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.
Exotica
On Exotica, Sun Ra is recast as an unlikely lounge visionary, folding the lush fantasy worlds of Les Baxter and Hollywood mood music into raw, off‑kilter Saturn tapes that turn easy listening into uneasy, Afrofuturist escape.
Everything Is Space
The legacy of Afro-Futurist jazz pioneer Sun Ra continues with a first ever vinyl issue of fan favourite "Everything Is Space," on limited 7” vinyl.
Jazz In Silhouette
One of the great enigmatic figures of jazz, Sun Ra's persona as philosopher, showman and space enthusiast often overshadowed his purely musical accomplishments as one of the most prolific and creative composers and big band leaders in the business. T…
On Jupiter
On Jupiter by Sun Ra blends deep funk, avant-garde jazz, and cosmic soundscapes, capturing the Arkestra’s 1979 creative peak. Remastered by Technology Works, this reissue features original sleeve art and new liner notes.
The Magic City
According to many enthusiasts and scholars, this album is among Sun Ra's most definitive studio recordings. The Magic City contains just four tracks, with the title- theme taking up the whole of the A side at a little over 27 minutes. Then on the B s…
My Words Are Music: A Celebration Of Sun Ra's Poetry
Sun Ra is better known to most as a musician than a poet, but he identified equally as both. My Words Are Music provides direct access to the sentiments of a poet who never called Earth home. The spoken word album hosts an inspired array of artists w…
Sun Song
Sun Ra's debut album, released in 1956, catapulted Sun Ra from the Chicago jazz scene to become a darling of the underground scene. This important album featured star players such as John Gilmour!
Continuation
Recorded at the Choreographers’ Workshop in New York, 1963, Waaghals Records presents two songs from Sun Ra’s Continuation sessions on vinyl for the first time. Known for its lo-fi recording quality coupled with heavy use of echo and reverberation, t…
Berkeley Lecture, 1971
One for the ages here. Unearthed from the ESS archives and officially released for the first time ever, a previously unknown half-hour from cosmic mythologist and sound scientist Sun Ra's 1971 U.C. Berkeley course "The Black Man in the Cosmos." Ra's…
A Pure Solar World: Sun Ra and the Birth of Afrofuturism
Surveying the range of Sun Ra’s extraordinary creativity, this book explores how the father of Afrofuturism brought “space music” to a planet in need of transformation, supporting the aspirations of black people in an inhospitable white world.
Sleeping Beauty
Originally released on Saturn Records in 1979, both Sleeping Beauty and On Jupiter are studio recordings by the large Sun Ra ensemble (including electric guitar and electric bass) and, for the most part, feature the first recordings of the titles inc…
At The Showcase Live In Chicago 1976-1977
All music previously unissued!
Transferred from the original tape reels restored by Michael D. Anderson with audio remastering by Joe Lizzi and lacquers cut by Matthew Lutthans at Cohearent Audio.
Includes extensive booklet with previously unpublishe…
Inside The Light World: Sun Ra Meets The OVC
Introducing a musical treasure from the enigmatic Sun Ra's expansive discography, Strut Records proudly presents "Inside The Light World: Sun Ra Meets The OVC”. This extraordinary album unveils previously unreleased recordings from the year 1986 for …
Excelsior Mill Sun Ra Excelsior Mill
"The outsized sounds emerging from the Excelsior Mill organ captured here constitute a unique chapter in the Sun Ra story, a dizzying phantasmagoria that offers a whole new view on what Ra could do - It might thrill you; it might unnerve you; it migh…
Live At Pit-Inn Tokyo, Japan, 8, 8, 1988
Sun Ra Arkestra, Live in Japan! Recorded at Shinjuku Pit Inn on August 8, 1988, this recording has undergone fresh remastering from the master tape, marking the first reissue in 36 years
Live in Roma 1980
Double CD box, perfect replica of the LP edition, with extensive booklet. The venerable Holidays, having already had an incredible 2023, returns with their final offering of the year and what might just be their most ambitions release to date, Sun Ra…
Sun Ra And His Arkestra - Featuring Pharoah Sanders And Bla
Green-Vinyl reissue. "To understand the significance of the word 'featuring' on Featuring Pharoah Sanders And Black Harold, consider how infrequently Sun Ra used it and the exact way it had been used. The October Revolution in Jazz, organized by Bill…
Interview with Charlie Morrow
Recital presents a newly unearthed recording of an interview between Sun Ra and composer Charlie Morrow recorded at his New York studio in 1989. This voice-only recording develops more like a kaleidoscopic sermon than any standard interview.
Space Is The Place
Tip! The holy grail for Sun Ra collectors and fans, an album that forever gave them a slogan to live by! The record's different than some of the other Arkestra work from the time – in that it's a bit tighter and more spiritual, more in keeping with t…