Jazz Articles about Sun Ra

About Sun Ra

Album Review

Frankie Valli / Sun Ra: Between the Neon and the Cosmos

Read "Between the Neon and the Cosmos" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
April 1, 2026

There are concept albums, and then there are events. Between the Neon and the Cosmos--an unlikely archival summit between the falsetto king of the New Jersey street corner and the self-proclaimed Cosmic Ambassador from Saturn--is unambiguously the latter. What began as a lost 1978 session tape, reportedly arranged through the mutual obsession of a now-anonymous Atlantic Records A&R man, surfaces here fully remastered and accompanied by two newly overdubbed tracks, and the result is one of the most genuinely strange ...

Album Review

Sun Ra: Heimstad--Sun Ra Meets Pierre Boulez

Read "Heimstad--Sun Ra Meets Pierre Boulez" reviewed by Daniel Mège

by Daniel Mège
April 1, 2026

Most will remember John Cage Meets Sun Ra (Meltdown Records, 1987), drawn from a June 8, 1986 concert at Coney Island, at the initiative of producer Rick Russo to promote his new label. Cage did not know Ra, Ra barely knew Cage, and by most accounts the encounter was a non-encounter. A similar experience brought Ra and Pierre Boulez together that same year. The tapes were lost, recovered, and remastered in 2024: yielding the album Heimstad: Sun Ra Meets Pierre Boulez.

Multiple Reviews

Sun Ra: Live at the left Bank, Lights on a Satellite

by Stefano Merighi
July 11, 2025

La seconda metà degli anni Settanta vede l'Arkestra di Sun Ra già in un momento di bilanci. Vent'anni di attività, una parabola virtuosa che congiunge inizi avventurosi, incompresi, a sviluppi ricchissimi di idee, che oltrepassano sia il post-swing degli esordi che il free radicale, per planare in quello stile composito e stratificato, totalmente personale, che è inconfondibile. Sun Ra Lights on a Satellite: Live at the left Bank Resonance Records 2024

Album Review

Sun Ra: Nuits De La Fondation Maeght (Sun Ra)

Read "Nuits De La Fondation Maeght (Sun Ra)" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
May 24, 2025

Discoveries of lost tapes are often trumpeted as legendary or revelatory, but in the case of the greatly expanded Nuits De La Fondation Maeght, the hype feels entirely warranted. The release offers a comprehensive view of a pivotal moment in Sun Ra's career. In 1970, Sun Ra was invited to play at the prestigious private museum, Fondation Maeght, in southern France. The event was part of a concert series that starred other icons of the jazz avant-garde, ...

Radio & Podcasts

Hamid Drake, Pasquale Mirra, Sun Ra, James Brandon Lewis & More

by Ludovico Granvassu
March 29, 2025

Tons of music continues to orbit around Sun Ra. Here some fascinating new and archival recordings.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 James Brandon Lewis Trio “Remember Brooklyn and Moki" Apple Cores (Anti-) 0:16 Host talks 5:00 Sun Ra Arkestra “Friendly Galaxy" Lights on a Satellite (IN+OUT) 7:16 Sun Ra “Honeysuckle Rose / Enlightment" Uncharted Passages (Sundazed) 20:30 Host talks 28:30 Michael Sarian, Matthew Putman, Ledin Mola, Federico Ughi ...

Album Review

Sun Ra: Lights on a Satellite: Live At The left Bank

Read "Lights on a Satellite: Live At The left Bank" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
December 25, 2024

Sun Ra aficionados seem to possess an insatiable appetite for archival recordings of the ever-evolving ensembles of the pianist, composer and bandleader. Born Helman Poole Blount, in Alabama, in 1914, Ra released possibly as many as 200 albums during his lifetime, including extremely limited pressings with hand-painted covers that he sold in person. You might think such a vast and collectable discography would be treasure-trove enough for even the most committed of Ra crate diggers, but no. Which brings us ...

Album Review

Sun Ra: Lights on a Satellite: Live At The left Bank

Read "Lights on a Satellite: Live At The left Bank" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
November 17, 2024

Sun Ra's 1978 performance at Baltimore's Left Bank Jazz Society ballroom had something for everyone. The great man and his Arkestra, along with singer June Tyson and dancers, performed jazz from its inception to what Ra predicted (correctly) as its future. This recording is the second unissued discovery from Zev Feldman, the “Jazz Detective," and it follows the sprawling At The Showcase: Live In Chicago 1976-1977 (Elemental Music, 2024). These years, the late 1970s, were an interesting time for Ra. ...