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Start Date: February 6, 2015
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Sun Ra And His Solar Arkestra

On Jupiter

Format: LP

Record Label: Art Yard/Kindred Spirits

Condition: Used (M-/M-)

* Out of print limited edition high quality reissue from 2009 - edition of 500 - remastered - 180 gram vinyl - thick cardboard sleeve - includes a two-sided printed inner sleeve with pictures.
* Whatever it was that sparked Sun Ra to investigate the funk between 1976 and 1979, we should all be thankful that he did. Having explored dreamy, languid rhythms before, with off‐key arrangements and chants on records like New Steps, Lanquidity, Of Mythic Worlds, and Disco 3000, On Jupiter, originally released in 1979, sees Sun Ra really flexing his funk muscles, stretching the group like a rubber band. Blissful, flanged guitar threads it's way throughout the title track, and Ra throws up piano chords and vamps all over an upfront, but fragmented bass pulse. But while the Arkestra might be getting their oblique grind on in the rhythm section, the music still carries those cosmic messages from the stars. Just as Ra transplanted the big band traditions of Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington into his own cosmic vision, here he takes the backbeat of funk and disco, and teleports it into another dimension. Despite revamping the current musical trends, the emotional core of this LP is something that Sun Ra never forgot. There is a story that when they were rehearsing ("UFO"), some of the musicians complained when Sonny asked them to listen to examples of currently popular disco records: "This is some hokey s***, Sonny," they said. "This hokey s*** is somebody's hopes and dreams," he chided them. "Don't be so hip!" Something else to note on this singular LP is the way it has been mixed. Michael Ray, the horn player, was sent back to the Arkestra base by Sun Ra during the mixing session, and returned with "a handful of tapes," with which he then dubbed all kinds of percussion, guitar, and vocals into the studio mix bringing another ghostly, spacey element to the layers. This album stands out in one of Sun Ra's most exciting creative periods, and it's incredible to think of Ra, then in his mid‐'60's, still pushing the group to further heights, and taking no prisoners. As he chants on "UFO": "I know you got a hiding place, somewhere deep in outer space! Watch out!"
* Track Listing: On Jupiter / UFO / Seductive Fantasy