Renaissance of Ra

Omniverse is the totality of all the universes and you are welcome to be citizens of the Omniverse.  

Sun Ra

The Sun Ra media machine is up and running. In a time when the demand for content is endless, the indeterminately vast discography of Sun Ra begins to unbury its treasures. In May of 2014 The Sun Ra Music Archive commemorated the Sun Ra birthday centennial by announcing they would reissue 21 classic Sun Ra records and that they would be remastered from the master tapes under the label Enterplanetary Koncepts. A year later in May of 2015 Enterplanetary Koncepts announced that there would be another series of releases in the fall of 2015. This time though, they also announced a distribution deal with the Manimal Group.

The amount of Sun Ra merchandise continues to grow at an exponentially increasing rate. Along with the 50+ mastered for iTunes releases, Strut records just put out a slick double vinyl of tracks compiled by British broadcaster Gilles Peterson. Harte recordings just released a 40^th anniversary box set release of John Coney’s movie Space Is The Place accompanied with a cd and DVD. The Virtual Label is planning on releasing Sun Ra’s back catalog records on CD and LP along with the early 2016 announcement that Modern Harmonic has plans to release at least three new Sun Ra records that they are remastering from the original tapes. Along with all of these releases are new books like Hartmut Geerken’s reissue of Sun Ra’s Omniverse, The Execution of Sun Ra by Thomas Stanley, The Cosmobiography of Sun Ra by Chris Raschka, and Robert Mugge’s 1980 documentary a Joyful Noise has been reissued.

Over the years there have been many reissues of Sun Ra records both by legit labels and by bootleggers. The difference now is the partnership between the Sun Ra LLC and Sun Ra Archivist Michael D. Anderson. Anderson was a drummer for the Arkestra in the 1970s and has remained the archivist ever since. In fall 2013 Anderson sought assistance with the management of the Sun Ra Archive and introduced his friend WFMU DJ Irwin Chusid to Thomas Jenkins, Sun Ra’s nephew and lawful heir to the estate. Jenkins appointed Chusid as an administrator to oversee the business of the newly formed Sun Ra LLC. In an interview with Christopher Eddy from the blog Sun Ra Arkive Chusid explains the importance of the alliance of Anderson and the Sun Ra LLC:

Michael, who played drums for Sun Ra and lived at Saturn House during the 1970s, was Sun Ra’s designated tape librarian. Michael has devoted his life to the safekeeping of those reels and the historic sounds embedded on magnetic plastic film. He’s compiled a meticulous database of what’s on the tapes. He’s very protective of this collection and has a spiritual connection to the music. He doesn’t have a “job”—he has a commitment. There’s no way this material could be commercially developed without Michael’s involvement. He is irreplaceable because he doesn’t just know the music and the contents of tapes—he knows the history of Sun Ra and the various members of the Arkestra. He can put everything in context, including people who have been involved with the catalog over the years but aren’t directly connected to Sun Ra or the Arkestra. Some of this history is documented on paper, some is in his computers, and a lot of it is in his head. I love Michael for who he is and what he does. But I worry about him—his health, his moodswings, his ability to pay the rent. He has become extremely reclusive.  

There has long been a tacit understanding between the family and Michael, each acknowledging the other’s involvement and role, neither interfering with the other, but with little communication and no coordinated effort to run a business. It was obvious to me that these two sides were dependent on each other, and each had an essential role. Business and art. When ownership rights are disrespected or threatened from outside, both sides need to cooperate to protect the realm. Hence, the new alliance. We now have a team with coordinated goals.  

And just to clarify one common misunderstanding: there is no “Sun Ra estate.” There was, but it was closed in 1999 and the executrix, Marie Holston (a niece), was discharged. The estate was replaced by Sun Ra, Inc., with Jenkins as managing director. That ‘S’ corporation was dissolved in 2005 and replaced by Sun Ra LLC, again with Jenkins in charge. Same family principals in each case, with heirs replacing decedents. 

Throughout the interview Chusid explains the difficulties in cleaning up all of the legal entanglements as well as the process of working with Anderson. Chusid also goes in-depth about what his personal sonic aesthetics are when remastering the audio. All of the iTunes releases are 24 bit, making them superior to the 16 bit cd formats. In addition to all of this they are planning on finally building a legit Sun Ra website.

