Sun Ra HHV Records 37 Items

6LP Box Set, 24-page booklet & Original programme housed in a hardboard box. Across two nights in August 1970, these were the first concerts Ra and the Arkestra had performed outside North America and formed part of a stellar festival line-up alongside Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, LaMonte Young and Marian Zazeela.

Sun Ra was a master of misdirection. Tape boxes wrongly labeled—whether by accident or design—are legendary among Ra archivists. One can speculate about the artist's intent or carelessness, but source misinformation abounds on Ra tape cases, album jackets, cassettes, ephemera—as well as in interviews. It's as if Ra, in furtherance of his own mythmaking, wanted to keep historians guessing.

This project began as a misidentified tape discovered by Michael D. Anderson of the Sun Ra Music Archive. The 7-inch reel, which contained a live Ra solo piano performance of 11 works—some recognizable, others not—was of stellar quality, and was marked as a 1979 Carnegie Hall date. But the program on the tape did not align with known facts (e.g., titles played, concert duration) which were chronicled in a Newsday review of Ra's appearance at Carnegie in September of that year. With a prod from writer/historian Ted Gioia and further research by myself, the tape was eventually identified as a mostly unreleased July 1977 performance by Ra at a downtown NYC "jazz café" called The Axis-in-Soho.

If you're looking for melodies, structured compositions, pleasant harmonies, songs you can whistle, and serenades for social gatherings — seek elsewhere. This is Triple-A Ra: Audacious, Aggressive, Adventurous. In the collection we've titled Stray Voltage, Ra is not so much composing music as painting soundscapes with electronic keyboards. Ra doesn't simply play these consoles — he attacks, cajoles, and pounds them. Stray Voltage compiles unissued electronic peregrinations during the 1970s and '80s, pressed on frosted orange vinyl!

This is a 2025 Record Store Day release.

Vinyl LP pressing. Digitally remastered. This special 60th-anniversary reissue of groundbreaking jazz artist Sun Ra's iconic 1962 album, The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra, features all analog remastering by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. The package includes Tom Wilson's original liner notes, plus insightful new essays by jazz historian Ben Young and the journalist, radio personality and author Irwin Chusid.

In the years leading up to 1971, Sun Ra wrote many compositions and poems specifically inspired by the ancient African Kingdoms and many others with associated mythological and heliocentric connotations. As such, a visit to Egypt and the opportunity for the Arkestra to play there was a matter of necessity. Ra's first ever concerts outside of the US had occurred in late summer and autumn of 1970 with performances in France, Germany and the UK and a second European tour was arranged for late 1971. At the end of that second tour, Ra caught wind of cheap flights from Denmark to Cairo. This release comprises recordings made by Arkestra member Thomas "Bugs" Hunter made in December 1971 in the streets around the Mena House Hotel, Giza, from a concert held at the house of Goethe Institute ex-pat Hartmut Geerken in Heliopolis, from a live Cairo TV channel broadcast and a concert at the Ballon Theatre in Cairo. The impact and significance of these few weeks upon Sun Ra can be measured by the growth and development of his output over the next few years; the immediate post-Egypt period included new studio and live recordings on the Saturn, Blue Thumb, Atlantic and Impulse labels and the 'Space Is The Place' movie. Ra also edited the three LPs of the 'Live In Egypt' series which were subsequently released on his Saturn record label and its affiliated twin, Thoth Intergalactic: 'Dark Myth Equation Visitation', 'Nidhamu' and 'Horizon'. These three albums are now reissued as single LP editions in their original artwork.

