Solar Flares

This is intended to be a repository of Contributions from kind readers. Please feel free to share links to any unpublished or out-of-print Sun Ra related music, video, pictures, or print material. Any input that you share which fosters a better understanding of Sun Ra and his

Arkestra is welcome and encouraged. 

THANK YOU!

COSMIC RAYS

(the Solar Flares Archive
Over 600 entries and counting!)

Thanks for stopping by and please continue to let me know your thoughts.  If your moonship journey has led you to a place where nothing is... please leave a comment requesting a re-up and I will endeavor to offer you other planes of there. 

-yotte

John Gilmore Interview - The Wire July 1985

Val Wilmer, whose photographs have appeared in several Sun Ra releases, interviewed John Gilmore for the July 1985 issue of The Wire.  Some time later, the Hinds brothers printed and bound it for their Sun Ra Research project.

Images

Space Is The Place 40th Anniversary Edition

 

A lot has happened since I last posted - New Re-Leases, Re-Releases, and Re-Issues.  Among the most exciting is the Space Is The Place Reissue Project currently underway at Pledgemusic.com.  Though pledging has ended, there is still about a week left to pre-order a package and have it arrive for the holidays.  Currently, the film and soundtrack can only be ordered through the website though it should hit stores in early 2015.  

Check out their site - it includes several never before seen pictures from the movie and of the filming and even a couple of streaming audio snippets found while putting together the soundtrack.

We're Living in the Space Age

2014 is the 40th anniversary of the release of the film SPACE IS THE PLACE.  To celebrate it, David Katznelson's record label is releasing a book/DVD/CD around the film.  The book will be a coffee-table sized hardcover book featuring dozens and dozens of never before seen photographs taken by outerspaceways member and the film's producer Jim Newman.  Also included will be essays by Director John Coney, Assistant Director Tom Bullock, Cinematographer Seth Hill, with an intro by Wayne Coyne (of the Flaming Lips) not to mention a great interview with the Cosmic Overseer himself, Ray Johnson.  

The DVD will feature BOTH  versions of the film that have already been released.  The original VHS "edited" version (a recently found the original transfers so the quality will be the best ever available) as well as the uncut version with a bonus commentary by Jim Newman.

The CD (and LP!) will be a newly mastered version of the soundtrack.

It will all be contained within the hardcovers of the book and limited to a pressing of 3000.

To see and hear more about it:

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/sitp

2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Disco 3000 (1978) CD & LP

The quartet of Sun Ra, John Gilmore, Michael Ray and Luqman Ali performed at Teatro Cilak in Milan on January 23, 1978, apparently at the very end of their extended stay in Italy. While their exact movements are poorly documented during this period, they were certainly back in the states on or before January 29, where the Arkestra appeared at the Famous Ballroom in Baltimore (see Campbell & Trent pp.247-250). The Teatro Cilak concert was recorded and portions were released later in the year as Disco 3000 (Saturn LP CMIJ78) and reissued by Art Yard in 2009. Prior to this, though, Art Yard released the entire Milan performance on two compact discs as The Complete Disco 3000 Concert (CD 001) in 2007. As with Media Dreams, these welcome reissues not only make available some of the rarest of all Saturn LPs, but also provide additional material that puts these weird and wonderful recordings into a wider context.

The concert opens with “Disco 3000” and, right away, you can tell the small band has really started to gel after several weeks working together. While Media Dreams is dominated by Ra’s electronica (wonderful as it is), Disco 3000 is much more of a cohesive group effort. There’s still plenty of mad-scientist keyboard extravaganzas, with the Crumar Mainman organ and cheesy rhythm box establishing an uneasy, mutant disco vamp—but here, Ali locks in comfortably with the beat and the horns are given plenty of space across its epic twenty-six minutes. About five minutes in, they suddenly launch into “Space is the Place,” but, curiously, not in the re-arrangement found on Media Dreams. After a couple of minutes of chanting, things take off again, with some absolutely killer tenor saxophone from Gilmore and hypnotic, quasi-ambient keyboard effects from Ra. It’s tempting to just say “Disco 3000” is the crowning achievement of the quartet’s brief existence and leave it 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 from Sonny and another outrageous tenor solo from Gilmore, where he explores the entire range of extended techniques from altissimo screams to impossible split-tone multiphonics. Whew! Ra then moves 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 to the most out-there avant garde wailing—all without losing the thread of tradition and ending with an emphatic flourish. Dammmnnn.

