with R.J. Bianchino
your weekly guide to "all things jazz"
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with R.J. Bianchino your weekly guide to "all things jazz" |
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jazz news | calendar | jazz chart | birthdays | new releases | feature | clubs | beyond the neon | biography | blues news
| May 22-28, 2006 The Jazz Randy Brecker to play with Academy Jazz bands Thursday May 25, 2006
The internationally known Grammy winner will help promote and sponsor the Academy’s World Jazz Studies program. Brecker has played with Steely Dan, Blood Sweat and Tears and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers to name a few. "Randy Brecker is huge; he’s the real deal," said Pat Bowen, director of jazz studies at the Academy. "As one of the top three trumpet players on the planet, he's probably the strongest name we've ever had out here for a performance." The Academy's jazz performers are ranked in the Top-12 in the country, recently taking home "Best in State" honors at the Reno Jazz Festival, while being named a Finalist at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Tickets for the concert are $15.00 and can be purchased at Startickets.com (select the state and enter Randy Brecker in the search), or at the theater box office. Info contact: Pat Bowen, PFBowen@interact.ccsd.net Las Vegas Academy is located at 3200 E Cheyenne Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89030. The Lowden Theater for the Performing Arts will be on the northwest corner of 9th and Clark. David Sanborn at the Suncoast Showroom
A student of music, David joined the influential Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1967. He remained with the group for four years, performing on the acclaimed In My Own Dream album. David subsequently worked on stage and in the studio with a variety of established artists including Paul Simon, the Eagles, Bruce Springstein and the Rolling Stones. He spent two years as part of Stevie Wonder's band and played on David Bowie's innovative 1975 release, Young Americans. In 1975 David recorded his first solo album Taking Off. It was followed by Sanborn Promise Me The Moon and Heart to Heart. In 1980 he released his breakthrough LP, Hideaway, which for over a year remained on both the Urban Contemporary and Jazz charts. Hideaway also earned David a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Instrumental Performance. Two more albums, Voyeur (1981) and As We Speak (1982) consolidated his standing as one of modern music's premier instrumentalists. In early 1983, David traveled to Italy to score the soundtrack to the film Stelle Sulla Citta (Stars Above the City). The Italian production also featured David in his first-ever-acting role. In 1986, David received his second Grammy with the album Double Vision featuring Bob James. His eighth album, Backstreet featured I Told You So, a major hit among contemporary jazz fans. Backstreet remained at the top of jazz charts a full year after its release. Concert Dates: Fri-Sun, May 26-28 Showtime: 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $44-$71.50 For tickets and information call 702-636-7075 or toll free 877-636-7111. Box Office Hours: Daily 10am - 9pm. The Suncoast Showroom is located inside the Suncoast Hotel & Casino at 9090 Alta Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89145 Jazz Under The Stars - Guitars & Saxes - Spring Mountain State Park
Whether he is playing contemporary or straight-ahead jazz, saxophonist Gerald Albright stands in a class all by himself. He is known for his swiftness on stage, his unique round sound which is percussive yet soulful and his upbeat crowd-pleasing performances which promises to bring the audience to their feet. Albright gives his audience what they come for - a great show! With 10 CD’s under his belt, Albright has definitely maintained his place in the music world. His latest CD, New Beginnings, on Peak Records will mark his 11th release due out March 28, 2006. Since the late 1980s, saxophonist Richard Elliot has been one of the icons of soul-jazz, repeatedly topping the radio charts and entertaining throngs of loyal fans on the national concert circuit. Off stage, Elliot is co-founder and partner of the new ARTizen Music Group record label that now releases his albums, the most recent being Metro Blue. Elliot’s fervor and energy when he performs onstage has won the hearts of his audiences. He gives a part of himself out there and the audience can feel it. Jeff Golub’s unique brand of funky, blues-drenched jazz is a firm mainstay on the contemporary jazz radio and charts of today. His innovative guitar style transcends the typical contemporary jazz boundaries. The energy and spontaneity of his unforgettable live performances keeps audiences well entertained and yearning for more. Golub has more than proven to be one of the genre’s most popular performers since the mid-‘90s. Temptation marks his latest release and debut for the Narada Jazz label. "The ultimate reality of being a musician is playing live. It’s what keeps me going and enthusiastic," guitarist Peter White says. "It’s the reward for all the toiling in a dark recording studio. I love meeting the people at live gigs and I appreciate the immediate feedback. It’s the ultimate reality check." White’s distinctive acoustic guitar sound has romanced, danced and entranced audiences with his beautiful melodies, lilting rhythms and warm stage presence. 2006’s Reflections II marks White’s tenth release. Tickets: $63.00 Spring Mountain State Park is located approximately 20 minutes from the center of West Las Vegas. Click here for directions or follow these instructions: 1. Take Blue Diamond Highway west and turn off to the town of Blue Diamond. Continue approximately two miles, going past Old Nevada. On the left side you will see Spring Mountain State Park. Joe Locatelli Group at the Whitney Library Whitney Library Concert Hall is located at 5175 East Tropicana Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89122. Tel: 702-229-6383.
