the sky and twinkling figures in the uppermost register represent the sun. This track isreally 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” andexquisitely 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
differences from the LP (see Campbell & Trent p.237). This video was only sporadicallyavailable 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 was joined by June Tyson (voc) and John Gilmore (voc). It is not known
whether this piece was recorded” (Id.).
UPDATE:
Thanks to reader, Yotte, for this link to the IAI video of this concert:https://vimeo.com/26187775

July 29, 2012
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) in1981 (Campbell & Trent pp.237-238). Simply titled Sun Ra & Friends, the concert 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 ever receive a legitimate digital release, so check ‘em out while you can.
https://vimeo.com/25088782

December 16, 2012
Hello, again. You probably think I had completely given up on Sun Ra Sunday, having notposted 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’searliest recordings, including some speculative tracks that may or may not have someconnection to Sun Ra. I figured I’d need to have it should I ever circle back around and cover
the period leading up to the Choreographer’s Workshop recordings, where I (accidentally)began Sun Ra Sunday in earnest back in 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
Horo LPs 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 fromthe beginning, starting with the material found on The Eternal Myth Revealed. One day, I hopeto publish this chronological overview 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 willtake a long time to complete this project. Stay tuned!
COMMENTS:
Rodger Coleman said...
@ Jean K - It is somewhat arbitrary, but after 1980, the number of "bootlegs" increases
exponentially. I'm not sure I'm ready to go there. At least not until I've covered the early years!
@ Sam - well, I may try to carve out some time to listen to some stuff out of sequence. I am
certainly curious about much of the contents on that box!
Citizensmurf said...
I've listened to most of the 14 cds since getting it, and it is really amazing. Michael Anderson put
together a very thorough picture of Sun Ra's early years. Some have complained that henarrates way too much, but I enjoy radio documentaries, and this is really one very large radio
doc, with all the music to listen to, not just excerpts. He has more in the archives that needs
proper funding before it gets released, so I think it is a great time to be a Sun Ra fan.

January 13, 2013
Sun Ra & His Astro Infinity Arkestra:Cosmo Earth Fantasy: Sub Underground Series Vol. 1-2 (Saturn/Art Yard CD)
Just when I thought the Art Yard label was defunct, with no new releases in over a year andsome titles 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 versions of The Invisible Shield). None of this material (recorded from 19621975) has ever been officially released 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
discographical confusion surrounding this music. The original reel-to-reel tape of “Cosmo Earth
Fantasy” was recovered in 2011 and while information on the label is “scant,” Griffiths points outthat two handwritten words appear: “strings bandura.” Indeed, the opening portion of this epic,
22-minute track 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 theArkestra 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)
are taken 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 first joined the band.” Again, I think he is correct. Of course, the What’s New? material isfrom the magical 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 amystery, although the liner notes suggest a possible recording date of May 23, 1975 at an
unknown venue. It’s another shouty, distorted “cosmo drama,” so who really cares where it’sfrom? Ha ha—just kidding (sort of).
This new Art Yard disc has reignited my enthusiasm for Sun Ra’s music, collecting as it doessome 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 of Continuation back in like 2007 or something. Thatis 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.
COMMENTS:
Matt said...
Hi Rodger,
This is Matt from Philly, I've been avidly following your blog for Sun Ra Sunday for a while andam glad you're back to semi-regular posting.
I too have been waiting for eons for the Continuation reissue...there was a piece in the Chicago
Reader in May of last year indicating that John Corbett has an imprint through his Corbett vsDempsey gallery that is producing limited run reissues (they've already issued some Joe
McPhee hatHut titles), with Continuation slated to be released with additional contemporaneousmaterial. Exciting news if it ever materializes!
Anyway, keep traveling the spaceways...
Best,
Matt
Sam said...
I too am glad to see Sun Ra Sundays return! Rodger, as far as you can tell, is there anything on
this Art Yard disc that was unreleased by Saturn? I'm guessing not, since I'm pretty sure you
would have mentioned it.
Rodger Coleman said...
@ Matt - Thank you for the tip re: Corbett vs. Dempsey - I will be keeping an eye out for"Continuation!"@ Sam - No, there is nothing previously unreleased on this. Here is the full track list:"Sub Underground":1) Cosmo Earth Fantasy
2) Love is for Always
3) The Song of Drums
4) The World of Africa"What's New?":
5) What's New
6) Wanderlust7) Jukin'8) Autumn in New York
9) //Space is the Place>
We Roam the Cosmos
TT = approx. 66 mins

January 27, 2013
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, andthe more flamboyant live recording, St. Louis Blues. There was also one more solo piano setthat month: a radio 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 intown) and a 36-minute tape 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 when 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 oneof Monorails & Satellites after Ra’s set. 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 thisbroadcast sounds much, much better (more like a proper line recording) and does not containthe confusing album tracks (although the sequence is slightly 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 the collection.
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 acontrasting, “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? Who knows? The old stand-by, “St. Louis Blues,” is up next and it’s another barnburning 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, justlisten to this! Another standard, “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 through distant 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-handflourishes 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” isgiven the same treatment as “Sophisticated Lady,” a ruminative extrapolation on an old favorite,
blithely dispensing with all the clichéd familiarity and nostalgic sentimentality associated withthis well-worn warhorse. His enervated explorations of low-register tone clusters and fiery
single-note runs easily rival the intensity of Cecil Taylor at his most bombastic—but no matterhow “out-there” it might sound at times, Ra deftly brings it all back around to the ragtime andswing which forms the basis of jazz. The vast expanse of African American musical history, fromemancipation through the avant-garde is seemingly encapsulated in this four-and-half minuteversion of “Take the “A” Train.” Incredible.
Another unknown title follows: a two-chord vamp with pretty right-hand melodies, a spacerhumba feel that gradually morphs into straight-ahead swing before going out. Although dreamy
and imminently enjoyable, it feels more like a sketch for a potential Arkestra arrangement than afully-fleshed 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 first version of this tape has “Quest” occurring at the very end of the set, making
my correlation even more difficult. In any event, "Quest" is a short but intriguing tone poem, withjagged, irregular melodies, Morse code rhythms and brittle, uneasy silences. Incidentally, thesound quality of the 45-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 microphonenear his mouth, so you can barely make out what he’s saying at first. But there are other voicesin the background, faintly echoing Ra’s declamations: June Tyson and John Gilmore, who havebeen 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 – or perhaps not? Maybe the subject of this diatribe was so specific, it only needed
performing once in a while. Again, who knows? These are the sorts of tantalizing tidbits thatkeep me interested in this project: 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 great composer and bandleader, he was a fluent pianist and the living embodiment ofa deep-rooted tradition dating back generations, a fact that sometimes gets lost in all the bigband hoopla and space-age gobbledygook. Here's proof.

