Sun Ra,

[Hardbopjazz]

I only have two Sun Ra sessions, "Sound of Joy" and "Reflections in Blue." Anything from his myriad of sessions worth a listen?

[jeffcrom]

Well, you know this thread is going to end up with a million suggestions. But one way to start would be to get an album or two from each decade of Sunny's recording career. From the 50's, in addition to the one you've already got, you might try Super-Sonic Jazz or Jazz in Silhouette. From the 60's, Heliocentric Worlds, Vol. 1 & 2 and The Magic City are representative of the kind of very out-there, improvised stuff Sunny was into at the time. Space is the Place (the album originally issued on Blue Thumb) and Live at Montreux are representative of what he was doing in the 70's. Reflections in Blue, which you have, is a good one from the 80s, as are Nuclear War and Blue Delight. Sunny was only active for a bit of the 90's, but I like Mayan Temples, from 1990, a lot.

The thing is, every Sun Ra album is different, and every one I've heard is worthwhile.

[romualdo]

I only have two Sun Ra sessions, "Sound of Joy" and "Reflections in Blue." Anything from his myriad of sessions worth a listen?

I agree with Jeffcrom - all of those he has mentioned are recommended

The Evidence CD label has a lot of his Saturn recordings(rereleased in the early-mid 90's). The other label worth mentioning is Art Yard (UK based - I think Chris Cutler is behind this - a spin off from Recommended Records). They have been releasing more of the Saturns since the late 2000's - great packaging & remastering. A recent double CD from ArtYard/Kindred Spirits is a Paris 1971 concert (THE PARIS TAPES - legitimately recorded)released last year for the first time - the music & sound quality are pretty darn good (actually spectacular). The other label of interest is Transparency - lots of unreleased material surfacing for the first time - they (Michael) did the mammoth 28 CD 1981 Detroit set - for the real diehard Ra fan.

Sun Ra's music is so varied (even within a set decade) it's hard to pinpoint a few releases

[Face of the Bass]

Just about everything reissued on the Evidence label is worth getting. It's all good, although my favorites are Other Planes Of There, Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow, The Magic City, Atlantis, and the Heliocentric Worlds discs from ESP.

[J.A.W.]

Just about everything reissued on the Evidence label is worth getting. It's all good, although my favorites are Other Planes Of There, Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow, The Magic City, Atlantis, and the Heliocentric Worlds discs from ESP.

I agree, many of the Evidence CDs are worth getting, even though they're marred by noise reduction. As far as I know it's the only way to get this music on CD.

Edited August 10, 2011 by J.A.W.

[Hot Ptah]

I would start with the following:

Jazz in Silhouette

Supersonic Jazz

Angels and Demons at Play

Nubians of Plutonia

Fate in a Pleasant Mood

Cosmos

Lanquidity

Mayan Temples

St. Louis Blues

Unity (on Horo, if you can find it)

[Rooster_Ties]

I think at least a couple of these ought to be on anybody's really short-list (we can argue about which ones).

among the Arkestra's last recordings, I really like...

Mayan Temples (Black Saint, 1990)

Somewhere Else (Rounder, recorded 1988/89) - outtakes from the two A&M sessions (Blue Delight & Purple Night)

Live at Pit-Inn, Tokyo (DIW, 1988)

And because they were among the very first Arkestra dates I ever heard, I still have a soft-spot for Blue Delight & Purple Night (the two A&M dates from 1988/89), but in many ways I think the outtakes (found on Somewhere Else) are superior.

And love it or hate it, I also think Lanquidity (Evidence, 1978) is da bomb. On Jupiter and Sleeping Beauty (both reissued on Art Yard, both 1979), and to a lesser extent Strange Celestial Road (Rounder, 1979 or 80) - are all great too.

Edited August 10, 2011 by Rooster_Ties

[jazzbo]

Personally, I love the Chicago, Philadelphia, and early NYC periods, and I'm very picky beyond that. After the 'seventies I hardly ever really get into the music I'm afraid.

There are really good reviews here. There are also a few other threads in this bulletin board that are good wells to draw Sun Ra information from.

[.:.impossible]

I'm with Lon. If you are generally on the look-out for Sun Ra albums in stores, definitely add the Horo label to your list.

[jostber]

My list of 10 classic albums today would be:

Jazz In Silhouette

Lanquidity

Sleeping Beauty

On Jupiter

Astro Black

Unity

Live In Montreux

Art Forms Of Dimensions Tomorrow

The Antique Blacks

Universe In Blue

Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy

When Angels Speak Of Love

Guess that was about 12.

Art Yard, Transparency and Atavistic have been the most active reissue companies in later years. Saturn Research releases many albums on vinyl. Evidence was the most active reissue company until about 2000.

For a lot of details and information on Sun Ra albums you can check these two threads:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=131759

Edited August 10, 2011 by jostber

[Teasing the Korean]

I really love his 50s and 60s exotica stuff when he was listening to Les Baxter and Martin Denny. These are scattered over several albums though, some containing more than others.

[Leeway]

The thing is, every Sun Ra album is different, and every one I've heard is worthwhile.

There are a lot of good suggestions here, but I have to take issue just a bit with Jeff's statement. My own view is there are a dozen or so that are indeed worthwhile, but there are as many or more that one would be better served saving one's money on. Sun Ra put out a lot of stuff, and some of it is just not that good, or at least no better than average. Now you have the reissue houses following along pumping out every bleat and honk from the band's past. You could easily go broke buying Sun Ra albums but in the end you'd probably wish you stuck to the 10-15 albums identified in these posts.

