Sun Ra discography

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The Sun Ra discography is one of the largest in popular music.[1] The eccentric American jazz keyboardist, bandleader and composer recorded dozens of singles and over one hundred full-length albums, comprising well over 1000 songs, and making him one of the most prolific recording artists of the 20th century.[2]

Contents

[edit] Background

Many of these recordings were printed on micro labels: the lengthy list below is only a small portion of Sun Ra's discography, and most of his albums are out of print. His own El Saturn Records were usually printed in editions of 75 copies per album, and were sold primarily at live performances. Many of Sun Ra's early albums were recorded at home by Ra himself on wire or early tape recorders, and are decidedly lo-fi. Despite the technological limitations, Ra used some innovative recording techniques, and these recordings provided an unprecedented level of documentation, and were inspirational in showing how artists could take control of the means of production and distribution of their works.

Prior to the 1970s, most of these albums were produced in Chicago through the El Saturn Records Research enterprise established by Ra and his colleague Alton Abraham, while later El Saturn Records were produced in Philadelphia. A batch of the most significant recordings were licensed to Impulse! Records in the mid-1970s. They were not as successful as hoped, and were deleted from the Impulse catolog, becoming available around the world as inexpensive "cut-outs," making the music more widely available.

Most El Saturn Records were hand-decorated by Arkestra members, and these LP records sometimes sell for high prices among collectors. These El Saturn Records releases, dating from the 1950s to at least the late 1980s, typically had little or no information as to performers or recording dates, and sometimes didn't even list the songs on the album, often pressing one LP side from one era with another from a different decade, leading to some confusion among completists and fans.

After Sun Ra's death, many of his recordings were released on compact disc for the first time by Evidence Records or Ihnfinity Music.

As is the case with an artist whose output is so extensive, there is quite a bit of debate regarding his "best" albums. However, Atlantis, Jazz In Silhouette (considered by many to be among his most accessible albums), Space Is The Place (the 1972 Blue Thumb release), The Magic City, Super-Sonic Jazz, Interstellar Low Ways, Lanquidity, The Nubians Of Plutonia, Secrets Of The Sun, The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Mayan Temples, and Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy are considered by many critics and fans of Sun Ra's work to be amongst his finest recordings. All of these recordings (except for Secrets Of The Sun) are available on CD. Indeed, many of his best-known compositions (such as "Saturn", "Enlightenment" and "Rocket Number Nine") are on these recordings. Out of these recordings, many critics and enthusiasts feel that Jazz In Silhouette is the best entry-point into his work.[3]