February 3, 2013
Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Saturn LP>CDR)
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 (!) (seeCampbell & Trent pp. 230-240). At least one of these concerts was recorded by Tommy Hunterand 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 under either title, a copy of the vinyl LP circulates amongst Sun Ra obsessives asa “needledrop” CDR made from a rather crackly original. Oh well, we take what we can get andare 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 abrief but astonishingly fluent solo on tenor saxophone, followed by Ra on an extended, romanticorgan solo. Gilmore is in top form here, blowing his ass off in that intense, late-Coltrane fashion
he inconspicuously inspired, melding avant-garde shrieks and squawks with the deepest jazzhistorical traditions. Rather than providing a conventional ending, Sonny cues a throbbing space
chord to close, eliciting some stunned applause from the audience. The old standard, “GoneWith The Wind,” is rendered in a soapy, melodramatic organ mode, veering towards holy-rolling
gospel at times. The rhythm section (ShooBee Doo [Reginald J. Fields] on bass, Tommy Hunterand 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 thetrack abruptly cuts off.
Ra then leads a chant: “You made a mistake/You did something wrong/Make anothermistake/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 thearrangement. Ensemble passages are a little ragged but the solos make up for it. First, Akh Tal
Ebah gets a rare turn at the mic. 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 toan 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 afunky organ thang, it soon settles into an easy swing, Ahmed Abdullah’s trumpet on top.
Confident and self-assured on the high-note runs, he follows Ra’s meandering chord
progression every step of the way 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 overwhile 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 aclose. “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 the
Rainbow.” This is another tour de force performance, with aggressive dissonances interspersedwith 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 was inspired 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 wasprovided 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 soundquality is very nice (as was usually the case when Tommy Hunter was involved) and there isplenty of interesting and unique music to be found here. It may be a minor Sun Ra album in the
grand scheme of things but Somewhere Over the Rainbow is imminently enjoyable. If theoriginal tapes of this concert still exist, an expanded reissue could be something special indeed.
Well, obsessives like me can dream, can't we?
COMMENTS:Mark R said...
Great to have you back, Roger. I've been reading the blog for a couple of years but for somereason have never commented. BTW I just picked up a vinyl reissue of Soul Vibrations at
Honest Jon's in London 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 aresome 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 thehorn arrangement 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" youare thinking of is "Third Heaven," a different sort of gospel thing. I was not aware of the 180gram 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, themore 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.

February 10, 2013
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, monophonicgear, the sound quality is simply atrocious. It’s the usual set of problems we find with bootlegs ofthe era: poor instrumental balance, with volume levels bobbing up down seemingly at random.
Moreover, the sound is muffled and distorted yet oddly distant, with a Dolby mismatch or two
somewhere in the genealogy, making a bad-sounding tape even worse. The original mastertape might have sounded okay 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(“Astro Black” and the Sun Ra processional, “(The World Is Waiting) For the Sunrise,” the bandslips into the old favorite, “Discipline 27,” before quickly launching into some bashing free jazzskronk. “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 crazykeyboard work from Sonny but, again, the murky sound obscures what appears to be an
inspired rendition. “How Am 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 reallyhear what’s going on). Next there’s a relatively rare performance of “Planet Earth” (completewith lyrics) before the usual percussion jam on “Watusi” and a long medley of space chants andfree blowing to end the set (“Outer Spaceways Incorporated,” “Second Stop is Jupiter,” “Spaceis the Place” (in its new rearrangement), “Neptune,” “Journey to Saturn,” “We Travel theSpaceways,” “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 MotherlessChild,” “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,
then you might enjoy this short but action-packed set; everyone else should stay far, far away.

February 17, 2013
I AM AN INSTRUMENT
I am an instrument
The timbre of my voice flies with theWinds of heaven
I belong to one who is more than aMusician
He is an artist
I live to be his pleasure
I do not flee from him when he
Comes to me
For instruments are not sufficient in
Themselves
They are cold and lifeless without the
Tortured hands and mind
The artist holds myself tenderly in
His hands
First he touches the strings of my heart
Too fine to be in tune with the universe
Then suddenly vibrant thoughts
Strikes there
And music from the world of time
And space is born-- Sun Ra

