Sun Ra Music

The continuing series of unreleased tapes from a variety of sources really heats up with a pair of sizzling performances from the early-1970s.

Tracks 1-3 were recorded from a July 9, 1972, concert at the South Street Seaport Museum (NYC), with tracks 4-7 from a September 8, 1973, gig in Paris, France.

The listener is tugged into the free jazz with music that is equally abrasive as melodic, with Sun Ra launching the Arkestra into the stratosphere through his fascinating work on the keyboards, with the horn section keeping pace with fantastic flurries that float between metallic and funk.

The Lost Reel collection is an excellent gaze into the genius of Sun Ra and the energy he shared with the audience and the rays of warmth he received in venues throughout the world.

Taken from rehearsal and private recordings, this is an interesting exploration into a variety of angles of Sun Ra.

The rehearsals - 1973 and 1978 from the House of Ra - are particularly fascinating, since ideas and stagecraft are being formulated in a systematic style. The 1985 performance from the Prospect Park Bowl Shell is a gem, as it features Sun Ra on piano with a small ensemble.

Featuring different sides of Sun Ra, it is a means to further appreciate the genius of a true artist and educator.

This is the first Sun Ra CD I'd recommend to anyone. It covers three distinct chunks of his early Chicago output. There is not a bad cut on the whole thing.

"Visits Planet Earth" was first released on the Saturn label in 1966, but it was made up of two sessions from the 1950's. The first four cuts were salvaged from the not-yet-released-in-1966 "Sound Of Joy" session from late 1956. This would have been his second commercially distributed album, but (producer) Tom Wilson's Transition label folded. The remaining three cuts are probably from late 1957 or early 1958, and rework some of the other "Sound of Joy" material in funkier and more exotic arrangements, while introducing the through-composed "Eve" (in its best recorded version). While you will eventually want to pick up "Sound of Joy" as well, don't let the overlap dissuade you; the sound quality is sharper here, and the remainder of this CD is great.

Sun Ra recorded a massive, hi-fidelity 30-song session before leaving Chicago in late 1960. Songs from this session appeared on five different LPs. The greatest of his 1960 performances were collected on "Interstellar Low Ways," also known as "Rocket Number Nine." The music is tonally strange, wackily space-obsessed (especially on the two cuts with lyrics), exotic, yet highly melodic and accessible.

"Fate in a Pleasant Mood" is mostly from the same 1960 session and runs a close second to this album in charm factor; the album it is paired with, "When Sun Comes Out," is from a few years later, and is far more difficult for the first time Sun Ra listener.

If you enjoy VPE/ILW (and you will), I recommend "Sun Song", "Nubians of Plutonia" and "Jazz in Silhouette" as your first follow-up explorations. "Secrets of the Sun" is perhaps the best intro to his further-out early 1960's New York phase, but I think it is only available on bootleg vinyl.

sun ra is a true original. whether big band or avant-garde the ra will always turn your ear and have you playing a cut over and over to make sure you really did hear that. melody becomes percussion, percussion becomes melody. the guy was just too great. this cd is classic ra. at first it sounds orthodox. but listen close and you start to hear that slightly odd always enchanting lick that only myster.ra could conceive. you will dig it, i promise

I have been listening to this one quite a bit lately and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I certainly have not gotten tired of it, which is the first prerequisite for a good star rating. On the other hand, I can't think of any particular track that is noteworthy, except perhaps for the last one, Rocket Number Nine Take Off for the Planet Venus, in the lyrics of which one is surprised that a natural citizen of the planet Saturn should describe Jupiter as a star! A stellar slip, if ever there was.

It may sound like a weird thing to say, but this is great for background music, like for falling asleep to, or for driving to work to, or even better, for driving home to. The music produces a relaxed and pleasant mood, and my thoughts drift away from the music.

Sun Ra really is overdue for a major revival. It is unconscionable that such a great musical entity as the Arkestra is almost unknown to the nation that gave birth to it. Maybe now that so much of his music is available on CD, his time will come. Perhaps all it will take is for some young whippersnapper like Eminem or Brittany Spears to acknowledge Sun Ra as an influence to open the floodgates. Okay, maybe not, but this is great music that everyone ought to hear, and this CD is one of the better Arkestral works. Not THE best, I would give that accolade to Supersonic Jazz, but pretty darn good all the same.

