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.
The Mystery Of Being
Sun Ra's legendary 1978 Italian studio sessions, now available together for the first time ever on vinyl! Long sought-after by collectors, these extremely rare studio sessions were originally released in 1978 as two double LPs (New Steps and Other Voices, Other Blues) on the mysterious Italian jazz label, Horo Records. They have never been reissued on vinyl (and only partially reissued on CD) until now! With the help of trumpet player, Michael Ray, drummer, Luqman Ali and saxophonist John Gilmor…
Paradiso Amsterdam 1970
Tip! Space is the place! That classic piece - in a historically early version without lyrics - opens the album Paradiso Amsterdam 1970, which shows how the Netherlands was first introduced to Afrofuturism. A pivotal moment in the Dutch jazz experience. It was always thought that the recordings of the long-awaited first concert that the Sun Ra Arkestra gave in the Netherlands were useless for an album release.After all, the entire Arkestra, booked by Hans Dulfer, marched among the massive crowd a…
Janus
*2023 rstock* Janus is a compilation of rare material from Sun Ra and his Arkestra, drawing from tapes recorded between 1963 and 1970, taken from both live and studio performances. The space-age jazz shaman conjures up a variety of styles and moods along the way. The album has been remastered, and pressed on audiophile-grade vinyl at Pallas in Germany.
Spaceways
Spaceways features live performances by Sun Ra and his Arkestra from New York City in 1966 and 1968. Free and "spacey" as ever, the recordings capture Sun Ra in his element with over a dozen Arkestra members backing him up. The recordings were remastered for vinyl and pressed on audiophile-grade vinyl at Pallas Group in Germany.
Standards
*2023 stock* Sun Ra, the extraordinary, outlandish, and sometimes controversial pianist, is often described as an “acquired taste”, with a massive and diverse catalog. This release is a good place to start for uninitiated or dismissive listeners. The album showcases Ra’s grounding in the jazz tradition, with unique takes on standards like “Time After Time,” “Easy to Love,” and “But Not for Me”. Not unordinary for Sun Ra, the recording process was informal; “Can This Be Love?” was recorded in his…
Calling Planet Earth
*2023 stock* Calling Planet Earth comes from a concert recorded at Tivoli Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark on December 5, 1971. Sun Ra and his Arkestra are captured in their prime, while exploring some of their most far out material to date. The recording received its first ever vinyl release with for Record Store Day 2015 as an exclusive color vinyl pressing. Now it will receive a wide release on black vinyl. The recording was remastered and pressed on 140gram audiophile-grade vinyl at Pallas Group …
Interview with Charlie Morrow
Recital presents a newly unearthed recording of an interview between Sun Ra and composer Charlie Morrow recorded at his New York studio in 1989. This voice-only recording develops more like a kaleidoscopic sermon than any standard interview.
Nuclear War
One of the rarest recordings in Sun Ra's enormous catalog. Recorded in 1982, featuring the groove-infested x-rated warning hit 'Nuclear War.' The remaining tracks include four originals and three standards, Ellington's 'Drop Me Off In Harlem,' 'Sometimes I'm Happy,' and 'Smile.' A cult album finally repressed on virgin audiophile vinyl. XYZ Records. Made in USA.
