Evidence Labels Music : Greatest Hits: Easy Listening for Intergalactic Travel

Greatest Hits: Easy Listening for Intergalactic Travel

£7.64

  1. Saturn
  2. Kingdom Of Not
  3. Medicine For A Nightmare
  4. Enlightenment
  5. Round Midnight
  6. Velvet
  7. Rocket Number Nine Take Off For The Planet Venus
  8. I Loves You Porgy
  9. We Travel The Spaceways
  10. When Angels Speak Of Love
  11. Thither And Yon
  12. Pleasure
  13. Alter Destiny
  14. Yucatan
  15. Otherness Blue
  16. We ll Wait For You
  17. Order Of The Pharaonic Jesters
  18. Perfect Man

A Sun Ra Greatest Hits package is surely a contradiction in terms, not least because only two of the 18 tracks on this lengthy, 78-minute set were ever released as singles. The rest crept out on albums released on Ra s own Saturn label, which were then sold by band members after gigs or in a few select local record stores. The cod subtitle to this set--Easy Listening For Intergalactic Travel--is fabulously wide of the mark, as the tracks range from the hard bop of the opening Saturn and the wayward, ragged swing of Kingdom Of Not through the Latin smooch of Enlightenment to the spacechants of We Travel The Spaceways and the synthesised maelstrom of We ll Wait For You. Name a style--easy listening or not--and it is somewhere in this idiosyncratic round-up of the history of jazz from swing to free-form electronics. That s why Ra appeals so much, the glorious eclecticism and sheer non-conformity of his musical personality impressing itself on every track. Planetary bliss to be enjoyed in your own time! --Simon Adams

An ideal entry-point into Sun Ra s astonishing universe. - This 78-minute CD is an ideal entry-point into Sun Ra s astonishing and expansive catalogue numbering around 200 albums.There are 18 tracks arranged in chronological order and drawn from Sun Ra s Saturn label with the exception of We Will Wait For You recorded for the film Space Is The Place . It s fascinating to hear how Sun Ra s music evolved over the period 1956-73.Sun Ra s Greatest Hits (which probably reached the charts only on Saturn!) should suffice for anyone who wants just one CD of this remarkable composer and bandleader in their collection, but it s also a perfect launching pad for those who want to explore further.

Higer Than The Sun - There are few words that strike more fear into heart of any music fan than Greatest Hits. Usually with a greatest hit record you program the CD player to skip certain classics. This is not the case with this record. It really is a nice review of Sun Ra s expansive musical styles. It opens with some rather straight forward jazz and then ascends through his highly experimental numbers. One thing I really like about this CD is the chronological order. You can really experience the evolution of Sun Ra s sound and the transition from Sonny Blount to Sun Ra. This is the absolute perfect place to start if you are not familiar with Ra and will give you some jumping off points for further exploration of Ra s universe. If you like a particular track, go pick up the album it originated from and begin your travels of the spaceways. If you are a die-hard Ra fan, you should already have this, if you don t, pick it up! It is nice to throw in the CD player and have a real variety of sounds to help you on your journey to Saturn.




Greatest Hits: Easy Listening for Intergalactic Travel