February 24, 2013
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 studiorecordings in over two years. With their increasingly busy touring schedule and tenuous
finances, most Saturn records from here on out would be made live rather than in a studio—noteven 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 (see Campbell & Trent pp.241-242 for the gory details). In any
event, this is one of rarest of rare Saturn LPs, with very few copies known to exist. Thankfully,
Atavistic reissued Some Blues But Not The Kind That’s Blue on CD as part of their “Unheard
Music Series” in 2008, remastered from the original tapes and filled out with a bunch of bonus
tracks. As with the rest of the Sun Ra albums in this 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 thealbum with a crude, microphone on the bandstand sound quality. It’s a decent recording – andVariety was no high-tech studio—so it’s actually hardly noticeable (in fact, the whole record
appears to be mono). The structure of “Some Blues But Not The Kind That’s Blue” alsosuggests a live recording, starting out with a skronky group improvisation, with John Gilmore
seeming to state some sort of theme—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 the 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 (andpretty 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 thesparse, bass-less rhythm section lurches rather than swings. Even so, Gilmore is great as
usual, even if he seems a little 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 lefthand! This is another Gilmore tour de force, offering his highly personal take on this tune which
was so closely associated with John Coltrane. Exquisite! The Atavistic CD inserts an untitledbonus track at this point: Ra’s agitated piano ostinatos and the frenetic, out-there horns lend thisa “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
with exotic percussion and Marshall Allen’s snaky, split-tone oboe, Sonny providing pretty piano
chords in 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 to pick up where “Nature Boy” left off, with a similar high-register riff andanother rhapsodic piano outing. It’s nice and all, but feels sort of ad hoc. The solo activity of thesummer had clearly given Sonny the confidence to go on and on like this on whatever tune
struck his fancy. According to Campbell and Trent, this is only known performance of “Tenderly”
and is worth hearing for that reason alone. The album ends with another one-off deconstructionof 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 andalthough he is a little sloppy (and maybe even a little unsure of himself harmonically), I love his
warm, loose-lipped tone. Sadly, this would be one of 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
the House of Ra in Philadelphia on May 3, 1973. Ra is on organ with Ebah on flugelhorn andRonnie 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 low-key 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 demonstratethat 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
the Atavistic CD a godsend to Sun Ra fans, with the bonus tracks being icing on the cake. But
these relaxed, 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 outerspace music. In a discography numbering hundreds of albums, it can be difficult to know whereto start; Some Blues… is as good a place as any.

March 3, 2013
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 is even more crazy! This is a lot of material to cover and I'm simply not able to keep up a
once-a-week schedule 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 the
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!

March 10, 2013
Sun Ra Arkestra: Unity (Horo 2LP)
During the last week of October, 1977, Sun Ra and his Arkestra headlined a week-longengagement at the prestigious Storyville jazz club in New York City and portions of the concertson the 24th and 29th 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 jazzscene, 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 forthe 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 aclean original pressing. It’s an excellent live document from the period.
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
on board, 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, a demonstration 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 some of 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, somewild, 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 thanusual, the band sounds tight and full-bodied, with Gilmore handling the slippery clarinet part withease. “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, heplays in a deceptively simple, straightforward manner, staying well inside the harmonicsequence—but it is so deeply soulful and flawlessly 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 to take 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! Sonnycools things down with “Penthouse Serenade,” a lazy swing number for solo organ and there’s
more organ balladry on Tad Dameron’s “Lady Bird.” This then segues into “Half Nelson,” whichfeatures 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 in with the tense, lurching march. “My Favorite Things” again
features Gilmore and what can I say? It’s yet another amazing Gilmore solo! Curiously, “RoseRoom” and “Satellites Are Spinning” are taken from a concert in Châteauvallon, France on
August 24, 1976 (Id.). While a bootleg of this concert circulates, the sound here is quite a bit
better. Ra is on Rocksichord rather than organ and the 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.
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 readysound quality, 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.

March 17, 2013
Thanks to reader Mark R, I was reminded of a vinyl-only reissue of The Soul Vibrations ofMan, which happens to be the next item in the discography. Since this record had never been
officially released on CD (and my “needledrop” of an original pressing is a crackly mess), I
decided to check it out. I had seen some of these Saturn LPs floating around the record bins,
but was unsure of their provenance—were they merely bootlegs of the Evidence CDs?
However, it appears that El Saturn Research is now owned by Universal Music Group and these
vinyl reissues are legit—almost two dozen 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 a recent vinyl-only reissue of Of Mythic Worlds,
a super-scarce LP originally released by Philly Jazz in 1978. All are pressed on 180-gram vinyl,
housed in sturdy cardboard jackets and very reasonably priced—a no-brainer for the turntableenabled 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 tohave to get the rest of them while they are still available. A look at my playlist from last week willshow 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 auctionin the UK. I knew albums like Invisible Shield and A Fireside Chat with Lucifer would attract
a lot of bids, but I was not prepared to see these dozens of titles finally sell for such astonishingsums of money: from $600 to over $1300 a piece! Apparently, two collectors got into a bidding
war at the last minute, with the victor spending many thousands of dollars to obtain theseobscure 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 thatdeveloped between Sun Ra and Alton Abraham during the 1970s means that the Philadelphia
Saturns are not owned by Universal and are likely stuck in perpetual legal limbo along with therest of Sonny’s estate. Even so, there are still plenty of Chicago Saturns left behind—likeContinuation. 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 areasonable 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: 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 in the discography shows they were still capable of getting mighty strange during thisperiod. Live 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 acouple of years ago on 180-gram vinyl by El Saturn Research, which is now, apparently, a partof Universal Music. It’s one of those weird and wonderful Saturn LPs, with a cryptically symbolic
cover and a metaphysical disquisition 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 tosay 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
while still 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 issilence/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 orfour) 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 thesetracks. 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 musical presentation. After a few minutes, Sonny moves to theorgan and fingers some chords to introduce “When There is No Sun,” which June Tyson and theguys 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 someways, this reminds me of “Taking a Chance on Chancey,” the improvised duet Ra would often
play with Vincent Chancey on French horn. Of course, Ray is a very different player—brash andforceful—and he indulges a bit in his trademark echo-echo effect at the close, which gets thedesired rise out of the audience. After a blaring space chord, the band launches right into “TheShadow World” and here’s where things get heavy. A series of outrageously intense, highenergy solos follow, with Allen and 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 ofmultiphonic split-tones, altissimo squeals and other 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 less than perfect—but The Soul Vibrations of Man is still a classic Sun Ra LP. The wholething, from the 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.

