SUN RA — The Singles (review)

SUN RA — The Singles album cover Boxset / Compilation · 1996 · Exotica Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
js
When Evidence released Sun Ra “The Singles” it marked one of the greatest miracles in recent musicological history. Long time Sun Ra fans had often heard tales of exotic singles made in small quantities floating around out there somewhere never to be heard again. No one dreamed that someone would be able to track down forty nine of these rarities and then use new technology to clean them up for release on CD. Sun Ra fans were stunned and grabbed up this two CD collection at a rapid rate.

Apparently the early part of Ra’s career in Chicago started as an arranger and producer for local doo-wop, RnB and blues acts, with his band acting as the back-up musicians. Much of these two CDs involves these various vocal groups who range from fairly straight ahead to insanely off the wall. Along with all the vocal styles on here, Ra and his band on their own also cover a wide range including, hard bop, jump blues, avant-garde, bizarre lounge music and more. These CDs are extremely eclectic and will probably only appeal to hardcore Sun Ra fans or musicologists.

There are so many gems on here for the Sun Ra devotee. Yochanan is an insane ‘outsider’ blues singer who sounds like a cross between Wild Man Fischer and Screamin Jay Hawkins. His “Hot Skillet Mama” RnB number is hilarious. If you liked the bizarre clavinet with percussion numbers on “Atlantis”, this collection has a couple singles cut from that same session. “The Perfect Man” matches a weird synthesizer bass with crime jazz sax lines for that classic spy movie sound. Elsewhere on this CD are fabled Sun Ra classics never available before such as “Rocket Number Nine” and “Disco 2010”.

This is a must have for Sun Ra collectors, but for those looking for their first Sun Ra record, better choices might include “Angels and Demons at Play” or “Live at Montreaux”.
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