Sun Ra

Sunday, 17 December 2006

I would never change my record collection for that of anybody else. But it is clear that some collections are of far more significance than mine. Here is such a collection.

I am a fan of Sun Ra. I have only two of his records, the rest are CD´s and cassettes. Many of his LP´s are private releases and very hard to find. But they are not all that great too. In fact, some of his recorded concerts and studio-improvisations are in such sharp contrast with his best work that it is difficult to belief it is from the same man. I love his early work best. On the LP “Pictures from the Gone World” (on Pesky Serpent Records ), a compilation of very obscure beatnik material, there is a song by a doowop group called The Cosmic Rays, Dreaming. This was probably one of Sun Ra’s first bands, but the text is already as esoteric as can be. In fact, I think it is even more esoteric than all of his later work.