April 7, 2013
OK, not Sun Ra, but Ash Ra Tempel--a different kind of space music.
Today, I went with my nephew to the semi-regular record show at the Holiday Inn over by the
airport. It can be a hit or miss affair, with a lot of overpriced junk--and you have to get there early
before everything has been picked over. But there was a new guy there today with boxes andboxes of rare old prog LPs in amazingly good condition. OMG! Needless to say, he wasinstantly mobbed by fanatical collectors (as usual, the place was packed). When I saw this earlypressing of Ash Ra Tempel's first (and best) album, with the triple center-gatefold sleeve andminty vinyl, well I could not resist (despite the sphincter-tightening price tag). I bought a bunchof other cool stuff and he gave me a really good deal on the lot, so I am a super-happy record
nerd. It really is a fantastic, totally cosmic album and almost impossible to find.
Of course, I spent the rest of the day cleaning and spinning LPs and the time has gotten awayfrom me. Sorry about that! I'll pick up where we left off with rare Sun Ra records next week.

April 14, 2013
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 isexceedingly rare: there are only a hundred or so copies known to exist—but, unfortunately, all ofthem have a defective pressing on Side A (see Campbell & Trent pp.244-245). That fact (alongwith the somewhat mundane repertoire) makes this one a rather difficult and, ultimately,
frustrating listen. The pressing defect manifests itself in a woefully unbalanced stereopresentation and a near-constant overlay of scratchy noises and horrifically ugly distortion which
only begins to clear up towards the end of the side. 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; the pressing flaw renders them almost unlistenable.
In any event, the title track opens the album; but, of course, the correct name is “Taking a
Chance on Chancey,” 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 toheat up and saxophones ad lib swinging background figures. Interesting. The “Lady Bird”/”Half
Nelson” medley follows—but the sound quality takes an even more disastrous turn for theworse, making even John Gilmore’s 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 andwarmly 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 theelectric organ for an extended take on “What’s New?” wherein Gilmore takes one of thosemonumental 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 andfurther out as first the organ and then 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 organstab, inviting Ahmed Abdullah 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 another rendition of “Take the ‘A’ Train,”notable for yet another incredible Gilmore solo. Sadly, my "needledrop" CDR starts to develop ahorrible digital clicking sound about halfway through and becomes 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?” Butwith several 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(or slavishly devoted Gilmore fan). Perhaps a proper reissue (a la The Soul Vibrations of Man
LP) would change my mind.

April 21, 2013
Living By Lanterns: New Myth/Old Science (Cuneiform CD)
I’ve recently been filling some holes in my collection of Mary Halvorson and Ingrid Laubrockdiscs and came across this one, which I had somehow missed when it came out last year. Sun
Ra aficionados 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’spoetry and lectures 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-inprogress catalog of the archive’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 many ideas played through” (quoted in Terri Kapsalis’s liner
notes). Adasiewicz isolated themes and harmonic sequences and, with Reed, developed newcompositions 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 Electrical Audio in Chicago on
September 3 & 5, 2011, the results were released 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
full of metallic distortion and massive power chords over a propulsive, double-drum groove.
“2000 West Erie” is built around a twisty, post-bop head and yields an incredible tenor solo from
Laubrock over 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” more overtly evokes Sun Ra’s unique style, with spacey electronics, a loping ostinato in
7/4 and a vaguely Egyptian-sounding theme. “Forget B” is another updated post-bop number
with another astonishing solo from Laubrock while “Grow Lights” moves back to a leisurely
space-groove kind of thing, with Abrams taking the lead on upright bass with Boykins-likeauthority. 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 Laubrock’s finest
playing on disc. Good stuff!
+++
Another interesting item from the Sun Ra Audio Archive, ESS and Three Walls 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 wasable 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?

April 28, 2013Black Utopia (A Cauleen Smith Movie) (Three Walls 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 astunningly 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 at Three 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 numbered certificate of authenticity; and, finally, a dataDVD-R containing all four sides in 24bit/96kHz high-resolution WAV format. Black Utopia isclearly a labor of love.
The album is presented as an “audio documentary,” a movie for your ears by Smith, who spent
the last couple of years in Chicago, researching the Sun Ra archives at the University of
Chicago and the Experimental 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 four sides into movements (or episodes) entitled, “Gemini,” “Shaped
Notes,” “Speculations” and “The Learned & The Learned,” formed out of snippets of Arkestra
rehearsals, live performances and lectures 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 afascinating document of DIY scholarship and contemporary mythmaking that explores theesoteric 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
is superbly 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 justthe LPs and booklet in a slightly different jacket) is apparently still available—but you betterhurry! It too is a limited edition of only 100 copies.

May 12, 2013
Even though we were both totally beat, Liz and I ventured out last night to hear Lambchop andthe Matthew Shipp Trio—it was just too special an event to miss. Accurately described as“Nashville’s most fucked up country band,” Lambchop is way more popular in Europe than in thestates and only plays their hometown once a year or so. And, of course, Matthew Shipp (andMary Halvorson and all the other interesting jazz players) rarely play in the U.S.A. outside of
New York – much less someplace like Nashville. Fortunately, there is a small but vibrantcommunity trying to force “Music City” to live up to its name. But the sad truth is: an opportunity
to hear either of these groups will not be happening again anytime soon so we had to seize theopportunity despite our exhaustion.
The good thing was that the venue was on our side of town, meaning an easy drive there andback. Plus, it was to be a low-key, sit-down affair. But the VFW Post 1970 is a funky place forsure and, in true southern rebel fashion, allows smoking inside. Now, I must sadly admit tobeing a smoker myself but the atmosphere permeated with the smell of stale tobacco and cheap
beer was more than a little nauseating—especially since I was already feeling under theweather. Nevertheless, it was a sublime evening of music. Lambchop (who, much to myembarrassment, I have only recently discovered) was absolutely riveting, exhibiting
extraordinary restraint and subtle dynamics to deliver their powerfully emotional songs. And theMatt Shipp Trio cooked from the get-go, climaxing with a gut-wrenching deconstruction of“When Johnny Comes Marching Home” in honor of the veterans, whose post we had invaded
for the evening. While much of the crowd had come to hear Lambchop, a goodly number stayed
for the out-jazz part of the program, which was nice to see.
I got a chance to speak with Matt and Whit Dickey, both of whom I briefly knew at The New
England Conservatory, and it was great to see them both after many years. I gave them a copyof my CD and told Matt that his music had long been an inspiration to me—even after I had

