Sun Ra - Art Yard In A Box

[Head Man]

I've just seen this going for a very reasonable price at Amazon and wondered what people's views were on the nine albums included in the boxset:

Disco 3000

Sleeping Beauty

On Jupiter

Beyond the Purple Star Zone

Oblique Parallax

Horizon

Nidhamu

Dark Myth Equation Visitation

The Antique Blacks

I'm sorry to say that Sun Ra is one of the few jazz artists I've never really taken to. Would this be a good place to start?

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I'll watch this thread with interest. I have little Sun Ra.

MG

[jazzbo]

Hmmmm. . . haven't seen this on Amazon. I think I have all the releases in the box. It's decent Sun Ra if you like the

'Seventies and beyond Arkestra material. I find as time goes by that I prefer the Chicago, Philadelphia and earliest NYC recordings. The Evidence and ESP Disk releases are the ones I play most often. But if you like the Sun Ra that comes after these a LOT, then these are good choices, and the reissues are certainly done very well as far as mastering and presentation.

[John L]

While my personal preferences for Sun Ra are fairly similar to those of Jazzbo, these Art Yard releases of generally of very high quality, some of the best work of the Arkestra of that vintage (IMO).

[Pete C]

I agree with some of the Amazon reviewers: if you had to start with one Sun Ra album it would be Live at Montreux:

http://www.amazon.com/Live-Montreux-Sun-His-Arkestra/dp/B00008YJFS

I saw the Arkestra a number of times in this period, including at the final incarnation of the Five Spot.

The first Sun Ra album I heard, as a teenager, was Heliocentric Sounds. I couldn't handle it.

Edited June 5, 2012 by Pete C

[mjzee]

Amazon UK link

£33.06...about $50 US.

[rostasi]

With Ra, it's hard to pick for others. Those that lean away from out-jazz may prefer the Evidence titles

and the Montreux title that Pete mentioned could be a step closer to the outer regions.

I have over 250 titles and enjoy them immensely for differing reasons, but the Art Yards

would probably not be my first recommendations to someone new to Ra - even tho the sound

and packaging of that set is wonderful. I'd recommend going here and listening

(there are over 1000 samples) and then, later, reading the stories behind the titles that you

enjoy in order to get a fuller understanding of what Ra was all about (under all of the talk).

Also, I wanted to mention that even tho a couple of the discs in the Art Yard clock in at under 30 minutes,

you get more music on the other titles making the 7 discs equal to about 6 hours of music if you decide to

cast your fate to the solar winds.

Edited June 5, 2012 by rostasi

[kh1958]

The best place to start is with the Evidence reissues. I like selected material from all eras of Sun Ra.

[felser]

I'll put in another vote for the earliest stuff, the Evidence Reissues and the Delmark and Savoy material.

[mjazzg]

I defer to all the resident Ra-experts but as someone who's dipped a toe into each decade of the discography (courtesy of Evidence, ESP, Delmark, Leo, Impulse) I've found afew of the Art Yards an intriguing listen, nicely produced. So whilst it may not be the place (is there ever really one ideal entry into such a vast musical world?) to start I'd say it was a tempting box for a flavour of an era.

From thereon in it's all bets off though....

[Hot Ptah]

I think that the Art Yards are a fairly challenging set for a Sun Ra beginner. I agree that the 1950s reissues on Evidence and Delmark are the place to start--Sun Song, Sound of Joy, Supersonic Sounds, Jazz in Silhouette, Angels and Demons at Play, Nubians of Plutonia, Fate in a Pleasant Mood, Visits Planet Earth.

I have also found that those new to Sun Ra often like a later Evidence reissue, Lanquidity; an Inner City album, Cosmos, and the IAI label solo piano albums, Solo Piano, Vol. 1, and St. Louis Blues.

Edited June 5, 2012 by Hot Ptah

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Thanks HP - that's a nice short list from someone who gnoes. What was the Savoy album called? Futuristic sounds, I seem to remember.

MG

[JSngry]

Haven't heard any of the albums in the original post...what's so daunting about them?

[Hot Ptah]

Haven't heard any of the albums in the original post...what's so daunting about them?

The Art Yards are definitely avant garde jazz albums. They are not the most difficult works ever recorded, but no one would mistake them for sets of mainstream tunes.

The 1950s albums reissued on Evidence and Delmark feature short, standard song forms, in a mainstream jazz setting--with unique touches, to be sure, as after all this is Sun Ra.

I think that someone who likes mainstream jazz would enjoy the Evidence and Delmark 1950s reissues, and might enjoy the Art Yards about as much as they would enjoy the Anthony Braxton Arista Mosaic set.

[JSngry]

Whereas somebody who prefers various strains of "non-straight-ahead-jazz" improvisational musics but doesn't really know Ra's work might find it the other way around, that this might be a good starting point?

Just saying...Ra's the type of guy/music who pulls people in from all over, not just from "jazz".

[jazzbo]

That's a really good point Jim. The box is acttractively priced. If interested, I'd act fast, looks as if they didn't make that many.

