"What you are holding in your hands is a record of some of the most ancient music ever captured on tape, yet it will be written about as 'avant-garde". NORMAN WEINSTEIN.

Another good live date courtesy of Leo Records, this one from December of 1983. This release is notable for both the fairly straight-ahead program and the fact that Sunny plays LOTS of piano as opposed to his synthesizers. In fact, there are no synthesizers heard until the "Love in Outer Space/Space Is the Place" medley, which is the last track. "Blues Ra" is a special treat; nearly five minutes of Ra playing a straight 12-bar blues on piano, accompanied by only a drummer and a bass player (who is slightly buried in the mix). Sound quality is quite good, and the band is in their usual fine form. As with the rest of the Sun Ra releases on Leo, it's probably not the place to start, but well worth owning if you've already been bitten by the Sun Ra bug. 

Sun Ra (p, org, syn, voc); Ronnie Brown (tp, flg, perc); Haji (tp); Tyrone Hill (tb); Marshall Allen (as, fl, perc); John Gilmore (ts, cl, timb, voc); Eloe Omoe (as, bcl, cacal, perc); James Jacson (bsn, fl, Inf-d); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, fl, perc); Wilbur Little (b); Clifford Jarvis (d); Marvin "Boogaloo" Smith (d); Atakatune (cga); unidentified (cga); June Tyson (voc); Myriam Broche (dance); Greg Pratt (dance).

Leo LR-154 [LP and CD] was released in 1988 with the title Love in Outer Space: Live in Utrecht.  Date and location from the Leo notes; no personnel are given.  Personnel identified by rlc, with help from Danny Ray Thompson.  The unidentified conga player is the same musician who was with the Arkestra in October and November.  It is not clear whether James Glass is present on electric guitar.

By the 1980s, Sun Ra was often revisiting the past in eccentric fashion. He had become interested again in the music of Fletcher Henderson and early Duke Ellington, and was playing occasional standards in concert, although in very much his own way. His 14-piece Arkestra of 1986 on this date not only performs demented renditions of "Say It Isn't So" and "Yesterdays" (hinting at swing while often including borderline outside solos), but originals that sound like crazy swing tunes, most notably the heated "Reflections In Blue" and "Nothin' From Nothin'." Certainly this studio set is not recommended for swing purists who take life too seriously, but the creative and often crazy music should delight many listeners. The follow-up album, Hours After, was recorded during the same two days. 

On this continually interesting program, Sun Ra and his Arkestra perform typically odd versions of a couple of standards ("But Not for Me" and "Beautiful Love"), a swinging original ("Hours After") and two outside pieces ("Dance of the Extra Terrestrains" and "Love on a Far Away Planet"). Almost up to the level of Reflections In Blue (recorded during the same two-day period), this date features one of the stronger versions of Ra's band. The 14-piece orchestra consists of trumpeter Randall Murray, trombonist Tyrone Hill, seven reeds (including the perennials: tenorman John Gilmore, altoist Marshall Allen and Pat Patrick on alto), guitarist Carl LeBlanc and a four-piece rhythm section that includes two drummers. Recommended. 

 Black Saint 101, Reflections in Blue, was released in 1987 on LP and CD.  The serial number was later changed to 120 111, Hours After, was released in 1990 in both formats.  All information from the liner notes.  Though not credited, Danny Ray Thompson says he mixed some of the tracks from this session.  Two titles are confusing: "Reflections in Blue" is not Ra's 1956 piece, but another Ra blues with a different theme; "Hours After" is also a Sun Ra blues of recent origin, not the E.J. Turner composition from 1958.

Sun Ra (p, syn, voc); Randall Muray (tp); Tyrone Hill (tb); Pat Patrick (as, cl); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, picc, perc); Danny Ray Thompson (as, bars, fl, bgo); John Gilmore (ts, cl, timb); Leroy Taylor [Eloe Omoe] (as, cacl, bcl, perc); James Jacson (bsn, Inf-d); Ronald Wilson (ts); Carl LeBlanc (eg); Tyler Mitchell (b); Tommy "Bugs" Hunter (d); Earl "Buster" Smith (d).