Featuring what may be his only recordings on the Prophet keyboard, these once lost performances expand the omniverse of Ra across a stellar set of lengthy cuts! All recorded in a single day and finally making their terrestrial debut! Includes notes from Ranthropologist Brother Cleve and two CD-only bonus tracks!What happens when a Prophet meets a Prophet? The answer lies within these grooves.Amongst the hundreds of recordings issued by Sun Ra and his Arkestra, under their various guises, the majority were recorded in concert or in makeshift studios such as their early 1960s set-up at NYC's Choreographer's Workshop. Beyond those, roughly 22 albums were recorded at Variety Recording Studio in New York's Times Square. However, on August 25, 1986, Sun Ra and cohorts entered Mission Control, a state-of-the-art 24-track studio north of Boston, which was teeming with electronic keyboards and otherworldly sound generators. Nestled within that arsenal was a brand-new digital ultra keyboard — the Prophet VS ("Vector Synthesizer").Of all the keyboards Ra played throughout his half-century career, the Prophet was one of the most sophisticated. There's no evidence that he had played either of the instrument's earlier incarnations, the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and Prophet-10. Created using microprocessors, a then-new technological advance, under the auspices of engineer Dave Smith in 1978, the Prophet-5 revolutionized electronic music as the first polyphonic and, most importantly, programmable synthesizer.Ra was intrigued by the Prophet (surely by the instrument as well as by the name). Recorded during a single day, it's about time that these once lost performances have now been found.It was a joy and a thrill to be sitting at the console hearing this music for the first time, especially with my fingers on the faders and knobs of the mixing desk. We watched the oxide fly o

Features remarkable, previously unheard versions of Ra classics "Calling Planet Earth", "Sunset On The Nile" and "Theme From The Stargazers".

A couple of magnificent Sun Ra gems on this heavyweight 7". Pressed at 33rpm on neon magenta vinyl. TIP!

Both tracks are denoted as 'Disco Edit' by the label, and we smell and air of fun in that. If not then find us the Disco that plays this kind of fire and we are there! This ain't no added kick drum + high hat to make the stiff folk dance bullshit.

Side A is very respectful and dope chop up of Disco 3000's Dance OF THE Cosmo Aliens. Side B a more subtle edit of Sleeping Beauty's celestial Door OF THE CosmoS

.. did we say TIP!?

Recorded overnight at Bob Bank’s Blank Tapes on 17th July 1978 after the Arkestra had appeared on Saturday Night Live, the album is unique in the Ra catalogue. “Most critics felt that it was more of a fusion-inspired record,” explains Michael Ray. “As the name suggests, the album is liquid and languid.” Bob Blank continues, “Musically, it was very ad hoc and freeform. There were horn charts but most tracks came out of improvised jams. Sun Ra just did his thing.”

Comprising five effortlessly fluid pieces, the album eases in with Lanquidity. Danny Ray Thompson remembers, “This was one of Sun Ra’s on-the-spot compositions. It is almost like an Ancient Egyptian Stargazing Ceremony, mapping out the stars and the planets.” Where Pathways Meet is “Sun Ra’s funky version of an Egyptian march. Pharaoh is sending his troops off to fight and this is his pep-talk!” continues Thompson. “The music seems to take different pathways but still converges.” The loping groove of That’s How I Feel, features the reflective trumpet lines of Eddie Gale with solos by John Gilmore and Marshall Allen: “Marshall comes in with that snake charming oboe.” Says Thompson. The funky Twin Stars Of Thence weaves around Richard Williams celebrated elastic bassline while the haunting closer, There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of), is pure “space music.” The poet Mama Nzinga described it as ‘The essence of light. Spirit takes a ride inside the deep dark space of just being.”

