2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Purple Night (1990)

Sun Ra's purple night is not only a great album, it is one of Sun Ra's Best, right up there with Heliocentric worlds, Space is the Place, and A Night in East Berlin. It is composed and it isn't. A track like track 3, Love in Outer Space is done as a straight song, but those harmonic touches only Sun Ra could add make it enchanting. A track like track 2 (Friendly Galaxy), on the other hand, is only based off a single bass line: A2, D2,C2,F2, played over and over as eighths (to give you an idea), and what the "arkestra" does with it, how it increases tension or not, and their self-interaction, it makes it a perfect and classic free jazz track. Everything you could ever want in an avant-garde jazz album, Purple Night is as good as it gets.
Amazon reader review

Friendly Galaxy

The album was the second in a short-term recording deal with major label A&M Records, who had a "Modern Masters Jazz Series" imprint going at the time. Sun Ra's profile had risen considerably in recent years, partially because of the support given to the master in interviews by avant-garde alternative rock band Sonic Youth around that time, who had both named him as an influence and opened shows for Ra and his Arkestra.

The album was recorded in one marathon session at BMG Studios in New York City, using a 22-piece group that included several Arkestra members or veterans, including three drummers and two bass players (one on upright bass and another on electric bass), plus fellow free jazz musician Don Cherry, who contributed his trademark pocket trumpet work. During the session, Cherry sat at the right of Ra and his piano.

Seven tracks were used for the Purple Night album; the remainder of the master multi-track tapes were given to Sun Ra and his manager Alton Abraham for future release on their own after the A&M deal concluded; much of these recordings were released three years later by Rounder Records on the album Somewhere Else, released shortly before Sun Ra's death. Currently the Purple Night album is out of print and the copyright on the original album is still believed to be held by A&M's current owner, Universal Music.
Wikipedia

At its best, Sun Ra's orchestra on this CD uses a simple repetitive riff as a basis for lengthy performances that vary dynamics and build up gradually in intensity. At its worst (the 19-minute "Of Invisible Theme"), the ensemble rambles on aimlessly, almost as if were creating a sound effects record. Unfortunately their versions of "Love in Outer Space" and "Stars Fell On Alabama" are quite silly with the former featuring a "glee club" vocal while the latter displays Ra's lack of a singing voice. Another minus is the sudden mood change during an otherwise lyrical piano-bass duet on "Journey Towards the Stars" caused by a surprise entrance from Marshall Allen's out-of-tune alto. Cornetist Don Cherry (always muted), James Spaulding on flute and alto, John Gilmore on tenor and trombonist Julian Priester get some solo space but most impressive is John Ore's busy and versatile bass playing and Ra's frequently Monk-ish piano. However the minuses easily outweigh the good points on this disc.
AMG Review by Scott Yanow

Mr. Yanow was certainly NOT in tune with the cosmos when he wrote this review, was he?!

639. [421]  Sun Ra

Purple Night /
Somewhere Else

Sun Ra (p, syn, voc); Don Cherry (pocket tp); Fred Adams (tp); Michael Ray (tp, voc); Ahmed Abdullah (tp, voc); Jothan Callins (tp); Al Evans (tp, flg); Tyrone Hill (tb); Julian Priester (tb); James Spaulding (as, fl); Marshall Allen (as, fl, perc); John Gilmore (ts, timb, voc); Reynold Scott (bars, fl); James Jacson (bsn, Inf-d); Rollo Radford (eb); John Ore (b); Earl C. "Buster" Smith (d); Samarai Celestial (d); Thomas "Bugs" Hunter (d); Elson Nascimento (surdo grande, perc); Jorge Silva (repinique, perc); June Tyson (voc, vln).

BMG Studios, NYC, mid-November 1989

A&M 75021 5324, titled Purple Night, was released on CD in 1990.  Rounder 3036 [CD], Somewhere Else, was released in 1993; there is also a German release on Zensor 136 [CD].  All information from the CD liner notes; Thomas Hunter is misrendered "Thomas Henderson" on both, and Callins' name is misspelled Collins.  The Rounder CD consists of outtakes from the two A&M sessions.
from The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.  Campbell / Trent

Purple Night (1990)

1. Journey Towards Stars   3:48
2. Friendly Galaxy   7:48
3. Love In Outer Space   7:18
4. Stars Fell On Alabama   10:33
5. Of Invisible Them   19:14
6. Neverness   13:19
7. Purple Night Blues   4:04

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Related Releases:

Blue Delight

Somewhere Else

2nd Chance: Continuation

Originally released in 1970, Continuation contains a handful of experimental small group tracks recorded at the Sun Studio in 1968 along with two tracks with the full Arkestra recorded live at The East in Brooklyn, New York in 1969.