December 18-19, 1986

The Dieswärts bootleg LP (the title is a German coinage that means "thiswards") was released in small numbers in 1998 in Germany; the sleeve claims 300 copies were pressed.  Its sleeve and (misleading) insert both give it a catalog number Ur-Anus TRT0198; the center label has no number; and the matrix numbers are MZE 8785/A and MZE 8786/A.

The LP contains material from both July 22 and 23, 1982 (this session and the preceeding one), and also rips off the 1933 Clarence Williams track "Chocolate Avenue" composed by Sonny Blount -- see below.

Dieswärts somehow manages to confuse track titles even more than its cassette predecessors (Sun Ra on Earth [Cosmic Duck] / Sun Ra Live in Berlin [JVK]) ("Summit of Love," "Duke," "Helloween") -- a difficult task, but they managed it!  Artwork from both the JVK and Cosmic Duck cassette releases is reproduced on the insert included with Dieswärts, along with unauthorized extracts from Geerken and Hefele's book Omniverse Sun Ra (including portions of an essay by rlc).

Dieswärts claims that the July 23, 1982, material comes from Mannheim, June 24, 1982.  The Material does not in fact come from that date (our thanks to Hartmut Geerken for thoroughly checking several different tape sources) -- it is definitely from the current session.

Chocolate Avenue

Sonny began to compose when he was 15 or 16 years old; his best friend, Avery Parrish, challenged him to write a piece.  According to an interview with the Hinds brothers on My 3, 1990, his first composition was titled "Chocolate Avenue."  Sonny sent it to Clarence Williams, who used it on a recording session without crediting him or,  of course, paying him.  James Jacson confirmed that Sunny occasionally mentioned this episode, though without naming the composition.

"Chocolate Avenue" was indeed recorded by Clarence Williams (p, idr) with Ed Allen (cnt), Cecil Scott (cl), and Floyd Casey (washboard) -- we can safely assume this was not Sonny's intended orchestration! -- on September 1, 1933.  It appeared on Vocalion 2584, with no composer listed on the label (John Szwed has verified this by inspecting an original 78 at the Institute of Jazz Studies).  It was reissued in 1995 on the CD Clarence Williams 1933, Classics 845.  It has also been reissued on Robert Parker's Clarence Williams 1927-1934 compilation CD (Australian Broadcasting Company 836-829) and on a Swaggie LP.  Once it became widely known in 1996 that Sonny was the composer of "Chocolate Avenue," the piece even showed up on a bootleg Sun Ra LP from Germany (Dieswärts).

Sun Ra (p, org, syn, voc); Ronnie Brown (tp); Longineu Parsons (tp); Tyrone Hill (tb); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, EVI, kora, perc); John Gilmore (ts, cl, EVI, timb); Danny Ray Thompson (bars fl, EVI,  perc); James Jacson (bsn, fl, Inf-d); Eloe Omoe (as, bcl, cacl, EVI, perc); Rollo Radford (standup eb); Hayes Burnett (b); Tommy "Bugs" Hunter (d); Clifford Jarvis (d); Samarai Celestial (d); June Tyson (voc); Beverley Parsons (dance); Carla Washington (dance); Greg Pratt (dance).

Quartier Latin, West Berlin, 

West Germany, July 22, 23, 1982

MANY Thanks once again to Vinylust for offering a FLAC rip of his treasured LP.

Dieswärts

1. Summit Of Love    7:00 

2. Karawane    24:38 

3. Helloween (Halloween in Harlem)    5:55 

4. Tomorrow (?) (Theme of the Stargazers)     7:24 

5. Who In The World    4:33 

6. Duke    3:03 

7. Chocolate Avenue (Clarence Williams And His Orchestra)    2:56

FLAC

or

320

New links in comments!

These concerts are available on the Transparency DVD Sun Ra Arkestra East and West Berlin - Sun Ra Volume Two Transparency 0171. Michael Shepherd at Transparency is actively releasing rare and incredible Sun Ra music and video. Please support his efforts; you can reach Transparency at myspace.com/michael_transparency

770 mb

Also, if you would like to listen to some of these performances in a better quality sound, try Sun Ra and his Cosmo-Discipline Arkestra A Night in East Berlin/My Brothers the Wind and Sun N.9 (believe me, you won't be disappointed).

from Space Is The Place - Szwed


 Y RA 1 Nuclear War was a 12-inch single issued in Britain in 1982.  A Fireside Chat with Lucifer and Celestial Love were released in 1983 and 1984 respectively.  Y RA 2 was slated for release in Britain under the title Rays from the Outer Tomorrow; it never appeared, but an Italian LP Y RA 2 was released in 1984 under the title Nuclear War. 
From The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra 2nd ed.

