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Sun Ra: At The Showcase (Live In Chicago, 1976-1977)
by Mike Jurkovic
It is an unchallenged law of nature that wherever or whoever anyone happens to be when they encounter Sun Ra, they are certain to be somewhere and someone else after the meeting. That holds especially true of Sun Ra at the Showcase: Live in Chicago. Captured during two barn-burning performances at the Windy City's venerable Showcase Club in '76 and '77, this limited 2-LP, 2 CD set--released by the equally venerable Zev Feldman's Jazz Detective label to celebrate ...
Continue ReadingSun Ra: At The Showcase (Live In Chicago, 1976-1977)
by Glenn Astarita
Embark on a cosmic odyssey with Sun Ra and his Arkestra as they unveil At the Showcase Live in Chicago 1976-1977, a celestial offering dripping with mystique and intrigue. This transcendent collection not only unveils previously unreleased tracks but also grants access to the legendary Showcase Lounge, overseen by the venerable Joe Segal. Complemented by a captivating booklet featuring insights from Marshall Allen and reflections from jazz luminaries like David Murray and Matthew Shipp, this album becomes a veritable treasure ...
Continue ReadingThe (Record Store) Day After - Part 2
by Ludovico Granvassu
More un-earthed gems and special edition re-issues released for Record Store Day in this set, which also focuses on two wonderful Sun Ra tribute albums produced by the Red Hot Organization. Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Lettuce “VIBE" VIBE (Lettuce) 0:16 Host talks 6:10 Kenny Garrett, Svoy “Ascendence" Who Killed AI? (Mack Avenue) 7:48 Host talks 11:42 Brother Jack McDuff “[Untitled]" Ain't No Sunshine: Live ...
Continue ReadingSun Ra: At The Showcase (Live In Chicago, 1976-1977)
by Troy Dostert
Describing the music of Sun Ra is always challenging--perhaps even more so when it is documented on a live recording. A case in point is this offering from the Jazz Detective label, a substantial slice of Ra taken from two concerts at Chicago's Jazz Showcase in the mid-'70s. It can be dense and opaque, even impenetrable at times. But it also swings mightily, with a generous big-band sound which should appeal to all but the most closed-minded jazz listeners. It ...
Continue ReadingSun Ra: Interview With Charlie Morrow New York, 1989
by Chris May
This remarkable LP, released in a limited edition of just 425 copies, is a must-hear for Sun Ra obsessives (of which there are many of us). As an artefact of desire, it is up there with Harmut Geerken's monumental large-format hardback tome, Omniverse Sun Ra (Waitawhile Books, 1994). Interview With Charlie Morrow New York, 1989 chronicles a meeting between two singular individuals: Ra and the then New York-based sound artist, composer, conceptualist, performer and occasional prankster, Charlie Morrow. On March ...
Continue ReadingSun Ra: Space Is The Place (Music From The Original Soundtrack)
by Doug Collette
The outlandish persona Sun Ra created and maintained for himself over the years may sometimes distract from the adventurous intent of the music he made. Yet it is testament to his vigorous loyalty to both the music as means of communicating his cosmic ideology and the basic tenets of his unconventional means of creativity that neither theme intruded dangerously upon the other during the course of his sixty-some year career. In a fittingly limited edition run (for both ...
Continue ReadingSun Ra & His Intergalactic Solar Arkestra: Space Is The Place (Music From The Original Soundtrack)
by Mark Corroto
Do not expect The Criterion Collection to reissue the 1974 film Space Is The Place anytime soon. It is though, a cult classic in the truest sense of the word. Sun Ra and his Arkestra had been at the forefront of avant-garde music, developing and refining his vision since the 1950s. Today listeners are most likely acquainted with Ra's claims of being from Saturn and his mission to save our doomed planet. Back in the late 1960s and early 70s ...
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