Sun Ra
Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial. He did not make it easy for people to take him seriously, for he surrounded his adventurous music with costumes and mythology that both looked backward toward ancient Egypt and forward into science fiction. But despite all of the trappings, Sun Ra was a major innovator, starting off playing advanced bop, but early on was open to the influences of other cultures, experimenting with primitive electric keyboards, and playing free long before the avant-garde got established.
Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial. He did not make it easy for people to take him seriously, for he surrounded his adventurous music with costumes and mythology that both looked backward toward ancient Egypt and forward into science fiction. But despite all of the trappings, Sun Ra was a major innovator, starting off playing advanced bop, but early on was open to the influences of other cultures, experimenting with primitive electric keyboards, and playing free long before the avant-garde got established.
Super-Sonic Jazz
The first album on Saturn! Despite the futurism that the title of the set might imply, the material on this LP is actually some of Sun Ra's earliest, and dates back to the years when the Arkestra was first beginning to make itself heard in Chicag…
The solar-myth approach (vol2)
The vision of Sun Ra is placed within an experimental framework, as ambient music is shaped through the use of a Mini-Moog synthesizer in the pair of releases that were recorded in 1970-1971. The Solar-Myth Arkestra capture the special textures th…
The Solar-Myth Approach (Vol. 1)
40th volume in the BYG Actuel series; gatefold sleeve, 180 gram vinyl. "'A wild and passionate interstellar mix of free jazz, solo synthesizer and hard rocking cosmic philosophy specifically commissioned by the BYG/Actuel label (and apparently record…
Live at the Horseshoe Tavern
10 CDs documenting three full concerts from March, September & November 1978 at the Horseshoe Tavern; 8 hours of excellent music, well recorded and available here for the first time (none have been on bootleg lists) and a long radio interview with…
Sirius Respect
This CD allows the music of two of the 20th century's musical giants to be heard as they've never quite been heard before. Sun Ra and Stockhausen have a lot in common: mysticism, astrology, a self-constructed cosmology and (intertwining) compositiona…
Rocket Ship Rock
Norton recently took a rocket ride into the vaults of El Saturn Research and arrived back on Earth with a motherlode of unissued early R&B, doo wop, soul and general weirdness featuring Sun Ra and his Arkestra backing a variety of artists. This serie…
The Second Stop Is Jupiter
nterstellar vocal group numbers and doo wop from the Sun Ra vaults – a couple rare release and a bunch of previously unissued numbers featuring The Cosmic Rays, Crystals, Nu Sounds and Juanita Rogers – teenage vocal group numbers, bits of bebop an…
Live at Red Creek, Rochester, NY
lucky restock, VERY few copies left...A special friend said to me that he waited a while before unhidden the most precious gem from his vast Sun Ra's archive... Big bang!" Recorded August 11, 1986. Sun Ra- piano, synth, voice, Tyrone Hill- trombone…
Cymbals
restocked, but very few available...LP art edition of 310 numbered copies, recorded on 1973, NEVER previously issued on vinyl, this is a jewel from saturn: try to find it in the cosmo if you can. This albums originally intended for release by Impuls…
Cosmos
One of the best-remembered Sun Ra albums from the 70s – a really cool little session that features Ra playing the unusual "rocksichord" all the way through! The instrument's a very weird one – kind of like a messed-up electric piano, with lots of coo…
Visits Planet Earth
180 gram vinyl version. Tracklisting: "Circe," "The Nile," "Brazilian Sun," "We Travel the Spaceways," "Calling Planet Earth," "Dancing Shadows," "The Rainmaker," "When Sun Comes Out." First two tracks probably made during the same session at the …
When Sun Comes Out
180 gram vinyl version. Tracklisting: "Circe," "The Nile," "Brazilian Sun," "We Travel the Spaceways," "Calling Planet Earth," "Dancing Shadows," "The Rainmaker," "When Sun Comes Out." First two tracks probably made during the same session at the Cho…
My Brother The Wind
A pretty darn incredible record from Sun Ra -- with a soulful, spiritual approach that's missing from most of his other albums of the time! The album features Ra playing a good deal of organ (dubbed "intergalactic organ" in this case!) -- groovin…
Night of Purple Moon
Sun Ra was a innovative jazz composer, pianist, synthesizer player, poet and philosophiser who was fascinated by cosmic philosophy. Ra’s fascination with all things ‘cosmic’ combined with his instrumental ability lead to…
Sound Sun Pleasure
Early work by Ra and the Arkestra, recorded in 1958 in Chicago, but not issued until the end of 60s, as one of the best rare sides on Saturn Records! The material's fairly straight, but with a cool off-kilter groove, and some very nice arrangements. …
Holiday For Soul Dance
One of the key but underappreciated episodes in avant-garde jazz, Sun Ra's Atlantis sounds far out even today. Rather than a full-on assault on the senses, Atlantis is an exercise in build-up, with long, almost forlorn passages of Ra on electric keyb…
Strange Strings
Back in stock! 1966's Strange Strings is the zenith of Sun Ra's analysis of string instruments and, as its title suggests, the album documents Ra's exploration of their outer limits, charting a kind of vivisection of the timbral make up of the tradit…
Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy
This disc brings together the Sun Ra recordings "Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy" and "Art Forms Of Dimensions Tomorrow" (recorded in 1963 and '61-'62 respectively). Cosmic Tones functions as a kind of blueprint for the sort of large-scale jazz weird…
Interstellar Low Ways
Originally titled Rocket Number Nine. Tracklisting: Onward, Somewhere in Space, Interplanetary Music, Interstellar Low Ways, Space Loneliness, Space Aura, Rocket Number Nine Take off for the Planet Venus. Recorded at various locations, Chicago, late…