Sun Ra’s Nuits de la Fondation Maeght recordings are legendary within his extensive canon. Across two nights in August 1970, these were the first concerts Sun 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.
Prior to Maeght, The Arkestra’s early years in New York had been lean in terms of gigs, money and visibility. Their precarious situation improved after Ra’s participation in the 1964 October Revolution concerts and the release of the breathtaking Heliocentric Worlds LPs. A gradual increase in touring followed and talk had turned to brokering dates in Europe when they received an invitation to play at an art gallery in Southern France in 1970. Set in the medieval town of St Paul-de- Vence in Provence, the Fondation Maeght celebrated modern art in all its forms, housing work from some of the most important artists of the 20th Century including Matisse, Georges Braque, Chagall and Giacometti.
The two nights of performances featured one of the great Arkestra line-ups including Sun Ra, John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, June Tyson, Gloristeena Knight (Ife Tayo), Verta Grosvenor, James Jacson, Laurdine ‘Pat’ Patrick, Danny Davis and Danny Ray Thompso, Kwame Hadi (Lamont F. McClamb), Akh Tal Ebah, (Douglas E. Williams), Abshalom Ben Schlomo (Virgil Pumphrey), Robert Cummings, Alan Silva, Lex Humphries, John Goldsmith, Rashid Salim IV (William Brister) and Nimrod Hunt (Carl S. Malone) at the peak of their powers. Festival curator Daniel Caux recalled, “The Arkestra’s performances were electrifying. Films were projected behind the musicians – vistas of New York and Chicago, moon rockets, Egyptian Gods and plumed African warriors. Sun Ra’s organ threw lightning bolts, dancers brandished symbolic objects. The audience was stunned by a spectacle that surpassed anything they could have imagined”.
Originally released across two edited albums by Shandar in 1971, the two full length concerts are also being reissued by Strut across 4 CD’s. The CD set features a 36-page booklet featuring liner notes by Daniel Caux, Jacqueline Caux and Paul Griffiths and stunning restored photos of the festival by Philippe Gras.
Art Yard and Strut present the culmination of a 7-year project researching the archives of author, DJ and activist John Sinclair with the first ever retrospective of the influential Detroit Artists Workshop spanning 1965 to 1978. “In the mid-‘60s, Detroit was nowhere,” explains Sinclair. “A decaying jazz scene, no community of poets, painters or writers so a group of young Detroit artists, most of us students at Wayne State University, got together in the late Summer of 1964.” Led by Sinclair and trumpeter Charles Moore, the Artists Workshop Society was formed as a co-operative community, drawing upon the resources of every participating individual in order to perpetuate itself. They began to provide spaces in Detroit for musicians to rehearse and to promote live concerts showcasing a range progressive jazz artists across the city. Between the mid-‘60s and the early ‘80s, Sinclair amassed a huge archive of recordings from the Workshop concerts featuring Detroit residents like Moore’s Contemporary 5, Ron English and Lyman Woodard alongside many other US jazz luminaries including Donald Byrd, Sun Ra Arkestra and Herbie Hancock, Art Yard began the research into the archives in 2015. This first compilation of Detroit Artists Workshop is a revelation for any fan of jazz, featuring previously unreleased recordings by Byrd, Moore, English, Woodard, Bennie Maupin and Teddy Harris accompanied by extensive sleeve notes from John Sinclair, Robin Eichele and Herb Boyd. 1. HAPPYOLOGY – John Sinclair Introduction . Yusef Lateef – 4.04
2. CHRISTO REDENTOR – Donald Byrd – 05:43
3. BLACKJACK – Donald Byrd – 04:30
4. EFFI – The Detroit Contemporary Four – 08:46
5. THE PROMISE The Detroit Contemporary Four – 08:40
6. THREE FLOWERS – The Detroit Contemporary Four– 08:19
7. WATER TORTURE – Bennie Maurine Quartet – 08:52
8. BEES – Ron English – 10:21
9. PASSION DANCE – Teddy Harris – 07:55
10. DÉJÀ VU – Lyman Woodard Organization – 05:54
11. HELP ME GET AWAY – Lyman Woodard Organization – 5.30
12. CHEEBA – Lyman Woodard Organization – (Digital Only) 10:38
Art Yard and Strut Records present the final instalment in the series of reissues of Sun Ra’s historic recordings in Egypt with The Sun Ra Arkestra meets Salah Ragab in Egypt plus the Cairo Jazz Band, originally released on Greek label Praxis in 1983. Salah Ragab first encountered the Arkestra at a concert at the house of Goethe Institut ex-pat Hartmut Geerken during the Arkestra’s first visit to Cairo and Heliopolis in December 1971 and, although Ra and Ragab did not meet in person on that occasion, they did meet and bond together when Ra returned to Egypt in 1983, resulting in these recordings. The Arkestra had been touring Europe in March 1983 and made their way to Cairo, playing a number of concerts during April at the Il Capo / Il Buco venue before recording the two superb studio versions of Ragab compositions, ‘Egypt Strut’ and ‘Dawn’, at El Nahar Studios in Heliopolis in May, featuring Salah Ragab on congas. Kostas Yiannoulopoulos, organiser of the Praxis festival in Greece, released the recordings as the A-side of this album, with three tracks by Salah Ragab and the Cairo Jazz Orchestra on Side B. ‘Ramadan’ and ‘Oriental Mood’ were first heard on the Cairo Jazz Orchestra album Egypt Strut released in 1973 while ‘A Farewell Theme’, received its very first release on this record, written following the death of Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1970; the piece was played at the much-loved President’s funeral.This first ever official reissue of the album features previously unseen photos and memorabilia alongside brand new liner notes by Hartmut Geerken and Paul Griffiths. The album is released in its original artwork and is fully remastered by Technology Works.
