So we maintain this on our own money, and our own earnings. We can't sit and wait for a check, dividends for all the stuff that's out there to come in. Sun Ra and Abraham did not direct any royalties to the band. Alton Abraham did not answer a request for an interview and Jerry Gordon, co-owner of Evidence, says he can't discuss the contract. But Gordon, who befriended the band in the early 1970s, says it would be virtually impossible to pay royalties even if Sun Ra had asked him to.
Different people play on just about every cut.
He says he sympathizes with musicians' frustrations. But a deal's a deal that he expects to be honored. There were many recordings in Sun Ra's house before he passed away. I saw them. There was some in boxes.