Sun Ra: Lost Reels Vol.3

[jazzbo]

Thought I'd pass along the contents of an email I received this morning from Michael of Transparency regarding the sale of Volume 3 of the Lost Reels Collection of concert material from Sun Ra.

You can purchase from Michael with confidence. (I'm in no way connected with Transparency, just a fan of the series and an satisfied experienced user of the service).

SUN RA

The Shadows Took Shape

The Lost Reel Collection Volume Three

Transparency 0303 (2xCD)

This recording is from a concert during the early

1970’s. There is no

further information on this recording, except that the

original reel

tape was labelled as "Spacemaster Concert". June Tyson

recites "The Shadows Took Shape", a Sun Ra poem never

heard or seen until now. The music ranges from

symphonic jazz to full psychedelic freakout.

Available via Ebay. All Ebay orders receive a free

five-hour DVD. Here is the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=220130669864

Love and Thanks to all!

Michael / Transparency

[JSngry]

I want more lectures!

Seriously!

[jazzbo]

UGH!

That one on Vol. 1 gave me the willies. I'll never be able to quite think of Blount the same way again. I'll stick to his music.

I mean. . . I knew about his gnostic leanings and general "philosophy". . . . But all that silly manipulation of English words and the racism. . . .I don't want to hear more.

Edited July 14, 2007 by jazzbo

[JSngry]

I guess you were surprised, then?

Can't say that I was. I spent a fair part of the 70s around some musicians who were into that whole Afro-Nubian-Historical bag, as well as the "science" of language deconstruction. Hearing Ra expound was like hearing a clearer (much clearer) version of what these cats were into. Such an indiscriminate mix of profound truths and total delusional bullshit that after a while it all belnds together and "suspension of disbelief" (as well as a refusal to believe) is very much the order of the day. Either that or just walking away and completely ignoring it, which I couldn't do, just out of fascination.

And "racism"...that one's tricky for me...the words could defintiely be construed that way, and I've seen them applied in such a way in the heat of rhetoric. But I've also seen them applied as "general commentary" w/o any individual animus at all intended, as well as occasionally being offered a seemingly genuine apology when the talk got a little too heated.

So I don't know...race history in the whole Euro\Afro interactions have led to such a twisted legacy that I don't hold a grudge angainst too much of anything short of actual physical assault (which I've never yet received) & just hope that somehow it's all eventually going somewhere better.

[jazzbo]

Well, I wasn't really surprised per se. . . . I guess I just didn't want to actually HEAR it. I figured that was what was at the heart of the Ra thing, but hearing it was to make it too real. I've heard others in PERSON doing these things in Chicago and with more drama than Ra imparts. I've shut down on this line of approach and especially if very passionate because I just don't believe that following this can bring any good or even any personal peace to those on that road. And really. .. the analysis of English words from Bible translations of source words. . . I guess I just find this the silliest possible thing. Sure, I know the kabalistic numerology and letter/symbol stuff is there for ever and a day, but using English words? And it's all so silly to me. . . God and the universe are so beyond words that man's logic and wordplay are just jokes. I lost respect for Ra listening to that. . . I would rather not hear more, because I respect his music and a lot of his "act" and yet I don't want to associate my love of his music with what I heard there in that lecture. So I'll go back into the Ra myth that I have instead.

[JSngry]

And really. .. the analysis of English words from Bible translations of source words. . . I guess I just find this the silliest possible thing. Sure, I know the kabalistic numerology and letter/symbol stuff is there for ever and a day, but using English words?

Exactly. That for me is the part where you wanna say, "Uh...let's think about this for a second, ok?"

But then the cat talks about the whole "love your enemy" thing being used to weaken self-respect and foster a slave mentality, and you gotta say, "Uh...let's think about this for a second, ok?" again, only in a completely different way.

