Sun Ra -

Sun Ra — aka Herman Poole Blount (May 22, 1914 — May 30, 1993) — was an American jazz keyboardist, composer, and bandleader who released more than seventy albums across thirty-five years. He led successive Arkestra iterations: Jazz Arkestra, Myth Science Arkestra, Solar Arkestra, Astro Infinity Arkestra, and Astro Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra.

His early Saturn albums Jazz in Silhouette and The Lady With the Golden Stockings set arranged horn charts against percussion vamps, reed solos, and electric-keyboard textures. Subsequent titles — The Magic City, Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy, and Atlantis — extended the Arkestra language through long-form collective improvisation, tape reverb, organ, clavioline, chant, and large percussion fields.

During the 1970s, he made vocal-ensemble works (Discipline 27-II, Space Is the Place), electric and mid-size studio sessions (Cosmos, Lanquidity, Sleeping Beauty), and a piano-trio album (God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be). His 1980s albums ranged from large electric Arkestras (Strange Celestial Road) to cross-ensemble recordings with Cairo musicians.

Background

Sun Ra was born Herman Poole Blount on May 22, 1914, in Birmingham, Alabama. Blount grew up in a Baptist household led by mother Ida Blount, great-aunt Ida Howard, and maternal grandmother Margaret Jones. Ida Howard bought Blount a piano when he was eleven, and Blount used family music books to teach himself notation and composition. Blount attended Birmingham Industrial High School, where John “Fess” Whatley taught music after school and placed student players inside a disciplined band system.

Blount filled his first professional piano job with the Sax-O-Society Orchestra during his senior year at Industrial High School. Whatley financed a touring band after Blount graduated from high school, and Blount played piano across the Southeast and Midwest with that ensemble. Ethel Harper then hired Blount for arrangements and touring work, and Blount took charge of the band after Harper left the tour for New York. Blount entered the State Agricultural and Mechanical Institute for Negroes in Huntsville as a music education student, where Lula Hopkins Randall gave him formal classical piano instruction.

He left college after one year and returned to Birmingham, where he converted the family home into a rehearsal room for scores, transcriptions, and ensemble practice. Blount copied sheet music, studied Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington records, and used early tape equipment to document local musicians. He bought a Hammond Solovox after the instrument reached the market, and the electric keyboard became part of his private experiments in Birmingham.

Blount resisted military induction as a conscientious objector in October 1942. Authorities jailed Blount and then assigned him to a civilian public service camp in Pennsylvania before a health release returned him to Alabama. He left Birmingham for Chicago after the death of Ida Howard.

Early Career

Blount made the first documented commercial recordings at WSM Studio B in Nashville when Wynonie Harris cut four Bullet sides with pianist Herman “Sonny” Blount. The session produced “Dig This Boogie,” “Lightnin’ Struck the Poor House,” “My Baby’s Barrel House,” and “Drinkin’ by Myself” for Bullet Records.

Fletcher Henderson hired Blount as pianist and staff arranger at Club DeLisa on the South Side of Chicago. The Henderson job placed Blount inside a show-band environment that backed singers, dancers, comics, and floor productions. Blount played with Coleman Hawkins and Stuff Smith at a North Side after-hours club in Chicago. Red Saunders recorded “Stop Pretty Baby Stop,” “Mistreatin’ Woman Blues,” “Week Day Blues,” and “4 A.M.” from Blount arrangements at Columbia Studios in Chicago. Saunders later recorded “Mambo in Trumpet” and “Voodoo Blues” with Sun Ra as arranger at the same studio.

Blount described a Saturn visitation during the Alabama A&M period, and the account became a central frame for his later name, language, and stage identity. He legally changed his name to Le Sony’r Ra on October 20, 1952. The shorter Sun Ra name tied the performer identity to Ra, the Egyptian sun god, and gave Blount a public break from the Sonny Blount name. Sun Ra drew on scripture, Egyptology, astronomy, occult systems, word play, and Black history for a stage language of titles, costumes, signs, and lectures.

