''Jazz By Sun Ra'' (later titled ''Sun Song'') is the debut album by

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 record label for the first pressing says "07-12-56", presumably when it was recorded. The LP originally appeared on Tom Wilson's short-lived ''Transition Records''. In the mid-1960s it was purchased (along with much of the Transition catalog) by

Delmark Records Delmark Records is an American jazz and blues independent record label. It was founded in 1958 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when then owner, and founder, Bob Koester released a record ...

owner Bob Koester, finally being reissued in 1967. When originally released, it came with an extensive booklet featuring words and photos of

and his Arkestra. The LP featured original compositions by Sun Ra along with one by Arkestral bassist Richard Evans. Another composition by Arkestra member

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 ...

has been included in reissues from the session, and additional unreleased tracks (all Ra originals) are known to survive. The single non-Arkestral composition was ''Possession'', by

Harry Revel Harry Revel ( Glaser; 21 December 1905 – 3 November 1958) was a British-born American composer, mostly of musical theatre, working with various lyricists, notably Mack Gordon. He is also seen as a pioneer of " space age pop". Early life and c ...

, which had been written for

Les Baxter Leslie Thompson "Les" Baxter (March 14, 1922 – January 15, 1996) was a best-selling American musician and composer. After working as an arranger and composer for swing bands, he developed his own style of easy listening music, known as exotica a ...

's album ''Perfume Set to Music''; ''Possession'' was arranged for the Arkestra by the Texan pianist and composer Prince Shell. Earlier home recordings by Ra, including one dating from 1948 or 1949, were released with tracks from 1973 on the album '' Deep Purple''.

Track listing

When reissued on

Compact Disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

in 1991, "Swing a Little Taste" was added. This was originally released on the Transition sampler ''Jazz in Transition'' alongside tracks by artists such as Cecil Taylor, Donald Byrd and

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raise ...

CD version

#"Brainville" (

) 4:29 #"Call for all Demons" (Sun Ra) 4:30 #"Transition" (Sun Ra) 3:40 #"Possession" (

) 5:00 #"Street Named Hell" (Sun Ra) 3:55 #"Lullaby for Realville" (Richard Evans) 4:40 #"Future" (Sun Ra) 3:15 #"Swing a Little Taste" (Sun Ra) 4:25 #" New Horizons" (Sun Ra) 3:05 #"Fall off the Log" (Sun Ra) 4:00 #"Sun Song" (Sun Ra) 3:40

Musicians Reissue sleeve notes, Delmark

*Sun Ra - Piano,

Hammond B-3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

, Percussion *Art Hoyle -

Trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, Percussion *Dave Young - Trumpet,

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

, Percussion *James Scales -

Alto Sax The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B ten ...

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 The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the Alto saxophone, alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key ...

, Percussion * Pat Patrick -

Baritone Sax The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

, Percussion *Richard Evans - Bass *Wilburn Green -

Electric Bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

, Percussion * Robert Barry - Drums *Jim Herndon -

Tympani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

Recorded Universal Recording,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, July 12, 1956

Pressings

External sources

Complete Sun Ra Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jazz By Sun Ra Sun Ra albums 1957 debut albums Albums produced by Tom Wilson (record producer) Delmark Records albums Transition Records albums