[edit] Albums

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
  • 1953 - Sound Sun Pleasure
  • 1956 – Angels and Demons at Play
  • 1957 – Jazz by Sun Ra
  • 1957 – Sound of Joy
  • 1957 – Super-Sonic Jazz
  • 1958 – Jazz in Silhouette
  • 1959 – The Nubians of Plutonia by Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra (aka The Lady with the Golden Stockings) (El Saturn Records, Impulse!)
  • 1960 – Rocket Number Nine by Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra (aka Interstellar Low Ways)
  • 1961 – The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra by Sun Ra and his Arkestra (Savoy Records)
  • 1961 – We are in the Future by Sun Ra and his Arkestra (Savoy Records)
  • 1961 – We Travel the Spaceways by Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra
  • 1961 – Secrets of the Sun by Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra (El Saturn Records)
  • 1961 – Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy by Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra
  • 1961 – Bad and Beautiful by Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra (El Saturn Records, Impulse!)
  • 1961 – Fate in a Pleasant Mood by Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra (El Saturn Records, Impulse!)
  • 1962 – When Sun Comes Out by Sun Ra and his Astro-Infinty Arkestra (El Saturn Records)
  • 1964 – Other Planes of There by Sun Ra and his Astro-Infinty Arkestra (Evidence)
  • 1965 – The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One
  • 1965 – The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two
  • 1965 – Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow by Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra (El Saturn Records)
  • 1965 – The Magic City
  • 1966 – Visits Planet Earth by Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra
  • 1966 – Other Planes Of There by Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra
  • 1966 – Strange Strings by Sun Ra and his Astro Infinity Arkestra
  • 1966 – Nothing Is by Sun Ra (ESP-Disk)
  • 1966 – Impressions of a Patch of Blue
  • 1966 – When Angels Speak of Love by Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra
  • 1966 – Monorails and Satellites by Sun Ra (Evidence)
  • 1967 – Atlantis
  • 1968 – A Black Mass by Imamu Amiri Baraka with Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra
  • 1968 – Pictures Of Infinity
  • 1970 – It's After the End of the World by Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Research Arkestra (MPS)
  • 1970 – Holiday for Soul Dance by Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Arkestra
  • 1970 – Sound Sun Pleasure!! by Sun Ra and his Astro Infinity Arkestra
  • 1971 – Nidhamu by Sun Ra and his Astro Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra (Thoth)
  • 1971 – Live in Egypt 1 by Sun Ra and his Astro Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra (Thoth)
  • 1971 – Horizon by Sun Ra and his Arkestra
  • 1972 – Astro Black
  • 1972 - The Night of the Purple Moon by Sun Ra
  • 1973 – Space is the Place
  • 1973 – Concert for the Comet Kohoutek by Sun Ra
  • 1973 – Deep Purple
  • 1973 – Live in Paris at the "Gibus" by Sun Ra
  • 1973 – What Planet Is This? by Sun Ra and His Space Arkestra
  • 1973 – Outer Space Employment Agency by Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Arkestra (Total Engery Records, recorded live at the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival, September 9, 1973, released 1999)
  • 1974 – Outer Spaceways Incorporated - by Sun Ra and his Arkestra (aka A Tonal View of Times Tomorrow, Vol. 3)
  • 1974 – The Invisible Shield by Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Research Arkestra (aka Janus, A Tonal View of Times Tomorrow, Vol. 2, Satellites are Outerspace...)
  • 1975 – What's New? by Sun Ra
  • 1976 – Cosmos by Sun Ra
  • 1976 – Live at Montreux
  • 1976 – Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold
  • 1977 – Solo Piano, Volume 1 by Sun Ra
  • 1977 – St. Louis Blues: Solo Piano by Sun Ra
  • 1978 – Visions
  • 1978 – Lanquidity
  • 1978 – Disco 3000 by Sun Ra and his Arkestra (El Saturn Records)
  • 1978 – On Jupiter by Sun Ra and his Arkestra (El Saturn Records)
  • 1978 – The Other Side of the Sun by Sun Ra
  • 1978 – The Antique Blacks by Sun Ra and his Arkestra
  • 1979 – Omniverse
  • 1980 – Sunrise in Different Dimensions by the Sun Ra Arkestra
  • 1980 – Sleeping Beauty by Sun Ra and his Arkestra (El Saturn Records)
  • 1982 – Strange Celestial Road by Sun Ra (Rounder)
  • 1984 – Nuclear War by Sun Ra Arkestra
  • 1984 – Cosmo Sun Connection by Sun Ra and his Arkestra
  • 1986 – A Night in East Berlin by Sun Ra and his Cosmo Discipline Arkestra
  • 1989 – Blue Delight by Sun Ra (A&M)
  • 1990 – Live in London 1990 by Sun Ra and His Year 2000 Myth Science Arkestra
  • 1990 – Mayan Temples by Sun Ra (Black Saint/Soul Note)
  • 1990 – Purple Night
  • 1991 – At the Village Vanguard by Sun Ra Sextet
  • 1991 – Friendly Galaxy by Sun Ra Arkestra
  • 1992 – Destination Unknown by Sun Ra & his Omniverse Arkestra
  • 1993 – Somewhere Else by Sun Ra (recorded 1988–89) (Rounder 3036)
  • 2000 - Greatest Hits: Easy Listening For Intergalactic Travel by Sun Ra And His Arkestra
  • 2002 – Music from Tomorrow's World: Chicago 1960 by Sun Ra and His Arkestra
  • 2003 – Spaceship Lullaby: Chicago 1954-60 by Sun Ra/the Vocal Groups featuring Nu Sounds, the Unitels & the Cosmic Rays
  • 2005 - Heliocentríc Worlds, Vol. 3 by Sun Ra, recorded in 1965 (Esp-Disk)

[edit] Other appearances

[edit] References

  1. ^ allmusic ((( Sun Ra > Discography > Main Albums )))
  2. ^ Szwed, John F. Space Is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra Pantheon, 1997, ISBN 978-0679435891; p. xvii
  3. ^ Planer, Lindsay. Jazz In Silhouette review from Allmusic.com; URL accessed February 15, 2007

[edit] External links