Sun Ra started the Space Trio in Chicago around 1950 or 1951 with saxophonist Pat Patrick and drummers Tommy Hunter or Robert Barry. The trio gave Sun Ra a small working unit for original pieces, altered song forms, celeste, Solovox, and off-center piano figures. Alton Abraham and the South Side circle around Saturn Research connected Sun Ra with a study network that joined Black nationalism, outer space, theosophy, and sound. Sun Ra formed Saturn Records with Alton Abraham and Artis Abraham before the first Arkestra studio dates at Balkan and RCA Victor.

Sun Ra secured steady work for the Arkestra at Cadillac Bob’s Birdland in Chicago during January 1956. The band rehearsed five days a week, and Sun Ra wrote parts at the piano for specific players. He signaled titles from keyboard introductions during club sets and changed arrangements from the bandstand. Saturn pressed early Arkestra singles in small runs, including “Saturn” and “Call for All Demons.” Tom Wilson then recorded Jazz by Sun Ra Vol. 1 for Transition at Universal Recording in Chicago.

Jazz in Silhouette

Sun Ra and the Arkestra released their third studio album, Jazz in Silhouette, in May 1959 on Saturn.

Jazz in Silhouette presents the Chicago Arkestra ten-piece with bassist Ronnie Boykins, drummer William “Bugs” Cochran, trumpeter Hobart Dotson, trombonist Bo Bailey, and reedists Marshall Allen, James Spaulding, John Gilmore, Charles Davis, and Pat Patrick. Ra juggles piano, celeste, and gong.

“Hours After” steps through a two-beat figure and leaves Dotson room for nimble solo turns. “Horoscope” and “Images” keep the solo space direct, with Gilmore and the section carrying short, orderly turns. “Blues at Midnight” stretches through extended horn turns, a dexterous piano setup, Boykins’s driving low line, and a final duet.

“Enlightenment” steadies a strict-tempo line through interlaced themes and answering counterlines. “Saturn” hustles an abstract head into rapid ensemble motion, then leaves Gilmore to cut challenging solo turns. “Velvet” races through brisk four-four, irregular accents, and off-balance ensemble figures. “Ancient Aiethopia” processes through low-register lockstep, ominous brass blocks, a percussive flute break, wordless chant, and Ra’s semi-abstract solo.

A1. “Hours After” (3:42) – Ra, Turner
A2. “Horoscope” (3:45)
A3. “Images” (3:51)
A4. “Blues at Midnight” (11:56)

B1. “Enlightment” (5:03) – Ra, Dotson
B2. “Saturn” (3:39)
B3. “Velvet” (3:19)
B4. “Ancient Aiethopia” (9:07)

Sessions occurred on March 6, 1959 at El Saturn Studio in Chicago. Saturn first packaged Jazz in Silhouette in a simple silk-screened cover credited to H.P. Corbissero. Saturn later used Evans cover art with a female figure above a Saturnian landscape.

Saturn issued “Hours After” as a 1958 single with “Great Balls of Fire” on the B-side.

The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra

Sun Ra and the Arkestra released their fourth studio album, The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra, in 1962 on Savoy.

Futuristic Sounds presents a smaller Savoy Arkestra with returning bassist Ronnie Boykins and reedists Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, and Pat Patrick. New players include drummer Willie Jones, conguero Leah Ananda, vocalist Ricky Murray, and trombonist Bernard McKinney, who doubles on euphonium.

“Bassism” riffs through conga-accented blue-note fragments and a steady ensemble lock. “Of Sounds and Something Else” bends compact blue-note phrases. “What’s That?” splinters into a four-horn improvisation and an oddly shaped scramble. “Where Is Tomorrow?” flickers from reed line to flute color during quick transitions. “The Beginning” opens in held quiet, then layers cyclic low figures, high bells, crying calls, and thickened percussion. “China Gates” sets Ricky Murray’s voice inside spare quiet, where the sung line rings against the ensemble.

