Sun Ra 1980

Sun Ra - Haverford College, Jan. 25, 1980 - Solo Rhodes Piano (2019) {Enterplanetary Koncepts}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44.1kHz - Digital Download (bandcamp.com) -> 300 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 141 Mb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 2019 Enterplanetary Koncepts / Sun Ra LLC
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Cosmic Jazz / Progressive Jazz

There’s an offhanded charm to the set that gradually draws you in, almost as though you’re listening to one of the 20th century’s greatest musical minds play stream-of-consciousness cocktail piano, casually joining up beloved standards with heady, extraterrestrially inspired originals.

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 and His Arkestra - Strange Celestial Road (1979) {Rounder Records 125742 rel 2019}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44.1kHz - Official Digital Download (prestomusic.com) -> 221 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 85 Mb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 1979, 2019 Rounder Records / Concord / Enterplanetary Koncepts | 125742
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Jazz Funk / Experimental Big Band / Progressive Jazz

These recordings originated at the same Variety Studio sessions that resulted in the 1979 Saturn release SLEEPING BEAUTY (a.k.a. Door of the Cosmos). Based on known departures and arrivals of various players in the Arkestra, Sun Ra historians have cited a likely recording date of June 1979. These three tracks were sold to Rounder and issued on LP in 1980; Sun Ra retained "Springtime Again," "Door of the Cosmos," and "Sleeping Beauty" for release on Saturn.

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 - Solo Keyboards, Minnesota 1978 (2019) {Enterplanetary Koncepts}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44kHz - Official Digital Download (bandcamp.com) -> 337 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 169 Mb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 1978, 2019 Enterplanetary Koncepts / Sun Ra LLC
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Progressive Jazz / Piano / Crumar Mainman

Sun Ra presented quite a few solo piano shows between 1977 and 1980 in the US and Europe, and several have been issued commercially. From a solo keyboard standpoint, it was one of Sunny's most prolific periods. At each gig he customarily offered three categories of works: 1) Tin Pan Alley standards he had revered since his pre-Chicago days (e.g. "Over the Rainbow," "Don't Blame Me," and "Honeysuckle Rose"); 2) Ra originals, though he drew from a limited selection of his voluminous catalog ("Love in Outer Space" seemed obligatory); and 3) improvisations, perhaps a blues, which sometimes included stray riffs from categories 1 and 2.