Sun Ra Flies Deep Into the Void - 1962-1978

Once Sun Ra and the band left Chicago for New York in 1961 they also left behind many musical conventions...from here on in it was outer space or no place! The records from this era are full of unexpected wonders. The one thing i've found getting lost in all this music is that once you start wandering inside Ra's cosmos you don't ever want to leave...and many of the band never did, still playing in the Arkestra aged 90.

All the tracks on here are ones that standout for me, but want to mention a few things... Love the main melody and mood of Images, but it seems to me its also a great example of the Arkestra expertly playing just a little out on everything (check the bassline!), something by all accounts Ra drilled the band on. The way Neo-project #2 starts with a straight up groove and then demolishes it shows how in control of this they were.

Love the lofi crunch of Mu, Solar Drums and Moon Dance - Moon Dance has the most incredible snare sound - what a drum work out - think Lee Perry would have dug these three tracks...Black Ark-estra style!

Some people say John Gilmore is the greatest saxophonist of them all - i couldnt say anything about that, but the version of My Favorite Things he plays on here is incredible and trumps Coltrane's version for me.

Prophesy and Interstellar Low-ways are a chance to hear Sun's keyboard playing more clearly... the chords he drops on that beefy organ at the start of The Sky is a Sea of Darkness are heaven to me...could listen to him jamming on that organ all day...darkness!!

Sun Ra Flies Deep Into The Void - 1962-1978

Calling Planet Earth [When The Sun Comes Out 1963]
Solar Symbols [Secrets of the Sun 1962]
Moonship Journey [Cosmos 1975]
Images [Space is the Place 1972]
Mu [Atlantis 1967-69]
Solar Drums [Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow 1962]
Neo-project #2 [Cosmos 1975]
We Travel The Spaceways *edit [Disco 3000 1978]
On Jupiter [On Jupiter 1979]
Moon Dance [Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy 1963 ]
My Favorite Things [Some Blues, But Not The Kind That's Blue 1977]
Prophesy feat. Walt Dickerson on vibes [Visions 1978]
Interstellar Low-ways [Cosmos 1975]
Door Squeak [Strange Strings 1966]
Space is the Place *edit [Space is the Place 1972]
The Sky is a Sea of Darkness [Disco 3000 1978]

Right click and save yourself

Sun Ra Flies Deep Into The Void - 1962-78 by Mikus on Mixcloud