Search Results for:

SUN RA ARKESTRA

Sun Ra & His Outer Space Arkestra

A Fireside Chat With Lucifer - 2025 Reissue

    An F-bomb saturated hip-hop call & response club cut...from Sun Ra?! While the most renown track in this omniversal opus is the atomic expletive-filled repartee 'Nuclear War', there is so much more to this dark mysterious journey through the mind of Sun Ra. The sprawling, suite-like 20-minute title track sustains a lyrical edge in spite of an open framework and textures, which encourage sonorities to surface and emerge from the band as if there was no human intention behind them. In opposition to 'Nuclear War', Ra's organ playing here was built less on bombast and sonic terror than it is on whispers, stutters, shivers, and swells. Fireside Chat offers a wide stylistic array, as was the artist’s intent, reflecting his eclectic, seemingly irreconcilable approach to compositional extremes. With Sun Ra you get everything... except predictability.

    TRACK LISTING

    1. Nuclear War
    2. Retrospect
    3. Makeup
    4. A Fireside Chat With Lucifer

    Sun Ra Arkestra

    Lights On A Satellite

      'Lights On A Satellite' pays tribute to the life's work of Marshall Allen, who celebrated his 100th birthday on May 25, 2024.

      Recorded in Studio A at New York's Power Station on June 16, 2024, the album celebrates the exceptional musician's mastery as a multi- instrumentalist, arranger, bandleader, teacher and custodian of Sun Ra's legacy.

      As if from the farthest reaches of space, a tremendous positive energy has come to us via "Light on a Satellite": It is Sun Ra's music, played by his Arkestra, more than 30 years after the legendary band founder's earthly demise - or, in other words, after his reported ascent to Saturn. Under the direction of Marshall Allen, the NEA Jazz Master (2025) and multi-instrumentalist, who celebrated his 100th birthday on May 25, 2024, Sun Ra's big band has arrived safely in the 21st century, after traveling Sun Ra's space ways for almost 70 years. This album pays tribute to the lifetime achievement of Marshall Allen, who leads the Sun Ra Arkestra since 1993. Recorded in Studio A at New York's Power Station on June 16, 2024, the album celebrates the mastery of the exceptional musician Marshall Allen as a multi-instrumentalist, arranger, bandleader, teacher, and guardian of Sun Ra's unique legacy.

      As a tribute to the life's work of Marshall Allen, Frank Kleinschmidt of IN+OUT Records invited the Sun Ra Arkestra into the studio with 24 musicians in the largest possible line- up, with the goal of documenting the music in its polyphony and expansion in space and time in the best possible way. It is not only the variety of instruments used, but also the fact that musicians from four generations come together with a repertoire that spans 100 years of jazz history.

      TRACK LISTING

      Vinyl Tracks:
      Lights On A Satellite
      Dorothy's Dance
      Big John's Special
      Images
      Friendly Galaxy
      Baby Won't You Please Be Mine
      Holiday For Strings
      Tapestry From An Asteroid
      Reflects Motion
      Joy Delight
      Way Down Yonder In New Orleans

      CD Tracks:
      Lights On A Satellite
      Dorothy's Dance
      Big John's Special
      Images 
      Friendly Galaxy
      Baby Won't You Please Be Mine
      Holiday For Strings
      Tapestry From An Asteroid
      Reflects Motion
      Way Down Yonder In New Orleans

      Sun Ra Arkestra

      Lights On A Satellite - Black Friday 2024 Edition

        THIS IS A BLACK FRIDAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

        IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8AM ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 30TH).

        'Lights On A Satellite' pays tribute to the life's work of Marshall Allen, who celebrated his 100th birthday on May 25, 2024. Recorded in Studio A at New York's Power Station on June 16, 2024, the album celebrates the exceptional musician's mastery as a multi-instrumentalist, arranger, bandleader, teacher and custodian of Sun Ra's legacy.

