Sun Ra discography

The Sun Ra discography is one of the largest discographies in music history. ^{[1] [2]} Jazz keyboardist, bandleader and composer Sun Ra recorded dozens of singles and over one hundred full-length albums, comprising well over 1,000 songs, and making him one of the most prolific recording artists of the 20th century. ^[3]

History

His own El Saturn Records albums were usually printed in editions of 75 copies per album, and were sold primarily at live performances. Many of Sun Ra's early albums were recorded at home by Ra himself on wire or early tape recorders, and are decidedly lo-fi. Despite the technological limitations, Ra used some innovative recording techniques, and these recordings provided an unprecedented level of documentation, and were inspirational in showing how artists could take control of production and distribution of their works.

Prior to the 1970s, most of these albums were produced in Chicago through the "El Saturn Records Research" enterprise established by Ra and his colleague Alton Abraham, while later El Saturn Records were produced in Philadelphia. A batch of the most significant recordings were licensed to Impulse! Records in the mid-1970s. They were not as successful as hoped, and were deleted from the Impulse catalog, becoming available around the world as inexpensive "cut-outs" and making the music more widely available.

Most El Saturn Records were hand-decorated by Arkestra members, ^[4] and these LP records sometimes sell for high prices among collectors. These El Saturn Records releases, dating from the 1950s to at least the late 1980s, typically had little or no information as to performers or recording dates, and sometimes didn't even list the songs on the album, often pressing one LP side from one era with another from a different decade, leading to some confusion among completists and fans.

After Sun Ra's death, many of his recordings were released on compact disc for the first time by Evidence Records, Ihnfinity Music, ESP Disk / ZYX Music, or Impulse!. As is the case with an artist whose output is so extensive, there is quite a bit of debate regarding his "best" albums. Of all these recordings, many critics and enthusiasts feel that the 1959 big band album Jazz in Silhouette is the best entry-point into his work, ^[5] with The Penguin Guide to Jazz naming the album as part of a recommended "Core Collection" for any serious jazz fan and as "one of the most important jazz records since World War II." ^[6]