A welcome but anonymous visitor reminded us yesterday that the broadcast of the Arkestra's 1986 performance in East Berlin is/was available on dime.  I don't use bit-torrent but I do have the broadcasts sourced from the Transparency DVD 0171, "Sun Ra volume 2".  Here is the first of the two.

The opening 45 minutes from this concert were broadcast (in black and white) on the East German TV network DDR1 as Jazz Buhne Berlin in 1988; the rest was broadcast later that year on the same newtwork as Jazz Buhne Berlin: the second part of the concert.  According to Armin Büttner, the concert was actually shot in color, and color videotapes probably still exist.  There is also a 60-minute radio broadcast that ran from the opening to "Space is the Place".

Sun Ra (p, org, syn, voc); Tyrone Hill (tb); Laurdine "Pat" Patrick (as, cl, fl); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, perc); John Gilmore (ts, cl, timb, voc); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, fl, bgo); Eloe Omoe (as, bcl, cacl, perc); James Jacson (bsn, fl, Inf-d, voc); Bruce Edwards (eg); Rollo Radford (eb); Marvin "Boogaloo" Smith (d).

untitled improvisation [Inf-d; eb; ob; bcl; tb]

Mystic Prophesy (Ra) [cond ens; bcl; Allen, as; ts; syn]

untitled improvisation [d; cond ens; Inf-d; ob and Patrick, fl; ob, Patrick, cl, joined by bcl and   Thompson, fl; syn]

Beyond the Wilderness of Shadows (Ra) [p and Patrick, as, only]

unidentified Blues (Ra) [p; eb; eg; p]

From The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra 2nd ed.

(Video_TS file)
700mb

 I love these stories of mysterious and convoluted releases.  The story of this one may be the knottiest of all the Sun Ra releases.  

I was involved with Leo in one of the releases of A Night in East Berlin: working out what was on some of the tapes which had become entangled with the various issues, and writing liner notes.

Originally A Night in East Berlin was a Saturn cassette, sold at gigs by the Arkestra. In the late 1980s Leo Records did a deal with Sun Ra, and released it as an LP, somewhat re-edited, but without additional material.

When it became time for a CD issue, Leo for chose to add as a filler part of another Sun Ra tape they had purchased earlier. Later still, Leo decided that this other tape would make a good release in its own right, and issued it complete as A Quiet Place in the Universe: it is a recording from around 1977, an unedited section of a concert performance which includes two Sun Ra compositions not available anywhere else on CD or LP.

This release of A Quiet Place meant that Leo at that point had a Sun Ra CD on the market which partially duplicated the East Berlin CD. Their response to this was to issue a different A Night in East Berlin on CD, keeping the same catalogue number as the old one(!), but replacing the music from the A Quiet Place session with another filler titled My Brothers the Wind & Sun No 9. This new filler had, for some strange reason, been sold to Leo as "recorded in Europe in 1990", but it turned out really to come from one of the Hidden Fire Saturn LPs, recorded in New York in 1988 — the very last Saturn releases.

So there exist one Saturn and three Leo editions of A Night in East Berlin, all of which differ from each other in some way! That's not quite the end of the story, however: the concert was also broadcast, unedited, on East German TV in 1988, as two 45 minute shows. It would make a superb video release — the music really gains extra impact in that format — but sadly, I'm not aware that anyone has plans for a video issue of it.

"The tape from which this CD derives is one of those which were occasionally sold or distributed by Sun Ra outside the Arkestra.... The master copy has merely a handwritten label identifying several track titles.... To deal with the date ... it seems highly likely to me that this concert is from 1976-7, made during Vincent Chancey's first stay with the Arkestra, and near the start of one of Pat Patrick's absences."

or

MANY Thanks to Vinylust for sharing his vinyl rip in FLAC with us!