        As if from the farthest reaches of space, a tremendous positive energy has come to us via "Light on a Satellite": It is Sun Ra's music, played by his Arkestra, more than 30 years after the legendary band founder's earthly demise - or, in other words, after his reported ascent to Saturn. Under the direction of Marshall Allen, the NEA Jazz Master (2025) and multi-instrumentalist, who celebrated his 100th birthday on May 25, 2024, Sun Ra's big band has arrived safely in the 21st century, after traveling Sun Ra's space ways for almost 70 years. This album pays tribute to the lifetime achievement of Marshall Allen, who leads the Sun Ra Arkestra since 1993. Recorded in Studio A at New York's Power Station on June 16, 2024, the album celebrates the mastery of the exceptional musician Marshall Allen as a multi- instrumentalist, arranger, bandleader, teacher, and guardian of Sun Ra's unique legacy.

        As a tribute to the life's work of Marshall Allen, Frank Kleinschmidt of IN+OUT Records invited the Sun Ra Arkestra into the studio with 24 musicians in the largest possible line-up, with the goal of documenting the music in its polyphony and expansion in space and time in the best possible way. It is not only the variety of instruments used, but also the fact that musicians from four generations come together with a repertoire that spans 100 years of jazz history.

        TRACK LISTING

        Lights On A Satellite
        Dorothy's Dance
        Big John's Special
        Images
        Friendly Galaxy
        Baby Won't You Please Be Mine
        Holiday For Strings
        Tapestry From An Asteroid
        Reflects Motion
        Joy Delight
        Way Down Yonder In New Orleans

        Sun Ra & His Arkestra

        Jazz In Silhouette - 2023 Reissue

          Cosmic Myth Records is dedicated to issuing reamstered and fully authorized out of print titles from Sun Ra's independent Saturn Records catalog. Sun Ra's Jazz in Silhouette was enshrined in the Penguin Jazz Guide's "Core Collection" as an album that "will someday be recognized as one of the most important post-war jazz records."

          Remastered with extra tracks - extra disc also includes Sound Sun Pleasure LP. Features the original space nymph cover art, which only appeared in cropped and washed out reproductions on an early 60s version.

          Sun Ra & His Blue Universe Arkestra

          Universe In Blue - 2023 Reissue

            A collection of torrid live club performances at the legendary NYC venue Slugs. Originally released in 1972, these recordings provide an intriguing glimpse of the Arkestra's repertoire and virtuosity towards the end of their first decade in New York. Universe In Blue has never been available on CD, and only a previous unofficial vinyl version was available prior to 2022.

            Includes liner notes by Irwin Chusid, and an expanded essay by Jazz historian Ben Young.

            Sun Ra & His Myth Science Arkestra

            When Angels Speak Of Love

              This 1963 set establishes Sun Ra's Arkestra as a New York band, sonically coupled to developments in the decidedly urbane downtown arts underground.The stargazing clamor of the music reflects the intensity of a cultural crossroads where concrete and dust pervade any skyward view, from East 3rd Street to Mars and beyond. One of Sun Ra's rarest releases, it had negligible circulation through shops. While most of the Saturn output couldn't get any rarer or mysterious than it already was, 'When Angels Speak of Love' was released in 1966, it was the most elusive and mysterious in the Sun Ra catalog. It's speculated that the record was issued in two micro runs, with estimates around 150 copies. Hard core collectors around the world had been searching for this gem to no avail until Evidence Records' released a CD of the music in 2000. This updated offering utilizes the actual master tapes and we get to hear the Arkestra in its cosmic mid-60's prime via mono and stereo fidelity. Features three additional stereo tracks, with liner notes by jazz historian Clifford Allen.

