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*** SUN RA Corner***


Rooster_Ties

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Discovering Sun Ra is proving to be an unexpected joy. In in large part due to messages in this thread, I just ordered "Monorails and Moonbeams" and "Jazz in Silhouette" directly from Evidence. They are still offering their Sun Ra titles for $12, with no shipping charge for orders of $24 or more.

Music is making life fun again,

Rupe

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Guest akanalog

yeah i hate totally free stuff but for some reason i like it when ra goes into those crazy moog and organ excursions. the one on kohoutek is especially nice when it melts back into that swinging theme and everyone is going "what planet is this?" really is like a journey through space and landing back home.

you know one thing that has annoyed me lately about ra is when the vocal stuff is not part of the tapestry of music per se but is sort of dominating things-like the music is just bleeps and blats accenting the vocals which are more like lectures or something-i like it when the vocals are to the music rather than above the music is what i guess i am saying.

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Speaking of "What Planet is This?", a CD of that name of a 1973 Sun Ra concert in New York is now out on Leo.

yeah i hate totally free stuff but for some reason i like it when ra goes into those crazy moog and organ excursions. the one on kohoutek is especially nice when it melts back into that swinging theme and everyone is going "what planet is this?" really is like a journey through space and landing back home.

you know one thing that has annoyed me lately about ra is when the vocal stuff is not part of the tapestry of music per se but is sort of dominating things-like the music is just bleeps and blats accenting the vocals which are more like lectures or something-i like it when the vocals are to the music rather than above the music is what i guess i am saying.

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Actually, the sound is not bad at all for this sort of music. Leo even boasts about the quality. As for the music, I like it, but not a priority purchase, unless you are a fanatic. It's a big band, about 25 pieces, with trombones, which you don't always get.

that leo disc has crappy sound quality, doesn't it?

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I picked them up during a sale when they came out and tried to watch the Palomino disc. Basically they look like very low quality 3rd or 4th generation vhs tapes that need the tracking adjusted a little bit, specifically the bottom 5th of the image which was very flickery and distorted. As far as the content I was pretty bored and only made it about 40 minutes into it before I decided to try it again another night when I had more patience. It was certainly a very far cry from 'A Joyful Noise', and it looks like someone may have just set up a camcorder 40 feet away with no zoom and left it there for the duration of the show (it's difficult to make out very many details). Maybe I just have to go into these with lower expectations, however I'd definitely recommend trying some of the other DVDs first.

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yeah i hate totally free stuff but for some reason i like it when ra goes into those crazy moog and organ excursions. the one on kohoutek is especially nice when it melts back into that swinging theme and everyone is going "what planet is this?" really is like a journey through space and landing back home.

you know one thing that has annoyed me lately about ra is when the vocal stuff is not part of the tapestry of music per se but is sort of dominating things-like the music is just bleeps and blats accenting the vocals which are more like lectures or something-i like it when the vocals are to the music rather than above the music is what i guess i am saying.

I know what you mean about the vocals. There's a wonderful bit about 1'20" or so into Astro Black from 'Kohoutek' where Gilmore just blows it apart after one of those vocals: the effect is magic.

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Guest akanalog

yeah i like that vocal. june tyson i guess-it is a good one. pretty little melody for a moment.

the space is the place on that one is cool too if i remember with some weird organ at the beginning.

i strongly recommend the horo quartet albums which i have probably mentioned earlier in this thread. just ra with gilmore and michael ray and luqman ali on drums. really lets you see a different side of sun ra in an intimate quartet setting.

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yeah i like that vocal. june tyson i guess-it is a good one. pretty little melody for a moment.

the space is the place on that one is cool too if i remember with some weird organ at the beginning.

i strongly recommend the horo quartet albums which i have probably mentioned earlier in this thread. just ra with gilmore and michael ray and luqman ali on drums. really lets you see a different side of sun ra in an intimate quartet setting.