Meltdown MPA-1, John Cage Meets Sun Ra, was an LP released in 1987.  According to Warren Smith of Variety Recording Studios, who did the pressing, some copies were delivered to Sun Ra without labels and may have circulated with Saturn labels.  A 10th-anniversary limited-edition CD was scheduled for release in January 1997, but it never materialized.

On the released portions of the performance, Ra and Cage perform alternately, except during a stretch of Side B.  According to Bill Andrejko, other portions of the concert, which included Pharaoh Abdullah (procession, dance) were recorded but not released; Rick Russo confirms that some material from the concert, including contributions by Marshall Allen and June Tyson, was not included on the LP.  Sideshows by the Sea was the last surviving freak show along the Coney Island boardwalk.  Ra and Cage's appearance was duly announced by the barker outside; a pizza party followed the performance.  Information from the liner notes, Bill Andrejko, Dan Sullivan, and Rick Russo.  According to Richard Ehrman, there is a 90-minute audience tape of the complete concert.

From The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra 2nd ed.

Sun Ra (Yamaha DX-7 syn); John Cage (voc);
Sideshows by the Sea, Coney Island,
Brooklyn, NY, June 8, 1986

John Cage Meets Sun Ra

Side A - 21:14

Side B - 21:26

FLAC

or

320

2nd Chance post (with new links)

Those interested in John Cage can go here to watch the 1966 movie SOUND - a 24 minute (not 4'33")avant garde minimalist jazz music performance noise experimental film featuring Cage and 'Sun Ra's 'parallel galaxy celestial brother,' Roland Kirk.

Celestial Love presents the Arkestra playing a really attractive set of Sun Ra compositions and jazz standards.  There are excellent performances from John Gilmore, June Tyson and Sun Ra, and also from trumpeter Walter Miller.  All the pieces are good, some are outstanding: 'Interstellarism' (a retitled 'Intestellar Low Ways'), 'Blue Intensity', which has superb blues choruses from John Gilmore and Sun Ra, 'Smile', and avery interesting writing on compositions titled simply 'Nameless One #2' and 'Nameless One #3'.  This LP is strongly recommended.

from Another Shade of Blue

375. [280] Sun Ra and his Outer Space Arkestra

Saturn Gemini 19842, also numbered Saturn C/D1984SG-9, was released in 1983 with the title Celestial Love -- matrix numbers Sun Ra 1984C and 1984D.  It is culled from the same recording sessions as the albums A Fireside Chat With Lucifer and Nuclear War.  In addition, a 12" 33-RPM single (Y RA 1) was issued in Britain in 1982; a second was slated for release under the title Rays from the Outer Tomorrow but it never appeared.

Personnel were not credited on any of these releases, except for vocals by "Mr. Re" and June Tyson on the single.  Vincent Chancey identified himself, Miller, Gilmore, Allen, Jacson, and Thompson in an interview on the WKCR Sun Ra Festival... Michael Shore says that Burnett, Samarai, and Atakatune were regulars with the Arkestra in 1982; Samarai confirms his presence.

From The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra 2nd ed. 

Many Thanks to Paul W for sharing a FLAC rip of this extremely rare album.

Celestial Love (1983)
Sun Ra (p, syn, org); Walter Miller (tp); Tyrone Hill (tb); Vincent Chancey (Fr hn); Marshall Allen (as, fl); John Gilmore (ts); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, fl); James Jacson (bsn, Inf-d); Hayes Burnett (b); Samarai Celestial (d); Atakatune (cga, perc); June Tyson (voc).
Variety Recording Studios, NYC,
September 1982

Celestial Love

Saturn Gemini 19842; C/D1984SG-9 matrix numbers Sun Ra 1984C/D 

Side A:
Celestial Love (Ra)
Sometimes I'm Happy (Caesar-Youmans)
Interstellarism (Insterstellar Low Ways) (Ra)
Blue Intensity (Ra) 

Side B:
Sophisticated Lady (Carney-Ellington)
Nameless One #2 (Ra)
Nameless One #3 (Ra)
Smile (Chaplin) 

-FLAC-
RS
MEGA

or

-320-
RS
MEGA

Proper evaluation of words and letters

In their phonetic and associated sense

Can bring the peoples of earth

Into the clear light of pure Cosmic Wisdom.

Sometimes

All is not all;

Because

The COSMOS-ALL is the ALL-ALL . . . .

