Sun Ra & His Arkestra: In The Orbit Of Ra (Vinyl 2xLP)

Strut and Art Yard join forces for a special release to mark what would have been Sun Ra’s 100th birthday with In The Orbit Of Ra, a new collection presented by the longest serving member of the Arkestra and current bandleader, Marshall Allen. Bringing together Ra highights from over 25 years of music, the album is the first internationally released compilation to provide an introduction to the music of Sun Ra, mastered from the original tapes with extended and unreleased tracks.

In addition to the track selection, the release features recollections and contributions from some of the core Arkestra line-up including Marshall Allen, Michael Ray, Knoel Scott and Danny Ray Thompson. For the music, the selection takes us through the huge variety and intricacy of the Arkestra’s work covering the ‘60s to early ‘80s, from the celestial blues of ‘Spontaneous Simplicity’ and ‘Plutonian Nights’ to the urgent jazz of ‘Rocket Number Nine Take Off For Planet Venus’ and ‘Dance Of The Cosmo Aliens’.

The album features an exclusive previously unreleased Sun Ra track from the Art Yard archives, the acoustic ‘Trying To Put The Blame On Me’ recorded live in Rome in 1977, along with a previously unreleased Part 1 of ‘Reflects Motion’ from 1962 and an unheard extended version of ‘Island In The Sun’ from the late ‘60s.

1. Somewhere In Space
2. The Lady With The Golden Stockings (a.k.a. The Golden Lady)
3. Somebody Else's World
4. Plutonian Nights
5. Angels And Demons At Play
6. Island In The Sun (Extended Version)
7. Rocket Number Nine Take Off For Planet Venus
8. Astro Black
9. Have You Heard The Latest News From Neptune
10. We Travel The Spaceways
11. Reflects Motion (Part 1)
12. Reflects Motion (Part 2)
13. Ancient Aiethiopia