Sun Ra

This BBC4 afrofuturism doc featuring Sun Ra looks interesting: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000wfcj

Also contains Drexciya.

P.S. It's Marshall Allen's 97th birthday on Tuesday!

 

You have probably seen this

 

I saw him and The Arkestra in the early 80s at The Venue in London.
A mate had got tickets out of curiosity; and I went for the same reasons; having no idea what to expect (I'd vaguely heard of him, but no more than that).
It was a real trip (and not just because of the shroom tea we decided it was a wise idea to down just before going in).

 

Happy ‘Earth Arrival Day’ to Mr Allen.
97 and still going strong.

https://twitter.com/sunrauniverse/status/1397078307292827650?s=21

Marshall Allen and Knoel Scott from Sun Ra Arkestra pick a superb hour of music and talk about the Arkestra past and present for the new edition of @Sonos 'Radio Hour' podcast. Up now...

https://twitter.com/strutrecords/status/1395302871193763840?s=21

 

I saw the archestra san mr Ra obvs just before lockdown at the jazz cafe

 

I haven't, thanks for posting it. I watched half of it before hitting the sack tonight & I'll finish watching it tomorrow; a fantastic film & I'm a huge fan!

 

The Sun Ra researcher Hartmut Geerken, co-author of Omniverse with Chris Trent, has passed away.

https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/nachruf-auf-hartmut-geerken-der-entdecker/27736834.html

Some details of his amazing life: https://artyardrecords.co.uk/hartmut-geerken/

 

RIP

Omniverse is an essential guide and a real labour of love and dedication. HG probably has the most complete set of original Saturn LPs. It would be nice to see some kind of commemorative photographic book.

 

Ah, that's sad news.

 

Some good news.

The Philadelphia Historical Commission has added the home of the late jazz musician and composer Sun Ra to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.

https://germantowninfohub.org/sounds-of-joy-sun-ra-house-now-officially-historic/

P.S. Marshall Allen will be 98 in a week. He was on fine form when I saw the Arkestra a couple of days ago.

 

Craft are reissuing The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra. Mastered by Kevin Gray, pressed at RTI.

https://craftrecordings.co.uk/colle...-ra-the-futuristic-sounds-of-sun-ra-180g-lp-1

 

Sun Ra pre-ordered here too.

Yes, I tried tracking down a copy of Radio City on Craft last year. I thought I’d found one in France on two separate occasions, but they never arrived. Both sellers swore they had been sent when I queried a month after, but both gave me an unrequested refund on the spot without offering to send another, which made me a little suspicious.

 

The excellent Art Yard label has a 20% off sale meaning a bunch of Sun Ra CDs are now £8 each.

https://artyard.bandcamp.com/merch?

 

Alternatively, you could go to ReR Magacorp where the same CDs (plus a few more) are £5 each...

http://www.rermegacorp.com/mm5/merc...y=3&sort=&range_low=&range_high=&psboost=name

 

Bargain. Seven Sun Ra CDs for the price of a Tone Poet!

 

I am only seeing one Sun Ra for £5 on that site though. The rest £12.50 up.

 

Go to the site and search for Sun Ra. There are actually 10 CDs at £5. Others currently at full price have been reduced to £5 previously.

 

OK thanks. I did that before, but missed there was a second page that had the others.

 

The astonishing Marshall Allen celebrates 99 trips round the sun today. Happy Birthday Marshall!