Sun Ra’s prolific output and DIY releases are highly valuable fetishized items by record collectors. The good news is that much of that rare music is now available online. Some of the new releases like Paris 1983 and Sun Ra at Inter-Media Arts 1991 are excellent quality, far surpassing any existing bootlegs of those shows. As Anderson continues to digitize the Sun Ra Archive there is a real grassroots vibe to these mass on demand uploads of data. It’s as if Anderson is taking fans on a digital tour of Sun Ra’s secret library. It’s also just two people doing it. One being Chusid, a champion of outsider music with a really good weekly show on WFMU. Chusid seems equipped to handle the complicated recording past of such a prolific globetrotting self professed man of mystery. Then there is Anderson, who has the best Sun Ra collection out there, including never before released albums and fly on the wall recordings. He’s been busy the past couple years as the releases continue. All fans have to do is binge on Sun Ra as it becomes available and wait for more. Who knows how big the Sun Ra Archive is. Especially when you hear firsthand accounts like the one in Thomas Stanley’s book The Execution of Sun Ra where he claims to have:

Seen Marshall Allen, a pair of spectacles hanging from his nose, pull cassettes from a large plastic bag full of similar, hastily labeled, recordings made, I presume, during the hundreds (thousands?) of hours of rehearsals in the Philly rowhouse. There is more than one large bag like this.

Another great point that Stanley makes is that there is still so much music that Sun Ra wrote and rehearsed with the Arkestra that was never performed live or released on an album. Stanley offers this quote from former Arkestra member Michael Ray:

We always had new music to play all the time. We really never played the real music in concert—Sun Ra had so much stuff that we would rehearse but didn’t even play live, because he’d say, ‘I’m just putting this out for people to steal stuff from,’ and he’d keep a lot of it from even being played in public at all. Suitcases full.

Or as Stanley puts it in his words, there is: “A pharaoh’s ransom of potential future releases hidden in the miles and miles of tape that Sun wrapped around our planet like copper wire in an electric pickup.”

It is a great time to be a Sun Ra fan, new reissues are around every corner and they sound really good. I’ve listened to a lot of the new releases and have gravitated to a few that I listen to over and over. I love Sun Ra bootlegs of live performances but it does get tiring listening to lo-fi hissy quality. Sometimes it is great but all of this new stuff that keeps showing up in Spotify is really enticing.

So far my favorite releases are:

Celestial Love (1982) Enterplanetary Koncepts

Nice mellow late night small group jazz. The album is anchored by two solid vocal offerings by June Tyson in Sometimes I’m Happy and Smile. To me this is the definitive version of Sometimes I’m Happy.




I Roam The Cosmos (2015) New Release Enterplanetary Koncepts

This is the ultimate version of I Roam The Cosmos clocking in at fifty-one minutes. The track tells a story via the call and response of Sun Ra and June Tyson. The quality is unbeatable for a 1972 recording.

Paris 1983 (2015) New Release Enterplanetary Koncepts

The quality of this show is amazing and it’s a great show. There are a lot of swinging standards stretched out by the Arkestra as well as a great version of Carefree and a brooding terrifying rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

Sun Ra at Inter-Media Arts 1991 (2016) New Release Enterplanetary Koncepts

This is another excellent quality live performance from Sun Ra’s later years, meaning that it is very accessible but still top notch. That being said the chromatic perversions jump out in unexpected places with master precision. The versions of Friendly Galaxy, Mayan Temples and Space Loneliness are outstanding.

The Pit-Inn 8-8-88 (1988) Enterplanetary Koncepts

                 
I’ve always been a fan of this show. It’s a great late era Arkestra performance featuring June Tyson and the guitar playing of Bruce Edwards. Also, the new album art is one of my favorite Sun Ra album covers.

Gilles Peterson Presents Sun Ra and his Arkestra: To Those of Earth…And Other Worlds (2015) New Release Strut Records

This double vinyl was released last fall. Real cool artwork, nice quality vinyl with some really cool tracks like Dreaming from a 45 that Gilles Peterson says he got from John Peel with the band name: The Cosmic Rays with Sun Ra and the Arkestra. Blackman is also a great track, you can hear the barely restrained chaotic cathartic pain of June Tyson’s voice. It’s overall a broad yet flowing collection of songs though the online release has lots of extra songs producing a way different experience than the vinyl release.

Interstellar Low Ways (1966) Enterplanetary Koncepts

Interplanetary Music No. 1 is a strange yet catchy chant singing. It also contains really good versions of the Arkestra standards Space Aura, Space Loneliness, and Rocket Number Nine. 

The Magic City (1965) Enterplanetary Koncepts

This is a challenging record that marks a departure by the Arkestra, as they got more and more avant-garde. The twenty-six minute self-titled opening track is very experimental and minimalist but an adventure worth taking.

Aurora Borealis (1981) Enterplanetary Koncepts

This is a quick Sun Ra solo piano record featuring some very “out” Sun Ra piano playing. The opening Ra Rachmaninoff is exquisite.

Solo Piano Venice 1977 (1977) Enterplanetary Koncepts

This record is a solo live performance starting out with improv and then showcasing old jazz standards like Take The A Train and St. Louis Blues. My favorite moment is Sun Ra playing Angel Race and singing (not on mic) the lyrics to Angel Race.