“New Day” drones through Boykins’s cyclic figure, high bells, and crying calls. “Tapestry from an Asteroid” lingers in a tranquil lull. “Jet Flight” lifts through expectant uptempo lines. “Looking Outward” reduces a clave-rooted pattern to a skeleton, then sets a trance-like figure against a distant low drone. “Space Jazz Reverie” sways at middle tempo through oblique intervals, a chain of solos, dense comping, and a bridge that braids two themes back to the head.

A1. “Bassism” (4:07)
A2. “Of Sounds and Something Else” (2:54)
A3. “What’s That?” (2:15)
A4. “Where Is Tomorrow?” (2:50)
A5. “The Beginning” (6:29)
A6. “China Gates” (3:25) – Young

B1. “New Day” (5:51)
B2. “Tapestry from an Asteroid” (3:02)
B3. “Jet Flight” (3:15)
B4. “Looking Outward” (2:49)
B5. “Space Jazz Reverie” (4:54)

Sessions occurred on October 10, 1961 at Medallion Studio in Newark. Tom Wilson produced the album, and Paul Cady engineered the session.

Harvey designed the Savoy sleeve, whose painting shows a conga drum above piano-key terrain against an orange sky.

The Lady With the Golden Stockings

Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra released The Lady With the Golden Stockings in 1966 on Saturn.

Golden Stockings presents a thirteen-piece Chicago Myth Science Arkestra with bassist Ronnie Boykins, drummer/percussionist Robert Barry, percussionist Jim Herndon, trombonist Nate Pryor, trumpeters Lucious Randolph and William Fielder, and reedists James Spaulding, Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, Pat Patrick, and Charles Davis. Ra juggles piano, electric keyboard, and bells.

“The Lady With the Golden Stockings” sways through hi-hat, cowbell, woodblock, floor-tom rolls, a dark Ra line, Spaulding’s alto solo, and blue-note ensemble turns. “Nubia” coils around an ominous percussion bed, low-line pressure, and bell color. “Africa” simmers over the same dark-toned bed, with space-lute color, wordless male voices, and Spaulding near the close. “Aiethopia” sustains the rhythm-centered language in a looser, room-blurred take on the earlier “Ancient Aiethopia” material.

A1. “Plutonian Nights” (4:22)
A2. “The Lady with the Golden Stockings” (7:41)
A3. “Star Time” (4:18)

B1. “Nubia” (8:14)
B2. “Africa” (5:06)
B3. “Watusa” (2:36) – Pitts, Sherrill
B4. “Aethiopia” (7:12)

Recordings occurred during 1958–1959 in Chicago. Saturn first issued the album in a blank sleeve under the title The Lady With the Golden Stockings. By 1969, Saturn retitled the album The Nubians of Plutonia and used sleeve art by Richard Pedreguera.

The Magic City

Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra released The Magic City in 1966 on Saturn.

Magic City shifts the Arkestra section to New York with bassist Ronnie Boykins and multiple percussionists (Roger Blank, Jimhmi Johnson), trumpet (Walter Miller, Chris Capers), trombonists (Ali Hassan, Teddy Nance, Bernard Pettaway), and reedists (Marshall Allen, Danny Davis, Harry Spencer, John Gilmore, Pat Patrick, Robert Cummings). Ra straddles piano and clavioline

“The Magic City” sprawls through Ra’s cues, clavioline color, bowed low line, hand percussion, high flute-piccolo clusters, jostling horn lines, cavernous reverb, and late shrieks. “The Shadow World” sprints through 7/4 lines, knotted stops, a tympani break, and Gilmore’s solo. “Abstract Eye” taps bass-marimba figures inside compact directed ensemble play. “Abstract ‘I’ revisits the compact piece through bass-marimba figures.