given up on performing myself. He was friendly and quite funny, just as I remember him. In all, it
was another fabulous night in a long week of fabulous nights.
Now, I need some rest.
+++
What does any of this have to do with Sun Ra? Well, nothing except the connection to the jazz
tradition (and the fact that Matt introduced his players as being “from outer space”). But, as you
might have noticed, I have been ridiculously busy and have simply not had the time write.
Moreover, the next several records in the chronology are particularly challenging, both musicallyand discographically, and it’s going to take some time to sort it all out. I know: excuses,
excuses! Please do stay tuned.
However, I'm overjoyed to see that the long-delayed 2-disc reissue of Continuation is now
available from Corbett vs. Dempsey. Not sure if this is a limited edition or not, but I'd jump on it
sooner rather than later. I'll let you know my thoughts after it arrives.
+++
SHAMELESS PLUG DEPT.
Would you like your own copy of Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: Indeterminate (Improvisations
for Piano and Drums)? Just click on the link below. You can also stream the entire album at our
website, NuVoid Jazz Records, if you just want to check it out. Thank you for your interest andsupport!

May 19, 2013
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, the recording dates have always been assumed to be 1968 or ’69 (with side two takenfrom 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 the original album jacket contains boatloads of inaccuracies and outrightmisinformation: 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 playdrums (“lightning" or otherwise) and you will not hear Danny Thompson on “Neptunian libflecto.”
To make matters even more confusing, the jacket places the recording place as “EL SATURNSTUDIOS : 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 theChoreographer’s Workshop recordings (but this might just be 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 Planes of There (“Sound Spectra/Spec Sket”), When Sun Comes Out (“Calling Planet
Earth”) and When Angels Speak of Love (“Ecstasy of Being” and “The Next Stop Mars”).
Amazing! As long-time readers know, the Choreographer’s Workshop recordings hold aparticular fascination for me and were the original impetus for my starting Sun Ra Sunday in thefirst place: I wanted to try and unlock their mysteries, particularly as they were presented unchronologically on the Evidence CDs of the 1990s. To have another piece of the puzzle firmly inplace 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
are clearly from the same Choreographer’s Workshop session. In retrospect, it’s hard to believethat the mellifluous Walter Miller could have ever been confused with the rough-edged Ebah—
but now it all comes 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 reallydevelops 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 a breathy, 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” ismore involved, pitting angular, uptempo swing against a twisty, complicated head arrangement.
Although the mix is woefully off-balance and Gilmore sounds unusually short-breathed andsqueaky, 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 andhigh-energy group improvisation—yet the band sounds somewhat tentative, as if this were just a
one-off run-through. Was either of the compositions ever played again? Who knows? The discends with “Cosmic Rays,” a vaguely familiar sounding construction of dissonant block-chords
which gives way to more “New Thing”-styled free jazz. Gilmore sounds possessed, but leaves
plenty of space for Miller and Hasan—and we even get some tasty bass clarinet from Robert
Cummings. But an overlong drum solo and a pointless coda of uninspired group improv after"The Next Stop Mars" breaks the spell. As nice as it is have additional Choreographer’sWorkshop material available, these “bonus” tracks reveal Sonny’s astute editing skills more thananything 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 longoverdue reissue in their collections—but don’t hesitate! While there is nothing expressly
indicating a limited edition, this article in 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 also available on El Saturn Research (now a part of Universal
Music Group). Interestingly, this one is not pressed on 180-gram vinyl—and perhaps that’s agood 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 theSpace Is The Place movie along with Polaroids of Aton’s futuristic house murals painted under
the influence and direction 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 forcontinuing to make available such printed materials and other ephemera from the SaturnResearch archives. Certainly, Space, Interiors and Exteriors 1972 should elevate Aton's positionin the pantheon of radical African-American visual artists.

June 2, 2013
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 of music. 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 adifferent source but also repeats the first 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 andTrent 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.
Although seemingly complete, the hour-long Golden Years CD is taken from an amateuraudience recording—a “bootleg”—and the sound quality leaves a lot to be desired. The tape
was clearly made in the back of the hall and while the acoustics in the 1790 opera house (whichburned down in 1996) were obviously superb, the piano sounds distant and washed out on thisprimitive stereo recording. To make matters worse, low-frequency rumbles, bumps and thumps
repeatedly intrude as the recordist 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 isextraordinary: a summation of the year’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.
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 the ornate, classical music surroundings, Ra has been provided a fine piano,expertly tuned, with sensitive touch and a rich, resonant presence. At times he seems
completely absorbed in its lush soundworld. An untitled blues follows. Is this an originalcomposition? Some obscure cover? An extemporaneous 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 andthe large, enthusiastic crowd bursts into loud and long applause at its conclusion. Loosely
orchestrated renditions of “Love in Outer Space” and “Outer Spaceways, Inc.” are little morethan jams but Ra’s unerring internal rhythm and innate sense of structure holds things together,delighting the audience with his effortless aplomb. “Take the ‘A’ Train” and “St. Louis Blues” aregiven relaxed, carefully considered performances with astonishingly subtle dynamic shadings
and fleet passagework. Ra is totally in his element here—and he’s just getting 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 hesuddenly shifts back to the theme, the enraptured audience bursts into stunned applause as
Sonny moves to a loping 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 the verse. There’s not much to it, but the audience eats it up. “I want
to invite you to attend a party,” Ra tells them. “1980, on Jupiter.” Then he launches into an
intense improvisation built around stabbing, Morse code-like rhythmic figures and towering blockchords reminiscent of “Quest” (which appeared on the WKCR radio broadcast on July 8, 1977
and later released as a single on the Saturn label).
“Honeysuckle Rose” starts off with a slightly off-kilter take on the melody before Sonny moves
into a “mad-scientist” keyboard assault. The independence of the hands and fingers is quite
remarkable and his voicing of the thick, dissonant tone clusters strongly accents the consonantnotes—meaning the functional harmony still functions. Ra knows exactly what he’s doing! No
matter how “out” it gets, the music is still deeply rooted in the old-time jazz tradition and thistour-de-force performance is 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 tofully 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.

