''Blue Delight'' is a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

album by

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians duri ...

pioneer

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

. The album was the first in a short-term recording deal with major label

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

on their "Modern Masters Jazz Series" imprint. The album was recorded at Variety Recording Studios, New York on December 5, 1988 featuring a 19-piece group that included several Arkestra members or veterans. Eight tracks were used for the ''Blue Delight'' album. Other recordings from this session were released three years later by Rounder Records on the album '' Somewhere Else'', released shortly before Sun Ra's death. The ''Blue Delight'' album is available on iTunes and other digital outlets, and the copyright on the original album was passed on by A&M's current owner,

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

, to Sun Ra’s estate’s holding company, Sun Ra LLC, in 2016.

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

review by Sean Westergaard awarded the album 4½ stars stating "Blue Delight is a great late-period Arkestra recording, notable for several reasons: 1. This is a very large, impeccably recorded Arkestra featuring special guests Tommy Turrentine and Don CherryThis is an apparent error on the original reviewer's part, as Don Cherry does not appear on ''Blue Delight''; the writer may have gotten confused with Sun Ra's other A&M release, '' Purple Night'', which does prominently feature Cherry. AND a number of Arkestra alumni returning for the date. 2. Although synthesizers are present, the majority of Ra's solos are on piano. 3. John Gilmore solos on nearly every cut. 4. The band swings mightily from start to finish. ''Blue Delight'' also features a program of a handful of standards mixed with Ra originals that don't head too far into outer space. Although this recording is out of print, it is well-worth seeking out.".Westergaard, S.
Allmusic Review
accessed July 16, 2011

Track listing

#"Blue Delight" - 11:10 #"Out of Nowhere" (

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

, Heyman) - 5:26 #"Sunrise" - 11:48 #"They Dwell on Other Planes" - 14:41 #"Gone with the Wind" ( Magison, Wrubel) - 5:51 #"Your Guest is as Good as Mine" - 5:53 #"Nashira" ( Priester) - 4:09 #"Days of Wine and Roses" ( Mancini) - 6:58 :''All compositions by Sun Ra except as indicated. All arrangements by Sun Ra.'' :Recorded at Variety Recording Studios, New York on December 5, 1988.

Personnel

- piano, synthesizer *

Fred Adams Fred C. Adams (born 1961) is an American astrophysicist who has made contributions to the study of physical cosmology. Fred Adams is the Ta-You Wu Collegiate Professor of Physics at the University of Michigan, where his main field of research i ...

- trumpet *

Tommy Turrentine Thomas Walter Turrentine, Jr. (April 22, 1928 – May 13, 1997) was a swing and hard bop trumpeter and composer who was active between the 1940s and the 1960s. He rarely worked as a bandleader, and was known for his work as a sideman with drum ...

- trumpet *

Ahmed Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah (born Leroy Bland; May 10, 1946) is an American jazz trumpeter who was a prominent member of Sun Ra's band. Biography He began playing the trumpet at age 13 in his native New York City. One of the first groups he performed with wa ...

- trumpet *

Al Evans Alfred Hubert Evans (September 28, 1916 – April 6, 1979) was an American Major League Baseball catcher and a Minor League manager. Listed at tall and , Evans batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Kenly, North Carolina. Basically a co ...

- flugelhorn *

Tyrone Hill Tyrone Hill (born March 19, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player and former assistant coach for the National Basketball Association's Atlanta Hawks. Hill spent four years playing collegiately at Xavier University, in his la ...

- trombone *

Julian Priester Julian Priester (born June 29, 1935) is an American jazz trombonist and occasional euphoniumist. He is sometimes credited "Julian Priester Pepo Mtoto". He has played with Sun Ra, Max Roach, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock. B ...

- trombone *

Marshall Allen Marshall Belford Allen (born May 25, 1924) is an American free jazz and avant-garde jazz alto saxophone player. He also performs on flute, oboe, piccolo, and EWI (an electronic valve instrument made by Steiner, Crumar company). Allen is best ...

- alto saxophone, flute, oboe, clarinet *

Noel Scott Noel Scott (15 December 1929 – 25 February 2018) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Biography Before entering politics, Scott was the foundation principal of Makoura College in Masterton. Scott unsuccessfully contested ...

- alto saxophone, percussion *

John Gilmore John Gilmore may refer to: * John Gilmore (activist) (born 1955), co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Cygnus Solutions * John Gilmore (musician) (1931–1995), American jazz saxophonist * John Gilmore (representative) (1780–1845 ...

- tenor saxophone, clarinet, percussion *

Danny Ray Thompson Danny Ray Thompson (October 1, 1947 – March 12, 2020) was an American jazz musician. He played baritone saxophone with the Sun Ra Arkestra and managed the band for a period of time. Early life Thompson was born in New York City, to Elgie and ...

- baritone saxophone, flute, bongos * Eloe Omoe - bass clarinet, alto saxophone, contra-alto clarinet, percussion * James Jacson - bassoon, flute, percussion * Bruce Edwards - electric guitar *

Carl LeBlanc Carl LeBlanc (born May 26, 1955) is an American guitarist and four-string banjo player. LeBlanc is most striking for his work in both avant garde jazz and traditional jazz—being the only musician to work with famed afrofuturist keyboardist/ban ...

- electric guitar (all solos) *

John Ore John Ore (December 17, 1933 – August 22, 2014) was an American jazz bassist. Ore attended the New School of Music in Philadelphia from 1943 to 1946, studying cello and followed this with studies on bass at Juilliard. In the 1950s he worked wit ...

- bass *

Billy Higgins Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936 – May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop. Biography Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, ...

- drums * Earl "Buster" Smith - drums * Elson Nascimento - percussion

References

{{Authority control Sun Ra albums A&M Records albums 1989 albums