Space is the Place for My Jazz Journeys

Sometime during the late 60's I was turned on to a cut from an ESP compilation album that definitely caught my  attention. It was from bandleader, Jazz musician, and philosopher Sun Ra, someone I had never heard of.  When I heard his stuff, though, I'm like, "...who is this cat"? I remember thinking, "...wow, you either get this cat, or you don't". Well, I got it. That's what you get from Sun Ra who, with at least a thousand songs to his credit,  from 1934 to 1993, he has been called the twentieth centuries' most prolific Jazz composer.


To quote Sun Ra, "...if you find earth boring, just the same old same thing, c'mon sign up with Outer Space Ways, Incorporated". That line from his 1967 release, "We Travel the Space Ways". After having been introduced to Jazz at age eight, I was in my early twenties when I first heard this artist. I am a lifelong fan.

I caught up to Sun Ra's Solar Arkestra twice. Once in Seattle in the early 90's before his death, and in 2008 in Durham, NC, I saw the Arkestra under the direction of  the incomparable Marshall Allen. Last I heard the Arkestra had played to enthusiastic throngs at the 2011 Melbourne Jazz Festival, continuing to keep Sun Ra's legacy alive.

I continue to be in awe of Sun Ra as I hear more of his work more than forty years on.

For more info go to, www.elrarecords.com