Disc one concludes with six minutes of “Friendly Galaxy,” given an angular and dissonant rearrangement, fading out on Ray’s muted trumpet solo. Disc two then fades up some time later (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 sound super-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 mo-fo while Gilmore blows the doors down. No wonder Sonny picked this track for release on the original Disco 3000 LP! “Dance of the Cosmo Aliens” was also included on the original LP and it’s another spaced-out electronica-fest, with Gilmore and Ray putting down the horns and picking up percussion instruments. Even so, the expanded rhythm section struggles a bit trying to follow along with 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 Twlight,” it’s still pretty freaking awesome. Although the packaging says this includes “Over the Rainbow,” it actually appears on the following track, “When There Is No Sun,” which is given a gentle, gospelized feel, with Gilmore and Ray sweetly singing and Ra accompanying the on churchy organ. Then Sonny erupts into another electronic frenzy before slipping over to the piano for a brief sketch of “Over the Rainbow.” Finally, the concert ends with a reprise of “Space is the Place,” with Ra vamping on piano for a while before joining in on the chant. Interestingly, this rendition shares the quickened phrasing of the unique rearrangement heard on Media Dreams, but lacks the horn parts and countermelodies.
(continue reading at NuVoid's Sun Ra Sunday)

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 some ways, 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 my review of The Complete Disco 3000 Concert, what is interesting to me is how much more effective “Dance of the Cosmo Aliens” is when it is shorn from its original context, the twisted electronica bookending the album with “Disco 3000.” Or maybe my ears got tired by the time it was played, over an hour into the original concert. Hardcore fans will want both, but Disco 3000 is essential.

In typically Saturnal fashion, Michael Ray’s liner notes (penned in 2007 and contained on both Art Yard CDs) are both enlightening and confusing. “It was here,” he says, “that most of my early dues were paid.”

Sun Ra would tell me “You playing your horn alright but try my way, unless you have some sort of mental block.” “Play that apple. Remember it is round so think of 360 degrees of sound and color. It’s red which means its energy deals with the first chakra, you have to be able to play the vibration.” We rehearsed like this from early in the morning to late at night for days. It was like having 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”

(continue reading at NuVoid's Sun Ra Sunday)

263. [216]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

Disco 3000

Sun Ra (Crumar Mainman, keyb, p, voc); Michael Ray (tp, voc); John Gilmore (ts, timb, voc); Luqman Ali (d, voc).

Teatro Ciak, Milano, January 23, 1978

Disco 3000
(incl Space Is the Place) (Ra) [JG voc]
unidentified title (Ra) [p; balladic ts; p; tp; theme]
Sky Blues (Ra)
Friendly Galaxy (Ra)
Dance of the Cosmo-Aliens
(incl. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child) (Ra)
Spontaneous Simplicity (Ra)

There is an 88-minute audience tape from this concert.  Date and location from Hartmut Geerken.  Tunes identified by ct.

The concert tape picks up at 9:20 into the issued version of "Disco 3000" and continues for another 26:12.  It includes material (Ra, Crumar Mainman; Gilmore, outside ts; Ray, tp; concluding applause) past the end of the drum solo that concluded the issued version.  There is a performance of "Friendly Galaxy" that runs 7:50 on the audience tape only; the 1:13 reprise was, however, included on the LP just as it appeared during the concert.  But the applause between the reprise and "Dance of the Cosmo-Aliens" was edited out of the LP release.

The unidentified title resembles "An Unbeknowneth Love" (from Media Dream) but is not the same performance, according to ct.

The title track (with the ending edited out), "Third Planet," the reprise of "Friendly Galaxy," and "Dance of the Cosmo-Aliens" were released in 1978 on Saturn CMIJ 78, Disco 3000.  This LP also circulated in the early 1980s as Saturn Gemini CMIJ 78.

"Disco 3000" was also edited much further down to 2 1/2 minutes (just Ra and Ali, no horns or vocals) by Richard Wilkinson and retitled "Disco 2100."  (However, according to Terry Adams, some copies of the single still gave the title as "Disco 3000").  It was released in this form in 1978 as Side A of a 45-rpm single, Saturn 2100 (information from Wilkinson and Peter Roberts); the matrix number was DISCO 2100-A.  (The single version was reissued in September 1996 on The Singles, Evidence 22164 [2 CDs]).

"Sky Blues" (which is the first 2:35 of a 9-minute-plus concert performance by the quartet) appeared on Side B of a 45-rpm single, Saturn 2100, released in 1978 (the matrix number was DISCO 2100-B).  On some copies, the B side is untitled.  Information on this single from Richard Wilkinson and Peter Roberts.  This track was reissued in September 1996 as part of the two-CD Saturn singles collection, Evidence 22164, simply titled The Singles.