Side A begins with “Biosphere Blues,” a typically spaced-out blues, taken at a relaxed, almost somnambulant tempo. Interestingly, John Gilmore is probably playing drums on this home recording. After Ra’s piano introduction, Wayne Harris takes a nice solo on trumpet, his tone is warm and mellow, his note choices exquisite. Next up, Ali Hassan takes a single tasteful chorus on trombone. Then, Pat Patrick jumps in with an incongruously aggressive solo on baritone saxophone before giving way to Ra’s jaunty piano. A swelling space chord ends the piece with an odd dissonance. “Intergalaxtic Research” sounds as every bit as alien and forbidding as its title. Robert Barry plays the booming “lightning drum” with James Jacson on log drum and other unidentified percussionists who construct throbbing, asymmetrical cross-rhythms while Art Jenkins does his bit on space voice. Ra twiddles with his space organ and clavinet like a mad scientist, emitting random blasts of noisy timbres, dense, lurching chords, or rapidly spinning constellations of notes. This is a wonderfully strange piece.

The presence of Tommy Hunter and his echo-echo-echo machine on “Earth Primitive Earth” and “New Planet” makes me think these tracks were recorded prior to 1968. In fact, the overall ambience (and massively increased hiss) sounds like some of the Choreographer’s Workshop recordings (but this might just be wishful thinking). Both pieces pit Ra’s echoing piano against a skittering flute choir. On “Earth Primitive Earth,” Hunter plays some kind of metal scraper quite near the microphone, making for an unsettling, spooky atmosphere. “New Planet” takes the echo thing to a whole other level and Robert Cummings turns in another spectacular solo on bass clarinet (I am really starting to appreciate what a great player Cummings is on that most difficult and unwieldy instrument). Incidentally, both of these tracks appeared on the 1989 compilation CD, Out There a Minute (Blast First), although “Earth Primitive Earth” was slightly edited and re-titled “Cosmo Enticement” and “New Planet” was re-titled “Song of Tree and Forest,” presumably at the request of Sun Ra himself.

Side B contains the nearly continuous nineteen-minute live concert segment from 1969, and it’s a corker. “Continuation To” opens with the Arkestra already in full flight over sultry African percussion but Ra soon takes over with a roiling piano solo, full of booming left hand chords and scampering right hand clusters. After bringing things back down a bit, Akh Tal Ebah extemporizes on trumpet while Ra hints at ballad forms and hand percussion gurgles nervously in the background. Suddenly Ra produces a bouncy, repetitive figure and bass and drums join in for some good, old fashioned swinging. Ebah, a newcomer to the band since Sun Ra’s relocation to Philadelphia in the fall of 1968, manages to hold his own amidst the shifting musical landscapes and things really start to heat up when the Arkestra enters with big angular space chords, full of wiry clarinets and blatting trombones. But just as Boykins begins to solo, the track cuts off. “Jupiter Festival” picks up with the end of Boykins’s bass solo and he quickly moves to the fast walking to introduce “Second Stop is Jupiter.” Ra joins in and the Arkestra chants, climaxing with “all out for Jupiter!” A massive space chord erupts which melts into manic group improvisation. Gilmore emerges from the din with a lengthy, super-intense tenor saxophone solo, full of “sheets-of-sound” flurries of notes, heroically over-blown honks and squeals, and impossible multi-register leaps. Sun Ra prods things along with more furious piano, conducting brief entrances and exits of musicians while Gilmore continues to wail. The music finally simmers down a bit with the various horns exhaustedly sighing and moaning but with Boykins agitatedly scraping away with the bow. At one point, there is a tense, held note before the return of the busy piano figures after which screaming clarinets provide contrast against some sweetly melodious alto sax and rippling brass, with Jarvis propulsively pounding away in free rhythm. This deliciously complex texture continues on for some minutes before abruptly cutting off. Argh!

Nevertheless, Continuation is another fascinating album from a fertile, if spottily documented, period in Ra’s career and well worth hearing.

Review from NuVoid, home of Sun Ra Sundays.

Biosphere Blues

149. [132]  Sun Ra and his Astro-Infinity Arkestra

Continuation

Sun Ra (p.); Wayne Harris (tp); Ali Hassan [Al Wardlow] (tb); Pat Patrick (bars); Ronnie Boykins (b); poss. John Gilmore (d).

Sun Studio, NYC, 1968

Biosphere Blues (Ra)

The collective personnel on the Saturn jacket gives Wayne Harris and Akh Tal Ebah as the trumpet players and Ali Hassan as the trombonist (Danny Thompson is not sure who the trumpet player on this track was).  Harris and Hassan were there during the late New York period; Ebah was not.  No bass  player is credited on Saturn, but it sounds like Boykins.


150. [133]  Sun Ra (space org [Gibson Kalamazoo org]; galactone space instrument [Hohner Clavinet]; prob. Robert Barry (lightning drum); James Jacson (log drum, perc); unidentified (perc); Art Jenkins (space voice, perc).