In the years leading up to 1971, Sun Ra wrote many compositions and poems specifically inspired by the ancient African Kingdoms and many others with associated mythological and heliocentric connotations. As such, a visit to Egypt and the opportunity for the Arkestra to play there was a matter of necessity. Ra's first ever concerts outside of the US had occurred in late summer and autumn of 1970 with performances in France, Germany and the UK and a second European tour was arranged for late 1971. At the end of that second tour, Ra caught wind of cheap flights from Denmark to Cairo. This release comprises recordings made by Arkestra member Thomas "Bugs" Hunter made in December 1971 in the streets around the Mena House Hotel, Giza, from a concert held at the house of Goethe Institute ex-pat Hartmut Geerken in Heliopolis, from a live Cairo TV channel broadcast and a concert at the Ballon Theatre in Cairo. The impact and significance of these few weeks upon Sun Ra can be measured by the growth and development of his output over the next few years; the immediate post-Egypt period included new studio and live recordings on the Saturn, Blue Thumb, Atlantic and Impulse labels and the 'Space Is The Place' movie. Ra also edited the three LPs of the 'Live In Egypt' series which were subsequently released on his Saturn record label and its affiliated twin, Thoth Intergalactic: 'Dark Myth Equation Visitation', 'Nidhamu' and 'Horizon'. These three albums are now reissued as single LP editions in their original artwork.

The Sun Ra Omniverse Arkestra T-Shirt's features include:
• rib crew neck with interior tape
• Omniverse Arkestra artwork printed on front
• regular fit
• 100% cotton single jersey

LP version. "God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be is something of a rarity in the Sun Ra catalog - a cohesive album with none of the stylistic eclecticism and musical chair shifting many of the artist's self-released LPs were known for. Recorded at Variety Studios one day in 1979, the album's five tracks comprise a solid jazz trio set. God Is More Than Love... is the only complete piano-bass-drums studio session in the massive Sun Ra catalog. The album offers an intense set of cosmic vagabond moods, reflecting the telepathy that is the essence of small combo jazz. Other than an overdubbed second piano on 'Days Of Happiness' the five works were spontaneously generated and forever fixed: none of the titles recur in the encyclopedic Ra discography. Originally released on Saturn in several small press runs under the alternate title 'Days Of Happiness' between 1979 and 1981, fully realized artwork was never established and the album never got much circulation, thus it has remained a largely overlooked session in the Ra omniverse. Nearly 40 years later, the record is long overdue for acclaim on it's second time around. Newly remastered edition on CD and LP (with tip-on style jackets/ RTI vinyl)"

Following 2016’s definitive collection of singles released by Sun Ra from across his illustrious career, Strut present the second volume of the vinyl edition on 3LP format which focus on Ra’s later 1962-1991 period.
Released sporadically during the three decades and primarily on the Saturn label, the 45s offer one-off missives from Ra’s prolific cosmic journey, tracing the development of his forward-thinking “Space-Bop” and his unique take on jazz and blues traditions which remains unlike anything else from the period. As with the first volume vinyl editions, the collection is hugely varied, ranging from Ra’s spoken word recitations and some of his R&B recordings to alternative versions of Arkestra staples like ‘Love In Outer Space’, ‘Enlightenment’ and ‘Rocket No. 9’. The singles are also unpredictable vehicles for Ra’s music, combining different tracks from different sessions and occasionally making available music which was recorded many years beforehand.
As Francis Gooding describes them, “they are answers to questions that albums won’t answer, and questions that can’t be asked or answered elsewhere.”
As with Ra’s LPs, most 45s were only pressed in small runs and have since become extremely rare and sought after. On the volume 2 vinyl editions, we feature tracks that have only ever been seen via a small handful of copies including ‘Love In Outer Space’ b/w ‘Mayan Temple’ and ‘The Blue One’ b/w ‘Orbitration In Blue’; some were planned and pencilled but allegedly never made it to vinyl and some appeared as limited one-off magazine singles including Ra’s very last single release, the reflective ‘I Am The Instrument’.
Sleeve note writers Chris Trent and Paul Griffiths brilliantly illustrate the role of the single within Ra’s career and break down each release with detailed track by track notes. Working with Sun Ra LLC and Sun Ra archivist Michael D. Anderson, Strut has also assembled the best possible master sources for each track.
‘Singles’ Vol. 2 features fully remastered tracks, rare photos, original 45 artwork,
Chris Trent sleeve notes and detailed track by track and session notes by Paul Griffiths.