In the first edition of this discography, "Disco 3000" was taken to be from a studio session -- one rumor had Ra recording in a Rome hotel room.  The rest of Disco 3000 was attributed to miscellaneous live concerts in Italy, and so was "Sky Blues."  The same incorrect information was included in the Evidence singles set.  ct has now established that all of Disco 3000 came from this one live concert.  The surviving audience tape (not complete!) contains nothing from The Sound Mirror or Media Dream.

from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Disco 3000 Complete Milan Concert 1978
Artyard stereo CD 001 (2007)

Disc 1
01. Disco 3000   26:16
02. Sun of The Cosmos   10:23
03. Echos of The World   6:00
04. Geminiology   7:41
05. Sky Blues   10:39
06. Friendly Galaxy   6:07

Disc 2
01. Third Planet incl, Friendly Galaxy   8:44
02. Dance of The Cosmo Aliens   11:07
03. Spontaneous Simplicity   14:09
04. Images incl, Over The Rainbow   8:35
05. When There is no Sun   13:25
06. We Travel The Spaceways   6:37

Disco 3000
Artyard stereo CD 101 (2009)

1. Disco 3000   26:19
2. Third Planet   6:24
3. Friendly Galaxy   1:17
4. Dance Of The Cosmo-Aliens   11:05

Disco 3000
Artyard Kindred Spirits LP KSAY-1 (2009)

1. Disco 3000   26:09
2. Third Planet   7:24
3. Friendly Galaxy   1:00
4. Dance Of The Cosmo-Aliens   11:05

2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Dance of Innocent Passion (1981)

Dance of Innocent Passion was recorded at the Squat Theater in New York in 1980. The title cut is another one of those gloriously uplifting tunes that Sun Ra builds from the simplest of parts, and features a soaring tenor solo from John Gilmore. "Omnisonicism" features a creepy theremin-like synth sound and could be put to good use on Halloween. "Intensity" is just a series of solo features, and the album ends with "Cosmo-Intensity," a battle between Richard Williams' bass and Ra's synth. After starting very strong, Dance of Innocent Passion loses a bit of momentum, but should still please fans. The lack of availability of many of these Saturn titles places them mostly in the province of collectors anyway.

AMG review by Sean Westergaard

Dance of Innocent Passion

331. [260]  Sun Ra

Dance of Innocent Passion

Sun Ra (org, syn); Walter Miller (tp); Michael Ray (tp); Ronnie Brown (tp); Vincent Chancey (Fr hn); Ray Draper (tuba); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, perc); John Gilmore (ts, timb); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, fl, perc); James Jacson (bsn, fl, Inf-d); Skeeter McFarland (eg); Taylor Richardson (eg); Richard "Radu" Williams (b); Harry Wilson (vib); Damon Choice (vib); Luqman Ali (d); Samarai Celestial [Eric Walker] (d); Atakatune (cga, perc).

Squat Theatre, NYC, 1980

Intensity (Ra)
Cosmo Energy (Ra)
Dance of Innocent Passion (Ra)
Omnisonicism (Ra)

Saturn Sun Ra 1981, Dance of Innocent Passion, was released in 1981.  Location and date courtesy of Michael Shore.  Personnel derived from Stahl's discography, with some changes.  Ray Draper was identified by Shore, as was Samarai Celestial on drums (Stahl has Reg McDonald instead).  Tommy Hunter says that Ray Draper worked with the Arkestra for about a year (Craig Haynes says that Draper was a regular at the Squat but did not tour with the band) and that Samarai was the main drummer around this time; Samarai confirmed his presence here.  Michael Shore recalls that on another occasion the brass section consisted of Michael Ray (tp); Al Evans (flg); Ray Draper (tuba) … and Bill Davis (tuba).  ct believes that the trumpet soloist on "Dance of Innocent Passion" is neither Ray nor Miller, and that the same trumpeter is present on the Brixton Fridge tape from November 1985; most likely this was Ronnie Brown.

from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Sun Ra and his Arkestra
Dance of Innocent Passion

Saturn Sun Ra 1981 - LP

A1  Dance of Innocent Passion   12:15
A2  Omnisonicism   6:28
B1  Intensity   6:17
B2  Cosmo-Energy   19:04

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I absolutely love this album.  Thanks to Peaches and Black for requesting the 2nd Chance thereby giving me a chance to spend some more time with it!

Sun Ra - Media Dream (1978)

Media Dream is a live recording of the Sun Ra Quartet, from January of 1978 in Italy (all the quartet recordings were done that month). It's a mostly free date, with "Constellation" and "Media Dreams" being the only tunes that seem to have been pre-composed (they are also the longest tracks on the album). The album starts with a keyboard showcase, with Ra supplying some super low tones along with some very queasy sounding organ. Then it's on to "Constellation" which has a great, really cheesy rhythm, courtesy of the Crumar Synthesizer/rhythm box, and excellent soloing from everyone, especially Gilmore. "Media Dreams" starts out really pretty, then gets progressively freakier. The rest of the tracks are basically soloing showcases for all the players.
AMG review by Sean Westergaard

