*** SUN RA Corner***

[Dub Modal]

Last night, played these albums:

Strut's LP of Planets of Life or Death and ORG's Calling Planet Earth. Heartily recommend both. Heavy percussive grooves on that ORG album which was recorded in December of '71 in Denmark. 

Meanwhile, the over 17 minute Love in Outer Space from the Life or Death LP is worth the price of admission. 

Maybe a dumb question, but has anyone ever played all of the Discipline tracks in numerical sequence all together? Does it end up being a cohesive suite? 

[Dub Modal]

This Evidence CD has good sound and this is a great session. 

[jlhoots]

On 3/7/2021 at 9:49 AM, Beatnik Daddy-O’73 said:

...Lanquidity preorder up on Amazon. 

I preordered too. Amazon now showing release date sometime in JULY!! Wonder what happened.

[Dub Modal]

1 minute ago, jlhoots said:

I preordered too. Amazon now showing release date sometime in JULY!! Wonder what happened.

I'm wondering if they got more orders than they expected and have to increase production? CD & LP preorders are still up over at ImportCDs as well. 

This morning's listening via Evidence CD. Brilliant stuff. John Gilmore's bass clarinet on Adventure-Equation = 

[jlhoots]

1 hour ago, Dub Modal said:

I'm wondering if they got more orders than they expected and have to increase production? CD & LP preorders are still up over at ImportCDs as well. 

This morning's listening via Evidence CD. Brilliant stuff. John Gilmore's bass clarinet on Adventure-Equation = 

This & the other Evidence reissues will do nicely until Lanquidity finally shows up. 

[Dub Modal]

On 3/18/2021 at 10:49 AM, jlhoots said:

This & the other Evidence reissues will do nicely until Lanquidity finally shows up. 

For sure. I was listening to my download of the regular Lanquidity this AM and was thinking that if they do any sonic improvements on this one, that hopefully the bass will be one of them. 

I've really been getting sucked into listening to more Sun Ra these days. The percussion ensemble playing is outstanding, as is the bass playing, usually by Ronnie Boykins or Victor Sproles. 

[mjazzg]

I was playing Astro Black yesterday and really noticed the bass playing on that, Ronnie Boykins.

I need to listen to more Sun Ra

[Dub Modal]

4 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

I was playing Astro Black yesterday and really noticed the bass playing on that, Ronnie Boykins.

I need to listen to more Sun Ra

He's really impressive. 

I just ordered what I think were the last copies of the P-Vine CDs of Disco 3000 and Media Dreams at Import CDs. Both are 2 CD sets of live shows from Italy in the late 70s. Looking forward to those. 

[jazzbo]

I don't have P-Vine versions of those, but you'll enjoy both.

[Dub Modal]

54 minutes ago, jazzbo said:

I don't have P-Vine versions of those, but you'll enjoy both.

I'm guessing you have the Art Yard CD set? I'm really intrigued by the quartet setting on these and can't wait to hear it. The P-Vine's I think will unfortunately have Japanese liners so I won't be able to read them (hoping I'm wrong, but I suspect not). 

[jazzbo]

Yes, I bought the Art Yard sets when first released. Who know, the P-Vine may have English lners as well.

[Rooster_Ties]

I had both those Art Yard titles (Disco 3k and Media Dream) back 10-15 years ago, but ultimately found them a little too wild and unstructured for my taste. I had been incredibly interested in them (on paper), given my love for the 2 quartet titles on Horo (New Steps and Other Voices, Other Blues).

But ultimately I found the ‘still-rather-free’ Horos a little more structured (and I guess a tiny bit better ‘restrained’), more to my liking — and I sold those particular Art Yards a few years after I got them (in the great purge, before moving out here to DC from KC ~10 years ago).

In they move I thinned out my Sun Ra on CD from almost 50 discs down to maybe 25, and really discovered how much more I liked/loved what I kept, not being ‘diluted’ by the titles I merely found ‘interesting’ but not as rewarding to actually listen to.

I’ve discovered some joy in trying to better curate my collection, so there’s a bit more rhyme and reason to what I have vs. what I don’t (that I either had, or have heard several times online, and made a conscious decision not to get in the first place).

Got rid of a lot of “good” music, sure, but little that I was especially enthusiastic about.

[Dub Modal]

Man, I've regretted both of the times I "purged" my collection. Glad it worked out for you though. Been streaming these albums and like what I'm hearing, so looking forward to playing them on the main system. 

[sidewinder]

On 26/01/2021 at 3:44 PM, Dub Modal said:

Well, new release announced: https://www.facebook.com/20544755421/posts/10165155229335422/

4 x 45rpm LP set of Lanquidity, to include the rare "stripped down" Twin Stars of Thence and alternate versions of other tunes. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKgroQIAq2O/?igshid=1e43p30po9eua

 

 

Tempted by this. Wonder why they have issued as 4x45s and not just a straight 2LP though.