Dou you know anywhere those are available? I haven't really seen them around!

p.s. Michael Ray - nice player

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Guest akanalog

The line-up of the Arkestra counts 25 musicians including Sun Ra and for once we are not going to hear some critical remarks about the poor sound because the quality of the recording is superb. The length of the recording is almost two hours and the Arkestra plays original Sun Ra compositions and untitled improvisations, one of which is almost 30 minutes long. A must for any Sun Ra fan.

i misunderstood this quote from the leo site about "what planet is this"? i thought they were being defensive but i guess not.

the horos are available on disc from downtown music gallery (sort of dubious discs, i might add). that is the only place.

i always kind of thought of michael ray as a panderer, at least since sun ra passed away, him playing with people like trey anistasio and whatnot, but he is a nice player.

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I just discovered this thread. I have between 100 and 200 Sun Ra albums, on CD and vinyl. I stopped keeping count somewhere along the line. My favorites are: Supersonic Sounds, Jazz in Silhouette, Cosmos, all three Horo LP sets, Mayan Temples, Solo Piano, St. Louis Blues, and many individual cuts from many albums.

I would comment that his Leo albums include some of the lesser recorded material in my opinion. I once read a critic's opinion that the Sun Ra Leo's were more about documentation than anything. Also, I think that anyone who has listened to many Sun Ra albums would have to say that there is a certain amount of recorded stuff that is not up to his best level, especially some of the live stuff. The live concerts were often spectacular to see, but without the visual aspect some of the music is not entirely compelling.

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yeah i like that vocal. june tyson i guess-it is a good one. pretty little melody for a moment.

the space is the place on that one is cool too if i remember with some weird organ at the beginning.

i strongly recommend the horo quartet albums which i have probably mentioned earlier in this thread. just ra with gilmore and michael ray and luqman ali on drums. really lets you see a different side of sun ra in an intimate quartet setting.

Dou you know anywhere those are available? I haven't really seen them around!

p.s. Michael Ray - nice player

I think that ebay is your best bet for the Horo albums. The Horo quartet albums are great, and the Horo big band album contains some of Sun Ra's best swing-style recordings, on Fletcher Henderson songs. I have not been able to find the Horos anywhere except after long waits on ebay, putting them on my watch list there.

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yeah i like that vocal. june tyson i guess-it is a good one. pretty little melody for a moment.

the space is the place on that one is cool too if i remember with some weird organ at the beginning.

i strongly recommend the horo quartet albums which i have probably mentioned earlier in this thread. just ra with gilmore and michael ray and luqman ali on drums. really lets you see a different side of sun ra in an intimate quartet setting.

Dou you know anywhere those are available? I haven't really seen them around!

p.s. Michael Ray - nice player

I think that ebay is your best bet for the Horo albums. The Horo quartet albums are great, and the Horo big band album contains some of Sun Ra's best swing-style recordings, on Fletcher Henderson songs. I have not been able to find the Horos anywhere except after long waits on ebay, putting them on my watch list there.

Thanks - I'll take a look. No luck at DMG.

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The Horos are long out of print, hard to find, are on LP only, and sell on ebay very expensive (I haven't done a survey, but it seems like they usually go for over $100). I don't have any of the Horo Sun Ra's, but sure wish I did.

yeah i like that vocal. june tyson i guess-it is a good one. pretty little melody for a moment.

the space is the place on that one is cool too if i remember with some weird organ at the beginning.

i strongly recommend the horo quartet albums which i have probably mentioned earlier in this thread. just ra with gilmore and michael ray and luqman ali on drums. really lets you see a different side of sun ra in an intimate quartet setting.

Dou you know anywhere those are available? I haven't really seen them around!

p.s. Michael Ray - nice player

I think that ebay is your best bet for the Horo albums. The Horo quartet albums are great, and the Horo big band album contains some of Sun Ra's best swing-style recordings, on Fletcher Henderson songs. I have not been able to find the Horos anywhere except after long waits on ebay, putting them on my watch list there.

Thanks - I'll take a look. No luck at DMG.

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Guest akanalog

i disagree mr. chuck.

i think the two quartet sessions are excellent on horo.

some of my favorite sun ra....

it's nice to hear john gilmore get to tackle "my favorite things" and it's interesting to hear sun ra use the bassette (i like keyboards). as far as i know the only person really to use one previously was the ganelin dude.

they are not worth freaking out over, but i think they are very nice.

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