 What is most notable about these live quartet recordings is how they transferred the Horo studio experiments to the stage. While he has been provided with decent pianos at these gigs, Sonny spends the bulk of his time with a variety of electronic keyboards, including a Moog synthesizer and a Crumar Mainmain organ. Media Dream opens up with “Saturn Research,” a three-minute blast of ominous, dissonant organ and synth, accompanied by dramatic drums and percussion—and Sonny is only just getting started. On “Constellation” (confusingly not the same composition found on Other Voices, Other Blues), Ra switches on the Mainman’s crude rhythm box, which plays a slowed-down cha-cha beat supplemented with a simple, synthesized bass line. Now, in anyone else’s hands, this would be unforgivably cheesy—yet Sonny somehow makes it work and the primitive Mainman organ gives these recordings a uniquely retro-futuristic feel. After a scribbly “Yera of the Sun” (whose Morse Code rhythms vaguely recall “Quest”), the Mainman gets another workout on “Media Dreams,” a thirteen minute tour de force. Starting out as a weirdly beautiful ballad form, with twittering organ, legato synth chords and all sorts of electronica effects, Michael Ray takes a long, warm-toned solo on trumpet, ably following Ra’s harmonic twists and turns. Then it devolves into Ra's wild, mad scientist display. At the ten-minute mark, John Gilmore comes in with a folk-like melody on tenor saxophone but just as Ra starts to heat things up again, the track quickly fades out. It sounds to me like this could have gone on forever.

Only the last two tracks on Media Dream... both feature Ra on acoustic piano. The curiously (mis)titled “Twigs at Twilight” is actually “Images,” but brutally edited, picking up about half-way through and 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 trap-drumming from Luqman Ali – but someone (Gilmore?) is playing tympani, adding slippery and dramatic percussion effects: BOING! BOING! Ra gets into an aggressively dissonant, avant-garde mode before the drum solo, which fades out to end the album. Very interesting.

from NuVoid's Sun Ra Sunday review of Art Yard's 2-CD set Media Dreams

Twigs at Twilight

262. [215] Media Dream

Sun Ra (Crumar Mainman, keyb, org, p, voc); Michael Ray (tp, voc), John Gilmore (ts, timb, voc); Luqman Ali (d, voc).

Live in Italy, January 1978

The exact locations of the concerts are not known. 
Saturn LP 1978, Media Dream, was released in 1978.  It also has borne the title Saturn Research and the serial number 19783.  The matrix numbers are CMP 1978 C-A and CMP 1978 D-B.

The piece called "Constellation" here is completely different from the "Constellation" that was included in the previous entry (Other Voices, Other Blues).

from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Sun Ra and his Arkestra
Media Dream (1978)
Recommended Records

1. Saturn Research   3:07
2. Constellation   13:33
3. Yera of the Sun   4:33
4. Media Dreams   13:36
5. Twigs at Twilight   7:20
6. An Unbeknowneth Love   4:37

Sun Ra - Other Strange Worlds (Sneak Peek)

Previously unissued Sun Ra LP to be released by Roaratorio

Early 2014 should see the release of a previously unissued Sun Ra LP from 1966, entitled “Other Strange Worlds”. It will be released by Roaratorio. It draws from the same sessions as “Strange Strings” – perhaps the most singular recording in Ra’s entire canon – but while that album featured a full size Arkestra, this one finds Ra exploring similar territory with a small ensemble.

via WeirdoMusic

Side A

Other Strange Worlds (4:20)

Celestial Beings (4:44)

Thence, Thus And Ethereal (10:00)

Voice Within The Stars (3:28)

side B

The Other Beings (11:22)

Journey Amongst The Stars (8:59)

Sun Ra : percussion, strings, celeste, kalimba

John Gilmore : percussion, shakerae, cymbals

Marshall Allen : kora, oboe, percussion

Ali Hasaan : trombone, percussion

Art Jenkins : space voice, percussion

recorded 25 May 1965

Many Thanks to El Hombre Invisible for the heads-up!

Sun Ra - Friendly Galaxy (1991)

In 1993 Leo Records released this wonderful 1991 Arkestra performance recorded at the Banlieus Blues Festival in Montreuil, France, a suburb of Paris.  A very "jazzy" performance including Sun Ra classics and standards like "Prelude to a Kiss" by Duke Ellington and Edgar Sampson's swinging "Blue Lou."  I hope you enjoy this excursion into the history of jazz encouraged by an ecstatic crowd.

 Alabama

705. [485]  Sun Ra Arkestra

Friendly Galaxy

Sun Ra (p, syn); Michael Ray (tp, voc); Ahmed Abdullah (tp, voc); Jothan Callins (flg); Tyrone Hill (tb); Marshall Allen (as, fl, perc); Noël Scott (as, perc); John Gilmore (ts, cl, voc); Charles Davis (bars); James Jacson (bsn, fl, Inf-d); Bruce Edwards (eg); John Ore (b); Buster Smith (d); Clifford Barbaro (d, perc); Elson Dos Santos Nascimento (surdo grande, perc); June Tyson (voc); Mr. TCIII (voc).