Sun Studio, NYC, 1968

Intergalaxtic Research (Ra)

Personnel from the Saturn jacket, except Art Jenkins, whose presence was pointed out by Jacson.


151. [134]  Sun Ra (p innards, sun harp, gong -1; p -2); Marshall Allen (picc -1; Jupiterian fl -2); Danny Davis (strings -1; fl -2); Robert Cummings (bcl -2); prob. John Gilmore (bells -1); poss. Tommy Hunter (scraper, perc -1; reverb).

Sun Studio, NYC, around 1968

Earth Primitive Earth (Ra) -1
New Planet (Ra) -2

Both tracks also released in 1989 on British LP and CD Blast First BFFP 42, Out There a Minute, and on Restless 71427 [CD] and Torso 33132 [LP].  On these releases, the titles were changed from "Earth Primitive Earth" to "Cosmo Enticement" (this was also edited and is shorter on the Blast First releases than on Saturn) and from "New Planet" to "Song of Tree and Forest" (slightly edited on Blast First).

"Cosmo Enticement" also appeared under that title on David Toop's "ambient" compilation Ocean of Sound, a two-CD set released by Virgin in 1995.  Other tracks on this anthology include an excerpt from Peter Brötzmann's "Machine Gun," along with pieces by Brian Eno, David Toop with John Zorn, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Velvet Underground, My Bloody Valentine, Erik Satie, and others (Peter Gianakopoulos).

Hunter is not credited on the Saturn jacket but his trademark reverb indicates that he was at least engineering the session.  Continuation is normally dated 1968-1969, but on stylistic grounds an earlier date is possible for these tracks.

Jupiter Festival

152. [135]  Sun Ra (p.); Akh Tal Ebah [Doug E. Williams] (tp, mell); poss. Charles Stephens (tb); Marshall Allen (as); Danny Davis (as, acl); John Gilmore (ts, cl); Danny Ray Thompson (as, libf); Pat Patrick (bars, cl); Ronnie Boykins (b); poss. Clifford Jarvis (d); Carl Nimrod [Carl S. Malone] (space drum); James Jacson (log drum); unidentified (perc).

The East, Brooklyn, NY, 1969

Continuation To (Ra)
Jupiter Festival (Ra)

Saturn ESR 520, Continuation, was issued in 1970.  Matrix numbers: ESR37363NP (Side A) and ESR29691 (Side B).  Both tracks were recorded at the same live concert.

The collective personnel from the original Saturn jacket was used as a guide.  Robert Barry is credited with drums, but the drummer sounds more like Clifford Jarvis.  No clarinets are credited; it is possible that Robert Cummings was present on clarinet as well.  Akh Tal Ebah is credited with playing trumpet, and his mellophone can be  heard in the ensembles.  If Ebah (who joined after the move to Philadelphia) is on trumpet, then the trombonist cannot be Ali Hassan as stated on the jacket.  Bass player is also uncredited but sounds like Boykins.  According to Danny Ray Thompson, the Neptunian libflecto was a modified bassoon constructed by Marshall Allen.  It came in two models, one with a saxophone mouthpiece, the other with a French horn mouthpiece.  Thompson has a recollection ("not 100 percent") of performing this piece at The East. 
From Campbell / Trent The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Please enjoy another Saturn rarity LP rip complements of our friend, Paul W.

Continuation (1970)

Side A:
Biosphere Blues   5:07
Intergaxtic Research   8:14
Earth Primitive Earth   3:15
New Planet   3:09
Side B:
Continuation To   8:42
Jupiter Festival   11:08

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China Gate

Our good friend, I-), entranced by the melancholy tones of Ra's 1961 classic, decided to do a little research on the the arc of this mid-century pop tune.  He was kind enough to share his thoughts and findings with us below.

Ever since first hearing it years ago on 'The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra' album, I have always had a 'thing' for 'China Gates'.  The melancholy vocals by Ricky Murray, the orientally-keyed piano, those percussive effects that sound like a light breeze rippling beaded curtains and glass wind chimes...  it evokes that imagery for me.  Seeing two non-Arkestra associated names - Young and Adamson - credited with the authorship, was always a puzzler.  If you think about it, this is kind of strange for Sun Ra, as he did not perform that many works written by others.

China Gates - The Futuristic Worlds of Sun Ra

China Gate (live) - Music From Tomorrows World

'China Gates' has a rather interesting and at times a seemingly 'odd' story.  For one, the correct title is 'China Gate'.  Victor Young, the composer of the piece, was a well-known composer and arranger for Hollywood movie scores.  'China Gate' was the last score that he composed, and it was for the 1957 film 'China Gate'.  He passed away before finishing the movie score, and Max Steiner finished it.  Harold Adamson wrote the lyrics to fit the rather intriguing musical theme.  The film, directed by Samuel Fuller, stars Gene Barry, Angie Dickinson, Nat 'King' Cole, and Lee Van Cleef.  Barry and Cole are Korean War vets, now in the French Foreign Legion and taking part in the first Indochina War.  Angie Dickinson plays the love interest and Lee Van Cleef is the commander of an ammunition dump that they are planning to blow up.  The song appears twice in the film.  In the first instance, Nat 'King' Cole sings 'China Gate' as he walks through a bombed out village back to his group.  This short video includes those scenes from the movie (approx. 18:33 to 20:32 in the movie).