[Rooster_Ties]

4 minutes ago, sidewinder said:

Tempted by this. Wonder why they have issued as 4x45s and not just a straight 2LP though.

To make more money, if you ask me.

The 2CD set will do just fine, for me.

[sidewinder]

Just now, Rooster_Ties said:

To make more money, if you ask me.

The 2CD set will do just fine, for me.

Maybe. I want vinyl for this one though and I’ll hazard a bet that the sonics will be good. The price doesn’t seem extortionate for what is on offer. 

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

I have neglected the amazing sun ra steams far enough i mean after seeing the band live a few years ago im still been riding on that but yea its amazing and re: evidonce: the sreams, in this case, in this rare case............the stream SQ > evidences.  straight from the preserved masters my guy.  

Edited March 20, 2021 by chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez

[Dub Modal]

Spent some time with this release from Roaratorio last night. 2 LP set (33rpm) of some sessions from '69 in Philly. Got through the first LP and really enjoyed it. Not essential, or really a place to start with Sun Ra, but there are some gems like Latent Friends & Moon Over Saturn. Another example of how no one else composed or arranged like this ,especially for those times. Now, unfortunately my download card didn't work and the LP isn't free from a few crackles, but that didn't bother me or detract from the songs at all.

 

Super weird how this post is getting formatted. Can't fix it either. Oh well...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 7, 2021 by Dub Modal

[Dub Modal]

Unfortunately the P-Vine CD sets of Disco 3000 & Media Dreams had Japanese liners, but that's the one and only drawback to these. Packaging and SQ are excellent, and those more than make up for any perceived faults. Listening to Disco 3000 now and it's got brilliant playing by all involved, and at least for me this is essential stuff. 

[JSngry]

Is there a decent biographical sketch (or more) about June Tyson anywhere?

This thing has gotten into my brain and can't get out...reaffirms my core belief that "intonation" is a crutch for people who don't understand pitch, which is itself a crutch for people who don't really understand sound, which is in turn a crutch for people who don't understand that all of life is simply a combination of vibrations of one sort or another. Not that I'm anywhere near there myself, I'm just trying to get thee myself. But that's where it all leads, I'm convinced.

Ra, otoh, I think he was already there. His business model was a concession of the particular plane he found himself in, but what else was he going to do, trust the industry? Or own yourself best you can?

[Rooster_Ties]

I met June once, the one time I heard Ra with the Arkestra in ‘91 — and she was just the sweetest. Not gratuitously so, quite the opposite. She had a charm and presence — almost with an air of genuine regality (in the good sense). Pure class.

[JSngry]

I just wonder what her backstory was. What she added to the palate was not there before or since, not ALL of it. I don't get the sense that she was anything other than fully developed when she got there, so...where did all that happen?

[Teasing the Korean]

When they started reissuing these from the master tapes a few years back, I got about 45 or so of these albums, depending on how you count.  I organized them in to three folders - Chicago, New York, and Philly.  I am about halfway through the New York period.  It is a lot to absorb, and this from someone who already had lot of this stuff on 1990s Evidence reissues.  

[kh1958]

Somehow I skipped or missed the 2010 ESP-DISK expanded 2CD reissue of Nothing Is (College Tour volume 1, The Complete Nothing Is)). This features more material from the 1966 concert excerpted on the original album, and also some sound check rehearsals from the same concert. Great sound and utterly fantastic music. More is even better in this case. What a group (Ra. Gilmore, Marshal Allen, Pat Patrick, Robert Cummings, Teddy Nance, Ali Hassan, Clifford Jarvis, Ronnie Boykins, James Jacson, Carl Nimrod). Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a volume 2.

[romualdo]

3 hours ago, kh1958 said:

Somehow I skipped or missed the 2010 ESP-DISK expanded 2CD reissue of Nothing Is (College Tour volume 1, The Complete Nothing Is)). This features more material from the 1966 concert excerpted on the original album, and also some sound check rehearsals from the same concert. Great sound and utterly fantastic music. More is even better in this case. What a group (Ra. Gilmore, Marshal Allen, Pat Patrick, Robert Cummings, Teddy Nance, Ali Hassan, Clifford Jarvis, Ronnie Boykins, James Jacson, Carl Nimrod). Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a volume 2.

highly recommended & worth getting but if you have the earlier single CD released in 2005 (Nothing Is ESP-Disk 4024) then don't ditch it as it contains material not in the double set ie the first 4:35 of "Outer Nothingness" is called "Interplanetary Chaos" on the newer version (double CD) but the remaining 11 minutes of "Outer Nothingness" are missing/omitted (see pp 188-189 of Sun Ra Omniverse (Geerken & Trent)