Banlieues Bleues, Salle des Fêtes-Mairie,
Montreuil, France, April 11, 1991

Intro Percussion (Ra)
Prelude to a Kiss (Ellington) [TCIII voc]
Blue Lou (Sampson)
Lights on a Satellite (Ra)
Nameless One #2 (Ra)
East of the Sun (Bowman) [JG voc]
Alabama (Callins)
Fate in a Pleasant Mood (Ra) [MR, JT, ens voc]
We Travel the Spaceways (Ra) [ens voc]
Space Is the Place (Ra) [JT, ens voc]
Saturn Rings (Ra) [JT, TCIII voc]/
Friendly Galaxy (Ra)

encore:
Melody / They'll Come Back (Ra)

Leo LR-188[CD], Friendly Galaxy, was released in 1993.  Date and personnel from the CD liner notes (though the musicians' names are artfully concealed, and their instruments are not mentioned).  An 86-minute audience tape includes the two unissued tracks; "Melody/They'll Come Back" is not on the audience tape and presumably was an encore.  Some items were also broadcast over French radio ("Saturn Rings" was edited at the beginning); thanks to ct for this information.  Exact location (the Salle des Fêtes-Mairie was on Place Jean-Juarès) supplied by Urs Berger; Leo neglects to say where Banlieues Bleues was.  John Szwed says that "Alabama" was composed by Jothan Callins, not by Ra as credited on the CD. 

from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Sun Ra Arkestra
Friendly Galaxy (Live at Banlieues Bleues)
Leo Records CD LR 188 (CD) 1993

1.  Intro Percussion   4:18
2.  Prelude to a Kiss   6:18
3.  Blue Lou   5:00
4.  Lights on a Satellite   5:41
5.  Alabama   9:06
6.  Fate in a Pleasant Mood   6:58
7.  We Travel the Spaceways   11:10
8.  Space Is the Place   9:53
9.  Saturn Rings / Friendly Galaxy   12:14
10. Melody / They Will Come Back   6:06

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Sun Ra - The Mystery of Being (3xLP) (2011)

 There have been several dodgy, grey-market reissues of the Horo records over the years and the 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. Sound quality is actually pretty good – certainly better than my crackly needledrops—but at the same time, I suspect these are taken from vinyl sources and then (aggressively) de-noised. Moreover, the sides are excessively long, resulting in diminished dynamic range and susceptibility to noise. Sadly, one side of my copy has a nasty pressing flaw, which causes the stylus 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 to present the music in chronological order, providing recording dates on the labels. According to them, the sessions occurred as follows:

Side One: January 2: My Favorite Things, Moon People, Rome at Twilight, When There is No Sun
Side Two: January 7: Sun Steps, Exactly Like You, Friend and Friendship
Side Three: January 8: The Horo, Sun Sky and Wind
Side 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 recorded on any one of those dates. Huh? This is less than helpful and just another indication of this set’s dubious provenance. I would guess that basic tracks for New Steps were recorded on January 2, 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 so much in the Sun Ra discography, not much can be known with certainty except that the music is fantastic.
(continue reading at NuVoid's Sun Ra Sunday)

And in Counterpoint:

Ra’s discography is so vast and daunting that at this point one needs to wonder how far down the dregs go. The answer can be found on this lifeless monstrosity of a release, a triple album representing his small ensemble recordings made in Italy circa January ’78. Conceptually, the album seems like a no brainer; you have the mythic Ra leading a remarkably small ensemble with right-hand sax master John Gilmore at his side, covering standards like “My Favorite Things” and “Exactly Like You”. The problem is two-fold. First, Ra picks perhaps the least flattering digital pre-80s tone on his keyboard heard thus far, leaving everything sounding just horribly flat and wonky. When it seems like only Gilmore can save the day, he’s mixed so freakishly loud that it’s nothing short of jarring. Many of the tracks are “ballads” and certainly not invoking the mood Gilmore was shooting for. Whoever was at the mixing board shoves him so far in front it almost makes one forget about the jittery failure of Ra’s choice in dynamic for the arrangements. If one seeks Ra and Gilmore tackling standards they do so with remarkable success on the Sun Sound Pleasure LP that can be purchased for less than the cost of a 3-D movie rather than break the bank on this expensive, ugly set, (which features no notes, pictures or information).  A release that only a Frenchman could enjoy, The Mystery of Being is perhaps the least necessary release in Ra’s bloated discography. Steer Clear!
online review from Swingset Magazine

Sun Ra Quartet
The Mystery Of Being
(3-LP Box Set)
Klimt MJJ316 (2011)