Albums

Studio albums

Year	Title	Credited artist	Label	Date recorded	Notes
1957	Jazz by Sun Ra	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Transition		AKA Sun Song
1957	Super-Sonic Jazz	Le Sun Ra and His Arkestra	El Saturn SR-LP 0216		AKA Super-Sonic Sounds
1959	Jazz in Silhouette	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	El Saturn K7OP-3590		reissued on as Saturn LP5786 in 1961
1962	The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra		Savoy		AKA We Are In the Future
1963	When Sun Comes Out	Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra	El Saturn LP 2066
1965	Fate in a Pleasant Mood	Sun Ra and His Myth-Science Arkestra	Saturn Research LP-9956-2	1960
1965	Secrets of the Sun	Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra	El Saturn 9954	1962
1965	Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow	Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra	El Saturn LP No. 9956	1962	reissued El Saturn 404
1965	The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One	Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra	ESP-Disk
	The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two
1966	Visits Planet Earth	Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra	Saturn – LP No. 9956-11	1958
1966	When Angels Speak of Love	Sun Ra and His Myth-Science Arkestra	El Saturn LP 1966	1963
1966	Other Planes of There	Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra	El Saturn KH-98766	1964
1966	The Magic City	Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra	Saturn Research – LPB - 711	1965	(partially?) live; reissued on Thoth Intergalactic, 403, 1969
1967	Angels and Demons at Play	Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra	El Saturn 407	1960	reissued by ABC/Impulse! in 1974
1967	Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy	Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra	El Saturn 408	1963
1967	We Travel the Space Ways	Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra	El Saturn LP #409	1961
1967	Interstellar Low Ways	Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra	EL Saturn LP-203	1960	AKA Rocket Number Nine
1967	Strange Strings	Sun Ra and His Astro-Infinity Arkestra	Saturn Research – 502
1968	Sound of Joy	Sun Ra and the Arkestra	Delmark	1956
1969	The Nubians of Plutonia	Sun Ra and His Myth-Science Arkestra	El Saturn 406	1959	Originally released The Lady with the Golden Stockings (Saturn, SR 9956-11E/F, 1966); Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra on LP label
1970	Atlantis	Sun Ra and His Astro-Infinity Arkestra	Saturn Research ESR507	1967–1969	reissued by ABC/Impulse! in 1973
1970	Holiday for Soul Dance	Sun Ra and His Astro-Infinity Arkestra	Saturn Research ESR-508	1960	live
1973?	Monorails and Satellites	Sun Ra	Saturn Research SR-509	1966
1970	Sound Sun Pleasure!!	Sun Ra and His Astro-Infinity Arkestra	El Saturn #512	1959
1974?	Monorails and Satellites, Vol. 2	Sun Ra	El Saturn 519	1966
1970	Continuation	Sun Ra and His Astro-Infinity Arkestra	El Saturn ESR 520	1968
1970	My Brother the Wind	Sun Ra and His Astro-Infinity Arkestra	Saturn Research ESR521
1970	The Night of the Purple Moon	Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra	El Saturn IR 522		Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra on LP label
1971	My Brother the Wind, Vol. II: The Wind Speaks	Sun Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra	El Saturn SR-523		Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra on LP label
1971	The Solar-Myth Approach	Sun Ra and His Solar Myth Arkestra	BYG Actuel	1970–1971	2xLP; reissued 1972 as The Solar-Myth Approach, Vol. 1 and The Solar-Myth Approach, Vol. 2
1972	Universe in Blue	Sun Ra and His Blue Universe Arkestra	El Saturn ESR 200
1974?	A Tonal View of Times Tomorrow: Space Probe   [ de ]	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	El Saturn 527	1969–1970
1974?	The Invisible Shield	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	El Saturn 529	1962–1970	AKA Janus; A Tonal View of Times Tomorrow, Vol. 2; Satellites are Outerspaces
1972	Bad and Beautiful	Mr. Sun Ra and His Arkestra	El Saturn ESR532	1961	reissued by ABC/Impulse! in 1975
1973	Deep Purple	Sun Ra and His Arkestra Featuring Stuff Smith	El Saturn 485	1953–1973	AKA Dreams Come True
1973	Astro Black	Sun Ra	Impulse!/ABC	May 7, 1972
1973	Space Is the Place	Sun Ra	Blue Thumb BTS 41
1973	Discipline 27-II	Sun Ra and His Astro Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra	El Saturn ES538
1975	Pathways to Unknown Worlds	Sun Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra	ABC Impulse!	1973	reissue of Saturn 564
1976	Cosmos	Sun Ra	Cobra (France)	August 1976	issued in US on Inner City in 1977
1977-10-14	Some Blues But Not the Kind That's Blue	Sun Ra	El Saturn 747		AKA My Favorite Things
1977	Solo Piano	Sun Ra	Improvising Artists
1978	New Steps	Sun Ra Quartet	Horo
1978	Other Voices, Other Blues	Sun Ra Quartet	Horo
1978	Visions	Sun Ra and Walt Dickerson	SteepleChase Records
1978	Lanquidity	Sun Ra	Philly Jazz
1979	The Other Side of the Sun	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Sweet Earth
1979-07-25	God Is More than Love Can Ever Be	Sun Ra Trio	Saturn 72579
1979-09-13	Omniverse	Sun Ra	El Saturn 91379
1979-10-16	On Jupiter   [ de ]	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	El Saturn 101679		AKA Seductive Fantasy AKA UFO
1979	Sleeping Beauty	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	El Saturn		AKA Door of the Cosmos
1980	Strange Celestial Road	Sun Ra	Rounder 3050	1979
1981-10-04	Aurora Borealis	Sun Ra	El Saturn 10480
1983	A Fireside Chat with Lucifer	Sun Ra and His Outer Space Arkestra	Saturn Research B1984SG-9
1984	Celestial Love	Sun Ra and His Outer Space Arkestra	El Saturn 19842
1984	Nuclear War	Sun Ra Arkestra	Y Records
1987	Reflections in Blue	Sun Ra Arkestra	Black Saint
1987	Hours After	Sun Ra Arkestra	Black Saint
1988	Hidden Fire 1	Sun Ra	Saturn 13188III / 12988II
1988	Hidden Fire 2	Sun Ra	Saturn 13088A / 12988B
1989	Out There a Minute   [ de ]			1961–1970
1989	Blue Delight	Sun Ra	A&M
1990	Mayan Temples	Sun Ra Arkestra	Black Saint
1990	Purple Night			1989
1993	Soundtrack to the Film Space Is the Place			1972
1993	Somewhere Else			1989

