John Gilmore, Sun Ra

Sun Ra's legendary 1978 Italian studio sessions, now available together for the first time ever on vinyl! Long sought-after by collectors, these extremely rare studio sessions were originally released in 1978 as two double LPs (New Steps and Other Voices, Other Blues) on the mysterious Italian jazz label, Horo Records. They have never been reissued on vinyl (and only partially reissued on CD) until now! With the help of trumpet player, Michael Ray, drummer, Luqman Ali and saxophonist John Gilmore, Ra kicks off the quartet sessions with the classic "My Favorite Things", which features some superlative playing by Gilmore, while Ra pounds away on an old upright studio piano. In fact, for the first two sides Ra plays mostly piano, while on sides C and D, he sticks more to his new Crumar Multiman, an Italian-made synthesizer that Ra had purchased during the tour. These sessions are also interesting because they give listeners a chance to hear Ra concentrating on primarily his own compositions-many of which (i.e. "Rome At Twilight" "Along The Tiber") were inspired by his time spent in Italy-but in a more intimate / Arkestra-less jazz setting. Fans will be clamouring to get their hands on this before it disappears again for another 30 years.