As I have posted a number of reviews, here is what I mean by my star ratings:

* A really worthless CD
** A CD that has some good stuff, but some major defects.
*** An OK CD that will please fans of the artist in question.
**** An excellent CD that represents the best work of the artist in question and can be bought with confidence.
***** An absolute classic that is the best, or among the best, of its genre. Your collection should start here.

The earliest recordings here, i.e. Side 1 of "Visits", are beautiful big-band jazz in the tradition of Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, and others. Side 2 of Visits is even better - the polyrhythms move towards a pan-cultural trance effect, the music starts to transcend jazz (while retaining the best of jazz's tonal characteristics) and the whole thing flows towards natural, other-wordly beauty. The whole of "Interstellar Low Ways" retains this spirit of adventure and apllies it towards a set of memorable themes. The playing and arrangement on both of these LPs are superb.

This is an excellent place to begin investigation of Sun Ra's music, and as good a bargain as you'll find in terms of quality music on a single CD.

This is a parallel review to "Angels & Demons at Play/The Nubians of Plutonia." Both albums are a great place to start if you're discovering Sun Ra.

Sun Ra made a huge number of recordings with his Arkestra. Many of these works have floated in and out of print. His works seem to remain on the periphery; what helps them is a devoted fan base drawn from a number of camps: Thelonius Monk, Duke Ellington, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, George Clinton, Grateful Dead, and Phish among many others.

His albums range from adventurous to downright insane. This particular album and the other one I mentioned contain a very pleasing balance of all the things that make Sun Ra so much fun: the big band, the swing, the rumba, the wild orchestrations and rhythms, the improvisations, and the overall "interplanetary funkmanship" of which George Clinton once sang.

My first Sun Ra album was actually a wild one: "Other Planes of There." I really like it, along with another adventurous title "Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy/Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow." There are a number of these wilder examples of free jazz in his catalogue, and there are also more conventional albums.

My recommendation is to begin with the more conventional albums, because they offer plenty of fun insanity to begin with. "Sun Ra Visits Planet Earth/Interstellar Low Ways" is a particular favorite of mine. If you can get a hold of a copy, check it out!

This is the first Sun Ra CD I'd recommend to anyone. It covers three distinct chunks of his early Chicago output. There is not a bad cut on the whole thing.

"Visits Planet Earth" was first released on the Saturn label in 1966, but it was made up of two sessions from the 1950's. The first four cuts were salvaged from the not-yet-released-in-1966 "Sound Of Joy" session from late 1956. This would have been his second commercially distributed album, but (producer) Tom Wilson's Transition label folded. The remaining three cuts are probably from late 1957 or early 1958, and rework some of the other "Sound of Joy" material in funkier and more exotic arrangements, while introducing the through-composed "Eve" (in its best recorded version). While you will eventually want to pick up "Sound of Joy" as well, don't let the overlap dissuade you; the sound quality is sharper here, and the remainder of this CD is great.

Sun Ra recorded a massive, hi-fidelity 30-song session before leaving Chicago in late 1960. Songs from this session appeared on five different LPs. The greatest of his 1960 performances were collected on "Interstellar Low Ways," also known as "Rocket Number Nine." The music is tonally strange, wackily space-obsessed (especially on the two cuts with lyrics), exotic, yet highly melodic and accessible.

"Fate in a Pleasant Mood" is mostly from the same 1960 session and runs a close second to this album in charm factor; the album it is paired with, "When Sun Comes Out," is from a few years later, and is far more difficult for the first time Sun Ra listener.

If you enjoy VPE/ILW (and you will), I recommend "Sun Song", "Nubians of Plutonia" and "Jazz in Silhouette" as your first follow-up explorations. "Secrets of the Sun" is perhaps the best intro to his further-out early 1960's New York phase, but I think it is only available on bootleg vinyl.

sun ra is a true original. whether big band or avant-garde the ra will always turn your ear and have you playing a cut over and over to make sure you really did hear that. melody becomes percussion, percussion becomes melody. the guy was just too great. this cd is classic ra. at first it sounds orthodox. but listen close and you start to hear that slightly odd always enchanting lick that only myster.ra could conceive. you will dig it, i promise

I have been listening to this one quite a bit lately and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I certainly have not gotten tired of it, which is the first prerequisite for a good star rating. On the other hand, I can't think of any particular track that is noteworthy, except perhaps for the last one, Rocket Number Nine Take Off for the Planet Venus, in the lyrics of which one is surprised that a natural citizen of the planet Saturn should describe Jupiter as a star! A stellar slip, if ever there was.

