''The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One'' is a 1965 album by the

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 ...

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 ou ...

. The back cover describes it as an "album of compositions and arrangements by Sun Ra played by Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra". The album is an example of the radical break which Sun Ra's music of that time had made with "previous notions of melody or harmony". Although heavily percussive, the music also dispenses with a continuous beat; instead Ra's music is reconstructed around "interweaving compositional and improvisatory creative principles with programmatic affects". The album was originally released as ''The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra'', with a B/W sleeve designed by Ra himself. This was replaced with a new orange and red sleeve by Howard Bernstein & Baby Jerry - showing Sun Ra with the

third eye The third eye (also called the mind's eye or inner eye) is a mystical invisible eye, usually depicted as located on the forehead, which provides perception beyond ordinary sight. In Hinduism, the third eye refers to the ajna (or brow) chakra. In ...

- and the appendage Vol. 1 added when ''

The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two ''The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two'' is a 1965 recording by the jazz musician Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra. Where '' ''Volume One' of the ''Heliocentric Worlds'' series had predominantly featured short abstract pieces, ''Volume Tw ...

'' was released in 1966. The album was re-released on CD by ZYX-Music (ESP 1014-2) in the 1990s. Gene Tyranny describes the album in his review as

The astonishing sessions that went light years beyond "free jazz" improvisation to create a music of deeply felt explosive and gentle gesture made from sound itself without reference to previous notions of melody or harmony.

Recording the album

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 ...

described the recording of the album in John F Szwed's biography of Sun Ra, ''Space Is The Place'';

"Sun Ra would go to the studio and he would play something, the bass would come in, and if he didn't like it he'd stop it; and he'd give the drummer a particular rhythm, tell the bass he wanted not a 'boom boom boom,' but something else, and then he'd begin to try out the horns, we're all standing there wondering what's next...

"I just picked up the piccolo and worked with what was going on, what mood they set, or what feeling they had. A lot of things we'd be rehearsing and we did the wrong things and Sun Ra stopped the arrangement and changed it. Or he would change the person who was playing the particular solo, so that changes the arrangement. So the one that was soloing would get another part given to him personally. 'Cos he knew people. He could understand what you could do better so he would fit that with what he would tell you." Marshall Allen Quoted in Szwr, John ''Space Is The Place'', Mojo, 2000, p216

Track listing

All compositions by Sun Ra

12" Vinyl

Side A: #"Heliocentric" – 4:00 #"Outer Nothingness" – 7:40 #"Other Worlds" – 4:18 Side B: #

"The Cosmos" – 7:20 #"Of Heavenly Things" – 5:40 #"Nebulae" – 3:16 #"Dancing in the Sun" – 1:50 Recorded at Studio RLA, New York, April 20, 1965. Engineered by Richard L Alderson.

Musicians

- Piano, Bass marimba, Electric Celeste, Timpani *Chris Capers - Trumpet *Teddy Nance - Trombone *Bernard Pettaway - Bass Trombone *

- Piccolo, Alto sax, Bells, Spiral Cymbal *Danny Davis - Flute, Alto Sax *Robert Cummings - Bass Clarinet, Woodblocks *

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, Timpani * Pat Patrick - Baritone Sax, Timpani *

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 pr ...

- Bass *Jimhmi Johnson - Drums, Percussion, Timpani ''Adapted from the ESP Sleeve notes.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heliocentric Worlds Of Sun Ra, Volume One, The 1965 albums Sun Ra albums ESP-Disk albums Fontana Records albums

Recording the album

Track listing

12" Vinyl

Musicians

See also

References