A1. “The Magic City” (27:22)

B1. “The Shadow World” (10:55)
B2. “Abstract Eye” (2:51)
B3. “Abstract ‘I’” (4:08)

Ra recorded “The Magic City” during a September 1965 rehearsal in New York. The Arkestra recorded “The Shadow World,” “Abstract Eye,” and “Abstract ‘I’” live during spring 1965 at Olatunji’s loft in New York. William White created the Saturn cover, whose drawing references the dome of Birmingham Terminal Station.

Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy

Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra released Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy in 1967 on Saturn.

Cosmic Tones collects five 1963 New York Arkestra pieces with bassist Ronnie Boykins, drummer Clifford Jarvis, percussionists James Jacson and Tommy Hunter, and reedists Marshall Allen, Danny Davis, John Gilmore, Pat Patrick, and Robert Cummings. Ra balances organ, clavioline, and percussion.

“And Otherness” blares through distorted saxophone passages, discordant horn swells, and complex rhythmic blocks. “Thither and Yon” hovers in overloaded reverb, with low reed and oboe colors placed in a chamber-scale spread. “Adventure Equation” gathers slow-rising accents into a steadier run; the club phone cuts through two passages.

“Moon Dance” jolts Ra’s B-3 organ through a tighter, jaunty run and fragmented staccato accents. “Voice of Space” suspends fluttering percussion, tilting brass-and-woodwind lines, reed extension, and siren-like stabs before the parts split into discordant separation.

A1. “And Otherness” (5:10)
A2. “Thither and Yon” (4:01)
A3. “Adventure-Equation” (8:26)

B1. “Moon Dance” (6:34)
B2. “Voice of Space” (7:42)

Sessions for “And Otherness” and “Thither and Yon” occurred during March 1963 at the Choreographer’s Workshop in New York. Ra recorded “Adventure-Equation,” “Moon Dance,” and “Voice of Space” during 1963 at the Tip Top Club in Brooklyn. Saturn first issued the album in a Sun Ra doodle sleeve, and Richard Pedreguera designed the later cover by 1969.

Atlantis

Sun Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra released Atlantis in 1969 on Saturn.

Atlantis pairs four shorter 1968 studio pieces with the 1967 side-long title piece from the Olatunji Center. The 1968 side adds reedist Danny Thompson alongside Allen, Gilmore, Patrick, Davis, and Cummings. The title piece features drummer Robert Barry, space-drummer Carl Nimrod, log-drummer James Jacson, trombonist Ali Hassan, and trumpeters Wayne Harris and Akh Tal Ebah.

“Mu” creeps through conga drive, acoustic-electronic contrast, and Gilmore’s raga-styled solo. “Lemuria” drifts through slow lo-fi organ, soft hand accents, and a subdued guitar trace. “Yucatan” crawls through slow lo-fi electric-key color and soft accents. “Bimini” bursts from side-one restraint into a percussive barrage and denser clatter. “Atlantis” erupts through scattered impacts, flaring clavinet chords, aggressive key strikes, sporadic ensemble entries, a brief midsection key melody, and a turbulent late eruption.

A1. “Mu” (4:30)
A2. “Lemuria” (5:02)
A3. “Yucatan” (5:27)
A4. “Bimini” (5:45)

B1. “Atlantis” (21:51)

Ra recorded the shorter side-A titles on September 22, 1968 at Sun Studios in New York. The Arkestra recorded “Atlantis” on August 4, 1967 at the Olatunji Center of African Culture in New York. The 1973 Impulse! reissue substituted a different “Yucatan” take, and later digital editions included both “Yucatan I” and “Yucatan II.”

Discipline 27-II

Sun Ra and His Astro Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra released Discipline 27-II in 1973 on El Saturn.

Discipline 27-II presents an eighteen-piece Astro Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra with Space Ethnic Voices singers Cheryl Banks, Judith Holton, June Tyson, and Ruth Wright. The ensemble roster includes multiple trumpeters (Akh Tal Ebah, Lamont Kwamie McClamb), percussionists (Russell Branch, Stanley Morgan), drummers (Alzo Wright, Harry Richards, Lex Humphries, Robert Underwood), and reedists (John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Danny Davis, Pat Patrick, Danny Ray Thompson, Eloe Omoe).