1.  My Favorite Things   8:11
2.  Moon People   7:43
3.  Rome At Twilight   5:06
4.  When There Is No Sun   4:37
5.  Sun Steps   11:29
6.  Exactly Like You   6:01
7.  Friend And Friendship   6:48
8.  The Horo   15:23
9.  Sun, Sky, And Wind   7:28
10. Springtime And Summer Idyll   13:25
11. Constellation   9:16
12. One Day In Rome   5:25
13. Bridge On The Ninth Dimension   13:50
14. Along The Tiber   4:03
15. Rebellion   12:18
16. The Mystery Of Being   10:20

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Sun Ra - The Paris Tapes - Live At Le Théâtre Du Châtelet 1971 (2010)

Surprisingly, this remarkable and magnificently captured performance has never been issued on LP or CD before. Sun Ra and his larger than usual Arkestra are caught live here – dancers and all – sometime during 1971 at the Théâter du Châtelet in Paris, France for what is surely one of the Arkestra's finest concert happenings – particularly during this period.

While Ra's Arkestra was recorded live several times during 1971, the personnel and the instrumentation presented here are closest to a October 14, 1971, performance that was captured in Helsinki, Finland and issued on a CD/DVD I have not heard called Helsinki 1971 – The Complete Concert & Interview (Transparency, 2009). So it's a reasonable guess that The Paris Tapes were probably made around the same time, even though the Helsinki disc dubs the Arkestra as "Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Solar Research Arkestra" while the Paris disc credits "Sun Ra and His Mythic Science Arkestra." (Notes writer Chris Trent indicates that the Paris concert came six weeks after the Helsinki concert, but that's probably not right.)

What is here is simply stunning. Ra's El Saturn Records must have had some intention of issuing this exceptional performance, or parts of it, at one time or another because the sound is stunningly well realized. The presumption is that someone in the Arkestra's camp recorded the concert. It surely doesn't sound like a bootleg. Someone recorded this music quite beautifully, stored it especially well and somehow, some four decades later, we can now hear what must have amazed that Parisian audience in 1971.

Here, London's Art Yard label collaborates beautifully with Amsterdam's Kindred Spirits to issue The Paris Tapes, a spectacular addition to the already massive Sun Ra discography. The Kindred Spirits LP features two Arkestra standards from the concert, "Space Is the Place" and "Watusi" and the rather too repetitive and dull Latin-based "Somebody Else's Idea" (an extremely obscure Ra number featuring June Tyson's lead vocal). The Art Yard CD presents the full two-hour and twenty-minute concert over two discs, jam-packed with some of the Arkestra's most compellingly captured and lively music.

Live in Paris is the Arkestra at its most percussive. From the very first notes of the generically titled "Introduction," we're on another aural plane of Ra's multi-visional musical multiverse. As Dusty Groove aptly notes, the effect is more spiritual than avant garde. Perhaps liner notes writer Knoel Scott's one-track script, which proposes among other things, that "Introduction" is the musical soundtrack to racial savaging, is one way to experience Ra's unique musical achievement here. I don't hear it that way at all and I don't believe it was formed or fashioned with that in mind. The pervasive percussion and spacey sounds probably had more to do with Ra's sci-fi positivity: lift yourself up and you can go to outer space.

There are three drummers credited here (Clifford Jarvis, Lex Humphries and Tommy Hunter) and percussionist Nimrod Hunter and nearly everyone else in the Arkestra doubles up on percussion when they're not doing their thing. Over nearly two and a half hours, the percussive force neither wanes nor wavers. It becomes hypnotically more compelling, grounding even the freest exchanges of Arkestra soloists in a rhythmic orgy that will make sense to jazz listeners who have trouble accepting or understanding music that goes somewhere out there ("Discipline 27," "Discipline Number Unknown").

A strong rock sensibility is present here as well that isn't as obvious elsewhere in Ra's music. It's as if Sun Ra – like Miles Davis – took in Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead and Santana and worked their thing into his own (The Paris Tapes even suggest that Miles Davis was listening closely to what Sun Ra was doing too). Part of that comes out of Ra's helming of the organ and Farfisa keyboard (to wit, the exciting two-part "Love in Outer Space" and the second of the two untitled pieces). But he's played those instruments elsewhere and the effect was not quite like this. Perhaps it's the combination of Ra's electric eclectics and the powerful surge of percussion that make The Paris Tapes feel like the Arkestra's "rock" album.

The entire concert is invigorating from start to finish, but there are several highlights that make The Paris Tapes an essential Arkestra listening experience. The tremendously performed "Third Planet," which the Arkestra also performed at the 1971 Cairo concert captured on Horizon (a Saturn LP also issued on CD by Art Yard), is one of Ra's best and, amazingly, very little known. As a composition, it harks back to the classics of Jazz in Silhouette and Supersonic Jazz. As a performance, it is a reminder of the section work this group was always capable of and, more importantly, the terrifically proficient soloing each and every one of these guys could do – particularly within the stratosphere.