Recorded at the Choreographers’ Workshop in New York, 1963, Waaghals Records presents two songs from Sun Ra’s Continuation sessions on vinyl for the first time. Known for its lo-fi recording quality coupled with heavy use of echo and reverberation, the material recorded at the Choreographers’ Workshop holds a special place within the Sun Ra catalogue. This unique blend of avant-garde jazz and bold production methods is described as “low-budget musique concrete” by Sun Ra biographer John F. Szwed.

Taken from the 1970 Saturn album Continuation, side a features the complete unedited version of New Planet. A bouncy Ra track that somehow ends up in a sound-bath of low, throbbing frequencies and echoes. The b side, Meteor Shower, remained unreleased until 2014, making its first official appearance on vinyl here. The opening trumpet salvo warms us up for a micro trip through the vast cosmos, with more echoed percussion and a beautifully bowed bass solo. It is no surprise that in recent years this particular piece has been sampled, most recently by RP BOO and Armand Hammer.

Tape transfers and audio restoration by Michael D. Anderson and Irwin Chusid of the Sun Ra Archive.

When you wish upon a star… that turns out to be Saturn.

Previously unheard Ra culled from the archives and compiled based on their association to that children's film corporation with the cartoon rodent.

Jazz aficionados and Disney nerds alike will marvel at how seamlessly Sun Ra and his Arkestra put their own unique twist on both well-known and overlooked Disney songs. Pink Elephants on Parade takes nine songs from Disney’s storied catalog and recontextualizes them as beautiful, fun, and sometimes terrifying pieces of Afrofuturist jazz. The collection also shows further proof of how Ra was always willing to transcend conventions of jazz. Listen to the full album and you will likely never look at the Disney music catalog the same way ever again.

Originally known for accompanying Dumbo and Timothy’s colorful alcohol-induced hallucinations, this song is given a whole new life by Ra and the Arkestra in more ways than one. It also feels faithful to the original at the same time, with the cacophony of horns, drums, percussion, and cowbell resembling that of a marching band. However, the demented grandeur of the song is turned up to eleven with zany vocal lines (hence the high-pitched “What’ll I do” inflections) and other performances that somehow sound more evil and gruff here than they did on Oliver Wallace and Ned Washington’s version. Though the Sportsmen’s vocals from that particular arrangement had a certain creepiness to it, the Arkestra takes a previously innocent sounding song and makes Pink Elephants On Parade sound even more terrifying.

Strut proudly presents a special edition, deluxe repress of Sun Ra"s classic "Lanquidity", for the 25th anniversary of the label. Housed in a tip-on sleeve with OBI strip, this new special editions features an A2 poster including a rare Veryl Oakland photograph of Sun Ra in his home, as well as liner notes by Tom Buchler (Philly Jazz), Michael Ray and Danny Ray Thompson (Sun Ra Arkestra) and Bob Blank.

150 copies on crystal clear red vinyl, deluxe edition 3LP Box, silver print on deluxe Fedrigoni Ultra Black paper, released with the full approval of the Sun Ra Estate

Born Herman Poole Blount in Alabama during 1914, Sun Ra first emerged on the Chicago jazz scene during the late 1940s. One of the great avant-garde composers of his generation - leading the way on piano, organ, and (eventually) synthesizer - beginning in the mid-1950s and lasting until his death in 1993, led the Arkestra, a band through which a near countless number of important artists passed and collaborated with, and many remained for the duration of their careers, notably Marshall Allen, John Gilmore and June Tyson. Known for their wild costumes and theatrics, Ra’s eccentric image and claims that he was from Saturn was deeply political, imagining an alternate social order, history, and future for African Americans that rests as a pioneering force in the Afro-Futurist movement.