“Pan Afro” locks interlaced horn riffs around Gilmore’s tenor lead, Ra’s oblique piano figure, and a sharp trumpet turn. “Discipline 8” angles one chord through atonal brass pressure, then unravels into reed squalls and loose final clatter. “Neptune” narrows the large ensemble to June Tyson’s chant, a mellow baritone line, and a released ensemble close. “Discipline 27-II Parts 1-4” measures a slow-sustained chant span through Tyson–Ra call-and-response, sectioned vocal exchanges, and controlled horn movement.

A1. “Pan Afro” (8:02)
A2. “Discipline 8” (7:56)
A3. “Neptune” (5:47)

B1. “Discipline 27-II” (24:29)

Sessions occurred on October 19–20, 1972 at Streeterville Studios in Chicago. Alton Abraham produced the Saturn LP for Infinity Inc., and Ed Michel recorded the session. LeRoy Butler created the cover art, and Alton Abraham designed the cover.

Space Is the Place

Sun Ra and His Astro Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra released Space Is the Place in 1973 on Blue Thumb.

Space Is the Place pairs a side-long title piece with four shorter second-side titles. The Space Ethnic Voices return while Pat Patrick doubles on bass guitar and baritone saxophone. New players include percussionists Atakatun and Odun and trumpeter Kwame Hadi.

“Space Is the Place” cycles a steady horn figure through interlocked vocal layers, baritone theme, brass squawks, organ effects, and chant-driven percussion. “Images (In a Mirror)” sets Ra’s piano over an understated bass line and cymbal beat, then brings the ensemble into mostly unified motion with darting melodic figures.

“Discipline 33” staggers at a slower pace, with space-organ turns, a flute counterline, and mild dissonance inside the calm setting. “Sea of Sounds” descends from a low line into clashing ensemble talk, spattering reeds, and unstable motion. “Rocket Number Nine” loops layered voices around sputtering reeds and a disjointed organ motif.

A1. “Space Is the Place” (21:14)

B1. “Images” (6:15)
B2. “Discipline 33” (4:50)
B3. “Sea of Sound” (7:42)
B4. “Rocket Number Nine” (2:50)

Sessions occurred on October 19–20, 1972 at Streeterville Studios in Chicago. Alton Abraham and Ed Michel produced the album, Baker Bigsby engineered the session, and Steve Skinder, Jim Dolan, Mitch Hennes, Preston Wakeland, and Dominic Lumetta assisted. Blue Thumb packaged the album in a gatefold cover with a film-still image of Ra in robes and headpiece.

Cosmos

Sun Ra and His Arkestra released Cosmos in 1976 on Cobra.

Cosmos presents a mid-size Arkestra lineup with Ra on the Rock-Si-Chord, an electric keyboard voiced after the harpsichord. His new players include electric bassist R. Anthony Bunn, drummer Larry Bright, trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah, French horn player Vincent Chancey, and trombonist Craig Harris. They join returning reedists John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Danny Davis, Danny Ray Thompson, Eloe Omoe, and James Jacson.

“The Mystery of Two” drives around Allen’s alto lead, hard ensemble strikes, and skittering reed pressure. “Moonship Journey” bounces on rocksichord color and repeated ensemble chant. “Jazz From an Unknown Planet” eases through a slower run with solos between Ra, Davis, and Gilmore.

A1. “The Mystery of Two” (5:47)
A2. “Interstellar Low-Ways” (4:45)
A3. “Neo Project #2” (5:15)
A4. “Cosmos” (2:50)

B1. “Moonship Journey” (6:30)
B2. “Journey Among Stars” (5:50)
B3. “Jazz from an Unknown Planet” (8:10)

Sessions occurred in August 1976 at Studio Hautefeuille in Paris. Ra produced the recordings during the Arkestra’s European stay. Cobra issued the album in France before Inner City issued the album in the United States.