"Watusi," a Ra favorite first heard on the 1970 Fondation Maeght Nights set as well as on the Helsinki and Cairo concert recordings, is an amazing percussion workout that – surprisingly – never gets tired or stale over its mind boggling 23-minute performance. This makes you wonder whether a DVD of this concert, like the Helsinki performance, wasn't somehow available. No doubt this would have been spectacular to watch. It makes for quite a listen as well.

Finally, there is the unusually and unapologetic African variation of "Angels and Demons at Play," where a lone flute floats magnificently for much of the time above layers of dense percussion that tells the story of the song's title better than nearly all of the variations ever waxed of this song. Things get livelier when Sonny comes out to play, blazing his electrified Farfisa organ for a brief respite. It's hard to say who the Farfisa represents. But maybe that's the point. It's a truly wondrous performance; one of the best on record.

The Paris Tapes: Live at le Théâter du Châtelet 1971 is an unexpected pleasure and a valuable addition to the many live Arkestra recordings out there. This is a side of the Sun that isn't very well known and stands among the Arkestra's best captured performances.

(Art Yard has very kindly provided an Adobe Acrobat PDF of the booklet from The Paris Tapes: Live at le Théâter du Châtelet 1971 CD containing Knoel Scott and Chris Trent's illuminating liner notes, the set's track list and musician credits as well as many of Jörg Becker's black and white pictures (presumably) from this performance.)

Album Review:
Nov 10, 2010
Doug Payne Sound Insights

Sun Ra and his Mythic Science Arkestra

The Paris Tapes - Live at le Théâtre du Châtelet 1971
Art Yard / Kindred Spirits KSAY-6N (2 x CD) (2010)

1.  Introduction   6:20
2.  Discipline #27   10:17
3.  Untitled Solo   0:53
4.  Love In Outer Space Part 1   9:33
5.  Love In Outer Space Part 2   6:58
6.  Third Planet   6:26
7.  Somebody Else's Idea   11:38
8.  Watusi   22:42
9.  Space Is The Place   16:42
10. Angels And Demons At Play   15:18
11. Untitled (keyboards)   2:18
12. Discipline # (unknown!)   15:32
13. Untitled (synthesizer solo)   14:48

Sun Ra and his Mythic Science Arkestra

The Paris Tapes - Live at le Théâtre du Châtelet 1971
Art Yard / Kindred Spirits KSAY-6N (LP) (2010)

1. A1 Space is the Place   14:48
2. A2 Somebody Else's Idea   11:37
3. B1 Watusi   22:38

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Sun Ra - New Space Poetry Release (2013)

Norton Records has just released Volume 4 in their Sun Ra Space Poetry series, 'My Way Is The Spaceways.'  I got my copy from Dusty Grooves - you should get one, too.  Give it a listen and you'll see what I mean.

No downloads this time - just some streams of encouragement.

Sun Ra - Mayan Temples (1990)

One of the finest Sun Ra recordings from his final years, this effort is particularly recommended due to the many Ra keyboard solos and John Gilmore features, the latter of which include a tenor showcase on "Opus In Springtime." Trumpeters Michael Ray and Ahmed Abdullah, altoist Marshall Allen and singer June Tyson also have their spots, and the repertoire consists of ten Ra originals (including a remake of "El Is the Sound of Joy") and three standard ballads. Overall, this is a fine all-around studio set. Recommended.

AMG review by Scott Yanow

677. [446]  Sun Ra Arkestra

Mayan Temples

Sun Ra (p, syn, voc); Michael Ray (tp, voc); Ahmed Abdullah (tp, voc); Tyrone Hill (tb, voc); Marshall Allen (as, fl, perc); Noël Scott (as, perc); John Gilmore (ts, timb, voc); James Jacson (bsn, Inf-d, voc); Jothan Callins (eb); Buster Smith (d); Clifford Barbaro (d); Jorge Silva (repinique, perc); Elson Nascimento (surdo grande, perc); Ron McBee (cga, perc); June Tyson (voc).

Mondial Sound, Milano, Italy
July 24-25, 1990

from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

I think Michael Ray did an amazing job of mixing this LP.  I can't remember hearing another studio album that sounds as detailed and carefully crafted yet fully maintains the feel and energy of a live performance.