The second time the song is heard is when he sings the song at the end of film (at approx. 92:24 to 94:51 with the reprise until 95:08).  The song is used as a theme through out the movie.

The movie trailer gives you some idea of what the movie is about.  The person who posted that trailer has replaced the original audio with the Nat 'King' Cole version  of 'China Gate'.  Another video of 'China Gate' incorporates 'gately' imagery more appropriate to the song.  it is also more complete, in that the ending does not have the announcement that the version used for the movie trailer does have.  Both of those versions of 'China Gate' are taken from the album release.

'China Gate' (2:46) next appears on the b-side of 'When Rock and Roll Come to Trinidad.'  The single, Capitol Records F3702, was released in 1957.  'China Gate' is credited as being from the film of the same name and features the music of the well-known composer and conductor Nelson Riddle. 

'The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra' was recorded at the Medallion studio in Newark, New Jersey on October 10, 1961, four years after the movie was released.  Included on the album is that wonderfully evocative version of 'China Gates,' the title slightly misspelled but properly credited.  Its inclusion on the album does raise the question - where did Sun Ra hear it first?  Did he see the 'China Gate' film?  or did he hear the Nat 'King' Cole single?  The version here seems to be closer to the movie version than the single release.  There is a slight lyrics change.  In the second verse, although the word is 'dreams,' it sounds like Ricky Murray sings 'moons.'

china gate, china gate, china gate, china gate
many moons and many hearts you separate.

like two arms
open wide
some you welcome in and some must stay outside.

bowl of rice
bitter tea
is this all the good earth has to offer me?

will i find
peace of mind?
does my true love wait behind the china gate?

china gate, china gate, china gate.

 

The Nat 'King' Cole album 'To the Ends of the Earth' includes 'China Gate.'  Released in the mid 1960s in Europe on the Emidisc label, the album is a 'greatest hits' collection of songs performed by Cole.  'China Gate' is listed as being from 1965. 

In 1965, the Nat 'King' Cole album 'Nat 'King' Cole Sings his Songs from Cat Ballou and Other Motion Pictures' is released on the Capitol label (ST 2340) in the USA, and on the EMI label in Europe.  The album includes 'China Gate'.

Pianist Ramsey Lewis is the next one to perform this song, releasing it on several albums.  In 1966, he released 'The Movie Album.' 

The album is on the Cadet label (lps 782), a subsidiary of Chess Records in Chicago.  'China Gate' from that album is also released as a single (2:43), Cadet Records 5565, with 'Saturday Night at the Movies' as the B-side.  

One can listen to it here:

In 1967, Lord Cody and the Corlalites release their album 'Sail Out' (Elite Records (10) ñ LPOES 19).  This calypso style 'China Gate' (3:14) appears on side 2 as the third track.

A few years later, in 1972, the double LP album 'Inside Ramsey Lewis' is released as Cadet 2ca-60018 (now part of GRT) in the USA.

In Canada it is released as Cadet Records 9035-60018.  'China Gate' (2:43) is the opening track on the album.

The Ramsey Lewis version of 'China Gate' (2:36) also appears on a two CD compilation made in 1998.  Produced by the Belgian radio station 'Radio Donna', the release is entitled 'Popcorn Oldies:  The Great Singers' (paradiso PA 25 536).
  

In 1979, 'China Gate' gets recorded again, this time by the reggae group Guardian Angel.  It is released in the UK as the A-side of a single on the Laser Records label (LAS 5 T), with 'Gerrard Street' as the B-side.   'Gerrard Street' is a dub version of the 'China Gate' single.

 

In 1979, their version appears on the album 'Reggae Fever' (WEA 58 076) on side 2 as track 2 'China Gate' (3:07).

Guardian Angel re-releases 'China Gate' as an extended play 12 inch single, backed by the extended dub version of 'Gerrard Street'.  This appears on the Matumbi label (MM 7001).

 

Towards the end of 'Gerrard Street' is a short segment featuring a squeaky door.  One gets the unmistakable feeling that they had listened to at least some Sun Ra.

The most recent appearance of 'China Gate', sung by Nat 'King' Cole, is in 2006.  It appears on the 11 CD German release (Bear Family Records BCD 16342 KL) entitled:  'Stardust: The Complete Capitol Recordings 1955-1959.'

