''Super-Sonic Jazz'' is the second studio 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 out ...

, recorded in 1956 at RCA Studios, Chicago. ''Super-Sonic Jazz'' was the first album to be released on Saturn Records, the label run by Sun Ra and Alton Abraham, and was one of only three albums by Sun Ra to have been available in the 1950s. (The other two are ''

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

'', also released in 1957, and ''

Jazz in Silhouette ''Jazz in Silhouette'' is the third studio album by pianist-composer Sun Ra and His Arkestra. It was recorded on March 6, 1959, and released in May of the same year. The album was recorded in Chicago during a session that also included the whole o ...

'', released May 1959.)From Sunny Blount to Sun Ra; R Campbell
The album was retitled as ''Super-Sonic Sounds'' when it was reissued in 1974 by

Impulse! Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positiv ...

, but reverted to its original title when it was released on CD by Evidence records in 1992.

Background

El Saturn Records

''Super-Sonic Jazz'' was the first album to be released on

El Saturn Records El Saturn Records is an American record label founded in 1957 by Alton Abraham. Among the earliest African American-owned record labels, in the late 1950s and 1960s it was one of the most active artist-owned record labels in the United States. The ...

, the label run by Sun Ra and his business partner Alton Abraham. Set up in 1955, they released their first singles, including a

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

group The Cosmic Rays and the Arkestra's ''Saturn'', at the beginning of 1956,John Corbett
and had recorded the whole of their first album by the end of the year, to be released in March 1957. El Saturn is now considered, along with

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...

and

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz Jazz drumming, drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in h ...

’s Debut label and

Harry Partch Harry Partch (June 24, 1901 – September 3, 1974) was an American composer, music theorist, and creator of unique musical instruments. He composed using scales of unequal intervals in just intonation, and was one of the first 20th-century com ...

’s Gate 5 label, "one of the very first and most active artist-owned record labels." Often pressed in editions of 75Talk, Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, Campbell, 1995
retrieved 31-07-09 — sometimes as few as 20 were made for specific concerts — the records would be manufactured using local black businesses, and often put together in Abraham's own home. As John F. Szwed described,

Recording

The album was primarily recorded between September and October of 1956, with a handful of tracks recorded prior to the ''

'' sessions used to fill out the album.

Track listing

Musicians

–

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

Electric Piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

, Space Gong on all tracks except 'Springtime in Chicago' *Art Hoyle – Trumpet, Percussion on all tracks except 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics' *Pat Patrick – Alto Sax on all tracks except 'Springtime in Chicago,' 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics', Percussion on all tracks except 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics', *John Gilmore – Tenor Sax on all tracks except 'Springtime in Chicago', Percussion on all tracks except 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics' * Charles Davis – Baritone Sax & Percussion on all tracks except 'Springtime in Chicago', 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics' *

Victor Sproles Victor Sproles (November 18, 1927 in Chicago – May 13, 2005) was an American jazz bassist. Sproles worked in the 1950s with Red Rodney and Ira Sullivan and appears on the Sun Ra recordings '' Super-Sonic Jazz'', '' Sound of Joy'' and '' Deep ...

– Bass on all tracks except 'Springtime in Chicago', 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics' *William Cochran – Drums on all tracks except 'Springtime in Chicago', 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics' *Jim Herndon – Tympani & Percussion on tracks except 'Springtime in Chicago'

Guests

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. Bio ...

–

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

on 'Springtime in Chicago,' 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics' *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 The ...

on 'Springtime in Chicago,' 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics' *Robert Barry –

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

on 'Springtime in Chicago,' 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics' *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 tenor ...

& Percussion on 'Springtime in Chicago' Mixed at RCA studios, Chicago, February 14, 1957, and released in March with an initial pressing of 500.

References

External links

Complete Sun Ra's Discography

Pathways to Unknown Worlds: Sun Ra, El Saturn & Chicago's Afro-Futurist Underground, 1954-68, an exhibition about early Saturn activities

A Review of Pathways to Unknown Worlds exhibition

{{Authority control Sun Ra albums 1956 albums Impulse! Records albums Evidence Music albums El Saturn Records albums