Jazz by Sun Ra

Jazz By Sun Ra
Jazz By Sun Ra
	Original Transition pressing, 1957
Studio album by Sun Ra and his Arkestra
Released	1957
Recorded	July 12, 1956
Studio	Universal Recording Corp. (Chicago)
Genre	Post-bop, big band
Length	40:14
Label	Transition ; Delmark ;
Producer	Tom Wilson
Sun Ra and his Arkestra chronology
reissue cover
	Delmark reissue 1967, retitled Sun Song

Last updated September 08, 2025

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
DownBeat	^[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	^[3]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	^[4]

Jazz By Sun Ra (later titled Sun Song) is the debut album by Sun Ra.^[5] The record label for the first pressing says "07-12-56", presumably when it was recorded.^[6] The LP originally appeared on Tom Wilson's short-lived Transition Records. In the mid-1960s it was purchased (along with much of the Transition catalog) by Delmark Records owner Bob Koester, finally being reissued in 1967.

When originally released, it came with an extensive booklet featuring words and photos of Sun Ra and his Arkestra. The LP featured original compositions by Sun Ra along with one by Arkestral bassist Richard Evans. Another composition by Arkestra member Julian Priester has been included in reissues from the session, and additional unreleased tracks (all Ra originals) are known to survive. The single non-Arkestral composition was Possession, by Harry Revel, which had been written for Les Baxter's album Perfume Set to Music; Possession was arranged for the Arkestra by the Texan pianist and composer Prince Shell.

Earlier home recordings by Ra, including one dating from 1948 or 1949, were released with tracks from 1973 on the album Deep Purple .

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sun Ra except where noted.

Side A
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Brainville"		4:29
2.	"Call For All Demons"		4:30
3.	"Transition"		3:40
4.	"Possession"	Harry Revel	5:00
5.	"Street Named Hell"		3:55
Total length:			21:34

Side B
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Lullaby For Realville"	Richard Evans	4:40
7.	"Future"		3:15
8.	"New Horizons"		3:05
9.	"Fall Off The Log"		4:00
10.	"Sun Song"		3:40
Total length:			18:40

When reissued on Compact Disc in 1991, "Swing a Little Taste" was added. This was originally released on the Transition sampler Jazz in Transition alongside tracks by artists such as Cecil Taylor, Donald Byrd and John Coltrane.

CD version

"Brainville" (Sun Ra) 4:29
"Call for all Demons" (Sun Ra) 4:30
"Transition" (Sun Ra) 3:40
"Possession" (Harry Revel) 5:00
"Street Named Hell" (Sun Ra) 3:55
"Lullaby for Realville" (Richard Evans) 4:40
"Future" (Sun Ra) 3:15
"Swing a Little Taste" (Sun Ra) 4:25
"New Horizons" (Sun Ra) 3:05
"Fall off the Log" (Sun Ra) 4:00
"Sun Song" (Sun Ra) 3:40

Musicians

Source:^[7]

Sun Ra - Piano, Hammond B-3 organ, Percussion
Art Hoyle - Trumpet, Percussion
Dave Young - Trumpet, Percussion
Julian Priester - Trombone, Percussion
James Scales - Alto Sax
John Gilmore - Tenor sax, Percussion
Pat Patrick - Baritone Sax, Percussion
Richard Evans - Bass
Wilburn Green - Electric Bass, Percussion
Robert Barry - Drums
Jim Herndon - Tympani

Recorded Universal Recording, Chicago, July 12, 1956

Pressings


Year	Format	Region	Label	Title
1957	LP	US	Transition	Jazz By Sun Ra
1957		SE	Sonet	Jazz By Sun Ra
1967		US	Delmark	Sun Song
1968		UK	Delmark
1971		FR	Goody
1972		JP	Trio	Jazz By Sun Ra
1990	CD	US	Delmark	Sun Song
1993	Cass
2001	LP
2003	CD	JP	P-Vine
2009	LP	NL	6 Spices, Music & Words
2012	CD	JP	P-Vine
2014	CD	US	Delmark
2015	LP	UK	Poppydisc & Rev-Ola	Jazz By Sun Ra
2016			Poppydisc & Rev-Ola
2019			Not Now Music

External sources

Complete Sun Ra Discography

References

↑ AllMusic review
↑ Down Beat: May 30, 1968 vol. 35, no. 11
↑ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1356. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
↑ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. US: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 186. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
↑ Sun Ra Discography Items 1-25
↑ Sun Ra – Jazz By Sun Ra
↑ Reissue sleeve notes, Delmark

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[1] AllMusic review

[2] Down Beat: May 30, 1968 vol. 35, no. 11

[Penguin-3] Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1356. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.

[RSJRG-4] Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. US: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 186. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.

[5] Sun Ra Discography Items 1-25

[6] Sun Ra – Jazz By Sun Ra

[7] Reissue sleeve notes, Delmark

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v t e Sun Ra
Discography Arkestra members John Gilmore Julian Priester Pat Patrick Charles Davis Victor Sproles Marshall Allen Ronnie Boykins James Spaulding Phil Cohran Clifford Jarvis Lex Humphries Michael Ray June Tyson Ahmed Abdullah Danny Ray Thompson
Studio albums	Jazz by Sun Ra Super-Sonic Jazz Sound of Joy Visits Planet Earth The Nubians of Plutonia Jazz in Silhouette Sound Sun Pleasure!! Interstellar Low Ways Fate in a Pleasant Mood Holiday for Soul Dance Angels and Demons at Play We Travel the Space Ways The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra Bad and Beautiful Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow Secrets of the Sun When Sun Comes Out Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy When Angels Speak of Love Other Planes of There The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One The Magic City The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two Strange Strings Monorails and Satellites Atlantis Space Is the Place (soundtrack) Space Is The Place Pathways to Unknown Worlds Cosmos Deep Purple Some Blues But Not the Kind That's Blue New Steps Other Voices, Other Blues Visions Lanquidity Sleeping Beauty Strange Celestial Road Reflections in Blue Hours After Blue Delight Somewhere Else Purple Night Mayan Temples
Live albums	Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold Nothing Is Nuits de la Fondation Maeght It's After the End of the World Black Myth/Out in Space Live in Egypt 1 Nidhamu Horizon Live In Montreux Unity Live from Soundscape I, Pharaoh Sunrise in Different Dimensions Cosmo Omnibus Imagiable Illusion Thunder of the Gods

v t e Julian Priester
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.
Albums	Keep Swingin' (1960) Spiritsville (1960) Love, Love (1973) Polarization (1977) Hints on Light and Shadow (with Sam Rivers, 1996) In Deep End Dance (2002)
with Sun Ra	Super-Sonic Jazz (1956) Jazz by Sun Ra (1956) Sound of Joy (1956) Angels and Demons at Play (1956 & 1960) Jazz in Silhouette (1959) Lanquidity (1978) Blue Delight (1988) Purple Night (1989) Somewhere Else (1989)