May 22, 2014
I posted a podcast last month about Sun Ra, but there is so much music to share that I wanted to add a mixtape podcast to shwocase the great breadth of his musical talent. As for further explanations of the man and his music, I point you to the Village Voice and John F. Szwed's 2006 piece "The Sun Ra Guide." To quote Mr. Szwed on the expanse of Sun Ra's music:
It's as if Sun Ra planned the hopelessness of the task from the beginning. Pick the best of what might be an infinite number of recordings? Nobody has them all or knows how many exist. Find the recording dates of music made by people for whom time meant nothing, who often mixed together recordings from different years? Even the album titles are dicey, sometimes with a word or two wrong, or with the same title used on more than one recording, or with no title given at all. Sometimes there was no cover. It's all part of the Sun Ra mystique and also, incidentally, the force that drives all collecting: not just that you want to own them all, but that you'll never be sure if you have them all.
Podcast 427 features selections from "The Sun Ra Guide" and elsewhere, including:
Le Sun-Ra and his Arkistra - “Supersonic Jazz” from The Singles.
Yochannan with Sun-Ra and his Arkestra – “The Sun Man Speaks (Alternate Take)” from The Singles.
Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Arkestra – “Dorothy’s Dance” from Holiday for Soul Dance.
Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra – Title Track from We Follow the Space Ways.
Sun Ra and his Arkestra – “Search Light Blues” from Bad and Beautiful.
Sun Ra and his Astro-Infinity Arkestra – Title Track from Atlantis.
Sun Ra – “Sea of Sounds” and “Rocket Number Nine” from Space is the Place.
Sun Ra and his Astro-Galactic Infinity Arkestra – “Journey to Saturn” from The Singles.
Sun Ra & his Outer Space Arkestra – “Outer Space Plateau” from The Singles.