Search & Destroy: Sun Ra

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Nothing Is. . . has been reissued with additional material from the same live performance.

There were some interesting loose ends in the last posts to this thread. Unfortunatly, I don't have any knowledge of the areas being brought up, but maybe someone has something to add?

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Saturday, 6 August 2005 14:05 (eighteen years ago) link

two months pass...

set yer videos!

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 28 October 2005 08:58 (eighteen years ago) link

Bastards. It'll be on BBC2 eventually won't it??!?!?!?

― Oh No, It's Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 28 October 2005 10:31 (eighteen years ago) link

Someone has already requested this on the UKN0v4 forums, which is good because I'm going to be out tonight and will miss it.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Friday, 28 October 2005 10:35 (eighteen years ago) link

ppl who feautured on this: szwed, baraka, archie shepp, thruston moore, wayner kramer, john sinclair and at least 5-10 former arkestra members including marshall allen. All of them were pretty engaging and lots of fantastic footage of both concerts (amazing to see ra soloing on the keyboard: v much like hendrix on the gtr) as well as ra speaking about his music.

I'm pretty sure they'll get to show it on BBC two at some point so maybe we can all talk about this a bit more then.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 29 October 2005 07:53 (eighteen years ago) link

three months pass...

Just got "Fate in a Pleasant Mood/ When Sun Comes Out".

"Fate" is kind of typical of Arkestra stuff from Chicago '60/'61, a mix of influences - Latin/ exotica/ big band/ some bop - all nice stuff, that track "Space Mates" (a flute/piano ballad) is especially good.

"When Sun Comes Out" is an odd sort of record. First track is ca. 4 minutes of gongs and assorted tinklings and patterings with a female vocal towards the end which suggests Sonny owned a few Yma Sumac records! The second track sounds like it was recorded at the bottom of a mineshaft - a very deep mineshaft - but the rest of the album is very professionally recorded (it's in stereo!), with none of the heavy reverb and sonic jiggery-pokery of other albums recorded around the same time (NYC '62-'63). It's not as "out there" as contemporaneous Sun Ra recordings but still pushes a few boundaries and has THE definitive version of "We Travel the Spaceways", which lurches menacingly and unsteadily ever onwards like an evil robot in cheesy 50s sci-fi movie.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 13:28 (eighteen years ago) link

There is an Yma Sumac soundalike on the singles compilation. Name escapes me.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 13:34 (eighteen years ago) link

recently watched the Sun Ra doc "Brother From Another Planet" - lots of great quotes from John Sinclair and others, used a lot of footage from "Space is the Place" and some other clips I've seen before - there was some unusually funky music in it, which I couldn't quite pinpoint. I just got "Lanquidity" and I don't think it was from that one... maybe "Strange Celestial Roads"...? What other sorta funk oriented stuff is there in his catalog?

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 17:13 (eighteen years ago) link

hmm, I guess this was the BBC doc mentioned above...

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 17:53 (eighteen years ago) link

sleeping beauty?

― terry lennox. (gareth), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 18:15 (eighteen years ago) link

Reading that post of mine above, I must have been high that day. I definitely knew Sun Ra had worked with Fletcher Henderson as I had read the Szwed book and Penguin Guide entry which both discuss this. Did I forget I knew this tidbit? Yes.

― mcd (mcd), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 18:49 (eighteen years ago) link

The bit in my post where I talked abt Ra doing a solo is archived on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/w/Sun-Ra?v=3oJZgZqG8CM&search=sun%20ra

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 19:02 (eighteen years ago) link

eight months pass...

Sun Ra documentary, tonight, BBC2, 11.35pm

― Diddumsismus (Dada), Friday, 13 October 2006 13:37 (seventeen years ago) link

Damn you brits and your access to BBC!

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Friday, 13 October 2006 14:29 (seventeen years ago) link

Recently got "Sleeping Beauty" which, along with "Strange Celestial Road", "Languidity", "On Jupiter", and "Disco 3000" (if I'm not mistaken) round out Sun Ra's disco/funk explorations... altho if there's more of this stuff by all means let me know. What I'm really curious about is the Saturn Records stuff that has NOT been reissued. The sleeve of "Sleeping Beauty", for example, notes that there were four Saturn releases in 1979, but two ("God is More Than Love Can Ever Be" and "Omniverse") I've never heard of or seen anywhere... is there a lot of this stuff? and is it all prohibitively expensive/rare? (and more to the point how much of it is any good?)

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 October 2006 17:43 (seventeen years ago) link

disco 3000 got reissued?

