# what is your guys opinion on Sun Ra?



## MusicFree (Jun 16, 2014)

in both his vast music that he recorded, but also his sort of aesthetic appeal and his philosophy?


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## FPwtc (Dec 3, 2014)

I love Sun Ra! I feel he is one of those guys where his approach is easy to dismiss as a gimmick but he was a genuinely strange and talented guy, sort of like the jazz Capatin Beefheart. I saw a good documentary on him which had Archie Shepp saying he felt the persona overshadowed the music which I think is partially true. Remeber at the time Sun Ra started playing jazz musicians performed in bow ties and suits not dressed like a pharaoh.

I think he is one of the easiest jazz artists for rock fans to get into due to the variety of his music, the strong grooves and the persona but he is probably more difficult for classical fans.

My favourite album by him is Astro Black..funky and weird!


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## MusicFree (Jun 16, 2014)

FPwtc said:


> I love Sun Ra! I feel he is one of those guys where his approach is easy to dismiss as a gimmick but he was a genuinely strange and talented guy, sort of like the jazz Capatin Beefheart. I saw a good documentary on him which had Archie Shepp saying he felt the persona overshadowed the music which I think is partially true. Remeber at the time Sun Ra started playing jazz musicians performed in bow ties and suits not dressed like a pharaoh.
> 
> I think he is one of the easiest jazz artists for rock fans to get into due to the variety of his music, the strong grooves and the persona but he is probably more difficult for classical fans.
> 
> My favourite album by him is Astro Black..funky and weird!


what do you think of his philosophy?


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## FPwtc (Dec 3, 2014)

MusicFree said:


> what do you think of his philosophy?


I find it interesting to find out about the man but I also find that I don't want to know too much as I feel the music is the only real true expression of who Sun Ra is, at least for someone who didn't know him personally. So I can say I like his view of the world as far as I get it from his music but beyond that I like to just listen and make it paint pictures in my mind.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Very uneven discography.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

I think it's difficult to understand Sun Ra besides the showman. I guess he suffered a lot the discriminations both as a black and for his sexual life (I've read persons who said he had physical problems and someone else saying that he was just a closet homosexual). I suspect that behind his interplanetary kitsch imaginary there was a refusal of the world where he had to live.
There's a piece when he said "What planet is this? Is it a planet of life? Is it a planet of death? If it is a planet of life why do people die in/of fear? This is not life but death in disguise".
Musically he's truly fascinating for his harmonies and his weird arrangements, my favorite period is probably the transitional albums of the early sixties, when he wasn't fully into free but he was already a unique mess of high and low influences, but I like many things both in the fifties and also in his late part of his career. As Morimur as said, he recorded way too much (a problem he shared with many jazz musicians of the era) so his discography is vastly uneven and on a lot of his albums there's a lot of over indulgence but then at the same time you can find the absolutely brilliant piece. And even more than his character or the strangeness of the music it's the main reason for many persons to dismiss him a bit too quickly. But for me he was definitely one of the true great mavericks of american music.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

MusicFree said:


> in both his vast music that he recorded, but also his sort of aesthetic appeal and his philosophy?


I bought the BASF lp "It's After the End of the World" in 1970. It was the strangest thing I had ever heard.

He was a complete mystery to me (he wanted it that way) until I read the book of political/religious tracts he would type and hand out on the streets. Then it all became clear.

Nowadays, you can simply go to WIK.

It all makes more sense now: the CD "Magic City" refers to Birmingham, Alabama.

It is very important that this art exists. Sun Ra made himself into the "ultimate outsider."

He devoted his whole life into "becoming his art." He created this outsider persona from another planet, and all the music and art which went along with it. That seems exceedingly rare, if not impossible, in today's world.


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## MusicFree (Jun 16, 2014)

isn't his musical incredibly complex/technical..isn't he one of the most technical musicians..
i mean unless there are some classical guys that are more complex?


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I love the early Saturn records that were re-issued on the Evidence label. I gave up on trying to keep up with the never ending releases after that. 

I was fortunate to see the Arkestra perform back in the mid 80s. They put on a very entertaining and enjoyable show.