Posthumous releases of studio material and rehearsals

Credited artist	Artist	Original Label(s)	Recorded	Release date & notes
Blue York	Sun Ra	Jeanne Dielman	1963	2014 as a bonus disc for the Continuation album re-release and 2016 as the Blue York Album. Previously unreleased recording from 1963 [7]
Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 3 (The Lost Tapes)	Sun Ra	ESP Disk	1965	2005. Previously unreleased recording from the Heliocentric Worlds Volume II sessions [8]
Other Strange Worlds	Sun Ra And His Astro-Infinity Arkestra	Roaratorio	1965	2014. Previously unreleased recording made in Sun Ra's apartment in New York City [9]
Thunder of the Gods	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Modern Harmonic	1966	2017. Previously unreleased live and studio recordings [10]
Sun Embassy	Sun Ra And His Astro-Ihnfinity Arkestra	Roaratorio	1968–1969	2018. Archival recordings from the Sun Ra Philadelphia house, Sun Studios, from May 1968 to October 1969 [11]
The Intergalactic Thing	Sun Ra And His Astro-Ihnfinity Arkestra	Roaratorio	1969	2016. A dozen previously unreleased recordings from rehearsals at the Sun Ra Philadelphia house [12]
Crystal Spears	Sun Ra	Evidence	1973	2000. Previously unreleased album which was planned for release and shelved by Impulse! in the 1970s [13]
Cymbals	Sun Ra	Evidence	1973	2000. Previously unreleased album which was planned for release and shelved by Impulse! in the 1970s [13]
Friendly Love	Sun Ra	Evidence	1973	2000. Previously unreleased album which was planned for release and shelved by Impulse! in the 1970s
Sign Of The Myth	Sun Ra And His Astro-Infinity Arkestra	Roaratorio	1973	2014. Previously unreleased Impulse! recordings from the Pathways To Unknown Worlds sessions [14]
Dance of the Living Image: The Lost Reel Collection Volume 4	Sun Ra	Transparency	1974	2007. Previously unreleased reel-to-reel rehearsal sessions made in San Francisco [15]