June 16, 2013
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 Veniceor returned 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 were part 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 to come to Rome to record an album.” This seems to indicatethat Sonny had stayed behind to negotiate the Horo Records deal and set up last-minuteconcert dates for the New Year—and without 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 noreal reason to doubt “The Good Doctor” (and it would make sense, in a way, that Sonny would
be back in 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 byJohnny 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 ofJohn Gilmore’s extended flights on tenor saxophone, punctuated by harmonized riffing from therest 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 ofthose jaw-droppingly amazing displays he was routinely capable of. Instead, it’s merely great:tasteful, inventive and swinging. “Song of the Stargazers” appears here in a radically rearranged version, with an odd major/minor tonality, angular herky-jerky rhythms and lyrics thatare antiphonally chanted by the band 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 laterjoined by someone (possibly Craig Harris) on a warm 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 comesto nailing 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 tobe found on the ESP Internet Radio Tribute and is well worth tracking down—even if the
discographical info is a little sketchy. So it goes with Sun Ra!
COMMENTS:
Roddus said...
The Earthly Recordings Of Sun Ra(2nd Edition) arrived in the mail this week. A great book but
slightly disappointed with the physical quality. Several pages were still attached together at thetops as they were not guillotined properly and several pages in the artists index at the rear had
badly smudged print. Bought it directly from Cadence as i couldn't find it anywhere else. I was
pretty expensive for a paperback but Glad I have it.
I found an online Jazz shop last week and they had pretty much all the Transparency releases
on CD which I have asked my electrical wholesaler to buy for me using my bonus points forspending so much money with them over the last six months. Also they are getting me a copy ofthe 28CD set "The Complete Detroit Jazz Center Residency"(I Hope) from Amazon, possibly
the last new one available anywhere.
The obsession grows.
I have managed to download the ESP internet Radio Tribute from Yotte's Blog, looking forward
to checking it out.
Rodger Coleman said...
Jean K is correct. The spine on my copy of "The Earthly Recordings" has split and the pages
are loose. I hope someday a third edition is published - with a proper sewn binding!
Sam said...
I'll chime in on the Earthly Recordings binding...I'm not a t the rubber band stage yet but thespine is totally split at around 1974. But it's well-loved regardless.

June 30, 2013This is just too good not to share on this beautiful summer Sun Ra Sunday. Via Include Me Out(h/t to Sam Byrd for hipping me to this!)

July 14, 2013
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 adeal to release a series of albums for the Horo Records label (Unity (recorded by Ra earlier inthe year) and two new studio recordings, New Steps and Other Voices Other Blues, all ofthem double-LP sets). According to Prof. Campbell (via Gianni Morelenbaum Gualberto, who
produced the sessions), “the Horo albums were made in a small studio [Horo Voice Studio] thatspecialized in jingles, because none of the other studios in Rome were available at thetime…[They] were recorded in 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 isfurther evidence that Ra remained in Italy through the end of 1977.
Regardless, there was good reason for Ra to want to do something with Horo. The Italian jazzlabel 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 invanishingly small quantities and were poorly distributed beyond Western Europe, making themextremely rare today (especially in the U.S.). Rumors of the label’s resurrection have come andgone for years but nothing really has come of it and these classic Sun Ra records remain
frustratingly out of print. As with Unity, my copies are merely OK-sounding “needledrops” but I’dsure love to have clean originals. Needless to say, 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.)
The Horo studio recordings are not only obscure and nearly impossible to find but also some of
the most unusual in all the (already unusual) discography. The hastily gathered ensemble
consists of a mere quartet with Sun Ra on piano, organ and synthesizer, John Gilmore on tenor
sax and percussion, newcomer Michael Ray on trumpet and percussion and Luqman Ali on
drums. This is rare 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 animpossible, otherworldly quality that is truly 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 thequartet’s approach. While the tune had appeared before on Some Blues But Not The Kind
That’s Blue and Unity, here it is simultaneously stripped-down and souped-up. The ultralaconic 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 isa 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 thesesessions, playing with admirable taste and restraint (especially for such a young kid) but
Gilmore is clearly the star soloist here. It is altogether 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 in the tiny, cramped studio and that sense of pleasure and adventure comesthrough in the music. “Moon People” and “Rome in Twilight” flirt with funk/rock grooves (aharbinger of what’s to come 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 andmelodies appear and recede in a dreamlike reverie, spontaneous composition and guided
improvisation at its most sensitive and refined, 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.