For what seems to be a rather obscure song, it certainly has been around.
If you are interested in the film, there is a version to be found here (AVI):

RS1 + RS2 + RS3 + RS4
Many Thanks to an unknown ripper!
I-)

Bonus!

An anonymous visitor was kind enough to direct us to another rendition of China Gate performed by a band with which I am not familiar, Cul de Sac.

From Wikipedia:

Cul de Sac are a rock music group formed in 1990 in Boston, Massachusetts and led by guitarist Glenn Jones. Their music is primarily instrumental. Jones and keyboardist Robin Amos have been the only constant members.

They have been classified by some as post rock, but Jones has expressed some discomfort with the term. He states that Cul de Sac is the most "musically satisfying" group he's been involved with; a group that is the "closest to being the band I'd dreamed of forming. It allows me to combine my love of open-tuned guitar, played fingerstyle, with my love for electronics and noise, all placed within a rhythmic rock framework."[1] Jones occasionally plays "The Contraption," a prepared lap steel guitar.

Cul de Sac have collaborated with guitarist John Fahey and with Can singer Damo Suzuki.

Glenn Jones has also recorded three solo albums, This Is the Wind That Blows It Out (2004), Against Which the Sea Continually Beats (2007), Barbecue Bob in Fishtown (2009), and The Wanting (2011).

Sun Ra - The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Vol 3 (1966 rel. 2005)

This previously unreleased recording is taken from the record session for Heliocentric Worlds Volume II, on November 16, 1965, at the RLA Studios in New York City.  Lost for over 35 ears, it has now been found by the Good Doctor, who brought it to ESP.  Deterioration of a portion of the tape required the deletion of about one minute of music, but you won't notice it. 
During this period, Sun Ra joined other ESP artists on a six concert tour of New york State colleges.  Sun Ra kept all of the tapes, except for NOTHING IS, ESP 1045, which he delivered to ESP.
From the CD Liner Notes

Volume 3, subtitled “The Lost Tapes” offers material not previously available in any of ESP-Disk’s earlier incarnations. The centerpiece is a seventeen-minute episodic adventure that cycles through solo segments for Gilmore, Patrick and Allen, each in intense and exemplary form backed only by Ra, Boykins and Blank in various combinations. Eruptions of layered horn polyphony bracket the fulminating improvisations. Mid-piece the energy folds into a splenetic two-fisted improvisation from Ra as the horns circle in for a final rocket-fueled blowout and reverie-structured coda. The remaining four tracks form a microcosm of interests. The moody percussion thicket of “Mythology Metamorphosis,” serves as a return vehicle for Ra’s tuned bongos and marimba. Allen’s nasalized oboe and a strong pizzicato undercarriage by Boykins flesh the piece further. “Heliocentric Worlds” and “World Worlds” arrive like outtakes from an earlier 60s Arkestra album (say Fate in a Pleasant Mood or The Nubians of Plutonia) with structured themes and solos threaded by the horns and the Ra’s bright acoustic and electric chords between washes of cymbal-heavy percussion. “Interplanetary Travelers” employs Ra’s various keyboards as the cynosure of a grand, if brief, saturnalia of dissonant horn voicings and thickly boiling interplay. 

via Dusted Reviews

The recording opens with a sparse "Intercosmosis, where John Gilmore shapes his boat-horn of a tenor around around some abstraction. Sun Ra and bassist Ronnie Boykins enter with a repeated line that further highlights the energy. Pat Patrick's baritone enters, and he and Gilmore twist solos around each other.

The percussion-laden "Mythology Metamorphosis features a brief bit of Marshall Allen's snake-charming alto before Boykins' solo takes it home. The three remaining pieces, each clocking in around five minutes, hint at Ra's elusive live performances. "Heliocentric Worlds has him switching from piano to one of his early electric keyboards, as does "World Worlds, where he does an alternating hands electric/acoustic combination. The final "Interplanetary Travelers" has an all-too-brief Sun Ra energy jam.
By MARK CORROTO,
Published: May 21, 2005
All About Jazz

119. [106]  Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra

Sun Ra (Clavioline, p, tuned bgos); Walter Miller (tp); Marshall Allen (as, fl, picc); John Gilmore (ts); Pat Patrick (bars, fl); Robert Cummings (bcl); Ronnie Boykins (b); Roger Blank (d, perc).

RLA Sound Studios, NYC,
November 16, 1965

The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Volume 3 - The Lost Tapes
Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra

1. Intercosmosis   17:03
2. Mythology Metamorphosis   4:15
3. Heliocentric Worlds   4:16
4. World Worlds   5:07
5. Interplanetary Travelers   5:06

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In 2010 ESP Disk' reissued all three Heliocentric Worlds volumes in a single 3-CD package.  The reissue includes several photos, critical writings, and the 1968 documentary "Spaceways."