Live albums

Year	Title	Credited artist	Label	Recorded	Notes
2002	Music from Tomorrow's World: Chicago 1960	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Atavistic	1960
1976	Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold (aka Judson Hall, New York, December 31, 1964)	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	El Saturn Records	1964-12-31
1970	Nothing Is	Sun Ra	ESP-Disk	1966-05
1971	Pictures of Infinity   [ de ] (aka Outer Spaceways Incorporated)	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Black Lion Records	1966
1971	Nuits de la Fondation Maeght	Sun Ra Arkestra	Shandar	1970-08-03 – 1970-08-05
1970	It's After the End of the World	Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Research Arkestra	MPS	1970-10-17 1970-11-07
1998	Black Myth/Out in Space	Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Research Arkestra	MPS Records/Motor Music	1970-10-17 1970-11-07
1972	Live in Egypt, Vol. I: Nature's God (Dark Myth Equation Visitation)	Sun Ra and His Astro Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra	El Saturn	1971	AKA Discipline 27
1972	Nidhamu	Sun Ra and His Astro Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra	El Saturn	1971	AKA Live in Egypt, Vol. II
1972	Horizon	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	El Saturn	1971	Recorded live in Egypt, 1971
	The Paris Tapes - Live at Le Theatre Du Chatlet 1971	Sun Ra and His Mythic Science Arkestra	Kindred Spirits / Art Yard	1971
1999	Outer Space Employment Agency	Sun Ra And His Intergalactic Arkestra	Total Energy	1973
	What Planet Is This?	Sun Ra and His Space Arkestra	Leo	1973
	Concert for the Comet Kohoutek	Sun Ra	ESP-Disk	1973
	Live in Paris at the "Gibus"	Sun Ra	Atlantic Records	1973
	Planets Of Life Or Death: Amiens '73	Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Research Arkestra	Strut	1973
	Out Beyond the Kingdom Of	Sun Ra and His Outer Space Arkestra	El Saturn 61674	1974
	The Antique Blacks	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Saturn 81774	1974
	Sub Underground	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Saturn 92074	1974
	Live at Montreux	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Inner City Records	1976
	A Quiet Place in the Universe	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Leo	1976
	Taking a Chance on Chances	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Saturn	1977
	Somewhere Over the Rainbow	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Saturn	1977
	The Soul Vibrations of Man	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Saturn	1977
	St. Louis Blues (solo piano)	Sun Ra	Improvising Artists	1977
	Some Blues But Not the Kind That's Blue	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Saturn	1977
	Solo Piano Recital Teatro La Fenice	Sun Ra	Leo	1977
	Unity	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Horo	1977
	Springtime in Chicago	The Sun Ra Arkestra	Leo	1978
	Disco 3000	Sun Ra Quartet	El Saturn	1978
	Media Dreams	Sun Ra Quartet	El Saturn	1978
	The Sound Mirror	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	El Saturn	1978
	Of Mythic Worlds	Sun Ra	Philly Jazz [16]	1979
	I, Pharaoh	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	El Saturn 6680 [17]	1979
	Live from Soundscape	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	DIW Records	1979 [18]
	Sunrise in Different Dimensions	The Sun Ra Arkestra	Hathut Records	1980
	The Complete Detroit Jazz Center Residency	Sun Ra And The Omniverse Jet Set Arkestra Limited issue of 500 copies, 28-CD Box Set	Transparency	1980
	Beyond the Purple Star Zone	Sun Ra And His Omniverse Jet-Set Arkestra	El Saturn 123180	1981
	Dance of Innocent Passion	Sun Ra	El Saturn	1981
	Oblique Parallax	primarily Sun Ra on keyboard	El Saturn SR72881	1982
	The Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab In Egypt	The Sun Ra Arkestra / Salah Ragab / The Cairo Jazz Band	Leo	1983
	Love in Outer Space	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Leo	1983
	Hiroshima	The Sun Ra All Stars Band	Art Yard Records	1983
	Cosmo Sun Connection	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Saturn/ Recommended Records	1984
	Live at Praxis '84	The Sun Ra Arkestra	Leo	1984
2024	Excelsior Mill	Sun Ra	Modern Harmonic	1984-12-31
	Live at Club Lingerie	The Sun Ra Arkestra	Transparency	1985
	Live at Myron's Ballroom	The Sun Ra Arkestra	Transparency	1985
	A Night in East Berlin	Sun Ra and His Cosmo Discipline Arkestra	Leo	1986
	John Cage Meets Sun Ra	Sun Ra and John Cage	Meltdown	1987
	Cosmo Omnibus Imagiable Illusion	Sun Ra Arkestra	DIW	1988 [19]
	Second Star to the Right (Salute to Walt Disney)	Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Arkestra	Leo	1989
	Stardust from Tomorrow	Sun Ra & His Intergalaxtic Arkestra	Leo	1989
	Live in London 1990	Sun Ra and His Year 2000 Myth Science Arkestra	Blast First	1990
	Live at the Hackney Empire	Sun Ra And The Year 2000 Myth Science Arkestra	Leo	1990
	Pleiades [20]	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Leo Records	1990
	At the Village Vanguard	Sun Ra Sextet	Rounder	1991
1993	Friendly Galaxy	Sun Ra Arkestra	Leo	1991
2016-11-25	At Inter-Media Arts, April 1991	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Modern Harmonic	1991-04-20
	Destination Unknown	Sun Ra & His Omniverse Arkestra	Enja Records	1992

Posthumous compilations

Recorded	Released	Album	Credited artist	Original Label(s)
1956–1973	2000	Greatest Hits: Easy Listening for Intergalactic Travel	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Evidence
	2007	The Creator of the Universe (Lost Reel: Volume 1)	Sun Ra	Transparency
	2007	Intergalactic Research (Lost Reel: Volume 2)	Sun Ra	Transparency
	2007	The Shadows Took Shape (Lost Reel: Volume 3)	Sun Ra	Transparency
	2007	Dance of the Living Image (Lost Reel: Volume 4)	Sun Ra	Transparency
1955–1956	2007	Toward The Stars - Pioneering In 1955-56 [21]	Sun Ra	FiveFour
	2009	Interplanetary Melodies	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Norton
	2009	The Second Stop Is Jupiter	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Norton
	2009	Rocket Ship Rock	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Norton
	2014	In the Orbit of Ra [22]	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Strut
	2015	To Those of Earth... And Other Worlds	Sun Ra and His Arkestra	Strut
1952–1961	2016-11-25	Singles: The Definitive 45s Collection, Vol. 1—1952–1961	Sun Ra	Strut
1958–1985	2018-03-27	The Space Age Is Here To Stay	Sun Ra and His Interplanetary Vocal Arkestra	Modern Harmonic/Sundazed Music