It may sound like a weird thing to say, but this is great for background music, like for falling asleep to, or for driving to work to, or even better, for driving home to. The music produces a relaxed and pleasant mood, and my thoughts drift away from the music.

Sun Ra really is overdue for a major revival. It is unconscionable that such a great musical entity as the Arkestra is almost unknown to the nation that gave birth to it. Maybe now that so much of his music is available on CD, his time will come. Perhaps all it will take is for some young whippersnapper like Eminem or Brittany Spears to acknowledge Sun Ra as an influence to open the floodgates. Okay, maybe not, but this is great music that everyone ought to hear, and this CD is one of the better Arkestral works. Not THE best, I would give that accolade to Supersonic Jazz, but pretty darn good all the same.

As I have posted a number of reviews, here is what I mean by my star ratings:

* A really worthless CD
** A CD that has some good stuff, but some major defects.
*** An OK CD that will please fans of the artist in question.
**** An excellent CD that represents the best work of the artist in question and can be bought with confidence.
***** An absolute classic that is the best, or among the best, of its genre. Your collection should start here.

The earliest recordings here, i.e. Side 1 of "Visits", are beautiful big-band jazz in the tradition of Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, and others. Side 2 of Visits is even better - the polyrhythms move towards a pan-cultural trance effect, the music starts to transcend jazz (while retaining the best of jazz's tonal characteristics) and the whole thing flows towards natural, other-wordly beauty. The whole of "Interstellar Low Ways" retains this spirit of adventure and apllies it towards a set of memorable themes. The playing and arrangement on both of these LPs are superb.

This is an excellent place to begin investigation of Sun Ra's music, and as good a bargain as you'll find in terms of quality music on a single CD.

This is a parallel review to "Angels & Demons at Play/The Nubians of Plutonia." Both albums are a great place to start if you're discovering Sun Ra.

Sun Ra made a huge number of recordings with his Arkestra. Many of these works have floated in and out of print. His works seem to remain on the periphery; what helps them is a devoted fan base drawn from a number of camps: Thelonius Monk, Duke Ellington, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, George Clinton, Grateful Dead, and Phish among many others.

His albums range from adventurous to downright insane. This particular album and the other one I mentioned contain a very pleasing balance of all the things that make Sun Ra so much fun: the big band, the swing, the rumba, the wild orchestrations and rhythms, the improvisations, and the overall "interplanetary funkmanship" of which George Clinton once sang.

My first Sun Ra album was actually a wild one: "Other Planes of There." I really like it, along with another adventurous title "Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy/Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow." There are a number of these wilder examples of free jazz in his catalogue, and there are also more conventional albums.

My recommendation is to begin with the more conventional albums, because they offer plenty of fun insanity to begin with. "Sun Ra Visits Planet Earth/Interstellar Low Ways" is a particular favorite of mine. If you can get a hold of a copy, check it out!

The band here is bigger than any I ever saw at a number of different venues, but the music is pretty typical of the show that Sun Ra presented over the last two decades of his career. He mixes some wild keyboard improv, powerful pounding on the african drums and a couple of ecstatic outbursts from his fabulous saxes, along with his familiar call and response space themes. In other worlds, unlike the neobop of his early days, or the tight experimentation of the 60's, he has moved into the grand 3-ring showmanship of his later years, with a little bit for everybody.

While nothing close to soft jazz accessible, the show reflects a seasoned leader and his Arkestra who now know how to manipulate an audience with just enough challenge and comfort to send them home with a satisfactory enlightened experience. The groundbreaking stuff was behind them, but the fun had just begun.

This is a pretty good introduction to Mr. Mystery, and well reflects how the man from Saturn built up such a dedicated following prior to his final blast-off. Better yet, there seems to be a couple of recent DVD's being released so that all the marching and tinsel can be witnessed. There's a reason why more material is available for this act than any other in jazz.