While Sun Ra and his Arkestra can best be located within the broader movements of avant-garde jazz - particularly as innovators of free and spiritual jazz in their evolving forms - the composer was notoriously hard to pin down on creative terms. He was a visionary titan whose work traversed nearly half of the 20th Century, continuously pushing the idiom of jazz at every turn, ingesting and incorporating the entire history African American music - the blues, R&B, soul, gospel, ragtime, hot jazz, swing, bebop, free jazz, and fusion, etc. - into his work, without any division or hierarchy, producing roughly 100 full lengths bear his name, beginning with 1957’s “Jazz By Sun Ra Vol.1”, and stretching well beyond his death in 1993. Despite how much was captured and released, remarkably, rare and previously unheard recordings continue to emerge and amaze.

Recorded live at Teatro Giulio Cesare on March 28, 1980, comprising an astounding 27 compositions, including the highly celebrated “Astro Black”, “Mr. Mystery”, “Romance of Two Planets”, “Space Is the Place”, “We Travel the Spaceways”, and “Calling Planet Earth”, over six vinyl sides. High among the greatest live gigs by the Arkestra captured on tape, carefully mastered by Matt Bordin at Outside Inside Studio, “Live in Rome 1980” is a near perfect snapshot of the band’s versatility and range, including many of their most notably and famous songs, as well as striking renditions of the Horace Henderson penned Benny Goodman number “Big John’s Special”, Fletcher Henderson’s “Yeah Man!”, and "Limehouse Blues”, displaying Ra’s willingness to address and rework the entire, diverse history of jazz in a single go.

Heard in its totality, perhaps what makes “Live in Rome 1980” most striking is the way in which the concert plays out. Roughly the first half encounters the band locked in some of the most out-there, free jazz fire that can be imagined, weaving a startling sense of interplay and furious energy into a brilliant tapestry of writhing sonority, the likes of which were only really achieved by this band. The second half, with only moments of exception that return to the furious energy of the first, is very different affair, easy toward the vocal standards, led by June Tyson’s vocals and the joyous collective chanting of the band, for which they have become so widely celebrated, threading the sounds of off-kilter big band swing with heavy grooves and imagines of outer space.

Recorded live at Teatro Giulio Cesare on March 28, 1980. Sun Ra: Piano, Keyboards, Vocals. Noel Scott: Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Percussion. Marshall Allen: Alto Saxophone, Flute, Oboe. Danny Ray Thompson: Baritone Saxophone, Flute. Chris Henderson, Eric “Samurai” Walker: Drums. Kenny Williams: Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Percussion. John Gilmore: Tenor Saxophone, Percussion. Michael Ray: Trumpet. June Tyson: Vocals. Mastered by Matt Bordin at Outside Inside Studio. Lacquer cut by Daniel Krieger at SST, Frankfurt am Main. All pictures by Paolo Ferraresi (Milano, Teatro Orfeo, March 26, 1980). All compositions by Sun Ra © Enterplanetary Koncepts (bmi) except where otherwise stated. Released under license from Sun Ra LLC.

Space Is The Place – highlighted by the rousing 21-minute title track – is both an essential album and a great onramp for new listeners to travel the spaceways of Sun Ra’s other-worldly blend of avant-garde jazz, experimental rock, and Afrofuturism.



Verve BY Request Series: remastered, audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl from Third Man Pressing/Detroit, gatefold sleeve.

One of the rarer albums in the Sun Ra canon, Rttr originally entered our orbit in 1983, mystifying listeners and confounding Ra fanatics with the minimal info on the Saturn pressing. Recorded at several locations over several years (including legendary avant-garde arts enclave, the Squat Theater in Nyc), the tracks here include everything from Ra's sci-fi synthesizer insanity, Marshall Allen's skronking sax, an excellent Arkestra vocal track 'They Plan To Leave,' and so much more. Reissued for the first time, and pressed on colored vinyl!