Related

Recorded	Album	Credited artist	Original Label(s)
1954–1960	Spaceship Lullaby: Chicago 1954-60	Sun Ra/the Vocal Groups featuring Nu Sounds, the Unitels & the Cosmic Rays	Atavistic
1966	Impressions of a Patch of Blue	Walt Dickerson Quartet with Sun Ra on harpsichord	MGM
1966	Batman and Robin - The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale	Uncredited, but featuring Sun Ra & members of the Arkestra and the Blues Project	Tifton
1968	A Black Mass	Imamu Amiri Baraka with Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra	Jihad Productions [23]
1988	Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films	Sun Ra & His Arkestra perform "Pink Elephants On Parade" from Dumbo	A&M Records
1992	A Tribute to Stuff Smith	Billy Bang with Sun Ra, John Ore and Andrew Cyrille	Soul Note
2013	ARTPOP	Writing credit with Lady Gaga for the song "Venus"	Interscope
2023	Red Hot & Ra: Nuclear War, (A Tribute to Sun Ra: Volume 1)	Georgia Anne Muldrow, Josef Leimberg, Angel Bat Dawid, Malcolm Jiyane Tree-o, Grandmaster CAP	Red Hot Organization
2023	Red Hot + Ra: Solar – Sun Ra in Brasil, (A Tribute to Sun Ra: Volume 2)	Xuxa Levy, Orquestra Afrosinfônica, Jazzmeia Horn, Munir Hossn, Meshell Ndegeocello, Metá Metá, Edgar, Fabrício Boliveira, Edbrass Brasil, Xênia França, Tiganá Santana, Hamilton de Holanda Trio, Max de Castro, BNegão, Orchestra Klaxon	Red Hot Organization
2024	Red Hot + Ra: The Magic City, (A Tribute to Sun Ra: Volume 3)	Meshell Ndegeocello	Red Hot Organization
2024	Red Hot + Ra: Outer Spaceways Incorporated (A Tribute to Sun Ra: Volume 4) (2024)	Kronos Quartet, Marshall Allen, Laurie Anderson, Jlin, Laraaji, RP Boo, 700 Bliss, Armand Hammer, Terry Riley	Red Hot Organization

References

1. "Sun Ra discography". Allmusic .
2. Campbell, Robert L. & Trent, Christopher (2000). The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra (2nd ed.). Redwood, NY: Cadence Jazz Books. ISBN   978-1-881993-35-3.
3. Szwed, John F. (1997). Space Is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra. New York City: Pantheon Books. p. xvii. ISBN   978-0-679-43589-1.
4. Holley Jr., Eugene (2023-01-04). "The DIY Cosmic Cover Art of Sun Ra". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
5. Planer, Lindsay. "Jazz In Silhouette". AllMusic. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
6. Cook, Richard & Morton, Brian (2006) [1992]. "Sun Ra". The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (8th ed.). New York City: Penguin Books. p. 1245. ISBN   0-14-102327-9.
7. "Sun Ra Continuation". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
8. "Sign Of The Myth". Roaratorio. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
9. "Other Strange Worlds". Roaratorio. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
10. Pearce, Sheldon (2017-04-13). "Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Thunder of the Gods". Pitchfork . Retrieved 2020-03-29.
11. "Sun Embassy". Forced Exposure . Retrieved 2018-07-08.
12. "The Intergalactic Thing". Roaratorio. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
13. Ruhlmann, William. "Great Lost Sun Ra Albums: Cymbals & Crystal Spears". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
14. "Sun Ra – Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 3 (The Lost Tapes)". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
15. Nastos, Michael G. "Dance of the Living Image". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
16. "Sun Ra - Of Mythic Worlds". Discogs.
17. Campbell, Robert (2013-01-30). "Sun Ra Discography: Items 76-127". University of Alabama at Birmingham. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20.
18. "Live from Soundscape". AllMusic.
19. "Live at Pitt-In, Tokyo". AllMusic.
20. Campbell, Robert. "Sun Ra discography". University of Alabama at Birmingham. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
21. Yanow, Scott. "Toward the Stars - Sun Ra". AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
22. Westergaard, Sean. "In the Orbit of Ra". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-05-30.
23. "LeRoi Jones / Le Sun Ra* - A Black Mass". Discogs.

External links

• "Sun Ra discography". AllMusic .
• Navarrete, Suso. "Sun Ra's Online Discography". the-temple.net.
• Campbell, Robert. "Sun Ra discography". University of Alabama at Birmingham. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20.