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Sun Ra

£22.99 GBP

El Saturn RecordsSaturn

Catalogue No: 406

Plutonian Nights
The Golden Lady
Star Time
Nubia
Africa
Watusa
Aiethopia

Originally titled The Lady With The Golden Stockings (released 1966), The Nubians of Plutonia (as it was retitled in the ca. 1967-69 reissue) was compiled from tracks recorded in Chicago in 1958 and 1959. Sunny was still in his Space Bop phase, although mystical overtones begin radiating through the jazz. The revised album title cleverly juxtaposes ancient Egypt with outer space—the primitive with the futuristic, characteristics reflected in the compositions and arrangements. The album is redolent with percussion, often played by Arkestra brass or reed players providing a simple, quasi-Latin or African rhythmic foundation behind solos. (Having everyone in the band play percussion remained a longstanding Arkestral tradition.)

Like dozens of Sun Ra tracks recorded in Chicago in the late 1950s, this material was released in the late 1960s (long after Sunny had left Chicago) on the Saturn label, and reflected musical styles Sunny had long since transcended (but never abandoned).

These Saturn LPs were pressed in limited quantities and sold at Arkestra concerts, many of which presented new material radically at odds with the post-swing and hard bop contained on the vinyl. These LPs were also distributed by mail order and tucked in the bins of independent record stores who could get their hands on stock.

Some tracks on Nubians echo the then-prevailing Exotica aesthetic of Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman and Les Baxter (the latter a personal favorite of Sunny—see the Modern Harmonic 2017 compilation EXOTICA). "The Golden Lady" (a.k.a. "The Lady with the Golden Stockings) features an exquisite alto solo by James Spaulding. "Watusa" (a.k.a. "Watusi") became a staple in the Arkestra repertoire. "Aiethopia" is a remake of "Ancient Aiethopia" (Ethiopia), which appeared on Jazz in Silhouette.

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