July 21, 2013
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 oneof the rarer albums in the already obscure Sun Ra discography. What a crime! While all of the
Horos are fascinating records, Other Voices, Other Blues is by far my favorite of the two Italianstudio sessions.
Unlike New Steps, there are overdubs on every single track (an unusual practice for Ra, eveninto 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 funky and 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 tentativeness heard on New Steps is gone on this second day in thestudio—they are going for it! Gilmore is again the star of the show, delivering an endless streamof gloriously inventive solos, while Ray more than 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 and intensely brilliant playing on record.
Yet, despite all these aural pleasures, there is something slightly dissatisfying for me about
these quartet sessions. It’s not just the absence of bass since Ra is adequately providing thebottom end on synthesizer (at least most of the time), so I can only point the finger at thelaconic—if not downright sleepy—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 morefrom 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 and percussion. I realize that it is totally unreasonable to expect
Ronnie Boykins and Clifford Jarvis to be in the rhythm section, but I can’t help but imagine whatthat 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 the classic Choreographer’s Workshop recordings. Beyond Gilmore’s
phenomenal soloing and the ear-tickling studio wizardry, it is Sun Ra’s uncanny ability totransform the cheesiest, most primitive electronic keyboards (and beat-up pianos) into
powerfully expressive instruments that is most impressive here. Turning these humble tools intoa virtual orchestra of tones, timbres and effects, Ra demonstrates his mastery of electronic (andelectrified) music while his compositions—mostly thrown together in the studio—show his
effectiveness as an arranger and bandleader, with the simple but flexible heads allowing thesmall ensemble to wander far and wide. Curiously, Ra did not bother to provide proper titles tothese new works, leaving them to Horo to invent. “Springtime and Summer Idyll,” “One Day inRome” and “Along the Tiber” (and New Steps titles like “Friend and Friendship”) are probably
not what Sonny had in mind and are embarrassingly incongruous to the music. However, I
suspect he signed away his publishing in order to make these records, so he didn’t (or couldn’t)
care what they were called. Whatever, these are inimitably Sun Ra compositions, however slightthey may appear on the surface.
Quibbles aside, the Horo quartet records are an essential piece of the Sun Ra puzzle, with
Other Voices, Other Blues being a near-masterwork. And Sonny was clearly inspired by thisad hoc, small group setting: he booked at least two concerts for the band while they were in
Italy, which were recorded for release on his own Saturn label. We’ll take a listen to those incoming weeks on Sun Ra Sunday.

July 28, 2013
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 andthe latest is a vinyl-only box set, The Mystery of Being, released back in 2011 on the tiny
French label, Klimt, which crams the two January 1978 double albums onto three LPs. Soundquality is actually pretty good – certainly better than my crackly needledrops—but at the sametime, I suspect these are taken from vinyl sources and then (aggressively) de-noised.
Moreover, the sides are excessively long, resulting in diminished dynamic range andsusceptibility to noise. Sadly, one side of my copy has a nasty pressing flaw, which causes thestylus to skip—and they are now out-of-print, so it is not so easily replaceable. Bummer.
Although there are neither mastering credits nor any liner notes whatsoever, this set purports 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
SunSide 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 the Tiber, Rebellion, The Mystery of Being
That makes some sort of sense until you get to the last disc, which could have been recordedon any one of those dates. Huh? This is less than helpful and just another indication of this set’s
dubious provenance. I would guess that basic tracks for New Steps were recorded on January
2, with overdubbing taking place on January 7. Similarly, basic tracks for Other Voices, Other
Blues likely took place on January 8, with overdubbing happening on January 13. That’s just a
guess, but that would mirror the usual progression in a multi-track environment. Then again,such was a highly unusual practice for Sonny, so who knows how it went down? As with somuch in the Sun Ra discography, not much can be known with certainty except that the music isfantastic.
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...!

August 4, 2013
MAN AND PLANET EARTH
The planet is the way it is because of the
Scheme of words
When you meet a man
You meet a scheme of words

Patterns of concept
So if the scheme of words was changed
Then man and planet earth would be
Different
Than what it is today
It is not that
The planet is wrong or man is wrong
It is just that
The scheme of words are not possible
To either man
Or the planet.
--Sun Ra

August 11, 2013
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 forthe quartet, touring Italy until at least January 23, 1978, where they performed at Teatro Cilak in
Milan and recorded Disco 3000 (Saturn CMIJ 78). There were other concerts during theintervening weeks, as documented on two other Saturn LPs, Media Dream (Saturn 1978) andSide B of Sound Mirror (Saturn 19782) but the actual dates and locations for these recordings
are unknown (see Campbell & Trent pp.247-249). Originally issued in miniscule numbers, thesethree albums are some of the rarest and most desirable El Saturn LPs in existence.
Thankfully, the intrepid Art Yard label came 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 theoriginal Media Dream album on one CD and a 50-minute concert fragment on another. Taken
together, these Art Yard reissues present an almost-complete picture of this highly unusual (andhaphazardly documented) tour of Italy. In his liner notes for Media Dreams, Trent points outthat while the discovery of some (but not all) of the original tapes from this 1978 sojourn“clarifies some questions, establishing long suspected links between various Saturn albums,” italso “raises as many questions as it answers.” Aside from the Teatro 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, making a direct comparison impossible. According to Trent: “This particular tape is nolonger 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 Mainman organ. Media Dream opens up with “Saturn Research,” a three-minute
blast of ominous, dissonant organ and synth, accompanied by dramatic drums andpercussion—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 a slowed-down cha-cha beat supplemented with a simple, synthesizedbass 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 the Sun” (whose Morse Code rhythms vaguely recall“Quest”), the Mainman gets another workout on “Media Dreams,” a thirteen minute tour deforce. 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 disctwo of 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 throughand beginning with Gilmore’s tenor solo. Although Gilmore takes many liberties with the tune, in
retrospect, it is immediately 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, “An Unbeknowneth Love” begins with rhapsodic piano and boom-chick trapdrumming from Luqman Ali – but someone (Gilmore?) is playing tympani, adding slippery anddramatic percussion effects: BOING! BOING! Ra gets into an aggressively dissonant, avantgarde 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 combinedwith “Third Planet.” Ra starts out on piano but quickly moves to organ, eventually getting theMainman’s drumbox/bassline thing happening. Unfortunately, Ali drops in and out, unable to findthe groove. Ra is going crazy with his ragbag arsenal of electronic keyboards but this is not awholly 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 the Sound Mirror LP and it is another virtuoso performance from Sonny. Woozy
string ensemble chords and bubbly bass synthesizer seem to outline a basic structure fromwhich Ra builds his quirkily original electronic music, full of astonishingly variegated texturesand intertwined melodic lines. Meanwhile, light-handed drums scrape and murmur in the
background. About six minutes in, 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
the earliest 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 the soundboard. At nearly seven minutes, it goes on a bit too long forcasual listening (although I'm sure it 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 a couple of minutes.
That leaves the humorously titled “Jazzisticology” as the remaining track from Sound Mirrorthat was 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 anotherimprovised post-bop number similar to what was done in the Horo Voice Studio, with Sonnycueing the arrangement and telepathically communicating the chord changes to Gilmore withhis 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 otherreasons 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
next time on Sun Ra Sunday.

