I think this could be handy as new releases and latest discussions have been posted in this thread lately: The Sun Ra Album-by-Album Thread (Second Sun)
NEW RELEASE: Modern Harmonic will relase a new Sun Ra album on April 7th! Details here: Sun Ra - Thunder Of The Gods - LP
Well, if you literally have no experience whatsoever with Sun Ra, accessing his music can be extremely daunting -- the discography is vast; the range of music Ra played, from Fletcher Henderson covers to 20-minute long synthesizer solo improvised sonic excursions, is vast. I also think it doesn't help that a lot of the stuff was issued in some crazy ass ways -- first by Ra himself, as a lot of the Saturns had weird mixes of material from different sources and chopped up in odd ways and were not really delivered in top sonic quality, even for their sources (and most of Ra's music was recorded non-professionally and was self released on his Saturn label); and in the years since by various reissuers, who have tended to slap together things that aren't necessarily related (like all the Evidence twofers or even the Modern Harmonic album above with just seeming randomly yokes together two previously unreleased recordings, one from '66 and one from '71), or put them out will limited documentation and context (like almost all the vast amount of stuff the Transparency label as released since Ra's death). Furthmore Ra really had a cosmology and identity and was a poet and philosopher and there's a lot more than just music to his output, so for the fan who is strictly interested in the music, that can be off putting. I sympathize with anyone trying to find their way into Sun Ra's music for the first time. I'd offer a couple of guideposts: First I think it's useful to think of Sun Ra's music as having 4 broad eras. The Chicago period, from the mid 1950s - 1960, when the music is primarily mutant hard bop and mid-century show band "orienalism" sort of music; the New York Period, from 1960-1969, perhaps the group's most innovative and original, but also most avant garde period, which finds Ra and the Arkestra exploring structures well beyond tunes and swing and melody and harmony, including long form works based on improvisational cues; the early Philly period, 1969 - the late '70s, which finds Ra developing a unique musical language of electronic keyboards, when the recorded output starts involving more philosophical recitatives that grew out of the live afro-futurist "Cosmo Drama" performances than was the case in the earlier recorded output, and concluding with a more and more revisiting of a jazz from the '20 and '30s that had been Ra' formative influence as well as a brief flirtation with funk and rhythm machines; and the late Philly period, late 70s through the early '90s, by which time Ra had become an internationally renowned concert artist, the number of recordings explodes most of which are live (the last Saturn studio recordings are from 1982), though there were some later studio sessions for regular commercial labels), and the music although on any given album or from album to album may cover anything from comic songs to cosmo drama recitiatives to outside group improvs to swing covers, there not so much development and change to the overall style. Second, by far the best sounding and best conceived issues of Ra's music from the first three periods are not available in hard copy but are the digitally downloadable and streamable reissues of the material from the last decade from archivist Michael Anderson's work with the original master tapes. Go to those, even if they're only in compressed digital audio formats they're still better -- much better sound, expanded releases that logically expand original issue from material from the same period -- than the original Saturn LPs or even the '90s Evidence CD reissues. I'd suggest two ways to enter the work. First, you could just pick a couple of albums from each of the eras and check them out. A couple of suggestions in that regard from me would be as follows, though others I'm sure have different suggestions: Chicago period: Jazz in Silhouette and Rocket Number Nine (aka Interstellar Low Ways) NY period: When Sun Comes Out & The Magic City Early Philly period: Astro Black & Black Myth/Out in Space (the latter are quality live recordings from Europe 1970 that are complete sets, OOP but easily obtainable and hard copy only) Later Philly period: Unity (OOP but great live set with Ra exploring early swing in addition to material from his rep) & A Fireside Chat with Lucifer Alternatively, a couple of months back I created a Spotify playlist that goes from the first Ra Arkestra single through the title track of Astro Black in the early Philly period -- the period of Ra music best and most thoroughly represented on Spotify. It's about 4 hours of music that I hope traces Ra's musical development from mutant hard bop through synthesizer cosmos space jazz. It doesn't delve into his pre-Arkestra development, or the Sun Ra cosmology, it more a collection of (mostly) instrumental music that I hope flows as a listening experience but also illuminates the development of Ra's music from the '50s through the early '70s, made really for a listener who already maybe knows and likes jazz even through '50s and '60s jazz, but finds the Sun Ra discography daunting: Spotify
Very good advice. And here's a third: Check out this fun doc on Ra and his world and see if it's even your thing. "Some call me Mr. Ra. Some call me 'mystery.' You can call me Mr. Mystery." Enjoy your journey.
I started listening to Sun Ra with those 2 albums. I know this is an audiophile forum but the best sounding versions of those - and many other albums - are the latest "mastered for iTunes" versions.