― HUNTA-V (vahid), Thursday, 19 October 2006 18:24 (seventeen years ago) link

by either Art Yard or Get Back, I think. (My copy is def. a reissue)

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 October 2006 18:28 (seventeen years ago) link

Only on LP from Art Yard, yeah.

― Brakhage (brakhage), Thursday, 19 October 2006 18:30 (seventeen years ago) link

I think every Sun Ra LP I have is a reissue of some kind, except for maybe my Black Lion pressing of "Pictures of Infinity".

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 October 2006 18:30 (seventeen years ago) link

Anyone in chicago should see the big sun ra exhibit in hyde park

http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/ourtown/060929/sunra/

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 19 October 2006 18:30 (seventeen years ago) link

!!! holy shit !!!

btw I am super-excited to see my first ever Arkestra show on Saturday.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 October 2006 18:35 (seventeen years ago) link

when/where/how much? what do they sound like now?

― jaxon (jaxon), Thursday, 19 October 2006 18:47 (seventeen years ago) link

Arthur Nights festival Oct 19-22 - more acts announced

Sat Oct 21 Palace Theatre Main Hall
3pm: doors
4:20 Residual Echoes
5:10 Future Pigeon
6:10 Watts Prophets
7:10 Money Mark
8:10 Six Organs of Admittance
9:10 White Magic
10:10 OM
****11:20 Sun Ra Arkestra****

I have no idea what they'll sound like, but they've still got some of the original players and this has pretty much been my only chance to see them.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 October 2006 19:12 (seventeen years ago) link

(uh btw this is in LA, I'm driving down Saturday morning w/the wife and a friend - I forget how much tix are, $28 for an all-day pass or something)

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 October 2006 19:13 (seventeen years ago) link

Yeah, I'll be at that too. I don't know what to expect, so bring it on.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 19 October 2006 19:17 (seventeen years ago) link

Hey Jaxon did you ever go to that soul sessions tour? Benji B was giving out some weird trip-hoppy mix CD and it used "There are other worlds they have not told you of" from Lanquidity.

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 19 October 2006 19:20 (seventeen years ago) link

Last time I saw the Arkestra, Marshall Allen was sticking mostly to swing tunes and more accessible Sun Ra standards, with some a couple more out pieces here and there. (Of course, their playing on the swing numbers can be pretty outside as well.)

― R_S (RSLaRue), Thursday, 19 October 2006 19:25 (seventeen years ago) link

do you know who else is still in the band? (Eloe Omoe? James Jackson? Luqman Ali?)

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 October 2006 19:48 (seventeen years ago) link

Some of the ones who stood out when I saw them (but it's already been about three years): Noel Scott, Tyrone Hill, Ya Ya Abdul Majid (usually does very interesting things--though not as obviously flashy as some others), Art Jenkins (on vocals), Elson Nascimento, someone on trumpet whose name I'm not sure about. Charles Ellerbee would sit in on electric guitar sometimes.

― R_S (RSLaRue), Thursday, 19 October 2006 20:01 (seventeen years ago) link

Hoosten - the doc is on the web

― xyzzzz__ (jdesouza), Friday, 20 October 2006 08:35 (seventeen years ago) link

three weeks pass...

http://www.weeklydig.com/news_opinions/articles/devals_cosmic_roots

― R_S (RSLaRue), Saturday, 11 November 2006 15:44 (seventeen years ago) link

So how was the Arkestra at the Arthur thing? Ned? Shakey?

― Marmot (marmotwolof), Saturday, 11 November 2006 15:52 (seventeen years ago) link

five months pass...

Arkestra at Arthur Nights was a definite high point for me. I didn't even recognize Wayne Kramer at first (American flag guitar was a bit of a giveaway, he stayed in the background mostly) - it was just very gratifying for me to see them at all, they seemed very festive and engaged. Trombone player did a bunch of backflips.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 19 April 2007 22:26 (seventeen years ago) link

(sorry for the late response!!)

in other Sun Ra news I recently got When Sun Comes Out and Strange Strings... I'd been kidna holding off on delving into the 60s Saturn records stuff, here we gooooooooooooo

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 19 April 2007 22:28 (seventeen years ago) link

two weeks pass...

Woo!

― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 4 May 2007 01:57 (seventeen years ago) link

I really want to hear that Amiri Baraka thing. I love Baraka and I love Sun Ra.

― filthy dylan, Friday, 4 May 2007 06:37 (seventeen years ago) link

disco 3000 please

― moonship journey to baja, Friday, 4 May 2007 06:38 (seventeen years ago) link

allright guys, help me navigate the Sun Ra catalog and select my next foray into his ouevre. My favorite stuff tends to be the stuff that either features prominent electronic weirdness, extended chants, swinging grooves or some combination thereof. Tho I also like some of the more spare piano work. I already have the following, where do I go from here...?

