''Interstellar Low Ways'' is an album recorded by the American jazz musician

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 out ...

and his Myth Science Arkestra, mostly recorded in Chicago, 1960, and released in 1967 on his own El Saturn label. Originally titled ''Rocket Number Nine'', the album had acquired its present name, and the red-on-white sleeve by Claude Dangerfield, by 1969. The album is known particularly for the two songs featuring chants, "Interplanetary Music" and "Rocket Number Nine Take off for the Planet Venus". These would stay in the Arkestra's repertoire for many years: When reissued by Evidence, ''Interstellar Low Ways'' was included as the second half of a CD that also featured the whole of '' Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra Visits Planet Earth''.

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

references the line; "Rocket Number Nine Take off for the Planet Venus" in her song "

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

Marathon sessions at the RCA Studios

Most of the tracks were recorded at a marathon session tracking between 30 and 40 songs, either at RCA Studios, or possibly The Hall Recording Company (both in Chicago), around 17 June 1960. Other albums to include tracks from the session include '' Fate In A Pleasant Mood'', '' Holiday for Soul Dance'', ''

Angels and Demons at Play ''Angels and Demons at Play'' is a jazz album by Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra. Side one was recorded in 1960, including two tracks taken from the mammoth session either at Hall Recording Company or at the RCA Studios (both in Chicago), a ...

'' and '' We Travel the Space Ways''. A single, "Space Loneliness" b/w "State Street", was released shortly after the recording sessions. Whilst "State Street" was never released on an album by Ra, it was copyrighted as part of the "Space Loneliness" suite ("Space Loneliness: A Sound Concerto") along with ''Fate In A Pleasant Mood'' & ''Lights on a Satellite'', July 8, 1960. This single was followed up by another 7" from the session, "The Blue Set" b/w "Big City Blues", which wasn't included on any of the Saturn-released Chicago albums. Trumpeter

Phil Cohran Kelan Phil Cohran (May 8, 1927 June 28, 2017) was a jazz musician. He was best known for playing trumpet in the Sun Ra Arkestra in Chicago from 1959 to 1961, and for his involvement in the foundation of the Association for the Advancement of Crea ...

later remembered the reaction "Space Loneliness" got when played on a local radio station:

The Wonder Inn, Chicago

It was around this time, June 1960, that their manager, Alton Abraham, secured the band a solid booking—their first since the Queen's Mansion gigs—playing first Wednesdays and then five nights a week at the Wonder Inn, 75th & Cottage Grove, Chicago. Originally billed as 'a special added attraction' for July 30, 1960 featuring Sun Ra and his 'recording band', Alton Abraham celebrated the engagements by acquiring for the band the entire wardrobe from a local opera company—heavily stocked with capes, puffed sleeves and doublets—that had been discarded after performing ''

William Tell William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...

'';The Birmingham and Chicago Years, Campbell
/ref> from here on in, the whole band started to dress for 'Space'. The engagement, lasting until early 1961, 'has justly become legendary'. On other nights the Arkestra would wear 'purple blazers, white gloves, and beanies with propellers on top that lit up', and would set off robots with flashing lights and wind-up

flying saucers A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has g ...

into the audience.Space is the Place, John Szwed, Mojo, 2000. p174

Track listing

12" Vinyl

All songs were written by Sun Ra.
Side A: #"Onward" - (3.31) #"Somewhere in Space" - (2.56) #"Interplanetary Music" - (2.24) #"Interstellar Low Ways" - (8.23) Side B: #"Space Loneliness" - (4.30) #"Space Aura" - (3.08) #"Rocket Number Nine Take off for the Planet Venus" - (6.14)

Musicians

On ''Interstellar Low Ways'', March 6, 1959; *

- Gong *

Hobart Dotson Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-smalle ...

- Percussion *

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 ...

- Flute *

James Spaulding James Ralph Spaulding Jr. (born July 30, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, United states, Spaulding attended the Chicago Cosmopolitan School of Music. Between 1957 and 1961, he was a member of Sun ...

- Flute *

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 Sax, percussion * Pat Patrick - Percussion *

Ronnie Boykins Ronald Boykins (December 17, 1935 – April 20, 1980) was a jazz bassist and is best known for his work with pianist/bandleader Sun Ra, although he had played with such disparate musicians as Muddy Waters, Johnny Griffin, and Jimmy Witherspoon pri ...

- Bass *William Cochran - Drums On ''Space Loneliness'', ''Somewhere In Space'', ''Interplanetary Music'', and ''Rocket Number Nine'', recorded at the RCA Studios, Chicago, around June 17, 1960; *Sun Ra - Piano *

- Cornet *Nate Pryor - Trombone *Marshall Allen - Alto Sax, Flute, Bells *John Gilmore - Tenor Sax, Percussion *Ronnie Boykins - Bass, Space Gong *Jon Hardy - Drums, percussion, gong *Ensemble vocals On ''Onward'' and ''Space Aura'', recorded during rehearsals, Chicago around October 1960; *Sun Ra - Piano *George Hudson - Trumpet *Marshall Allen - Alto Sax, Bells *John Gilmore - Tenor Sax, Percussion *Ronnie Boykins - Bass, percussion *Jon Hardy - Drums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Interstellar Low Ways Sun Ra albums 1960 albums El Saturn Records albums Evidence Music albums *