Eeast Two + 7 comprises previously unreleased tracks from one of Sun Ra's most productive periods: 1972–73. Those two hectic years saw Sun Ra recording numerous albums, staging concerts, teaching at Berkeley, acting in and composing the score for a full-length movie, embarking on a multi-album (though ill-fated) major label deal, and touring the U.S. and Europe.

The title track, "East Two," is one of two pieces on this album originating at a two-day October 1972 session at Chicago's Streeterville Studios. That workshop produced two entire albums: Ra's major label debut, Space Is the Place (issued on Blue Thumb—and not to be confused with the film and soundtrack of the same title), and Discipline 27-II (released on Ra's own Saturn imprint). "East Two" is an ominous, sprawling processional, and the only known recording of this moody work. Arkestra baritone saxophonist Pat Patrick played electric bass on this session, which also featured Ra's typically idiosyncratic synth, along with fine solos from Kwame Hadi (trumpet) and Arkestra mainstay John Gilmore (tenor sax). For the 1973 Variety Studios session which produced "In Tomorrow's Realm," veteran Arkestra bassist Ronnie Boykins provided the anchor. This would be the final year Boykins worked regularly with Ra, although he made sporadic returns until his death in 1980. This track demonstrates how essential Boykins was to Sun Ra's sound, and "In Tomorrow's Realm" is a fitting tribute to his role in the band. The bass line forms the vital rhythmic heart.

"Rocket #9" also originated from the "East Two" Streeterville session. The song dates back to Ra's Chicago years, and was first issued on a Saturn single in 1959. A radical updating of the work appeared on Space Is the Place. On this alternate, probably an early session take, Ra's voice is scarcely heard in the ensemble vocals, which chiefly feature what Ra called the Space Ethnic Voices (singer-dancers June Tyson, Ruth Wright, Cheryl Banks, and Judith Holton). Eloe Omoe's sax solo differs from the album version, as does its framing, and the tune's closing section is elegiac before it diminishes to a whisper.

"East Five" is an orphaned recording that reportedly emerged from a Variety Studio session. Run by Warren Smith and Fred Vargas in midtown Manhattan, Variety was a favorite NYC recording venue for Sun Ra from around 1970 until the late 1980s. (By then the Arkestra was based and lived in Philadelphia.) "East Five" is direct and dramatic, and features Sunny's piano in a style closer to that of his late 1960s recordings than anything he recorded in the late 1970s or '80s. The interactions between Ra and the saxophonists also suggest an earlier rather than a later date. There's a high energy alto duet, with (probably) Danny Davis in the foreground, segueing seamlessly into a manic solo from Gilmore. James Jacson's bassoon makes a cameo early in the piece, and there's an all-in space chord to round things off, with alto, tenor and baritone saxes adding to the excitement.

The 1933 Jerome Kern-Otto Harbach chestnut, "Yesterdays," features Ra playing the Yamaha YC-30 accompanied by various Arkestrans. The melody is there, but it's a highly nuanced Space Age upgrade. Although the venue is unknown, this was evidently recorded in a concert setting, and was discovered on an unlabelled open-reel tape recorded around 1972. Although we have a home recording of Sunny playing "Yesterdays" in the 1940s, and he recorded and performed the title in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, this release marks the earliest known capture of Ra performing this piece in concert.

"Lights On a Satellite" is a crisp performance of another Sun Ra classic (first recorded in Chicago in 1960). The orchestration and horn ensemble are straightforward; there are no hints of a live audience, and this could be from a rehearsal or soundcheck (Ra was known to record everything). It's a sparkling capture, discovered on yet another unlabelled tape. This was likely recorded in the mid- to late-1970s, although the aural evidence doesn't offer many clues. There are three flute players, probably Marshall Allen, Danny Ray Thompson and James Jacson. Gilmore's sax is prominent, and there's sensitive ensemble work from a trumpeter, possibly Chris Capers. Sun Ra plays organ, and provides the underpinning bass line with his left hand.

"The Place of Five Points," recorded at a club date at Stache's, in Columbus, Ohio, in 1985, represents the only documented live performance of this Sun Ra composition. Originally featured on the 1979 studio album Omniverse, the work here offers a duet between Sun Ra, playing piano and synthesiser, and Marshall Allen on alto. The music ends with Sun Ra duetting with himself, one hand on piano, the other working the synth. Electric bassist Rollo Radford and trap drummer Avreeayl Amen Ra (Arthur O'Neil) are also featured in these closing stages. A chord from the Arkestra crowns the work.

"Fate In a Pleasant Mood" was recorded from the bandstand, likely during the Arkestra's Winter-Spring 1984 journey to Egypt and Europe. That grand tour produced live albums recorded in Egypt, Greece, Austria and Germany, as well as the album Cosmo-Sun Connection (issued by RecRec), which originated from a tape stored in Ra's luggage. This performance was another recent discovery, again with limited source info. "Fate In a Pleasant Mood," a Chicago-era classic first recorded in 1960, was featured often in the Arkestra's book at this time, and the personnel, treatment and overall sound make it fairly certain this performance was captured on that 1984 tour. Several performers in this relaxed rendition are readily identifiable, and the acoustics suggest a tape recorder placed somewhere near Sun Ra and electric bassist Rollo Radford. The drummer is likely Don Mumford.