Lanquidity by The Sun Ra and His Arkestra. Strut and Art Yard present the definitive edition of Sun Ra’s classic ‘Lanquidity’ album from 1978 with brand new 4LP box set and 2CD editions, featuring the widely distributed version of the album alongside alternative mixes by Bob Blank originally released in limited quantities for a 1978 Arkestra gig at Georgia Tech. Both versions of the album are cut loud at 45 rpm over 2LPs each.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.”
Swirling by The Sun Ra Arkestra. The planets align as the mighty Sun Ra Arkestra, under the direction of the maestro Marshall Allen, their first studio album in over twenty years, The Grammy Nominated ‘Swirling’. “We truly hope that this recording brings much joy to a planet which is so deeply in need of a spirit sound and vibration,” states saxophonist Knoel Scott. “We hope it contributes to a change in the ominous direction of man’s journey through the cosmos.” “This new release is the Arkestra’s love offering to the world,” concludes Marshall Allen. “Beta music for a better world.” Recorded at Rittenhouse Soundworks in Philadelphia, the new recording represents the continuation of a heartfelt rebirth of the Arkestra under Allen’s guidance since Sun Ra left the planet in 1993, gaining new generations of followers from their regular touring across the globe. With a big band line-up featuring long-standing Arkestra members including Danny Ray Thompson (RIP), Michael Ray, Vincent Chancey, Knoel Scott, Cecil Brooks, Atakatune (RIP), Elson Nascimento and Tyler Mitchell, the album is a full-blooded celebration of Sun Ra’s legacy.Marshall Allen: Alto Saxophone, EVIKnoel Scott: Alto Saxophone
James Stewart: Tenor Saxophone, Flute
Danny Ray Thompson: Baritone Saxophone, Flute
Michael Ray: Trumpet
Cecil Brooks: Trumpet
Vincent Chancey: French Horn
Dave Davis: Trombone, Vocals
Farid Barron: Piano
Dave Hotep: Guitar
Tyler Mitchell: Bass
Wayne Anthony Smith, Jr.: Drums
Elson Nascimento: Surdo Drums, Percussion
Stanley “Atakatune” Morgan: Congas
Tara Middleton: Vocals, Violin
Hometown: Detroit Sessions 1990-2014 “This album will be part of the everlasting impact the Tribe collective had on our culture, on our hope and possibilities.” Herb Boyd. Art Yard and Strut present the first compilation bringing together the modern era recordings of Tribe, Detroit’s acclaimed independent jazz collective.Tribe began as a musical ensemble in 1971 co-founded by Saxophonist Wendell Harrison and trombonist Phil Ranelin that soon expanded into a broad amalgam including a live collective and independent record label. Ignored by the mainstream, many African American jazz artists in Detroit and across the US began creating their own small imprints and Tribe emerged alongside other cultural entities to express selfdetermination goals in the city: saxophonist Ernie Rodgers with his sessions at Rapa House; John and Leni Sinclair’s Artist Workshop; Bruce Millan’s Repertory Theater; the Hastings Jazz Experience and the Strata Corporation led by Kenny Cox. Harrison’s ideas of independence, self-determination and education were central to the Tribe ethos: “I might be possessed with a drive to get the knowledge out,” explained Harrison, “because I see this as sustaining the future of the jazz diaspora, the jazz tradition.” Tribe album releases like Harrison’s ‘An Evening With The Devil’ (1972) releases November 8, 2019
Salah Ragab And The Cairo Jazz Band Present Egyptian Jazz. These recordings present Salah Ragab and The Cairo Jazz Band’s definitive work, recorded in Heliopolis Egypt between 1968 and 1973. Western Jazz musicians have been fascinated with the world of Islam for many years, for religious – spiritual, musical and sociological reasons. It was therefore inevitable that musicians of the Arabian North African area would play a part in the interaction of these two Musical Cultures. The compositions correspond to the cross over of musical styles at the time of the recording, 6000 miles away across the Mediterranean and Atlantic in New York with releases on Moodsville by Yusef Lateef and RCA by Ahmud Abdul-Malik.