180 g Vinyl

In the years leading up to 1971, Sun Ra wrote many compositions and poems specifically inspired by the ancient African Kingdoms and many others with associated mythological and heliocentric connotations. As such, a visit to Egypt and the opportunity for the Arkestra to play there was a matter of necessity. Ra's first ever concerts outside of the US had occurred in late summer and autumn of 1970 with performances in France, Germany and the UK and a second European tour was arranged for late 1971. At the end of that second tour, Ra caught wind of cheap flights from Denmark to Cairo. This release comprises recordings made by Arkestra member Thomas "Bugs" Hunter made in December 1971 in the streets around the Mena House Hotel, Giza, from a concert held at the house of Goethe Institute ex-pat Hartmut Geerken in Heliopolis, from a live Cairo TV channel broadcast and a concert at the Ballon Theatre in Cairo. The impact and significance of these few weeks upon Sun Ra can be measured by the growth and development of his output over the next few years; the immediate post-Egypt period included new studio and live recordings on the Saturn, Blue Thumb, Atlantic and Impulse labels and the 'Space Is The Place' movie. Ra also edited the three LPs of the 'Live In Egypt' series which were subsequently released on his Saturn record label and its affiliated twin, Thoth Intergalactic: 'Dark Myth Equation Visitation', 'Nidhamu' and 'Horizon'. These three albums are now reissued as single LP editions in their original artwork.

Recorded in ’73 and rejected by tin-eared major label execs in ’75, Crystal Spears (or “Crystal Clear” as it appears on the tape box) subsumes a cathartic brawl between Minimoog and Yamaha combo organ, with percussionists providing tonal textures, and plaintive oboe colliding with roaring electronic keyboards over waves of rollicking marimba, devilishly chattering below the fray. Crystal Spears is Ra’s once lost aural cinematheque! Includes a quad-ra-color Sun Ra poster!
Crystal Spears, intended for release in 1975 by ABC/Impulse! and assigned catalog # AS-9297, was ultimately rejected by the label. Ra and business manager Alton Abraham retained the rights, rechristened the album Crystal Clear and assigned Saturn Records catalog # 562—but they never got around to issuing it. The first three tracks on this album were mastered from that tape, a 1/4-inch four-track (15 ips) brand favored by home recording enthusiasts—and generally disfavored by pro engineers. The sessions took place at Variety Recording Studio in New York on February 3, 1973, a month before the Ark returned on March 8 to record Cymbals, as well as tracks issued decades later under the title Sign Of The Myth (and perhaps even Pathways To Unknown Worlds).

Us is a compilation of rare material from Sun Ra and his Arkestra, drawing from tapes recorded between 1963 and 1970, taken from both live and studio performances. The space-age jazz shaman conjures up a variety of styles and moods along the way. The album has been remastered, and pressed on audiophile-grade vinyl at Pallas in Germany.

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2017!

Limited seven inch vinyl pressing. Shining sounds from the dawn of the Sun Ra Arkestra. 'El is A Sound of Joy' was recorded in 1956 and appeared the following year on the very first Saturn LP, Super-Sonic Jazz. Incredible is the fact that saxophonist Charles Davis, here providing the soulful baritone anchor line (counterpoint to Sun Ra's formidable left hand), remains in the front-line of today's Sun Ra Arkestra directed by Marshall Allen. Shuffle swing breakdown jets leisurely, casually, masterfully, painting lush, post-modern impressions of ancient future worlds, of space, of time... of Chicago's elevated trains... Reaching for the sky, for Joy... The Joy coda dovetails magically into the intro theme of 'Black Sky And Blue Moon', before downshifting into another dimension of romantic outrospection. We follow The Nu Sounds, aka Cosmic Rays, on a faraway journey to the land of late-50s Chicago singing groups, the Arkestra supporting with quiet grace, pulsing in Nubians of Plutonia mode. An uncanny blend of antique blackness and bright satellites, ethereal voices perfectly in tune; thanks to Ra's disciplined coaching (plus Modern Harmonic's expert remastering), their sweet dynamics and exact harmonics are crystal clear. Flute solo from Marshall Allen. Hearts swelling like the full moon, ripening in the darkness to the point of bursting.