              Sun Ra And His Arkestra

              El Is A Sound Of Joy / Black Sky And Blue Moon

                Shining sounds from the dawn of the Sun Ra Arkestra. "El is A Sound of Joy" was recorded in 1956 and appeared the following year on the very first Saturn LP, Super-Sonic Jazz. Incredible is the fact that saxophonist Charles Davis, here providing the soulful baritone anchor line (counterpoint to Ra's formidable left hand), remains in the front-line of today's Sun Ra Arkestra directed by Marshall Allen. Shuffle swing breakdown jets leisurely, casually, masterfully, painting lush, post-modern impressions of ancient future worlds, of space, of time … of Chicago's elevated trains … Reaching for the sky, for Joy …. The “Joy” coda dovetails magically into the intro theme of "Black Sky And Blue Moon," before downshifting into another dimension of romantic outrospection. We follow The Nu Sounds, aka Cosmic Rays, on a faraway journey to the land of late-50s Chicago singing groups, the Arkestra supporting with quiet grace, pulsing in Nubians of Plutonia mode. An uncanny blend of antique blackness and bright satellites, ethereal voices perfectly in tune; thanks to Ra's disciplined coaching (plus Modern Harmonic's expert re-mastering), their sweet dynamics and exact harmonics are crystal clear. Flute solo from Marshall Allen. Hearts swelling like the full moon, ripening in the darkness to the point of bursting.

                Sun Ra

                Marshall Allen Presents Sun Ra And His Arkestra:In The Orbit Of Ra - 2023 Repress

                  Strut and Art Yard join forces for a special release to mark what would have been Sun Ra’s 100th birthday with ’In The Orbit Of Ra’, a new collection curated by the longest serving member of the Arkestra and current bandleader, Marshall Allen. Bringing together Ra highlights from over 25 years of music, the album is the first internationally released compilation to provide an introduction to the music of Sun Ra, curated personally by the Arkestra and mastered from the original tapes. With a catalogue of well over a hundred albums, Sun Ra forged his own direction in music from the mid ‘50s until his passing in 1993, injecting space age cosmic philosophy, ancient Egyptian history and lyrical poetry into a unique and freeform jazz sound. His music evolved constantly with relentless rehearsals, live gigging and recording schedules, developing a second?sense chemistry with his fellow Arkestra band members. Together, their emphasis would often be on improvisation and “the moment”, constantly re?interpreting and evolving their sound. Elements of magic and ritual would regularly feature in their performances and would lend the Arkestra a mystical aura.

                  For this exclusive new collection, Strut join forces with Art Yard to gain access to the inner sanctum of the Arkestra. In addition to the track selection, the release features recollections and contributions from some of the core Arkestra line?up including Marshall Allen, Michael Ray, Knoel Scott and Danny Ray Thompson. For the music, Allen’s selection takes us through the huge variety and intricacy of the Arkestra’s work covering the ‘60s to early ‘80s, from the celestial blues of ‘Spontaneous Simplicity’ and ‘Plutonian Nights’ to the urgent jazz of ‘Rocket Number Nine Take Off For Planet Venus’ and ‘Dance Of The Cosmo Aliens’. The album features an exclusive previously unreleased Sun Ra track from the Art Yard archives, the acoustic ‘Trying To Put The Blame On Me’ recorded live in Rome in 1977, along with a previously unreleased Part 1 of ‘Reflects Motion’ from 1962 and an unheard extended version of ‘Island In The Sun’ from the late ‘60s.

                  ‘In The Orbit Of Ra’ is released on 2CD and 2LP. Physical formats feature full interview with Marshall Allen along with rare and previously unpublished photos by Val Wilmer.

                  TRACK LISTING

                  LP 1
                  1. Sun Ra And His Myth Science Arkestra – Somewhere In Space
                  2. Sun Ra & His Solar‐Myth Arkestra – The Lady With The Golden Stockings
                  3. Sun Ra And His Afro Infinity Arkestra – Somebody Else’s World
                  4. Sun Ra – Spontaneous Simplicity
                  5. Sun Ra & His Solar‐Myth Arkestra – Plutonian Nights
                  6. The Sun Ra Arkestra – Angels And Demons At Play
                  7. Sun Ra – Island In The Sun
                  8. Sun Ra – Rocket Number Nine Take Off For Planet Venus
                  9. Sun Ra – Solar Differentials 

                  LP2
                  1. Sun Ra And His Arkestra €


                  Latest Pre-Sales

                  164 NEW ITEMS

                  E-newsletter —
                  Sign up
                  Back to top