Sun Ra Of Abstract Dreams. 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. This newly discovered session features a new version of Ra’s earlier ‘Island In The Sun’, a romping, raucous rendition of ‘Unmask The Batman’ and the first studio recording of ‘I’ll Wait For You’ There is no bass player on the sessions and Ra’s left hand beats out a rhythmic bass pattern on the piano. All tracks are remastered directly from the original tapes. The album package features a newly commissioned painting by legendary Bristol urban artist Guy Denning and new sleeve notes by Paul Griffiths.
Recently discovered in the Sun Ra archive, the recording forms part of a series of sessions that Ra and the Arkestra recorded for WXPN-FM between 1974 and 1980. The ‘Antique Blacks’ album was recorded there in ’74. Based on the campus of The University of Pennsylvania, WXPN’s station manager Jules Epstein and music director Russ Woessner were instrumental in the exposure and recording of The Arkestra in their broadcast production studios. Geno Barnhart, founder of The Empty Foxhole concert collective, Jules and Russ broadcast an on-going series of jazz concerts covering a wide spectrum. The Arkestra performed at The Foxhole in Philly many times from 1974.
AL CHEM – 160 Tons Of Sunlight Daily. Digital Album release available via Bandcamp. Following the Weird Fiction release Al Chem steps up with a new album, a deep exploration into the mysterious electronic musical landscapes, Al Chem’s unique story continues with a new chapter of ambiant pathways.
AL CHEM – weird fiction. No Hopper is a rework of the Ras Michael song No Hoppers, from his legendary album, Rastafari Dub, Chem’s version shuffles the pack of electronic percussion with organic, Moondog-like rhythms and hazy atmospheric chords; The Prophet pinpoints Chem’s GPS firmly in Berlin, just as The Red Tower blurs that kick-drum parallel between reggae and house music; Baudelaire sputters digital delay, piling on the pressure, a clatter of surgical implements performing an operation out of Dead Ringers, the patient storming out of the theatre with loosely fitted mechanical body parts; the instrumental No Hopper only serves to highlight the distant gathering storm. Ladder of Perfection rounds off the set with a drone, creaking with bubbling digital mud pools. ArtYardLP2017 -Limited vinyl pressing 500 numbered 180gram tip-on sleeve.
Sun Ra Discipline 27-11 A bona fide Sun Ra classic, ‘Discipline 27-11’ was recorded by Impulse! producer Ed Michel in October 1972 at Streeterville Studios in Chicago and involved the largest Arkestra line-up Sun Ra had ever taken into a studio session. The recordings spawned two albums, the celebrated ‘Space Is The Place’ and ‘Discipline 27-11’ which would remain its rather mysterious occult twin. This official reissue was remastered from original tapes and was released for Record Store Day 2017.
Sun Ra Singles Strut and Art Yard present a new definitive collection of singles released by jazz maverick Sun Ra during his Earth years, spanning 1952 to 1991. Released prolifically during the 1950s and more sporadically thereafter, primarily on the Saturn label, the 45s offer one-off meteorites 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 sounded unlike anything else from the period. As with his LPs, most 45s were only pressed in small runs and were sold at gigs and have since become extremely rare and sought after. Some have only been discovered in physical form in recent years; some were planned and pencilled but allegedly never made it to vinyl and some appeared as one-off magazine singles and posthumous releases.
Gilles Peterson Presents Sun Ra And His Arkestra: To Those Of Earth… And Other Worlds Strut and Art Yard follow up their hugely successful Marshall Allen-curated ‘In The Orbit Of Ra’ compilation with a newly curated set from the immense 125 LP back catalogue of jazz maverick, DIY philosopher and self-professed member of an “angel race”, Sun Ra. ‘To Those Of Earth… And Other Worlds’ is a hand- picked selection from BBC 6Music DJ Gilles Peterson, long-time champion of Ra’s music and the UK’s leading tastemaker for jazz-based sounds. It serves as perhaps the best introduction yet to the music of Sun Ra for a whole new generation of converts.
