Sun Ra
Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial. He did not make it easy for people to take him seriously, for he surrounded his adventurous music with costumes and mythology that both looked backward toward ancient Egypt and forward into science fiction. But despite all of the trappings, Sun Ra was a major innovator, starting off playing advanced bop, but early on was open to the influences of other cultures, experimenting with primitive electric keyboards, and playing free long before the avant-garde got established.
Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial. He did not make it easy for people to take him seriously, for he surrounded his adventurous music with costumes and mythology that both looked backward toward ancient Egypt and forward into science fiction. But despite all of the trappings, Sun Ra was a major innovator, starting off playing advanced bop, but early on was open to the influences of other cultures, experimenting with primitive electric keyboards, and playing free long before the avant-garde got established.
Sound Sun Pleasure
Early work by Ra and the Arkestra, recorded in 1958 in Chicago, but not issued until the end of 60s, as one of the best rare sides on Saturn Records! The material's fairly straight, but with a cool off-kilter groove, and some very nice arrangements. …
Holiday For Soul Dance
One of the key but underappreciated episodes in avant-garde jazz, Sun Ra's Atlantis sounds far out even today. Rather than a full-on assault on the senses, Atlantis is an exercise in build-up, with long, almost forlorn passages of Ra on electric keyb…
Strange Strings
Back in stock! 1966's Strange Strings is the zenith of Sun Ra's analysis of string instruments and, as its title suggests, the album documents Ra's exploration of their outer limits, charting a kind of vivisection of the timbral make up of the tradit…
Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy
This disc brings together the Sun Ra recordings "Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy" and "Art Forms Of Dimensions Tomorrow" (recorded in 1963 and '61-'62 respectively). Cosmic Tones functions as a kind of blueprint for the sort of large-scale jazz weird…
Interstellar Low Ways
Originally titled Rocket Number Nine. Tracklisting: Onward, Somewhere in Space, Interplanetary Music, Interstellar Low Ways, Space Loneliness, Space Aura, Rocket Number Nine Take off for the Planet Venus. Recorded at various locations, Chicago, late…
Live At Slug\'s Saloon 1972
6CD set. Sun Ra & the Arkestra played every Monday night at Slug's Saloon in the Lower East Side of NYC for over 5 years, from 1966-1972. This is the 1st released documentation of this long residency, comprising 2 complete shows (6 hours total) recor…
Mayan Temples
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 Ra…
Nidhamu+ Dark Myth Equation Visitation
This is an overlooked gem drawn from the 1971 Balloon Theater (Cairo) show, with the title track recorded at the home of the esteemed Mr. Hartmut Geerken. The Balloon Theater material is, in contrast to many of the more raucous live albums of this pe…
On Jupiter
Originally issued as El Saturn 101679, recorded on 10/16/79, never reissued before in any form (before Artyard's prior LP edition in 2005). "On Jupiter uses more than the usual amount of post recording processing and mixing, nudging up to the jazz-ro…
Sleeping Beauty
Originally released on Saturn Records in 1979, both Sleeping Beauty and On Jupiter are studio recordings by the large Ra ensemble (including electric guitar and electric bass) and, for the most part, feature the first recordings of the titles include…
The Ark and the Ankh
In the culturally turbulent mid-1960s, the visionary, otherworldly musical being we have all come to know as Sun Ra formed a brief but tight bond with the late storyteller, activist and poet Henry Dumas. The Ark and the Ankh is a vintage 1966 documen…
It Is Forbidden
This is the third and last entry in the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival, The Sun Ra Trilogy, produced by John Sinclair in agreement with the late Alton Abraham. This time the year is 1974 and the program of the evening includes some of the Arkestra'a…
Janus
This compilation of rare material from the Sun Ra Arkestra draws from tapes recorded between 1963 and 1970, and the space-age jazz shaman conjures up a variety of styles and moods along the way. A balmy tropical vibe greets the ears with the opener (…
In Egypt
The real gems of this prized reissue from Leo Records's Golden Years vault imprint are two previously unreleased tracks. The first features Sun Ra and his Arkestra on an 18-minute "Watusa" from 1984, and the second features a 13-minute piece by Saleh…
A Night In East Berlin / My Brothers The Wind and Sun N.9
2 separate performances from 1986 & 1990 show Sun Ra & friends in trademark improvisational spaciness, playing tracks like "The Shadow World," "Space Is The Place/We Travel The Spaceways" & "Interstellar Low Ways". Recorded in 1986 and 1990.
Second Star To The Right (Tribute To Walt Disney)
Sun Ra presents a fun-filled & strange live album that pays tribute to Walt Disney with a few songs from his movies, inc. "Zip A Dee Doo Dah," "High Ho, High Ho" & "Whistle While You Work" Recorded in Austria in 1989.
Love In Outer Space
The cosmic musical scientist presents a 7 track live performance made in 1983 in Utrecht, inc. the cuts "Love In Outer Space/Space Is The Place," "Round Midnight" & "Along Came Ra". Recorded live in Utrecht, The Netherlands in 1983.
Media Dreams
This is the companion to Disco 3000, made on the same classic Italian quartet tour with John Gilmore, Michael Ray (trumpet) and the minimal but perfect Luqman Ali (drums). Ra himself plays piano and electronic keyboards, including the mysterious Crum…
Live at the Electric Circus (NYC 1968) and Newport Jazz Festival
Chronologically beginning the label's in-depth survey of the lesser-known psychedelic era of Sun Ra (1968-1971), these discs were painstakingly mastered from first and second generation passes of Michael Wilderman's original recordings and sound bett…