Heliocentric Worlds Vol 1 and 2
Space is the Place
Pictures of Infinity
When Sun Comes Out
Strange Strings
Lanquidity
On Jupiter
Disco 3000
Strange Celestial Road
The Solar Myth Approach Vol 1 and 2
Life is Splendid (live)
Outer Space Employment Agency (live)
It is Forbidden (live)

I NEED MORE

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 11 May 2007 22:55 (seventeen years ago) link

sounds like you need Foundation Maeght Nights vol 1 & 2 from 1971 -- vol 1 has a 20 minute noise moog solo that ranks with the best of any of it, vol 2 has chants, ranting & swing.

also Magic Sun DVD, Concert for Comet Kohoutek

heard Lanquidity for the first time a few months ago, really surprising, wasn't expecting something that smooth / quiet storm polished yet completely dissonant fucked up spaced out, it's great

― Milton Parker, Friday, 11 May 2007 23:13 (seventeen years ago) link

x-post with Milton. I like Foundation Maeght Nights too, but not as much as everyone else seems to.

Good timing, I just bought The Solar Myth Approach v.1 & 2. On very incomplete listen, I don't know why it's taken me so long to buy this. I also bought It's After the End of the World.

Out There a Minute is essential, with some tracks that have their own peculiar swing and others that have heavy electronic effects, and then just other stuff.

Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy/Art Forms Of Dimensions Tomorrow is an obvious choice for electronic weirdness, although it's not really that much of a personal favorite. Futuristic Sound is a little early, but it has some nice bass parts in particular, and I like it.

I really like Other Planes of There (if you've heard Andrew Hill's Compulsion, check out the somewhat odd similarities), but not sure it fits into the categories you spell out. Nothing Is. . . is also extremely good, with the soloing on "Dancing Shadows" as a high point.

Also, I know you said you aren't that interested in solo piano, but that Piano Recital that Leo put out a few years back is absolutely one of my favorite Sun Ra CDs, and covers a lot of ground. (It's from 1978, too, so it's not very conventional like some of his later piano recordings.)

― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 11 May 2007 23:16 (seventeen years ago) link

ooh I have Nothing Is... forgot to list that one. I dig it.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 11 May 2007 23:22 (seventeen years ago) link

Search: The Antique Blacks

― Xochipilli, Saturday, 12 May 2007 00:22 (seventeen years ago) link

i think "cosmos", "quiet place in the universe" and "nubians of plutonia" are essential.

― moonship journey to baja, Saturday, 12 May 2007 00:37 (seventeen years ago) link

I almost mentioned Cosmos. I really like Cosmos, and as I said somewhere upthread, even though it may not be as overly different as some things Sun Ra has put out, but still, it has a very distinctive sound and mood, and it's worth getting. Lots of bass lines that kind of tumble over themselves, and an keyboard. (Also it might be the partial source of vahid's new handle.)

― Rockist Scientist, Saturday, 12 May 2007 00:42 (seventeen years ago) link

you figured it out!!!

¯\(º_o)/¯

― moonship journey to baja, Saturday, 12 May 2007 00:45 (seventeen years ago) link

oh I also have Sleeping Beauty - dig that one a bunch, really pretty version of "Springtime Again". All the Art Yard reissues I've gotten have been really pleasing actually.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Saturday, 12 May 2007 00:50 (seventeen years ago) link

He should have released "Moonship Journey" as one of his singles!

― Rockist Scientist, Saturday, 12 May 2007 00:57 (seventeen years ago) link

This Solar-Myth Approach is on the Charly label. I thought they were kind of out of business because of being kind of fast and loose about intellectual property rights. Oh well, I'm just glad to get my hands on this, though of course it would be unfortunate if nobody in the Arkestra or in Sun Ra's will gets any royalties from this.

― Rockist Scientist, Saturday, 12 May 2007 01:26 (seventeen years ago) link

This Solar-Myth Approach version of "The Satellites Are Spinning" might be my favorite oversion so far.

― Rockist Scientist, Saturday, 12 May 2007 01:43 (seventeen years ago) link

I didn't trust your recommendation of Solar-Myth Approach probably because you made that comment about liking "wild and wooly" Sun Ra, but this isn't really that wild and wooly. It's very close to a lot of my other favorite Ra. (Maybe the closest thing to Out There a Minute even.)

― Rockist Scientist, Saturday, 12 May 2007 02:01 (seventeen years ago) link

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