Lanquidity

Sun Ra and His Arkestra released Lanquidity in August 1978 on Philly Jazz.

Lanquidity presents a large 1978 studio Arkestra with Ra on piano, ARP synthesizer, Minimoog, Fender Rhodes, Yamaha organ, Hammond B-3, and bells. Hi Arkestra includes bassist Richard Williams, conguero Atakatune, and multiple guitarists (Dale Williams, Disco Kid), percussionists (Luqman Ali, Michael D. Anderson), trumpeters (Eddie Gale, Michael Ray). Saxist Julian Pressley joins the returning Cosmos reed section.

“Lanquidity” creeps through a mournful horn motif, Rhodes fragments, sparse electric bass line, fractured electronic tones, and woodwind turns. “Where Pathways Meet” strides through a baritone-piano pattern, saxophone trio lines, dueling guitar figures, distorted solo breaks, and a sharp trumpet turn.

“That’s How I Feel” saunters around a double-bass run, reflective trumpet lines, Gilmore’s solo, and Allen’s oboe. “Twin Stars of Thence” drags its hypnotic low-line lock under organ commentary, gradual horn entries, blue-note reed turns, and a spare baritone break. “There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of)” hums through low-register voices, faint hi-hat motion, synthesizer wash, breathy spoken lines, dissonant piano chords, flute color, and a final split into unstable fragments.

A1. “Lanquidity” (8:19)
A2. “Where Pathways Meet” (6:29)

B1. “That’s How I Feel” (8:03)
B2. “Twin Stars of Thence” (9:32)
B3. “There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of)” (10:57)

Sessions occurred on July 17, 1978 at Blank Tapes in New York City. Bob Blank and Joe Arlotta recorded the album, Ra produced the original recordings, and Tom Buchler and Richard Barry served as executive producers. Philly Jazz packaged the album in a silver jacket with a cover photograph by Charles Shabacon.

God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be

Sun Ra Trio released God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be in 1979 on Saturn.

God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be presents a piano-trio Saturn session with bassist Hayes Burnett and drummer Samarai Celestial. “Days of Happiness” adds an overdubbed second piano part; the other four pieces are strict trio recordings.

“Days of Happiness” lilts and churns through intersecting piano parts, an amplified low vamp, flurried patterns, bowing, and a staggered tumble that thins to skeletal timekeeping. “Magic City Blue” jostles block chords against blunt collisions, then breaks into syncopated barrelhouse figures and a disintegrating finish. “Tenderness” locks the trio around a tinkling, flint-struck piano procession before the final minutes harden and implode.

“Blithe Spirit Dance” moves from angular density into concentric chords, shifting low-line pressure, and a splintered release into a vamp. “God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be” undulates through pedal-swollen piano patterns, reverberant low pulses, spare stick marks, and an abrupt cut into silence.

A1. “Days of Happiness” (7:27)
A2. “Magic City Blue” (4:49)
A3. “Tenderness” (8:33)

B1. “Blithe Spirit Dance” (10:34)
B2. “God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be” (6:49)

Sessions occurred on July 25, 1979 at Variety Studios in New York City. Ra produced the original recordings for Saturn Records. Saturn circulated the album in small press runs under the alternate title Days of Happiness between 1979 and 1981, without a fixed artwork package.

Sleeping Beauty

Sun Ra and His Arkestra released Sleeping Beauty in 1979 on Saturn.

Sleeping Beauty presents three long Saturn studio pieces for a large Arkestra lineup with guitarist Disco Kid, bassist Richard Williams, vibraphonist Harry Wilson, percussionist Atakatune, drummer Luqman Ali, vocalist June Tyson, French horn player Vincent Chancey, trombonists Tony Bethel and Craig Harris, trumpeters Michael Ray and Walter Miller, and reedists Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, Danny Ray Thompson, Eloe Omoe, and James Jacson.

