Recent Releases

Dear Saturnites and Atonites

Amidst the excitement of the ongoing multitude of releases containing remastered and unissued material from the various archives of Sun Ra's music I would like to air in a few discographical opinions and ask a couple of questions.

The most recent reissue has been the long awaited corbettvsdempsey 2cd version of Continuation. It is a really excellent collection of music. Big thanks and kudos to all concerned but (I think), a few inaccuracies exist. The liner notes claim that all of the music on the original lp and the newly unearthed 2nd disc are from one marathon recording session in 1963. I think this is not wholly the case. On the track 'Intergalactic Research' Ra uses the Hohner Clavinet and Spacemaster Organ which would suggest a later '60s recording date. Robert L Campbell has the music which is called 'Continuation to Jupiter Festival' as coming from a 1969 concert at the 'East' in NYC. While I cannot hear a single peep from any audience this does feel/sound different to the rest of the Choreographers Workshop session. Can anyone shed more light on this?

The second disc is billed as previously unreleased material but the tracks named 'Endlessness' and 'Red Planet Mars' are actually 'The Rainmaker' and 'When Sun Comes Out' from the When Sun Comes Out lp Saturn 2066. This makes me wonder where the titles for the pieces came from. Are they written on the tape boxes? 

One of the strangest of the recent releases was the Pharoah Sanders 'In The Beginning' 4cd set from ESP. Discs 3 and 4 of this box set allege to have the 'complete' Judson Hall 1964 Arkestra concert with Pharoah in John Gilmore's place. ESP had already issued a single disc of the known music released on Saturn records plus 46 more of hitherto unheard recordings a few years ago. The Pharoah 4 disc set adds another 20 minutes or so of music but I don't hear any Pharoah at all on these additional tracks and furthermore, I am darn sure that I can hear Gilmores' distinctive vocal stylings in the space chants section and his tenor in the concluding ensemble piece 'Pathway To The Outer Known'!

Has anyone else checked this out?

Paul.