Absolutely. Like I said above, the best way to hear pretty much anything that was originally released on Saturn, but especially the '50s and '60s stuff (now the program has gone well past that into lots of '70s Ra records like God is More than Love Can Ever Be and Astro Black, etc.), is on the new remasters for download and streaming -- their on Spotify too, not just iTunes any more. Not only are they enormously sonically superior to any prior source, despite being available only compressed digital audio, with a lot of the early stuff there's also lots of relevant previously unreleased material, stuff that was in mono is in stereo for the first time, pieces that were chopped up are not complete. None of these Sun Ra recordings are audiophile quality recordings but when I first heard the new new remaster of When Sun Comes Out, for example, it was a revelation, not only could I hear the space and sonic character of Choreography's Workshop, where a lot of Ra's NYC era recordings where made, but I could hear the horn voicings so much more clearly it was like listening to that record for the first time. The differences aren't quite as stark with the '70s and '80s stuff, but still, Saturn pressings were nothing to write home about, they were noisy, opaque, often bubbly, etc., so, say, the new online issues of A Fireside Chat with Lucifer (one of my faves and the first Sun Ra album I bought at a Ra show) or God Is More... or Omniverse, late '70s and early '80s records made in actual studios, not home recordings by Ra, are still better than the originals because of this freedom from the sonic effects of the poor Saturn pressings. It would be great to have physical copies of some of these album or at least downloadable releases in non-compressed formats. I also suspect, as good as these new remasters are, they're still not the best possible remasters of the material, but they are, by far, the best versions of this material ever released to day and really they make the original Saturns and the Evidence reissues pretty much obsolete. (Of course there's still lots of stuff that has hasn't been reissued in this new program, so if you want a copy of Discipline 27-II -- for which I think the masters have never turned up -- you need an original Saturn; the "lost" albums Crystal Spears and Cymbals (and I think Crystal Spears is particulary good) have never been out on anything but OOP Evidence CDs; Unity, which is another great Ra records, that one originally out on Horo, I don't think has ever been reissued except for the original vinyl, though CD boots were floating around at one point, I suspect from a vinyl drop.
I really like Space Is The Place which was released as a quad album as well as a movie. I also have a 2 disc singles collection which is enjoyable.
Do you guys know this song? "The Time Has Come" by U.N.K.L.E. Vs. The Major Force Orchestra It's a mid-90s trip hop track that samples ... "Twin Stars Of Thence" by Sun Ra (mainly the bass line and drums) from the "Lanquidity" album A guy called Ralph going on an Acid-Trip from Dr. Timothy Leary´s "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out" album For me this is big fun as it's freaky and trippy as hell and also showcases the brilliance of the Sun Ra track. Are you ready to die and be reborn?
A surprise release for RSD 2017: "Discipline 27-12"! RECORD STORE DAY - SpecialRelease A holy grail and very hard to find. I guess it will be @iTunes soon.
Been out of print and very hard to come by for many years. I'd heard that the original tapes were lost. Wonder what the source is.
Several of the latest "remasters" are sourced from original albums. They don't have the "mastered for iTunes" label. I guess that is the case here as well.
Most of em are from the original session tapes in the archive but previously the word was that the originals on this one hadn't beeen found.
Yes. Only the following titles were not from the original session tapes: Aurora Borealis [solo piano] Dance of Innocent Passion God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be Jazz by Sun Ra Monorails and Satellites Vol. 2 New Steps Oblique Parallax Omniverse Other Side of the Sun Other Voices, Other Blues Solo Piano, Venice 1977 Voice of the Eternal Tomorrow Sun Ra Arkive: Sun Ra LLC/Sun Ra Music Archive releases as of April 15, 2016
Didn't realize so many were basically vinyl rips. Personally, I'm not that interested in buying a vinyl LP of vinyl rip, but I'm not really in the market for vinyl anymore anyway. I have most of the Sun Ra albums from the '70's on on the original Saturn LPs, and a bunch of the '50s and '60s stuff on the ABC reissues, plus all the Evidence disks, and some early original Saturns (like Secrets of the Sun), and then all the ArtYard expanded issues of the likes of Strange Strings and Disco 3000, etc. But there are a couple I still don't have in any form, and Discipline 27-II is one of them, so I'm considering the RSD release despite my reluctance (though in truth there's next to no chance that I'll actually go to a record store on RSD).
What's driving the Sun Ra "Renaissance"? Everywhere you look these days, somebody's putting the stuff out, often in interesting ways. Vinyl albums, exact reissues, remasters, rarities, vinyl singles, 10" EPs, you name it. I just ordered Strut's 7" vinyl box set "The Sun Ra Singles Vol. 2." It's like you can't help yourself with these new Sun Ra reissues, they're a vinyl lovers' dream.
According to Allen, there are perhaps thousands of hours of unheard recordings. “He recorded everything, good or bad,” says Allen. Every day we would rehearse for hours, seven days a week, and he would record it. For thirty-four years.” If this is the case, why do the same tracks keep getting reissued again and again?
My advice is to follow chervokas' advice, but if you're looking for a simple and relatively short survey introduction, you might consider this very nicely programmed set put together by long-time Arkestra member and current legacy leader of the band, Marshall Allen: SUN RA & HIS ARKESTRA - In the Orbit of Ra - Amazon.com Music Not the whole story, but for a two disk set, it does a remarkable job of giving a sense of Sun Ra's music through the first three major periods (the latest things on offer are from the late '70s). There's a little of everything here, and the program, which isn't chronological, but intuitive, designed to bring you through a set of moods and contrasts, makes for a very nice listen. Good sonics, too! L.
Yeah they're doing a nice job. I have all their Sun Ra releases and recently got a poster for free. The new Strut single collection is awesome, too. My latest arrival is the Japanese CD edition of "I Roam The Cosmos" - previously only @ iTunes. This could be the best posthumous Ra release. Happy days for Sun Ra fans.
I agree entirely. in the orbit is the 'guided tour' so often asked of artists with sprawling catalogues. and as a bonus, that tour is lovingly executed. it's on spotify, too.
You tube is a revenue neutral way to decide what you like before buying. there is a lot posted. I found that hearing Sun Ra playing piano on a traditional standard and watching how he went out on an exploration, but came back to the melody, and then went out further but came back to touch the melody in just a few notes and out again, showed there was structure to what he was doing. This stands as an amazing piano solo for me, before the full orchestra joins in. I find I like much of the atmospheric stuff, and the call and response stuff can get really hypnotizing. It was lucky enough to see the orchestra at a place I was working at in the 80's so my curiosity began a long time ago. Also in the current world discussion the following (nsfw) track is a good reminder about the importance of cooler heads prevailing: Sun Ra - Nuclear War