It is the

"THE ULTIMATE" ALL

OF

The Omni-universes

There are different kinds of all

I speak of a different kind of ALL . . . .

You may have noticed this elsewhere but I doubt you've ever heard it like this.  Life Is Splendid was released as a single 37 minute track.  Paul W was kind enough to divide this 'suite' into songs for us.  Though it is best heard in its entirety, the Life Is Splendid suite can now be subdivided to your parts content.

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 an edited version of Sun Ra’s “Life Is Splendid”) was released in 1973 as Atlantic SD2-502 (and later 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 tape of 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 more listenable 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 the Arkestra, 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.
(continue reading at NuVoid's Sun Ra Sunday)

Sun Ra (org, Mini-Moog, syn, voc); Akh Tal Ebah (tp, flg); Lamont McClamb [Kwami Hadi] (tp); Marshall Allen (as, fl, perc); Larry Northington (as, cga, perc); Danny Davis (as, fl, perc); John Gilmore (ts, perc); Pat Patrick (bars, perc); Danny Thompson (bars, fl, perc); Leroy Taylor [Eloe Omoe] (bcl, perc); Lex Humphries (d); Alzo Wright (d); Stanley Morgan [Atakatune] (cga, perc); Russell Branch [Odun] (cga, perc); Robert Underwood [Aye Aton] (d, perc); Harry Richards (perc); June Tyson (voc, dance); Space Ethnic Voices: Judith Holton, Cheryl Banks, Ruth Wright (voc, dance).

Ann Arbor, MI, September 9, 1972
From The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra 2nd ed.

1. Enlightenment    2:11

2. Love in outer space    5:00

3. Space is the place    8:12

4. Untitled improvisations    5:45

5. Discipline27-II (+ What planet is this + Life is splendid + Immeasurable) 7:40

6. Watusi    7:04

7. Outer Spaceways Incorporated    1:48

Each file includes complete scans

Other Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival Recordings

Paulo Barata, a student of English and American Studies living in Lisbon posted the following at Vimeo.  Thanks to Charles Blass for posting the link at the Saturn list.

This is a video I put together with footage from John Coney's film "Space is the Place", as a visual aid to a paper I presented at the International Symposium Performing Identities and Utopias of Belonging in American and British Contexts, titled "Sun Ra: Intentional Otherness and the Search for a Place".

Abstract:

Sun Ra was, first and foremost, a man deeply concerned with the advancement of mankind. He was also a musician, poet and philosopher. For Ra identity is not negotiated but self-proclaimed: his persona was carefully constructed to spark self-awareness and creativity in others. From the rejection of his slave name to his Afrocentric readings of scripture, explorations of Egyptian myth and heavy recourse to space age imagery and terminology, Ra consistently presented himself as the Other so that we may reflect upon the nature of Self and introduce positive change in our lives and the world. His body of work stresses an alternative past and future for humanity, attainable through the cultivation of a disciplined inner space and the physical movement to outer space, and illustrates an anger towards the white erasure of black history that places him firmly within the bounds of African-American grassroots intelligentsia. Ra mined much of the same territory as his peers yet he synthesized his findings in radical ways, uniquely combining

historical revisionism with utopian prophecy. Are you ready to alter your destiny?

"Now and then tiring of what they call reality

Bruised and beaten by its force

I step into the friendly city of the forest

Of what they call illusion

There to tend my wounds and heal them

With the lightnin’ touch of balanced thought

And the splendid comradeship of other worlds"

— Sun Ra, “Other Thoughts”, in The Immeasurable Equation.

I know.  You saw this and your heart stopped beating for a second... I'll wait while you catch your breath.

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.

.

First, Many MANY THANKS to both Paul W and Marc E for supplying copies of this outstanding and exceptionally rare release.

If anyone can offer scans or pictures of the album it would be greatly appreciated.

Saturn LP 487, Song of the Stargazers, was the last new Saturn release on the Chicago label.  It was issued before 1981, most likely in 1979. Some copies bear the serial number 6161 (NMY).  Mark Webber calls it a "mystery album."  The only known copies of the LP are in Europe; "Maybe Saturn produced it in a very limited edition and they sold it while touring through Europe" (Geerken).  And all known copies are defective; Julian Vein says that the LP may have been mastered on only one stereo channel.