Planets Of Life Or Death: Amiens ’73. A previously unreleased Sun Ra concert from Amiens, France in 1973. At times intense, ritualistic and visceral, the recording features the glistening ‘Lights On A Satellite’ featuring the spiritual tenor sax of John Gilmore and a rare instrumental version of ‘Love In Outer Space’.
Marshall Allen presents Sun Ra And His Arkestra: In The Orbit Of Ra. Arkestra bandleader Marshall Allen cuts through the sea of Sun Ra reissues to bring you a brilliantly curated introduction to the cosmic jazz master, celebrating what would have been his 100th earth year. A sumptuous collection of classics, rarities and unreleased tracks and versions.
Pat Patrick and The Baritone Saxophone Retinue SOUND ADVICE. Art Yard Records is proud to present the first ever official reissue of Sun Ra Arkestra member Pat Patrick’s unique baritone sax masterpiece ‘Sound Advice’.
‘Of all the saxophones, it is our opinion that the one with the most distinctive sound, warmth and range that can reach into that of other saxophones, is the baritone sax.’ As composer, bandleader, and full-time member of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Pat Patrick was a visionary musician whose singular contribution to the jazz tradition has not yet been fully recognised. As well holding down the baritone spot in the Arkestra for 35 years, Patrick played flute and alto, composed in both jazz and popular idioms, and was a widely respected musician, playing with Duke Ellington, Eric Dolphy, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, with whom he appeared on Africa/Brass. But he is best known for his crucial contributions to key Sun Ra recordings including Angels and Demons at Play, Jazz in Silhouette and Nubians of Plutonia, among dozens of others. But as a bandleader, Patrick only released one LP – the almost mythical Sound Advice, recorded with his Baritone Saxophone Retinue, a unique gathering of baritone saxophone masters including Charles Davis and Rene Mclean. First issued in 1977 on Sun Ra’s legendary Saturn Records imprint, Sound Advice is a deephued exploration of this special instrument, a lost masterpiece of Arkestrally-minded Ellingtonia where higher adepts of the lower cosmic tones are heard in rare conference. Unissued since original release, Art Yard Records is proud to bring this unique jazz masterpiece back into the limelight.
Sun Ra and his Mythic Science Arkestra The Paris Tapes: Live At Le Théâtre Du Châtelet 1971.
Listening to the opening of Sun Ra ‘Live in Paris’ 1971 calls to mind a quote from the Musicians Psalm. [Psalm 151]
‘Praise Him with the Cymbals, the High sounding cymbals.’
As all events within the African Diaspora commence with the proclamation of the Drum, this analogy is an excellent example of the use of symbolism; orchestrated by Sun Ra. The praise of the Most High reflecting Sun Ra’s ever constant homage to the Creator. The Oration of the Drums speaks to the origins of what playwright Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) referred to as Great Black Music; Drum legend Lex Humphries with Danny Thompson on bongos, John Gilmore on timbales herald the entrance of Sun Ra, on Farfisa organ. The short violent bursts of sound echoing the crack of the whip, the shots through the woods by slave trackers bounty hunters and terrorists in white robes (sometimes blue uniforms) which savaged the communities of African Americans throughout the 19th and most of the 20th Century. This concert took place just three years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King when thought of a Black American President was nonexistent, at the furthest reaches of improbability despite congresswoman Shirley Chisolm’s 1972 bid which was considered merely symbolic. Today. The shots ricocheting from within … with black on black crime, unemployment and lack of education the … manifestation of a socio-physiology full of trauma, self hate and apathy … fuelled by a multi-media platform of disrespect, caricature and humiliation. Each step forward mired in the mud of intolerance. Look at how Google allowed themselves to be used to globally disrespect the first African American First Lady; what message was sent to the African American community and the world at large? THIS is the backdrop of the Music of Sun Ra; the struggle continues into the 21st Century. The clarion call of Sun Ra as relevant today as it was Fifty years ago; this is what gave birth to Sun Ra’s statement SPACE IS THE PLACE both literal and allegorical: thoughts, ideas, equations and constructions outside the petty bigotry, cruelty and inhumanity of MAN.
‘What do you do, when you know, that you know, that you know that your Wrong; you’ve got to Face the music … you’ve got to listen to the Cosmo sound.’
[ Sun Ra, 1988 ]