August 18, 2013
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 thestates on or before January 29, where the Arkestra appeared at the Famous Ballroom in
Baltimore (see Campbell & Trent pp.247-250). The Teatro Cilak concert was recorded andportions were released later in the year as Disco 3000 (Saturn LP CMIJ78) and reissued by Art
Yard in 2009. Prior to this, 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’selectronica (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 withthe beat and the horns are given plenty of space across its epic twenty-six minutes. About fiveminutes in, they suddenly launch into “Space is the Place,” but, curiously, not in the rearrangement 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 at that. 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 fromSonny and another outrageous tenor solo from Gilmore, where he explores the entire range ofextended techniques from altissimo screams to impossible split-tone multiphonics. Whew! Ra
then moves to the 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. “Sky Blues” 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 tothe 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(the reel flip evidenced by the increased wow-and-flutter at the beginning of the track) and, after
about a minute of noodling on “Friendly Galaxy,” Ra signals “Third Planet.” The two horns soundsuper-tight and Gilmore once again plays a mind-bendingly great tenor solo, this time
accompanied only by the drums. Ali is uncharacteristically aggressive here, swinging like a mofo while Gilmore blows the doors down. No wonder Sonny picked this track for release on theoriginal 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 andpicking up percussion instruments. Even so, the expanded rhythm section struggles a bit trying
to follow along with the crude 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.
This segues into “Images,” which is given a tighter reading than on Media Dreams. While
Gilmore’s solo is probably not the equal of “Twigs at Twilight,” it’s still pretty freaking awesome.
Although the packaging says this includes “Over the Rainbow,” it actually appears on thefollowing 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 intoanother 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 andcountermelodies.
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," the sprawling original is reduced to two minutes and 43 seconds of Ra's swirling,primitive electronica while the flip side focuses on the first two-and-a-half minutes of boogiewoogie. 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 just comes 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 morethan 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.

August 25, 2013
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 a straight 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 the entire two-hour concert is a considerable time commitment, which, in someways, dilutes the impact of 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 myreview 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 myearly dues were paid.”
Sun Ra would tell me “You playing your horn alright but try my way, unless you have some sortof mental block.” “Play that apple. Remember it is round so think of 360 degrees of sound andcolor. It’s red which means its energy deals with the first chakra, you have to be able to play thevibration.” We rehearsed like this from early in the morning to late at night for days. It was likehaving someone erase your mainframe and reboot your hard drive! Sunny 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 andAlfie, 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 inRome in January of 1978—but, as far as I can tell, he had nothing to do with the Horo Records
label or the “Horo Voice Studio,” where New Steps and Other Voices, Other Blues were(presumably) recorded (see Campbell & Trent pp.243-246). Ray makes no mention of Horo—is
he referring to those albums or were 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...

September 1, 2013https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO1qSAirUPI
Wherein I take Sun Ra Sunday to the YouTube Vinyl Community.

February 2, 2014
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 Gartertape recorded in July 1970 across two CDs along with a third disc containing 82 photographs ofthe band by Lee Santa—a really nice bonus. The cool thing is that the liner notes are written by
the one-and-only Sam Byrd!
The Transparency edition is taken from a slightly better source than the circulating CDR as it isa bit longer and appears to present the music in its proper sequence. Certainly, the soundquality is marginally improved. But make no mistake: this is rough going. Derived from amonophonic amateur recording made from the audience, all the attendant noise, distortion andbalance problems remain intact. While the music is great (featuring the great Alan Silva oncello), 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 Ra Sunday! As for me, I am just now trying
to get back into it. Stay tuned…

March 2, 2014
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, it also contains a coupon for a free MP3 download—so, whether or not you even have aturntable, 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 inwhat Sunny called “an exercise in ignorance.” But on Other Strange Worlds, the Arkestra issubstantially reduced, down to a quintet of Sun Ra, John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Ali Hassan
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 Hassan adds warm
trombone. Occasionally, Ra will brighten the texture by tinkling on the celeste; but, most of thetime, he is subtly guiding the improvisations, turning them into challenging and sublime piecesof space-age chamber music.

Recorded in Sun Ra’s apartment on the Lower East Side of New York (you can hear the
telephone ring several times during the proceedings), Other Strange Worlds actually sounds
quite clear and clean—especially compared to the noisy and distorted Strange Strings. The
smaller ensemble obviously contributes to the transparent sound quality yet Sun Ra’s masteryof effective lo-fi recording techniques is quite in evidence here. Thankfully, Roaratorio has done
an excellent job with this 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 andgrab 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!
COMMENTS:
Roddus said...
Yeah, bugger, I got no turntable, but it may turn up on Cd one day of Yotte will post it for us.
Anyhow Rodger, I have finally got around to putting in some time listening to some of theComplete Detroit Jazz Center Residency 28 CD set and it is quite fantastic, sound quality is well
above bootleg quality and with only 13 musicians in the band things are a little less chaotic. Lotsand lots of excellent soloing. Compulsory listening. Have you heard it? I highly Recommend it.

March 1, 2015
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 witha map!--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 the gravestone 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 get back to it one of these days. Making this pilgrimage was inspiring--andthere's not much time left for me 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 arereading this, you need it.
Sun Ra may be gone, but his music lives on.