Marshall Allen (fl, ob); Robert Cummings (bcl); Pat Patrick (space lute); Ronnie Boykins (b); poss. John Gilmore (perc); unidentified (perc).  Live, 1967 or 68

This is a late 1960s number; the bass clarinetist is not Eloe Omoe!  Personnel identified by rlc and Larry Nai.

Sun Ra (p, syn, org); prob. Michael Ray (tp); unidentified (tp); Craig Harris (tb); Tyrone Hill (tb-1); poss. Vincent Chancey (Fr hn); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, picc, perc); Danny Davis (as, perc); John Gilmore (ts, perc); Eloe Omoe (bcl); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, perc); James Jacson (bsn, Inf-d); Damon Choice (vib); prob. Dale Williams (eg); poss. Luqman Ali [Edward Skinner] (d); unidentified (d); unidentified (cga); unidentified (sticks).

These particular items seem to be from the same live concert, and are similar in sound and conception to the free improvisations on the Soundscape sessions from November 1979.

This rather unusual solo piano piece could have been recorded anywhere between the mid-1960s and the late 1970s.  No further information is available.

This fragment from a live concert has a mid-1970s feel to it.  There is no connection with the 1960 or 1961 composition called "Distant Stars."

poss. Atakatune [Stanley Morgan] (perc, voc); poss. Odun [Russell Branch] (perc, voc); poss. Chiea (perc, voc -1).

These two numbers feature the same percussionists, playing in a manner that is unusual for Arkestra members.  On "Seven Points" they contribute some vocalizing as well.  "Seven Points" as a title is reminiscent of "The Place of Five Points," which was recorded in 1979.  If the percussionists are in fact Atakatune, Odun,  and Chiea, a recording date of 1972 or 1973 is most likely.

The first discographical listing [of Song of the Stargazers] came from Tilman Stahl, who apparently took the misleading title "The Others in Their World" (which is not the 1960 composition) and the serial number 6161 to indicate tht the album was recorded in Chicago in 1961!  Geerken and Hefele place the album in the late '60s and claim a 1970 release date.  The label, however, is a rather tattered El Saturn that was characteristic of the last Chicago pressings in the late 1970s.

1. The others in their world    10:14

2. Somewhere out    4:40

3. Distant stars    1:01

4. Duo    3:04

5. Seven points    4:49

6. Cosmo dance    6:31

7. Galactic synthesis    9:52

or

You can buy it HERE
March 8:  Too late, I guess somebody snatched it up.  You can still visit and see more pics, tho.
Doesn't it just blow your entire mind?
I know it does mine.

I hope you've been enjoying the Solo Piano LPs.  Because the solo posts are now complete, I thought a suitable segue back to The Mighty Arkestra might be an LP that is nearly solo (pipe organ + a li'l bit o' percussion) on one side and the Sun Ra All Stars on the other.  I have two rips for you today: the first is courtesy of Paul W. from his original LP; You might notice a bit of 'radio music concrete' on Side A on this version that does not appear on the 2nd offering - my Art Yard LP rip (but not my scans).  Curious difference, no?

Sun Ra (p, syn, voc); Don Cherry (pocket tp); Eloe Omoe (cacl); Lester Bowie (tp); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, EVI); John Gilmore (ts, voc); Archie Shepp (ts, ss); Richard Davis (b); Clifford Jarvis (d); Philly Joe Jones (d); Famoudou Don Moye (d, Sun Percussion).

Saturn 10-11-85, Stars That Shine Darkly, was released in 1985.  It is sometimes titled Hiroshima.  "Hiroshima" appeared on Side B.  In the first edition of this discography [Earthly Recordings vol. 1], this piece was said to have been recorded on the same European tour as the All Stars material.  However, in a conversation with Peter Hinds on Feb. 14, 1986, Sun Ra alluded to the existence of additional material from this performance, as well as an unissued video by Danny Ray Thompson.  Peter Hinds refers to "the thing in Atlanta, Ga, with the organ."  According to John and Peter Hinds, the organ was located in a large theater in Atlanta.  The exact date is not known, but the Arkestra was in Atlanta on October 26, 1984 and again on January 1, 1985.