Heliocentric Bonus Material

RS

HF1 + HF2

Heliocentric Worlds Vol 1
Heliocentric Worlds Vol 2

Sun Ra Summer Solstice Radio Show

Sun Ra on the radio is always always always a wonderful experience.  Join me in listening to WWOZ tomorrow(ish).  According to my watch, 10 PM CST = GMT -5

2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Somewhere Else (1989)

Four different groups led by Sun Ra are featured on this intriguing if generally ragged set. Although Ra's usual band members of the period appear on most of the cuts (including singer June Tyson, trumpeter Michael Ray, altoist Marshall Allen and tenor saxophonist John Gilmore), this CD also has many musicians one would not expect in this setting during 1988-89: drummer Billy Higgins, trombonist Julian Priester, Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, altoist James Spaulding and (briefly out of retirement) trumpeter Tommy Turrentine. The ensembles perform some typically eccentric Ra compositions, including "Stardust for Tomorrow," "Love In Outer Space" and "Hole In the Sky," in bands ranging from four (the unusual quartet of Cherry, Spaulding, Ra and singer Tyson) to 22 pieces. Due to the variety and very interesting personnel, plus many examples of the keyboardist/leader stretching himself, this somewhat obscure effort is easily recommended to Sun Ra collectors. 

AMG Review by Scott Yanow

This CD is or should be significant to Sun Ra listeners. It constitutes one of Sun Ra's last studio sessions prior to his first in a series of strokes which ended his earthly life on May 30, 1993.  While one can quibble with such fancifully detached notions as whether this represents the best value for the money, the true worth of the album resides in several other non-material dimensions.  For example, the arrangement of "Somewhere Else" played here is very different in feeling and tone than that offered on the album My Brother the Wind, Vol. II. 

Apart from this, the tone, touch, and strength that Sun Ra displays in his piano playing, illustrates why he must be considered among the very greatest innovators, composers and arrangers ever produced by the music. His versatility and accessibility in a number of different "idioms" of so called Jazz is completely unparalleled by anyone in Jazz history including the Titans like Ellington, Henderson, Monk, Mingus, Coltrane, and others.

The real Treasure of this release however is "A Hole in the Sky". Don Cherry (Pocket Trumpet), Marshall Allen (Alto), Pat Patrick (Alto) [incorrect, see below] complemented and spurred by Sun Ra's energy and drive on synthesizer really paint a vivid picture of the range of new energies and new possibilities that might positively and supra-energetically flow into our lives if a figurative "Hole in the Sky" were opened. By the way listen carefully to the propulsively energetic ensemble drumming (Bugs Hunter, Luqman Ali, Lex Humphries or Samarai Walker) in this composition, it is among the very best you are likely to hear for quite a while.

Another sleeper here is "Everything is Space". This tune was previously released on a limited addition printed by the band during the mid-seventies. As with Somewhere Else it represents a very different treatment than the initial release.

On a bottom line basis, this CD not only contains histroical and artistic treasures, but also illustrates the fact that Sun Ra NEVER did a composition the same way twice. Among his many other musical virtues this characteristic places him in a class by himself. 

Amazon review by "Astro-Black" 

Somewhere Else Parts 1 and 2

597. [398] Sun Ra

Blue Delight /
Somewhere Else

Sun Ra (p, syn); Fred Adams (tp); Tommy Turrentine (tp); Ahmed Abdullah (tp); Al Evans (flg, Fr hn); Tyrone Hill (tb); Julian Priester (tb); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, cl in A); Noël Scott (as, perc); John Gilmore (ts, cl, timb); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, fl, bgo); Eloe Omoe (bcl, as, cacl, perc); James Jacson (bsn, fl, Inf-d); Bruce Edwards (eg); Carl LeBlanc (eg - all solos); John Ore (b); Billy Higgins (d); Earl "Buster" Smith (d); Elson Nascimento (surdo grande, perc); Jaribu Shahid [Ben Henderson] (voc -1); Tani Tabbal (voc -1).

Variety Recording Studios, NYC, December 5, 1988

Love in Outer Space (Ra)
Everything is Space (Ra) -1

598. [399] Sun Ra

Somewhere Else

Julian Priester (tb -1); Sun Ra (p, syn); John Ore (b); Jaribu Shahid [Ben Henderson] (b); Billy Higgins (d); Earl "Buster" Smith (d). 

same session

Priest (Ra) -1
Tristar (Ra)

639. [421] Sun Ra

Purple Night /
Somewhere Else

Sun Ra (p, syn, voc); Don Cherry (pocket tp); Fred Adams (tp); Michael Ray (tp, voc); Ahmed Abdullah (tp, voc); Jothan Callins (tp); Al Evans (tp, flg); Tyrone Hill (tb); Julian Priester (tb); James Spaulding (as, fl); Marshall Allen (as, fl, perc); John Gilmore (ts, timb, voc); Reynold Scott (bars, fl); James Jacson (bsn, Inf-d); Rollo Radford (eb); John Ore (b); Earl C. "Buster" Smith (d); Samarai Celestial (d); Thomas "Bugs" Hunter (d); Elson Nascimento (surdo grande, perc); Jorge Silva (repinique, perc); June Tyson (voc, vln).