The immense output of Sun Ra and his many backing bands, coupled with the limited production of many of his releases has long defied dedicated collectors. Parallel to a vast list of LP releases, Sun Ra released numerous 45 RPM singles; one-off meteorites from his prolific cosmic journey. Working closely with Sun Ra LLC and Art Yard Records, it is with great pride that Strut presents a definitive collection of the rare singles released by Sun Ra across his illustrious career, spanning 1952 to 1991.

Released prolifically during the 1950s and more sporadically thereafter, primarily on the Saturn label, the 45s trace the development of Sun Ra’s forward-thinking “Space-Bop” and his unique take on jazz and blues traditions which remains unlike anything else from the period. As with his LPs, most 45s were only pressed in small runs and have since become extremely rare and sought after. Some have only been discovered in physical form in recent years; some were planned and penciled but allegedly never made it to vinyl and some appeared as one-off magazine singles and posthumous releases.

‘Singles: The Definitive 45 Collection’ will be released in two volumes on vinyl across two release dates. All formats feature fully remastered tracks, rare photos, poster artwork, extensive sleeve notes by Francis Gooding, an interview with Saturn Records founder Alton Abraham by John Corbett and detailed track by track and session notes by Paul Griffiths.

Limited audiophile 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Wax Time.

180-GRAM COLORED BLUE VINYL - THE COMPLETE LP + BONUS TRACK. One of the great enigmatic figures of jazz, Sun Ra's persona as philosopher, showman and space enthusiast often overshadowed his purely musical accomplishments as one of the most prolific and creative composers and big band leaders in the business. The current release contains one of Sun Ra's most exceptional and highly regarded albums of the 1950s: Jazz in Silhouette.

An album of originally unreleased Sun Ra, over 50 years after it was recorded, back in print on lightning yellow vinyl!

Sun Ra is still trying to get our attention 50 years after dispatching this transmission. Humanity's path since then makes his message even more urgent today. Years after Herman Poole "LeSony'r Ra" Blount "left the planet" he's still trying to reach us, to wake us up and to change our destiny.

Sun Ra and the Arkestra weren't a traditional studio band, and every star in the vast galaxy of their discography reflects this. The origins of these records can be hard to pinpoint at times, but when it comes to Thunder Of The Gods, it's a bit easier. "Calling Planet Earth - We'll Wait For You" was discovered on tapes from Ra's, Universe In Blue, believed to be recorded in '71. The raucous title track and "Moonshots Across the Sky" are unearthed from the '66 Strange Strings sessions. Modern Harmonic has once again paired Ra's sonic art with the visual art of "The Father of Modern Space Art," Chesley Bonestell, whose 1952 work "Formation of the Earth's Continents" spralls across the front and back covers.

digipak

An F-bomb saturated hip-hop call & response club cut...from Sun Ra?! While the most renown track in this omniversal opus is the atomic expletive-filled repartee “Nuclear War,” there is so much more to this dark mysterious journey through the mind of Sun Ra. The sprawling, suite-like 20-minute title track sustains a lyrical edge in spite of an open framework and textures, which encourage sonorities to surface and emerge from the band as if there was no human intention behind them. In opposition to “Nuclear War,” Ra's organ playing here was built less on bombast and sonic terror than it is on whispers, stutters, shivers, and swells. Fireside Chat offers a wide stylistic array, as was the artist’s intent, reflecting his eclectic, seemingly irreconcilable approach to compositional extremes. With Sun Ra you get everything... except predictability.

Recital presents a newly unearthed recording of an interview between Sun Ra and composer Charlie Morrow recorded at his New York studio in 1989. This voice-only recording develops more like a kaleidoscopic sermon than any standard interview.