You have to admire the man for creating his own reality, and for what he accomplished. He was one of the pioneers of independent music making, and he did this stuff on a shoestring budget. And his musicians were very dedicated to him and his music.


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## MusicFree (Jun 16, 2014)

starthrower said:


> I love the early Saturn records that were re-issued on the Evidence label. I gave up on trying to keep up with the never ending releases after that.
> 
> I was fortunate to see the Arkestra perform back in the mid 80s. They put on a very entertaining and enjoyable show.
> 
> You have to admire the man for creating his own reality, and for what he accomplished. He was one of the pioneers of independent music making, and he did this stuff on a shoestring budget. And his musicians were very dedicated to him and his music.


he reminds me of Karlheinz Stockhausen in some way, for both being somewhat "out there" and unique

what i would give to have them 2 sit down and talk music


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I got into Sun Ra through a friend who (nearly, since he was one of us) worshipped Sun Ra. As a result, I didn't look at his work critically, but just bought LP after LP—and loved lots and lots of them (still do). I also heard the similarity to Stockhausen in many of his works. Over the years, however, I came to the same conclusion Morimur expressed: his is a "very uneven discography."


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

We should all go to Saturn and ask him for answers.
















I love Sun Ra


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Another vote for "very uneven," and I don't buy into the moonshine. But I like a lot of his stuff.


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Given the uneven discography, what albums would you recommend for starting out on Sun Ra?


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Wood said:


> Given the uneven discography, what albums would you recommend for starting out on Sun Ra?


uneven means uneven in the same album.
Anyway for the first and more "normal" big band period: *Jazz in silhouette* (1959)
for his transitional period (I'm calling it transitional not because I think it's less important, actually some of his most creative music... _there_, but I don't have a good word to call it. That's why someone used for him the term afro-futurism): *Secrets of the sun* (1962)
for the free jazz stuff: *Atlantis* (1967-69)
for his blues side: *Cymbals* (1973, now you find it as The great lost Sun ra albums coupled with Crystal spears)
for his jazz-rock-funk side: *Lanquidity* (1978).

"The singles" too is a good starting point.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

A lot of fans coming from fusion and rock mention that Languidity album, but it was a big disappointment for me. It sounds uninspired, and not like Sun Ra at all.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

starthrower said:


> A lot of fans coming from fusion and rock mention that Languidity album, but it was a big disappointment for me. It sounds uninspired, and not like Sun Ra at all.


Personally from that album my favorite is the closing track There are other worlds. It's Sun Ra at his most accessible but it's a haunting piece (and I love the video of Gandahar too, it seems a perfect choice for the music)


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

The greatest alien jazz musician to walk the earth.


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## FPwtc (Dec 3, 2014)

Wood said:


> Given the uneven discography, what albums would you recommend for starting out on Sun Ra?


Afro Black - see my post above, difficult to find but the title track goes form funk to Stockhausen and free jazz in a single song
Lanquidity - I second this, probably the easiest starting point and easy to find.
The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra - a funky jazz album with some weird ethnic stuff.
Sleeping Beauty and On Jupiter are looser more free and a nice mix of melody and space jazz
The Nubians of Plutonia - is early and jazzy with great riffs and lots of melody

If you like much freer stuff then also add The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra I & II but I think start with the ones above.


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## Schubussy (Nov 2, 2012)

starthrower said:


> A lot of fans coming from fusion and rock mention that Languidity album, but it was a big disappointment for me. It sounds uninspired, and not like Sun Ra at all.


It's actually my favourite, or Sleeping Beauty, but it's the same sort of sound really. I like his fusion stuff a lot.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Whatever you do, don't buy those crappy classic albums sets on those cheap public domain labels. The legit CDs on Evidence are classy re-issues with nice art work and liner notes.

If you like swinging big band stuff, get the early albums. After 1964 or so, a lot of the music is very free. There are also some good live releases on the Leo label. 

Some of my favorites:

Sound Sun Pleasure
Jazz In Silhouette
Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy/Art Forms Of Dimensions Tomorrow
Visits Planet Earth/Interstellar Low Ways
Supersonic Jazz
Angels & Demons At Play/Nubians Of Plutonia
A Night In East Berlin
Live At Praxis '84


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