BMG Studios, NYC, mid-November 1989

Discipline/Tall Trees in the Sun (Ra)
'SWonderful (Gershwin)
Hole in the Sky (Ra)
Somewhere Else Part 1 (Ra)
Somewhere Else Part 2 (Ra)
Stardust from Tomorrow (Ra) [JT voc]

from The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

S o m e w h e r e   E l s e

1.    Priest                    4:07
 2.    Discipline / Tall Trees In The Sun    8:29
 3.    'S Wonderful                5:36
 4.    Hole In The Sky                7:34
 5.    Somewhere Else, Part 1            8:42
 6.    Somewhere Else, Part 2            2:41
 7.    Stardust For Tomorrow            4:59
 8.    Love In Outer Space            12:04
 9.    Everything Is Space            4:00
10.    Tristar                    3:33

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Purple Night
Blue Delight (2nd Chance)

Sun Ra - The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Vol 2 (1966)

Although the "Vol. 2" in the title insinuates some degree of continuity with its predecessor, this is a bit of a misnomer as the only acknowledged connection with The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Vol. 1 (the volume number only indicating the order in which they were issued). Due in part to the wider exposure and distribution of the ESP label, enthusiasts and critics were unanimous in their recognition of this masterpiece of free jazz -- or, as Ra called it, "space jazz." The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Vol. 2 is comprised of three unique compositions: "The Sun Myth," "A House of Beauty," and "Cosmic Chaos." Sun Ra's work with an ensemble often presents a stated emphasis on the percussive nature of solos as well as within the group context. The underlying freeform anti-structure allows defining contrasts that ultimately establish the progressing sonic sculpture. "The Sun Myth" showcases Ra's definitive capabilities to guide his assembled musicians from anywhere within said group. He is heard on this recording initiating improvisational exchanges on tuned bongos -- for a portion of the track -- rather than from his customary keyboards. The resulting interactions include mesmerizing bass solos from Ronnie Boykins as well as some impassioned alto sax work from Marshall Allen. Directly contrasting the works that surround it is "A House of Beauty." The emphasis shifts, juxtaposing Allen's unfettered piccolo solos with Ra on piano and Robert Cumming on bass clarinet. Of particular note here are Ra's achingly lyrical piano runs and chord progressions, which weave between the light percussion beds and the dominant woodwind section. "Cosmic Chaos" is the final and most archetypal of the ensemble works that Ra and his various Arkestras would produce throughout the '60s. The extended piece begins with rush upon rush of aggressive counterpoint, building into unreserved group crescendos that are likewise punctuated by various woodwind soloists.

AMG Review by Lindsay Planer

On The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Volume 2, Ra and his Solar Arkestra stretch out and really explore. Recorded nearly 7 months after its predecessor, with a somewhat different line-up of instruments, Vol. 2 trades Vol. 1's more subdued approach for a generally louder, more extroverted excursion. Things get underway with the mournful, bowed bass and wild, untamed percussion of the nearly 18-minute long The Sun Myth. As the exploration continues, deep piano rumbles and crazy high-end brass swirls in spinning vortices through swells of deeper brass, building to climaxes, falling off into spacious emptiness, forming into rhythmic passages that then dissolve into free form chaos again. Finally the piece eases into deep, organic bass tones, quieter cymbal crashes and slow, mysterious and spacey swells of brass to finish things off. A House of Beauty is the only shorter piece on the album, but still manages to range from a free form beginning of shrieking piccolo and stabbing bass to almost ballad style piano jazz and back again. The nearly 15-minute long Cosmic Chaos is a dazzling free form workout, although this is not totally free form. Under Sun Ra's guidance, the Arkestra were masters of emergent rhythms, tying together explosive freak-outs to quieter solo sections with seductively rhythmic passages. Ra also utilizes reverb effects on this one to create some truly cosmic stretches of sound through the middle, with weird, spacey jangling percussion punctuated with dry and bouncing tuned bongos. Truly cosmic jazz!

from an Aural Innovations dot com Review by Jeff Fitzgerald

These sessions were recorded at a pivotal time for the Arkestra. After Sun Ra moved from Chicago to New York in 1961, his albums became increasingly more dissonant, adventurous, and free, penetrating deeper into the spatial motifs that, by 1964’s Other Planes of There, finally begin abandoning the strong archaic imprint of Ra’s mentor Fletcher Henderson and living up to Ra’s “space jazz” concept. 1965, the year of the Heliocentric Worlds session, was also when Coltrane departed from the quartet and formed larger band not unlike Ra’s, developing a concern for cosmic transcendence, and playing on a more dissonant plane on long free albums such as Ascension and Om. Coltrane helped achieve his new sound with young stars of the free jazz scene like Archie Shepp, Pharaoh Sanders, and Freddie Hubbard, the Arkestra’s new East Village neighbors at the time. Ra, however, didn’t infuse his unit with new blood, but instead created his contemporary sounds with John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, and a few more members of his old Chicago cast – pushing together into new galaxies, all the while showing the hip free youngsters that, beneath their wild costumes, theatrics, and unusual concept, the Arkestra could run with the best of ‘em.