“Springtime Again” lilts at a slow-tender pace, with a skittering intro, fragmentary instrumental pickups, Ra’s piano punctuation, horn-section statement, ensemble voices, and Allen–Gilmore solo turns. “Door of the Cosmos” chants and claps around electric-piano comments, guitar replies, a stronger low line, Tyson’s vocal lead, Michael Ray’s trumpet break, and off-rhythm snare accents. “Sleeping Beauty” glides through cloudy electric-piano riffs, murkier voices, vibraphone color, spacious solo room, a brief late Allen atonal turn, and gently layered Tyson–Blount chant.

A1. “Springtime Again” (9:12)
A2. “Door of the Cosmos” (8:53)

B1. “Sleeping Beauty” (11:48)

Ra recorded the album in 1979 at Variety Recording Studios in New York. Saturn circulated original copies in hand-drawn and painted sleeve variants.

Strange Celestial Road

Sun Ra and His Arkestra released Strange Celestial Road in 1980 on Rounder.

Strange Celestial Road presents three long large-ensemble Arkestra pieces with June Tyson joined by vocalist Rhoda Blount. New players include bassist Steve Clarke, trumpeter Curt Pulliam, vibraphonist Damon Choice, guitarists Skeeter McFarland and Taylor Richardson, drummers Eddie Thomas and Reg McDonald, and reedists Kenny Williams, Noël Scott, Hutch Jones, and Sylvester Baton.

“Celestial Road” glides through wah-wah guitar, arco low-line color, June Tyson’s vocal, reed soloing, Michael Ray’s trumpet, Ra’s keys, and Damon Choice’s vibraphone turn. “Say” locks a bright horn chart to a Latin-leaning 4/4 run, with a sharp electric-guitar break, Gilmore’s reed lines, and Ray’s trumpet. “I’ll Wait for You” chants through Tyson-led ensemble voices, layered percussion, a recurring high drone, and mixing shifts that thread instruments and voices in and out.

A1. “Celestial Road” (7:02)
A2. “Say” (12:05)

B1. “I’ll Wait for You” (16:00)

Ra recorded, mixed, and mastered the material at Variety Recording Studio in New York City, probably in June 1979. Mike Dacek engineered the session, and Sun Ra, Michael Ray, and Mike Smith mixed the recordings. Rounder issued the album in 1980 after Ra retained “Springtime Again,” “Door of the Cosmos,” and “Sleeping Beauty” for Saturn release.

The Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab in Egypt

The Sun Ra Arkestra and Salah Ragab released The Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab in Egypt in 1983 on Praxis.

Egypt pairs two Arkestra titles with three cuts by Salah Ragab and the Cairo Jazz Band. Ra commands Hohner melodica, Ondioline, and synthesizeron side A, which features conguero Salah Ragab, trombonist Tyrone Hill, bass clarinetist Lee Roy Taylor, bassoonist James Jacson, and drummers Chris Henderson, Claude Broche, and Eric Walker. The album features three returning saxophonists: Marshall Allen (alto), John Gilmore (tenor), and Danny Ray Thompson (baritone). Praxis credited Ragab for all five pieces.

“Egypt Strut” struts through congas, a horn-led head, Gilmore’s solo, Allen’s flute, Ra’s ringing keyboard turn, and mozmar color. “Dawn” rises on 6/8 motion, with Gilmore’s solo and Allen’s flute set inside a hymn-derived line.

“Ramadan” chants over a 4/4 pattern, with baza accents starting the theme and the large Cairo Jazz Band voices tightening the response. “Oriental Mood” circles a 6/8 figure around nay soloing, Hogaz-scale turns, rek, darbuka, piano, and double-bass support. “A Farewell Theme” opens through Khamis El Khouly’s piano, a 16-bar shape, 4/4 African rhythm, large-band voicing, and unexpected tonal turns.