Space Is The Place
Tip! The holy grail for Sun Ra collectors and fans, an album that forever gave them a slogan to live by! The record's different than some of the other Arkestra work from the time – in that it's a bit tighter and more spiritual, more in keeping with the style of the Blue Thumb label, for which it was recorded – and soaring along on a wave of post-Coltrane spiritual jazz enthusiasm. Side one features the ultimate recording of "Space Is The Place" – an anthemic tune that blends chanting, modal rhyt…
Jazz In Silhouette
Enshrined in the Penguin Jazz Guide’s "Core Collection", this quintessential platter of Sun Ra’s late 1950s Chicago ensemble showcases the brilliant tenor sax stylings of John Gilmore, and introduces Arkestra mainstays Marshall Allen, Pat Patrick, and Ronnie Boykins. Recorded and issued in 1959, it marks a coda for the bandleader’s bebop/hard-bop stage, as his interstellar traveler persona began to transform the band (and the music). Many of the early works on these recordings would remain stapl…
Space Is The Place: Music From The Original Soundtrack
A celestial journey is just what Sun Ra and his Arkestra have created with Space is the Place. Sun Ra's opus is at its simplest, a trip through outer bound melodies! Planetary bodies, eras in time, crystals, space caravans
The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Vol.1
2023 repress. 180-gram black vinyl. The astonishing sessions that went light years beyond "free jazz" improvisation to create a music of deeply felt, explosive and gentle gesture made from sound itself without reference to previous notions of melody or harmony are now reissued on 180 gram vinyl with Sun Ra's original, self-created cover art. Recorded by Richard Alderson on April 20, 1965, this set of tunes finds Sun Ra breaking ground by using synthesizers and having the Arkestra musicians doubl…
The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Vol.2
2023 repress. 180-gram black vinyl. Volume two of Sun Ra's classic Heliocentric recordings from the 1960s. The astonishing sessions that went light years beyond "free jazz" improvisation to create a music of deeply-felt, explosive and gentle gesture made from sound itself without reference to previous notions of melody or harmony are now reissued on 180 gram vinyl with Sun Ra's original, self-created cover art. Recorded by Richard Alderson on April 20, 1965, this set of tunes finds Sun Ra breaki…
The Solar-Myth Approach
The second instalment of a landmark session by one of the most unique figures in black music is a shower of sounds that have come straight from another world. Sun Ra and the various groups he led were as prolific as they were innovative. By conservative estimates they produced around 200 recordings over a fifty-year period, and the early 70s was as fertile a time as any. In a typical burst of creative energy Ra and an ensemble he dubbed The Solar Myth Arkestra produced enough material to be spr…
Prophet
Featuring what may be his only recordings on the Prophet keyboard, these once lost performances expand the omniverse of Ra across a stellar set of lengthy cuts! All recorded in a single day and finally making their terrestrial debut! What happens when a Prophet meets a Prophet? The answer lies within these grooves. Amongst the hundreds of recordings issued by Sun Ra and his Arkestra, under their various guises, the majority were recorded in concert or in makeshift studios such as their early 19…
God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be
* 2023 Edition. Remasterd * God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be is something of a rarity in the Sun Ra catalog—a cohesive album, with none of the stylistic eclecticism and musical chair shifting found on many of the artist’s self-released LPs. Recorded at Variety Studios one day in 1979, the album's five tracks comprise a solid jazz trio set. It's also unusual because it had not previously been reissued. In March 2018 Cosmic Myth Records issued a newly remastered edition in LP, CD and digital form…
The Magic City
Notable for the sprawling near thirty-minute-long title track, originally released in 1965 this is a testament to Ra’s experimental instincts and indifference to following jazz trends
Hyperituals: Vol. 1 - Soul Note / Vol. 2 - Black Saint
This discounted bundle includes both double LPs released so far in the "Hyperituals: Black Saint / Soul Note" series:Various Artists "Hyperituals Vol. 1 - Soul Note" (2LP)Various Artists "Hyperituals Vol. 2 - Black Saint" (2LP)"Hyperituals Vol. 1 - Soul Note" (2LP)After enjoying roughly half a century at the center of popular culture - despite its continued, towering cultural importance - by the 1970s jazz had fallen onto hard times. Its audiences drifted away, heeding the call of less demanding…
Hyperituals Vol. 2 - Black Saint
Drawing to light rhythms, grooves and Afrocentric traditions, Hyperjazz Records takes an unprecedented dive into the incredible back catalog of the seminal Italian imprint, Soul Note, with “Hyperituals Vol. 2”. Gathering an astounding group of recordings by Sun Ra Arkestra, Archie Shepp, Karl Berger, Muhal Richard Abrams, Lester Bowie, Cecil McBee, John Carter, Joseph Jarman, Don Moye, Johnny Dyani, Don Pullen, World Saxophone Quartet, and others - many of which have never before appeared on vin…
Discipline 27-II
The first ever official reissue of Sun Ra's revered Discipline 27-II LP from 1972 !