[David Ayers]

Nearly all of this is on Spotify:

Sun Ra – Disco 3000

Sun Ra – On Jupiter Sun Ra

Sun Ra – Beyond The Purple Star Zone And Oblique Parallax

Sun Ra – HORIZON

Sun Ra – Nidhamu & Dark Myth Equation Visitation

Sun Ra – The Antique Blacks

[Chuck Nessa]

Hmmmm. . . haven't seen this on Amazon. I think I have all the releases in the box. It's decent Sun Ra if you like the

'Seventies and beyond Arkestra material. I find as time goes by that I prefer the Chicago, Philadelphia and earliest NYC recordings. The Evidence and ESP Disk releases are the ones I play most often. But if you like the Sun Ra that comes after these a LOT, then these are good choices, and the reissues are certainly done very well as far as mastering and presentation.

FWIW, this pretty much reflects my feelings about the music.

[Late]

This box set is limited to 500 copies. It's not on Amazon U.S. yet, but I'm guessing that it will be (and at Dusty Groove) sooner or later. If you've absorbed the Evidence reissues, like them (— I agree that they're an excellent starting place), and haven't yet heard these later Saturn sessions, they're certainly worth owning. Looser over all, but also more hypnotic at times. In my opinion, The Antique Blacks is the best of the bunch, closely followed by Nidhamu and Horizon. Disco 3000 gets a lot of attention, but I personally haven't connected with it yet. My two favorite 70's Ra recordings — Discipline 27 II and The Soul Vibrations of Man have yet, as far as I know, to be reissued on compact disc.

I found the following 2010 snippet of text (from Peter Dennett of Art Yard) online, and thought it might be worth posting here:

... it has taken much work to get this going, despite the difficulties running an independent and occasional mistakes in production. 'I am still here'! and have now been doing this work for six years. It seems to me now, that Sun Ra is one of the most published artists of the 21st century! So, despite the endless bootlegs, free-for-all digital downloads from share websites and some official releases, I hope to be here for some years to come. My intention is to get Sun Ra's recordings released with a degree of artistic integrity.

I have been trying to get it right with these releases, and keep it in the ethos of Sun Ra, in the way that the records/ CDs are presented, El Saturn was a Underground record label which issued LPs with various hybrid or generic sleeves, many hand drawn images were applied or stuck on, or they would be issued in 'plane blank sleeves'. I can only try to emulate The Arkestra's work, This way I hope to add to these concept recordings, not distract! The point being is that as you may know Sun Ra was something of a mystic and reliable information behind the scenes is hard to come by, a lot of the El Saturn releases do not even have a line up of the musicians, so I do commission research from the people that were there at the time, we are doing our utmost. Michael Ray has written liners for the release of Disco 3000 and Knoel Scott for the Paris tapes 1971 to be released later this year. Michael Anderson has also written liners for The Antique Blacks vinyl edition that will be pressed soon. Hartmut Geerken has written much about the recordings made in Cairo Egypt and his work, as did Salah Ragab. I will try to get some more words from the book Omniverse transcribed for an insight, which will be printed on 10 inch vinyls in a box set recordings from Cairo/ Paris/ Milan and others 'some Unreleased' and some recordings from Salah Ragab via Kindred Spirits the record company in The Netherlands with whom I collaborate. Rick Steiger has also written about the Sun Ra Detroit residency which Beyond the Purple Star Zone came from and also Oblique Parallax those two El Saturn's albums will be released on one CD this year, if all goes to plan.

Sun Ra's approached the El Saturn label as a series of concept albums, and we are still putting the pieces of the puzzle back together, as it is great to listen to the whole of the Disco 3000 concert with all the tracks in context, and that's available on Itunes ect, bonus tracks are a wonderful addition, but the original album cut for Disco 3000 and Media Dream were how Sun Ra wanted the works to be presented, that's why I have re-pressed Disco 3000 in its original form, - 'its a concept album'.

Unlike most record labels these days I don't go in for the big promotion advertising angle, its far too expensive! or write assessments of the work in hand - stating how important these recording are!, nor do I do trendy DJ promotion party's. I hope the Art Yard releases stand up to contemporary sinersisium or criticism and get the attention they deserve and positively reviewed in the music press to bring them into the public awareness. This work is about restoring Sun Ra's recordings and making them available once again, Sun Ra's music should be accessible to everyone, not just the elite few who can afford to spend five hundred dollars on a rare original Saturn LP.

Art Yard is a small independent record company and publisher that continues in its struggle into the 21st Century - and has done the right thing by working in collaboration with The Sun Ra Arkestra under direction of Marshall Allen - Give The Credit Where Credit is Due.

'it is what it is'.

I hope you dig the music - listen to the Cosmo Song.

Peter Dennett

Art Yard, London

[clifford_thornton]

I have some but not all of this. I'll probably get it soon.

[sidewinder]

I wish they would re-press the 2CD/complete version of 'Disco 3000'. Kicking myself for missing that one when it was in print.

[Steve Gray]

I wish they would re-press the 2CD/complete version of 'Disco 3000'. Kicking myself for missing that one when it was in print.

What, this one?

Disco 3000 2CD set

[Stefan Wood]

I have most of this, so I don't see a need to repurchase them in a box set.

[Pete C]

What I love about the mid-70s to mid-80s live albums (and shows I saw) is the mix of out jazz, big band swing and outer space corniness.

[sidewinder]

I wish they would re-press the 2CD/complete version of 'Disco 3000'. Kicking myself for missing that one when it was in print.

What, this one?

Disco 3000 2CD set

Thanks - looks like they just re-pressed it. Last time I looked only the single CD was out there.

I have the LP of this one but wanted the extra material.

Edited June 7, 2012 by sidewinder