[J.A.W.]

Just checked and I have fewer Sun Ra CDs than I thought; I'm not fond of his post-mid-1960s work. These would be my recommendations:

• Super-Sonic Jazz – Evidence; 1956 recordings

• Visits Planet Earth/Interstellar Low Ways – Evidence; 1956, 1958 and 1960 recordings

• We Travel the Spaceways/Bad and Beautiful – Evidence; 1956, 1958-1961 recordings

• Angels and Demons at Play/The Nubians of Plutonia – Evidence; 1956 and 1960 recordings

• Jazz in Silhouette – Evidence; 1958 recordings

• Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy/Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow – Evidence; 1961-1963 recordings

• When Angels Speak of Love – Evidence; 1963 recordings

• Other Planes of There – Evidence; 1964 recordings

• The Magic City – Evidence; 1965 recordings

Edited August 10, 2011 by J.A.W.

[Chuck Nessa]

Hans, I think you would like the 2 Delmark releases.

[J.A.W.]

Hans, I think you would like the 2 Delmark releases.

Ah yes, Sound of Joy and Sun Song, both from 1956.

[.:.impossible]

Hans, do you have those? If not, based on your list they are a perfect recommendation.

[J.A.W.]

Hans, do you have those? If not, based on your list they are a perfect recommendation.

No, I don't have them. Maybe I should get them. Anyway, thanks to Chuck and you for bringing these to my attention.

[Neal Pomea]

A friend of mine recommended an album of Duke Ellington stuff played by Sun Ra. Is there really such an album or was my friend mixed up? What is the name? Do you recommend it?

[jeffcrom]

...I have to take issue just a bit with Jeff's statement.

That's it - you just made my enemies list. Now where did I put it....

"Honey, have you seen my enemies list?"

[Leeway]

...I have to take issue just a bit with Jeff's statement.

That's it - you just made my enemies list. Now where did I put it....

"Honey, have you seen my enemies list?"

[Hot Ptah]

The thing is, every Sun Ra album is different, and every one I've heard is worthwhile.

There are a lot of good suggestions here, but I have to take issue just a bit with Jeff's statement. My own view is there are a dozen or so that are indeed worthwhile, but there are as many or more that one would be better served saving one's money on. Sun Ra put out a lot of stuff, and some of it is just not that good, or at least no better than average. Now you have the reissue houses following along pumping out every bleat and honk from the band's past. You could easily go broke buying Sun Ra albums but in the end you'd probably wish you stuck to the 10-15 albums identified in these posts.

I agree that there is a massive amount of Sun Ra recordings out there, not all of the highest quality, but there is a lot more than 10-15 quality albums.

His live shows were very theatrical and visually dramatic, sometimes stunning. This does not translate well to portions of some of his live recordings. When I hear five minutes of chanting, hand clapping and saxophone squealing, I think, oh, this must be the part of the show when the Arkestra danced in the aisles of the theater, or when Sun Ra was coming out of the stage floor on a slowing moving riser, dressed in a bizarre getup, strumming a large work of art--which I saw once. If you never attended a Sun Ra concert, you do not have these memories to think about. Even if you do have these memories to think about, some portions of the live albums are not as interesting as one would hope.

Some of the studio albums feature long avant garde pieces which, depending on your mood and your level of interest in the avant garde, could be endurance contests to listen to, especially repeatedly.

BUT! then there will be the gem of a recorded song, something that is one of the best things you have heard in a long time by anyone. Sun Ra's recorded highs are high indeed. It is the quest for more and more of those high points which may keep the Sun Ra fan buying more albums, searching out new releases. Some of these high points are contained on albums that are otherwise of lesser interest. So the Sun Ra fan keeps on in the endless quest.

I think that Grateful Dead fans/fanatics know this phenonmenon all too well.

[Face of the Bass]

Yeah, I think there are probably more like 25-30 top-notch Sun Ra albums. The guy was just incredibly prolific, and an amazing musician. If there was a Mount Rushmore of Jazz musicians, I'd put him up there with Miles, Coltrane, Ellington and Monk in terms of guys who were incredibly prolific and who brought their own very unique visions to the jazz idiom.

[.:.impossible]

I had been eyeing the Sun Ra row in the closet for a few weeks now, but it wasn't until just now that I felt the need to get there. Supersonic Jazz to ease me back in. Man, such fine music. Thanks everyone for bringing him back into my orbit.

[Leeway]

I like him, but no way would I put Sun Ra in the same category as Miles, Coltrane, Ellington and Monk!

I think Sun Ra benefited from a fascinating persona, which often outstripped the intrinsic musical value of his record output. I'm sure his shows were fun to go to, but that does not ensure a recorded legacy.

And like I said, I do like him, and have more than my share (yes, alas, more than 15) albums by him. There are clinkers enough in his discography to make the claim that "every" album is worthwhile a bit overly-optimistic. That was my original point.

[.:.impossible]

I just realize that no one has mentioned The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra! On Savoy, reissued by Denon. This is a fantastic disc that feaures the wonderful variety that he and his band were capable of and some really great piano playing by Sonny. This would actually be a great starter album! Hell, it might even change your mind Leeway! Sounding damn good over here tonight!