Sun Ra
Do the Impossible: Original Soundtrack to the Documentary (2CD + Blu-ray)
LabelModern HarmonicGenreJazz & Improvisation
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How do you make a documentary film about a man who was also a myth? About a musician who was more than a musician? About someone who asked us to trust our intuition more than our rational minds? This double CD contains the original soundtrack to the accompanying PBS documentary! Includes liner notes from executive producer Bradford Smith about the making of Sun Ra: Do The Impossible, interviews from members of the Arkestra and a BluRay disc of the doc!
Firelight assembled an incredibly talented team headed by Director/Producer Christine Turner, and six years later in June of 2025, our documentary, Sun Ra: Do The Impossible had its world premiere at the Tribeca International Film Festival. Our goal was to make a film that would be respected by Sun Ra “insiders” while leaving new audiences wanting to learn more. After screening at festivals across the U.S. and around the world, Sun Ra: Do The Impossible was broadcast by PBS/American Masters on February 20, 2026 where it is currently available for streaming. For an artist who spent his whole life in what he called the sub-underground, establishing Sun Ra among the canon of American Masters delivers a measure of cosmic justice.
Format
CD/Blu-ray edition in quad-fold paper sleeve with booklet. Bar code printed on hype sticker.
The release is the complete soundtrack to the PBS American Masters documentary Sun Ra: Do The Impossible, which premiered at the Tribeca International Film Festival in June 2025 and broadcast nationally on February 20, 2026.
Recordings spanning 1957–1982, including previously unissued material, Saturn Records originals, and live broadcasts from RAI and NRK1.
Runouts etched
The release is the complete soundtrack to the PBS American Masters documentary Sun Ra: Do The Impossible. It includes previously unissued recordings, Saturn Records material, and broadcasts from RAI (Radiotelevisione Italiana) and NRK1. Information below is transcribed from the rear sleeve.
A1: “Imagination” recorded in Egypt, 1971; previously unissued. “Over The Rainbow” recorded in 1977 and originally broadcast on RAI (Radiotelevisione Italiana) in 1978.
A3: Originally issued on Angels & Demons At Play, Saturn Records, 1967.
A5: Originally issued on Super-Sonic Jazz, Saturn Records, 1957.
A7: Recorded at Kongsberg Jazz Festival in Kongsberg, Norway; broadcast by NRK1, 1982-09-17.
A9: P.D. arrangement by Sun Ra. Recorded in New York, 1977; originally issued on Solo Piano Vol. 1, 1977.
A10: Originally issued as a Saturn Records single, 1960. Sleeve credits Calvin Barron and other unknown vocalists.
A11: Originally issued on Super-Sonic Jazz, Saturn Re-Records, 1957.
A12: Originally unissued; first released on Saturnian Open Of The Sun Ra Arkestra, Modern Harmonic, 2019.
B1: Originally issued on Pictures Of Infinity, 1971.
B2: Vocal from the film The Cry Of Jazz, 1959.
B4: Originally issued on Jazz In Silhouette, Saturn Records, 1959.
B5-B6: Originally issued on Interstellar Low Ways, Saturn Records, 1967.
B8: Originally issued on Angels & Demons At Play, Saturn Records, 1967.
C2: Originally unissued; first released on Pleiades, 1993.
C3: Originally unissued; first released as a single in 2009.
C4: Originally issued on Aurora Borealis, Saturn Records, 1981.
C5: Originally unissued; first released as a single in 2009.
C6: Originally issued on Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy, Saturn Records, 1967.
C7: Originally issued on The Night Of The Purple Moon, Saturn Records, 1970.
C8: Live from Studio Adriatico, Pescara, Italy, 1976; originally broadcast on RAI (Radiotelevisione Italiana).
C9: Recorded c. 1970; originally issued on Space Probe, Saturn Records, 1974.
D1 and D5: Live in Denmark, 1971; previously unissued.
D2: Originally issued on Live At Montreux, Saturn Research, 1976.
D3: Live at Montreux Jazz Fest, 1976; previously unissued.
D4: Originally unissued; first released on Continuation Vol. 2, Cosmic Myth Records, 2014.
D6: Live at Montreux Jazz Fest, 1976; previously unissued.
D7: Originally issued on Sleeping Beauty, Saturn Records, 1979.
Release notes
CD/Blu-ray edition in quad-fold paper sleeve with booklet. Bar code printed on hype sticker. The release is the complete soundtrack to the PBS American Masters documentary Sun Ra: Do The Impossible, which premiered at the Tribeca International Film Festival in June 2025 and broadcast nationally on February 20, 2026. Recordings spanning 1957–1982, including previously unissued material, Saturn Records originals, and live broadcasts from RAI and NRK1. Runouts etched The release is the…
| 1-1 | Imagination – Over The Rainbow | ||
| 1-2 | Introduction To Angels | ||
| 1-3 | Angels & Demons At Play | ||
| 1-4 | Introduction To Sunology | ||
| 1-5 | Sunology (abridged) | ||
| 1-6 | Introduction To Big John's Special | ||
| 1-7 | Big John's Special | ||
| 1-8 | Sun Ra Letter Of WWII Religious Objection | ||
| 1-9 | Motherless Child (abridged) | ||
| 1-10 | Dreaming By The Cosmic Rays | ||
| 1-11 | Advice For Medics (abridged) | ||
| 1-12 | If You Are Not A Myth (abridged) | ||
| 1-13 | Spontaneous Simplicity (abridged) | ||
| 1-14 | Call For All Demons | ||
| 1-15 | Names | ||
| 1-16 | Ancient Aiethopia (abridged) | ||
| 1-17 | Interplanetary Music | ||
| 1-18 | Somewhere In Space | ||
| 1-19 | Sound Of The Time | ||
| 1-20 | Music From The World Tomorrow | ||
| 2-1 | Introduction to Pleiades | ||
| 2-2 | Pleiades (abridged) | ||
| 2-3 | I Am Strange | ||
| 2-4 | Quiet Ecstasy | ||
| 2-5 | I Am An Instrument | ||
| 2-6 | Twilight | ||
| 2-7 | Dance Of The Living Image (abridged) | ||
| 2-8 | Pescara Mini-Moog Solo | ||
| 2-9 | Space Probe (abridged) | ||
| 2-10 | Somebody Else's Idea | ||
| 2-11 | El Is A Sound Of Joy (abridged) | ||
| 2-12 | Watusa (abridged) | ||
| 2-13 | Meteor Shower | ||
| 2-14 | Blackman | ||
| 2-15 | Space Is The Place (abridged) | ||
| 2-16 | Door Of The Cosmos (abridged) | ||
| 2-17 | Part Of The Mystery | ||
| Blu-ray-1 | Sun Ra: Do The Impossible |
- Jon Hunt
- Design [Additional]
- Matt Eller
- Painting [Cover Artwork Adapted From]
- Irwin Chusid
- Producer
- Bradford Smith
- Producer, Liner Notes
- Jay Millar
- Producer, Mastered By
- Zoe Willard
- Project Manager