A1. “Egypt Strut” (6:40)
A2. “Dawn” (12:15)

B1. “Ramadan” (4:20)
B2. “Oriental Mood” (4:50)
B3. “A Farewell Theme”

The Arkestra recorded “Egypt Strut” and “Dawn” at El Nahar Studios in Heliopolis in May 1983, after April concerts at the Il Capo / Il Buco venue in Cairo. Kostas Yiannoulopoulos issued the recordings as side A of the Praxis LP, with three Salah Ragab and Cairo Jazz Orchestra titles on side B. Strut reissued the album with original artwork in 2022.

Discography:

Jazz by Sun Ra, Vol. 1 (1957)
Super-Sonic Jazz (1957 • Sun Ra and His Arkestra)
Jazz in Silhouette (1959)
The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra (1962)
When Sun Comes Out (1963 • Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra)
Angels and Demons at Play (1965 • Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra)
Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow (1965 • Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra)
Fate in a Pleasant Mood (1965 • Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra)
Secrets of the Sun (1965 • Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra)
The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra (1965)
Other Planes of There (1966 • Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra)
Rocket Number Nine (1966 • Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra)
The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume 2 (1966 • Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra)
The Lady With the Golden Stockings (1966)
The Magic City (1966 • Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra)
Visits Planet Earth (1966 • Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra)
When Angels Speak of Love (1966 • Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra)
Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy (1967 • Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra)
Strange Strings (1967 • Sun Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra)
We Travel the Spaceways (1967 • Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra)
A Black Mass (1968 • Imamu Baraka and the Sun Ra Myth-Science Arkestra)
Monorails and Satellites (1968)
Sound of Joy [archival] (1968 • Sun Ra and The Arkestra)
Atlantis (1969 • Sun-Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra)
Continuation (1969)
Holiday for Soul Dance (1970 • Sun-Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra)
My Brother the Wind (1970 • Sun Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra)
Sound Sun Pleasure!! (archival, 1970 • Sun-Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra)
It’s After the End of the World: Live at the Donaueschingen and Berlin Festivals (1970 • Sun Ra and His Intergalactic
Research Arkestra)
Nothing Is… (1970)
Pictures of Infinity (1971 • Sun Ra and His Arkestra)
The Solar-Myth Approach Volume 1 (1971 • Sun Ra and His Solar-Myth Arkestra)
The Solar-Myth Approach Volume 2 (1971 • Sun Ra and His Solar-Myth Arkestra)
The Wind Speaks: My Brother the Wind, Vol. II (1971 • Sun-Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra)
“The Night of the Purple Moon” (1972 • Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra)
Bad and Beautiful (archival, 1972 • Mr. Sun Ra and His Arkestra)
Astro Black (1973)
Discipline 27-II (1972)
Dreams Come True (1973)
Space Is the Place (1973)
Monorails and Satellites Vol. II (1974)
Space Probe (1974 • Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Research Arkestra)
The Invisible Shield (1974 • Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Research Arkestra)
Pathways to Unknown Worlds (1975 • Sun Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra)
What’s New? (archival, 1975)
Cosmos (1976)
Solo Piano, Vol. 1 (1977)
Lanquidity (1978)
New Steps (1978 • Sun Ra Quartet)
Other Voices, Other Blues (1978 • Sun Ra Quartet)
God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be (1979)
Sleeping Beauty (1979 • Sun Ra and His Arkestra)
The Other Side of the Sun (1979)
Visions (1979 • Sun Ra & Walt Dickerson)
On Jupiter (1979)
Strange Celestial Road (1980)
Aurora Borealis (1981)
The Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab in Egypt (1983)
A Fireside Chat With Lucifer (1983)
Celestial Love (1984)
Nuclear War (1984 • Sun Ra Arkestra)
Reflections in Blue (1987)
Blue Delight (1989)
Hours After (1989 • Sun Ra Arkestra)
Out There a Minute (1989)
Purple Night (1990)
Mayan Temples (1990 • Sun Ra Arkestra)
Soundtrack to the Film Space Is the Place (archival, 1993 • Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Solar Arkestra)
Somewhere Else (1993)