I guess I never get tired - yet - of hearing this type of drama get played out, probably because it's far from played out in "real life", all sorts of disingenuous protestations to the contrary. Games is games, and to see one side matching the games of the other with equal or greater aplomb is - used to be anyway - part of the Circus Of Life for me. Although, recent discoveries (and I think you know what I mean, more or less) have given me hope that it is finally being left behind by a percentage of a new generation of all concerned. Really, that's the only way to make it work, to disempower it by just letting it go and not picking it back up, no matter what. That's gonna need to be an omnilateral move in order to fully succeed, but hey, let's all do our own part and see what happens, right? The "fighter" in me still wonders if that's a smart move, but another part of me now wonders if the fighter in me is always the best guy to listen to... Sometimes yes, sometimes no, and on and on it goes...

Yep.

[jazzbo]

I think I see what you mean.

To me. . .the fighter says: a whole different battlefield is needed. I just feel that we need a quantum leap of human social evolution to survive and we MAY GET it. What Ra was doing just seems narrow and absurd to me. I almost feel I myself know what's needed, I also know how impossible it is to achieve. Probably we'll not even make it possible to bring a bit of the "kingdom of heaven" before we're fried either in a natural disaster we've created of warming or a final stage of our warring nature.

Recent developments have me actually just focusing on the survival of my family. And in so doing my career is going to end (I bought time; I can retire in about ten months) and all complacency and work related hope with it. If I come out the other side of this with a healthy wife and a chance at a new direction, I'm going to focus on it, perhaps, focus on how I can be a more positive part. But I don't need to hear more Ra games. I'm not a gamesman, and I just find that lecture ridiculous in a bad, nonhelpful (to me at least) way.

[ghost of miles]

What/how was the music on V. 1 and 2?

[jazzbo]

I like the music on these. . .

FROM www.dustygroove.com

Creator Of The Universe -- The Lost Reel Collection Vol 1

Sun Ra

Temporarily Out Of Stock

Add Item to Want List

CD (Item 460323) Transparency, 1971 -- Condition: New Copy

Lost work from Sun Ra -- pulled from two different tapes recorded in the Bay Area in 1971! Disc one features an obscure performance -- even by Ra standards -- done at the Warehouse in San Francisco, with a group of unlisted players, all of whom really hit some of the farthest-reaching Arkestra modes of the time. The sound is often quite free, and relatively out -- but a few sparer tracks feature great instrumental pairings that include percussion and trombone, and percussion with moog from Ra! Titles include "Discipline", "Enlightenment", "Satellites Are Spinning", and 3 more unidentified tracks. Disc two is quite different, but equally compelling -- as it features Sun Ra speaking before a class at UC Berkeley, spinning out his thoughts in a relatively freewheeling manner! The lecture covers a number of themes similar to his writings of the time -- quite political at moments, and always pretty compelling.

Intergalactic Research -- The Lost Reel Collection Vol 2

Sun Ra

Temporarily Out Of Stock

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CD (Item 463716) Transparency, 1971/1972 -- Condition: New Copy

The Lost Reel Collection continues -- with two great slices of rare Sun Ra work from the early 70s! The first half of the set features a 1971 performance in Berkeley -- one that begins with a wonderful extended improvisation by John Gilmore -- blowing beautifully in near-solo space, and coming across like some lost track on Impulse Records! That one's followed by a beautiful medley of "Strange Worlds/It's After The End Of The World/Outer Spaceways Incorporated/Why Go To The Moon" -- with prominent vocals from June Tyson, some very Eastern-styled horns from the rest of the group -- all giving way to yet another long improvised number. Part 2 of the CD features material from the following year, recorded in an unknown location -- very notable for a long moog solo by Ra at the beginning -- which then leads into a highly electronic take on "Outer Space", and the more acoustic "Intergalactic Research", plus an untitled track! Recording quality is great on all material -- and although the performances are "lost", they rank with some of the Arkestra's most compelling work of the period.

These are some links with images, and to purchase:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sun-Ra-CREATOR-O...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sun-Ra-INTERGALA...QQcmdZViewItem