Sun Ra 1980

Pathways to Unknown Worlds was originally issued on LP in 1975 as part of Sun Ra's ill-fated and short-lived ABC/Impulse! Records partnership. ABC offered an ambitious deal that promised dozens of remastered editions of Sun Ra's Saturn back catalog along with a slew of new titles. The launch fizzled shortly after liftoff, but not before introducing two vital albums to the Ra catalog: Astro Black and Pathways. (Astro Black was reissued in all formats by Modern Harmonic in 2018.)

Sun Ra, as well as anyone, proved that an artist could change with the times without being a dedicated follower of fashion. In fact, Ra and his music never stopped evolving. A series of albums recorded from 1978 to 1980—Lanquidity, On Jupiter, Sleeping Beauty, and Strange Celestial Road—demonstrate the influence on Ra of musical and production trends of the mid- and late-1970s, especially heavy, studio-enhanced dance floor grooves (traceable from soul and funk to disco), and atmospheric New Age "dream" pieces. But Ra never fully surrendered to these trends; it's arguable that he even embraced them. He adapted techniques, but what he created amounted more to reinventions than "File Under" genre works.

Strut and Art Yard present another exclusive from the vast catalogue of cosmic jazz pioneer Sun Ra: a previously unreleased radio session most likely recorded at the WXPN FM radio studios in Philadelphia, 1974-5.

Sun Ra - Live In Rome (1980) {2CD Set, Transparency 0315 rel 2010}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 622 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 266 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 22 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1980, 2010 Transparency ‎| 0315
Jazz / Experimental Big Band / Avant-Garde Jazz / Cosmic Jazz / Progressive Jazz

111 minutes of Sun Ra recorded on March 28, 1980. This concert heavily features Sun Ra's piano, surrounded by lots of vocals and tasteful horns. From solo blues and lounge on up to a soaring ten-piece big band sound. Of such high recording quality that it sounds like a missing studio album!

Sun Ra - Beyond the Purple Star Zone & Oblique Parallax (1980) {Art Yard ‎CD 005 rel 2010}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 283 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 126 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 25 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1980, 2010 Art Yard ‎| CD 005
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Space Jazz / Progressive Jazz

In 1980 Sun-Ra fanatic Rick Steiger organised what was to be the "Greatest cultural event going on in America at that time" according to Sun Ra himself. The concert started the day after Christmas and evolved into a 6-day, 11-performance residency that rocked the Detroit Jazz centre to it's boots. These are nine tracks from those sessions, capturing the Arkestra in full flight with some help from local musicians Tani Tabbal, Ali Mora, Jaribu Shahid and Reggie Fields. Pure vibes!!!

One of the towering figures of 20th century's music, Alabama-born pianist and organist Herman "Sun Ra" Blount (1914) became the cosmic musician par excellence. Despite dressing in extraterrestrial costumes (but inspired by the pharaohs of ancient Egypt) and despite living inside a self-crafted sci-fi mythology (he always maintained that he was from Saturn, and no biographer conclusively proved his birth date) and despite littering his music with lyrics inspired to a self-penned spiritual philosophy (he never engaged in sexual relationships apparently because he considered himself an angel), Sun Ra created one of the most original styles of music thanks to a chronic disrespect for both established dogmas and trendy movements.