Heliocentric Worlds Volume 2 contains the long suites “The Sun Myth” and “Cosmic Chaos” with a shorty, “House of Beauty” stuck in the middle (first song, second side on the LP). The “Sun Myth,” introduced by some sophisticated bowed bass work by Boykin, turns on its head when the bongos and cymbals collide against it in random patterns. As the percussion intensifies, a long series of passages begin that feature exciting solos by Gilmore and Allen. “House of Beauty” is a sparse ugly beauty clearly from another realm whose highlights include Ra’s clavoline and piano, more classically informed bowed bass, and Allen’s piccolo fluttering like a PCP butterfly. After it fades out it descends into the aptly titled “Cosmic Chaos.” This one really moves and winds up with a generous helping of Gilmore in top form - stealing the show with his vast vocabulary of frantic bursts and runs alone and accompanied. Though it’s a bit more erratic and meandering than the other numbers, it’s the one with a big finish.

via

119. 106]  Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra

The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Volume 2

Sun Ra (Clavioline, p, tuned bgos); Walter Miller (tp); Marshall Allen (as, fl, picc); John Gilmore (ts); Pat Patrick (bars, fl); Robert Cummings (bcl); Ronnie Boykins (b); Roger Blank (d, perc).

RLA Sound Studios, NYC,
November 16, 1965

The Sun Myth (Ra)
A House of Beauty (Ra) [pic, Clav, b only]
Cosmic Chaos (Ra)

Originally issued in 1966 on ESP-Disk' 1017, The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra volume 2.  According to Henry Weld, it was also available on ESP 8-track tapes in the 1970s.

There have been many reissues: Fontana STL 5499 (1970s), Base ESPS-1017 (Italy, 1981), Boots 2406 (1982), and on CD, German ZYX ESP 1017 from 1992 and Japanese ESP TKCZ-79116.  Bootleg reissues on Explosive 538.108(French, c. 1970), Happy Bird B 90132 (German 1983, with the title The Sun Myth), and Magic Music 30012 (German CD, 1990, with the same title).  Some tracks bootlegged on French Monkey MY 40 014 (1970s).  According to Mark Webber, a 45-second excerpt from "A House of Beauty" was included as track 16, Side B, on the ESP Sampler, ESP-Disk' 1051, around 1967.

A bootleg LP reissue of Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 2 recently appeared in Italy on Get Back GET 1005.

"The Sun Myth" has been mastered three different ways!  Thanks to Victor Schonfield and Julian Vein for contributing research on this vexed matter.

1) The original release of ESP-Disk' 1017 (mono and stereo) had African singing throughout the piece, mixed as loud as the instrumental parts.  This version had (in mono) "ESP 1017A" and "152" as matrix numbers.  Some copies of 1017B with the 152 suffix were issued with a second version of 1017A (on these no changes were made to Side B, i.e., "A House of Beauty" and "Cosmic Chaos").

[If anyone could share the above version, I would LOVE to hear it!  Thanks, yotte] 

2) The original release was quickly withdrawn, and replaced with a more common variant in which the African voices are mixed way down and can be faintly heard at the beginning and end of "The Sun Myth."  This was marked (in the stereo version) EsPS1017A-A(68), ANM967, and DBH.

3) The final remastering removed the African voices entirely.  James Wolf has found a mono ESP-Disk' pressing with no voices and the matrix indications ESPM1017A-1, ORT-2, and DBH.  The last pressings on the original ESP-Disk' label used this final mastering, as did all subsequent reissues, authorized or bogus, including the German ZYX CD from 1992.

The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Volume 2
(LP Rip)

1. The Sun Myth   17:48
2. A House Of Beauty   4:45

3. Cosmic Chaos   14:49

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HF

or

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HF

The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Volume 2
(CD Rip)

1. The Sun Myth   18:21
2. A House Of Beauty   4:55
3. Cosmic Chaos   15:13

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RS

MF

or

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RS

MF

In 2010 ESP Disk' reissued all three Heliocentric Worlds volumes in a single 3-CD package.  The reissue includes several photos, critical writings, and the 1968 documentary "Spaceways."

Heliocentric Bonus Material

RS

HF1 + HF2

Heliocentric Worlds (Vol 1)

 

Thanks to I-) for scouring the web and sharing the following images!