Name: Universe in Blue (Expanded, Remastered)
Brand: Sun Ra

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

CCMS006.1

Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2022-12-02

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

881626614617

Total Cap

1 / LP

Artist

Sun Ra

Genre US

Jazz

Label US

Cosmic Myth Records

Sun Ra, born Herman Blount in Birmingham, Alabama in 1914, was an American Free-Jazz composer, pianist and band leader. He was a pioneer of free improvisation and modal jazz, as well as an early user of electronic keyboards and synthesizers. Sun Ra's music innovations and visionary experiences set him apart as a true musical innovator. He formed the Sun Ra Arkestra in the 1950s and continued to compose and perform until his death in 1993.Born and raised in Alabama, Sun Ra showed exceptional talent as a pianist from a young age. By the age of 11, he could sight-read and compose music. As a teenager, he performed with local jazz and R&amp;B bands before taking on his first full-time musical job leading the Sonny Blount Orchestra. In the mid-1930s, Sun Ra had a transformative experience during deep meditation where he claimed to have been transported to Saturn by beings from outer space who tasked him with spreading peace through music.

Universe in Blue is a rarity. This collection of undated live club performances was issued in small-run pressings with two different LP covers on Sun Ra's Saturn label around 1972, but has largely escaped further notice. The performances originated in the early 1970s at the rowdy Lower East Side jazz mecca Slug's Saloon, located at 242 East 3rd Street. Starting in 1966 (or possibly as late as 1968), Sunny and his band performed at Slug's almost every Monday night for several years, and took the stage sporadically for several years thereafter. They typically started around 9:00 pm and played without a break until 4:00 am. The personnel fluctuated, depending on who showed up, who was hanging around and could handle an instrument, and the bandleader's divinations. These legendary evenings were raw, unpredictable, calamitous, and not without artistic controversy. They brought Sun Ra to the greater attention of the New York press and helped cement his reputation for audacious showmanship.

Universe in Blue (Expanded, Remastered)

Music US