Sun Ra & His Astro Infinity Arkestra: Sun Ra (Gibson Kalamazoo Organ, Hohner Clavinet, clavioline); Marshall Allen (alto saxophone, Jupiterian flute, oboe, percussion); Danny Davis, Danny Thompson (alto saxophone); John Gilmore (tenor saxophone, percussion); Pat Patrick (baritone saxophone, flute, percussion); Robert Cummings (bass clarinet); Wayne Harris, Akh Tal Ebah (trumpet); Ali Hassan, Charles Stephens (trombone); Robert Northern (French horn); Robert Barry (drums, lightning drums, percussion); Clifford Jarvis (drums, percussion); James Jacson (log drums, percussion).
Recorded in New York, New York between 1967 and 1969. Originally released on El Saturn (507), and Impulse (AS-9239). Includes liner notes by Michael Shore.
One of the first jazz releases to make prominent use of the clavinet, ATLANTIS (recorded between 1967 and '69) is another hallmark of bold experimentation in the Sun Ra discography. The album consists entirely of spare, surging numbers featuring, for the most part, clavinet, percussion, and saxophone as the only instrumentation. The minimal, exploratory feel of these pieces offers fine examples of Ra's marriage of futuristic, otherworldly sounds to African tribal cross-rhythms.
The centerpiece of the record is the final track, which includes the entire Astro Infinity Arkestra. Clocking in at almost 22 minutes, "Atlantis" creates an epic landscape of shifting colors and textures, with occasional bursts in dynamics leading to a swelling, volcanic finale. It is a tense, overpowering piece that presaged the Arkestra's forays into intergalactic territory in the early '70s. For its compositional map-charting and early use of electric sounds (this was Ra's first outing to use only electric keyboards), ATLANTIS is a landmark recording, and will be of interest to fans of experimental music, as well as Ra enthusiasts.