1. Stars that shine darkly (part 1)    14:50
2. Hiroshima    15:05

Paul W. Original LP Rip

or

Art Yard LP Rip

 FLAC

or

Sun Ra -Music Video Short - A - Interplanetary Music - "Orbiting"

"Dark Forces" is a music video short film with visuals to the audio track of the live performance recorded live in Egypt on December 17th, 1971.

Thanks to Charles Blass for sharing some of these at the Saturn List.

 Adventure-Equation's solo piano series ends with Ra's final release in this genre; 1980's Aurora Borealis.  Note that in the review below, the album sides are reversed.

Aurora Borealis is a very interesting album of solo piano from Sun Ra. Side A features two Ra compositions, "Aurora Borealis" and "Omniscience," both of which feature pretty melodic passages laced with dissonance and some thunderous low chords. Despite getting pretty "out," there is always a strong sense of structure and some downright stunning passages. Side B begins with Ra interpolating Rachmaninov's Prelude in C# Minor (!), then moving into "Quiet Ecstasy," a beautiful, sparse and contemplative piece. Aurora Borealis is one of only a handful of solo piano dates from Sun Ra, and remarkable for that alone. 

AMG review by Sean Westergaard

Prelude in C# Minor (Rachmaninov)    4:27

Quiet Ecstasy (Ra)    9:08

Aurora Borealis (Ra)    4:06

Omniscience (Ra)   5:13

or

Many THANKS to Marc E for this rip of his treasured LP.



Thanks to I-) for suggesting I post this alternate cover.

 Monorails and Satellites Vols. I & II

Monorails and Satellites (Evidence ECD 22013-2)
Originally released as El Saturn SR 509 in 1968

Monorails and Satellites Vol.  II

(released as El Saturn SR 519 in 1969)

Material for both LPs recorded at Sun Studio, New York, NY prob. 1966

Saturn SR 509, Monorails and Satellites, was issued in 1968, according to John Szwed, who bought his copy then.  All titles from this album were reissued in 1992 on Evidence 22013 [CD].  Saturn LP 519, Monorails and Satellites Vol. II, was probably issued in 1969.  Some copies carry the serial number Saturn ESR 9691.  Date given on the Evidence reissue; 1967 is also possible.  The amateurish recording quality and the ringing telephone at the end of "Skylight" suggest a home recording.

In the first edition of the discography, Sun Ra was also credited with "electronics" on "Astro Vision" (these have even been heard as a synthesizer, but the date is too early for that).  Hartmut Geerken correctly pointed out that the "electronics" were produced by recording bass and drums with reverb so heavy as to produce major distortion.  The likely suspects are Ronnie Boykins and Tommy Hunter.  James Wolf believes a conga player was also present.

From The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra 2nd ed.

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 singular musical thinking. Ra does not possess a dazzling virtuosity, but he approaches the piano as an immense orchestra, full of vibrant colors and contrasting timbres. Like a child at play, Ra delights in the resonant rumbling of the lowest octaves and the plinking, chattering chimes of the highest notes above. But Ra’s two-hand independence is sometimes truly astonishing: each hand 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:

To continue reading the entire review please visit Nuvoid's Sun Ra Sundays.

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 recorded at 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 the likely suspects). It sounds to me like the effect was overdubbed after the fact, since Ra does not interact 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 than on 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 and sounds more pre-arranged: Ra’s left hand sets up an off-kilter 5/4 groove while his right hand tosses 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.

from  Nuvoid's Sun Ra Sundays

Sun Ra (p); Ronnie Boykins (b -1); Tommy Hunter (d, reverb -1); unidentified (cga -1) 

 Monorails and Satellites / Monorails and Satellites Vol. II

Monorails and Satellites

Space Towers    3:37

Cogitation    6:35

Skylight    3:59

The Alter Destiny    3:08

Easy Street   3:38
Blue Differentials    2:54

Monorails And Satellites    5:36

The Galaxy Way    3:17

Monorails and Satellites Vol. II

Astro Vision (-1)    3:21

The Ninth Eye    9:21

Solar Boats    5:05

Perspective Prisms of Is    6:28

Calundronius    8:20

(Both Volumes)

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Many THANKS to Paul W. for the FLAC rip of his Vol. II LP.