The venerable Corbett vs. Dempsey have done it again and blown our minds with two absolutely stunning releases from the vaults of Sun Ra. The first, Extensions Out, Plus: Four Poetry Books (1959/1972), a set that gathers a series of beautifully produced facsimile editions of some of Ra's rarest books of his poetry, is an essential deep dive into the non-musical creative output of this visionary mind, while the second, a 7" - I Struck a Match on the Moon / Dreamsville - gathers two tracks left behind from the seminal 1961 Arkestra sessions that gave us The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra, made with the vocalist Ricky Murray, that have never before appeared on vinyl. These are just about as historically important as releases come.

It's hard to think of a historical figure in the arts, regardless of period, as singular and unique as Le Sony'r Ra, better known as Sun Ra. From his early emergence as an outlier on the Chicago Jazz scene during the 1940s, until his passing in 1993, Ra and his Arkestra wove vast narratives and new conceptual visions for the African American life, presenting creativity and imagination as radical means toward social and intellectual liberation. It's impossible to fully calculate his importance and influence. We're huge fans of Corbett vs. Dempsey. Nearly everything they touch is pure gold and done with remarkable love and care, but these releases are something else and do rare justice to a legacy that's second to none.

Extensions Out, Plus: Four Poetry Books (1959/1972)

Sun Ra looms larger than life. He is an icon, around whom countless legends and narratives have sprung. Born and raised in Alabama, and showing a remarkable talent as a pianist from a very young age - beginning to perform professionally during his mid-teens - he toured extensively as both a leader and sideman across the 1930s and 40s before settling in Chicago, a move that would eventually lead to the formation of his legendary Arkestra during the early 1950s, and the beginning of an incredibly prolific career as performer and recording artist that stretched across the next 4 decades.

Ra was a figure of profound social and political importance. He was an architect of Afrofuturism, Black Nationalism and self-determinism, as well as a musical thinker of astounding vision and scope. He lived art fully in every moment of the day, rigorously pushing his band and himself endlessly toward the outer reaches. With a discography of albums and singles moving well into the hundreds - many of which are regarded as seminal gestures of free and spiritual jazz - it's easy to overlook Ra's other dedicated activities, most notably as a poet, a focus that Corbett vs. Dempsey's facsimile reprints of 4 of his books produced between 1957 and 1972 - Extensions Out, Plus - brings back into sharp focus.

With biographical information always shadowy when it comes to Sun Ra, it's hard to know exactly when his excursions as a poet began, but during the 50s he began disseminating his poems at gigs and within his albums, beginning with his debut LP, Jazz By Sun Ra, issued in 1957 by the Boston-based Transition label - a short-lived company that sold records by subscription - that contained a beautiful booklet, now as prized as the LP itself, comprising rarely seen photographs and a selection of poems and proclamations, as well as the personnel and recording credits. It is this booklet - faithfully reproduced - that makes up the first entry in Corbett vs. Dempsey's Extensions Out, Plus. The second, Jazz in Silhouette, was released 2 years later in 1959 as a mimeographed liner booklet - with the album bearing the same name on Saturn Records, the label he founded with Alton Abraham - and contains a series of “liner note poems”. This new edition folds this slim pamphlet of poetry into a slipcover with a classic photo portrait of Ra by Thomas "Bugs" Hunter on the back.

The third volume in Extensions Out, Plus - The Immeasurable Equation - is arguably Ra's best-known book of poetry, and has been reprinted in many alternative versions with different contents over the years. This incarnation faithfully restores the original Infinity Inc./Saturn Research edition - published in Chicago in 1972 and distributed widely by the Arkestra - which features more than 60 of Ra's poems. The final entry within Corbett vs. Dempsey's set is among the rarest of Ra's poetry books, Extensions Out: Immeasurable Equation Vol. II, also published by Infinity Inc./Saturn Research. This 8 1/2 x 11 inch book is a massive compendium of more than 130 poems, staple bound with one-sided pages - in step with the mimeo poetry publications of its era - and also features three photographs of artwork by Ayé Aton, a close ally of Ra's and member of the Arkestra during this era. Great care was taken to reproduce the special textured cover of this highly sought-after book.

It's impossible to sing enough praise for Corbett vs. Dempsey's Extensions Out, Plus: Four Poetry Books (1959/1972). An absolutely essential immersion into the non-musical side of Sun Ra, created in careful collaboration with his estate, available for the first time since their original release in the form in which he conceived them to be released. Unquestionably among the most important musical publications of the year.

Sun Ra and his Arkestra - I Struck a Match on the Moon / Dreamsville

After running the Arkestra for a bit over a decade, Sun Ra hit the road with the band, departing Chicago for good in 1961. While they eventually made their permanent home in Philadelphia, for a number of fruitful years Ra and a scaled-down incarnation of the Arkestra settled in New York City. Shortly after arriving, they embarked upon their first east coast recording session in Newark during October of 61, giving way to the legendary LP, The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra, issued by Savoy. Among the tracks left behind in the vaults from these sessions were two great ballads - I Struck a Match on the Moon and Dreamsville - sung by Ricky Murray, an early Arkestra member who had made the trek from Chicago to NY, but who sadly remains almost entirely unknown beyond his work with Ra (in addition to The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra, he also appears on the 1970 Saturn release Holiday For Soul Dance).

Corbett vs. Dempsey's beautifully produced 7" of I Struck a Match on the Moon / Dreamsville represents these rare artefacts' first ever appearance on vinyl, making it an incredibly historic event. Both illuminate the stunning popcraft through which Ra and the Arkestra had made their name, drawing on their classic Afrofuturist themes of navigating outer space and altered destiny. Falling somewhere between Coltrane's iconic work with Johnny Hartman and later vocal stylings of June Tyson and Ra himself, these two free standing works are not only stunning in their own right, but unveil a crucial moment in the development of the band that hints at all that was to come.

Easily among the most historically important releases that Corbett vs. Dempsey has done to date, their amazing 7", I Struck a Match on the Moon / Dreamsville, has a full-color cover including a rare photo of the band with Ricky Murray. It's an absolute must for every fan of Sun Ra, The Arkestra, and every form of jazz there is.