 Sun Ra Arkestra
Mayan Temples (1990)
Black Saint CD Reissue 120121-OD
2009

1.  Dance of the Language Barrier   3:58
2.  Bygone   5:16
3.  Discipline No. 1   4:58
4.  Alone Together   7:02
5.  Prelude To Stargazers   5:17
6.  Mayan Temples   7:40
7.  I'll Never Be The Same   4:57
8.  Stardust From Tomorrow   3:39
9.  El Is The Sound Of Joy   5:26
10. Time After Time   4:21
11. Opus In Springtime   6:42
12. Theme On The Stargazers   14:10
13. Sunset On The River Nile   5:43

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 Sun Ra Arkestra
Mayan Temples (1990)
Mo'Smog Records - 124020-1
2 x Vinyl, LP, Reissue
2002  Italy

 1.  A1 Sunset On The Night On The River Nile   5:42
2.  A2 Opus In Springtime   6:40
3.  A3 El Is The Sound Of Joy   5:23
4.  B1 Stardust From Tomorrow   3:39
5.  B2 Alone Together   7:01
6.  B3 Discipline No.1   4:54
7.  C1 Theme On The Stargazers   14:05
8.  C2 Time After Time   4:20
9.  D1 Dance Of The Language Barrier   3:57
10. D2 Mayan Temples   7:40
11. D3 Bygone   5:14


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2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Solo Piano Volume 1 (1977)

Just as his reputation on he synthesizer was growing, Sun Ra began to play more piano again, and in a style that reached back further in jazz tradition than most would have suspected.  But those who had known him for years understood that his origins were in the blues, and assumed that side of his playing: "Sun Ra could play the blues for twenty four hours without repeating a phrase," they claimed.  Though many recognized him as capable of playing bombastically, and of using the piano for color, few thought of him as a major player.  But Paul Bley, one of the two or three leading pianists of free jazz, believed that Sonny was a great piano player, so great that he didn't need a band.  If anything, he felt, the band was a cover for his insecurity.  Early in 1977 Bley convinced Sonny to do a series of piano duo performances with him in New York and Europe and to record for Bley's new audio and video company, Improvising Artists.  In Europe Bley was surprised to see that once he was alone on stage, "Sonny was a ham who liked to clown and surprise the audience -- as at Lake Como, where he shocked them by playing a cake walk!"  On May 20 Sun Ra went into the studio to record Solo Piano, and played a mixture of his own compositions and some unusually conceived standards, such as a very freely played "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child," or "Yesterdays" done in a brisk stride.  On July 3 he was recorded solo (St. Louis Blues) while playing at Axis-in-Soho as part of the Newport Jazz Festival, and again there were surprises: his "St. Louis Blues" aluded to Earl Hines's famous boogie-woogie version and a cheerful little love song like "Three Little Words" got turned into a melodrama.  But there were modest experiments in keyboard resources as well, such as "Sky and Sun," which stayed almost entirely within a small range at the top of the keyboard.

from Szwed - Space Is The Place p. 342-343

Without his Intergalactic Space Research Arkestra to hide behind, Sun Ra recorded Solo Piano, Vol. 1, revealing a tender, gentle side always lingering but never entirely present in his days leading his large ensemble. Cutting a pair of standards -- the traditional "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" and Duke Ellington's "Yesterday" -- and filling the rest of the disc out with original compositions, Ra extemporizes with a surprising mix of restraint and abandon, often sounding as if he is going to play it straight before launching into a key thrashing salvo that would ordinarily be accompanied by a burst of horns. Here, though, with the use of pedaling, Ra lets the notes drift off to space by themselves, lonely and floating in the void. Unfortunately, the production is far below par and Ra's piano sounds flat and lifeless throughout. [I guess Jesse and I will have to agree to disagree on this last point -yotte].
AMG Review  by Jesse Jarnow

 247. [203]  Sun Ra

Solo Piano Volume 1

Sun Ra (p.).

Generation Sound Studio, NYC,
May 20, 1977

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (trade.)
Cosmo Rhythmatic (Ra)
Yesterdays (Kern-Harbach)
Romance of Two Planets (Ra)
Irregular Galaxy (Ra)
To a Friend (Ra)

Released in 1977 on Improvising Artists Inc. 37.38.50, Solo Piano Volume 1.  Another LP release was Japanese IAI RJ-7419.  All tracks reissued in 1992 on Improvising Artists Inc. 123850 [CD].  A video on IAI V003 was previously thought to have come from this concert, but in fact is from Sun Ra's second solo session for Improvising Artists.
from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

 

Sun Ra - Solo Piano vol. 1
Generation Sound Studio, NYC, May 20, 1977
 

1. Sometimes I feel like a motherless child    7:30
2. Cosmo rhythmatic    7:15
3. Yesterdays    4:14
4. Romance of two planets    5:14
5. Irregular galaxy    5:18
6. To a friend  7:39

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Thanks to Paul W. for his CD rip of this fine album.

Sun Ra
Solo Piano volume 1
IAI 37.38.50 (1977) (LP)

1. A1 Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child   7:29
2. A2 Cosmo Rhythmatic   7:13
3. A3 Yesterdays   4:17
4. B1 Romance of Two Planets   5:16
5. B2 Irregular Galaxy   5:19
6. B3 To a Friend   7:40

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