The Great Lost Sun Ra Albums: Cymbals & Crystal Spears (CD)

• Category:  Music  »  Jazz  »  Avant-Garde/Downtown
• Format: CD   Learn more about the CD format using Tower WIKI.
• Release Date: September 26, 2000
• Label: Evidence
• UPC: 730182221725
• WAPI (Tower ID): 105795176
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• Tower.com Sales Rank: #167284 in Music (See Top 100 Music Bestsellers)
• #15498 in Jazz (See Top 100 Jazz Bestsellers)
• #224 in Avant-Garde/Downtown (See Top 100 Avant-Garde/Downtown Bestsellers)

Rolling Stone (12/21/00, pp.174-5) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...2 '73 LPs shelved during the chaos of his brief association with the Impulse label....CYMBALS is a bluesy smoker....CRYSTAL SPEARS is a big-band fantasia propelled by an army of percussionists and Ra's Afro-space keys..."
Alternative Press (3/01, pp.92-4) - 4 out of 5 - "...Fanatics will surely rejoice....With passionate horn and reed soloists and uniquely textured arrangements the Arkestra are in dramatic form..."
The Wire (10/00, p.60) - "...Extraordinary....it's music that doesn't sound much like anything else you might have heard..."
JazzTimes (12/00, pp.99-100) - "...Decidedly bluesy....Ra's keyboards dominate the program....a reminder that many of Ra's better albums are simply all over th ecosmic lost, mixing concise, riff-based blowing vehicles with freely formed marathon improvisations..."

Producers: Ihnfinity Inc, Alton Abraham.

Compilation producer: Jerry Gordon.

Includes liner notes by Robert L. Campbell and Ed Michel.

Digitally remastered by Roger Seibel (SAE Mastering).

CYMBALS:

Personnel: Sun Ra (electric vibraphone, organ, rocksichord); Danny Davis (alto saxophone); John Gilmore (tenor saxophone); Akh Tal Ebah (trumpet); Elmoe Omoe (bass clarinet); Ronnie Boykins (bass); Harry Richards (drums); Derek Morris (congas).

Recorded at Variety Recording Studios, New York, New York in 1973. Originally planned for release on Impulse (9296).

CRYSTAL SPEARS:

Personnel: Sun Ra (electric vibraphone, marimba, organ, rocksichord, Mini-Moog synthesizer, gong); Marshall Allen (alto saxophone, piccolo, flute, oboe); Danny Davis (alto saxophone, flute, percussion); John Gilmore (tenor saxophone); Danny Ray Thompson (baritone saxophone, bongos); Akh Tal Ebah, Kwame Hadi (trumpet, percussion); Eloe Omoe (bass clarinet, percussion); Clifford Jarvis (drums); Atakatune, Odun (congas); Eugene Brennan (percussion).

Recorded at Variety Recording Studios, New York, New York in 1973. Originally planned for release on Impulse (9297).

CYMBALS and CRYSTAL SPEARS, the two albums that comprise this two-disc set, were recorded in 1973 but remained unissued for 27 years. At the time they were prepared for release, Sun Ra had a deal with Impulse, a label known for reissuing rare titles and occasional new works. The deal fell apart before it was completed, leaving these two recordings in the lurch.

CYMBALS, a vibrant session, features a smaller version of the full-scale Arkestra. Bassist Ronnie Boykins gorgeously propels the music. Other highlights include John Gilmore's appearance on "Thoughts Under A Dark Blue Light"; his solo is dazzlingly iconoclastic. Sun Ra's electric keyboards are inventive throughout, particularly the "electronic vibes" on "The Order Of The Pharaonic Jesters." CRYSTAL SPEARS boasts a larger line-up and a fantastic opening as Ra elicits otherworldly beauty from his Minimoog synthesizer on the title track. From there he draws upon post-bop grooves and melodic lines for "The Eternal Sphynx" and mysterious sonic landscapes for "The Embassy Of the Living God" and "Sunrise In the Western Sky."

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