Randy Brecker
Randy Brecker's history is as varied as it is distinguished. Born in Philadelphia to a piano-playing father, Brecker spent summers in stage-band camps where he got his earliest experience in ensemble playing. He began playing RandB and funk in local bar bands while in his teens, but at the same time he had an ear for hard bop. "I'd listen to Sonny Rollins, Lee Morgan, Miles' Quintets, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, the Clifford Brown/Max Roach group." Randy Brecker continues to influence and inspire young musicians, and thoughout the years, has been in constant demand as a Yamaha Clinician, performing at Colleges and Universities the world over. Jazz John Hicks: Prolific Pianist
John Hicks, one of the most versatile and prolific jazz pianists of the past four decades, died of internal bleeding in New York City on May 10, 2006. He was sixty-four years of age. Born in Atlanta on December 21, 1941, Hicks was raised in Los Angeles where he absorbed Fats Waller, bebop and church music in the 1950s, and studied piano at his mother's side. In 1957 his father, Rev. Dr. John J. Hicks, relocated the family to St. Louis when he took on the pastorate of Union Memorial Methodist Church. Young John continued his musical studies at Lincoln University, then finished at Berklee. Upon his graduation Hicks moved to New York City, encouraged by friends like Clark Terry and Miles Davis. His family followed, with his father eventually heading St. Mark's United Methodist Church. Hicks' first touring job was under Della Reese, followed by jobs with Al Grey, Johnny Griffin, Kenny Dorham, Joe Henderson, Lou Donaldson, the young Pharoah Sanders, and the bluesmen Little Milton and Albert King. In '64 Art Blakey took Hicks on as the Jazz Messengers' pianist, a post he held for two years ('S Make It; Hold On, I'm Comin'). In 1966 Hicks began a recurrent association with Betty Carter, becoming one of the singers favorite accompanists over the course of several world tours (Now It's My Turn, 1976; Audience with Betty Carter, 1979; It's Not About the Melody, 1992). Between 1968 and 1970 Hicks was one of the rare African-American sidemen in Woody Herman's band (Light My Fire, 1969). During the late 1960s Hicks also performed and recorded with the likes of Sonny Simmons, Booker Ervin, Hank Mobley and Lee Morgan. In the 1970s Hicks leaned further towards the avant-garde, making free-tinged jazz with such second-generation explorers as Charles Tolliver (Grand Max, Chico Freeman (Outside Within, Spirit Sensitive), Lester Bowie (Fast Last!), Oliver Lake and Arthur Blythe. He occasionally resumed his work with Blakey and Carter, as well as Sonny Rollins, Frank Foster, Freddie Hubbard, James Moody, Roy Haynes, Sonny Stitt and Jon Hendricks. His first recording session as a leader was Hells Bells, cut for Charles Tollivers Strata-East label in 1978. This was followed by a good tenure with Theresa Records, the fruits of which have been reissued by Evidence (Some Other Time, In Concert, Two of a Kind, etc.) Hicks led various bands from trios through sextets to big-band dates, but devoted more and more time to solo work from the early 1990s. A hallmark of his later work was the tribute album; Hicks recorded loving homages to influences like the tenor sax pantheon, Blakey, Mary Lou Williams, Billie Holiday (Lover Man), Earl "Fatha" Hines (Fathas Day), Clark Terry (Music in the Key of Clark), Erroll Garner (Nightwind) and Billy Strayhorn (Something to Live For, one of Hicks finest achievements). In 1990 Hicks contributed the seventh volume of Concord Jazz' series of solo piano concerts at Maybeck Recital Hall. That same year he participated in Gunther Schuller's presentation of Charles Mingus' Epitaph, which led to spots in Mingus Dynasty and the Mingus Big Band (Live in Time, Blues and Politics, I Am Three). All in all, Hicks recorded more than two dozen sessions as a leader and over three hundred as a sideman. Since 2000 alone he had performed and recorded with artists like Sonny Fortune, David Murray (Love and Sorrow, Like a Kiss That Never Ends), Larry Coryell (Inner Urge), Ricky Ford, Richard Davis, David “Fathead” Newman (Keep the Spirits Singing, Gift, Song for the New Man, I Remember Brother Ray), Cecil Brooks III, Curtis Lundy (Purpose), Billy Bang (the Vietnam albums), James Carter (Gardenias for Lady Day), Joe Lovano, Roni Ben-Hur, and his wife, flautist Elise Wood (Beautiful Friendship). He also worked as an educator in various jazz programs, including NYU and the New School for Social Research. In addition to his wife, John Hicks is survived by his daughter and granddaughter, Naima Yemenejah and Chintamini Hicks of Atlanta; son, Jamil Malik Hicks; brother, Raiford Emerson Hicks; sisters Mrs. Paula Hicks Neely (Louis) and Ms. Emma Hicks Kirk (Ronald) of Stockbridge, Georgia; nieces Lotus Eldona Hicks, Amina Kirk Thornton, Akosua Biney, Oresala Hicks and Khaliyah Hicks; nephews Tyler Hicks, Jameel Hicks, Hakim Vines, Raiford Hicks, Jr., Kwesi Balewa Kirk; aunts Dorothy Ransom, Eartha Cheeseborough of Jacksonville, Florida, Mrs. Thelma Lawrence of New York City; uncle John Emmett Brown of Jacksonville; and cousin Mrs. Debra Lawrence Cowan of New York City. By Todd S. Jenkins. Posted: 2006-05-16 AllAboutJazz.com 
Click here for more of the latest jazz, blues and world music news
Jazz Birthdays This week's jazz artists birthdays include: May 22 Dick Berk (drums, leader), 1939
Sun Ra - Chicago 1981 Sun Ra & the Astro Infinity Arkestra CD and artist biography brief: Atlantis
One of the key but underappreciated episodes in avant-garde jazz, Sun Ra's Atlantis sounds far out even today. Rather than a full-on assault on the senses, Atlantis is an exercise in build-up, with long, almost forlorn passages of Ra on electric keyboards setting a vast echo chamber for his Arkestra to spring forth within. Captured during one of the most adventurous periods for Sun Ra, *Atlantis* features the orchestral perfection of the best big bands of the century-and then proceeds towards mutirhythmic explosions of intensity, all of it couched in Sun Ra's mixture of interglactic mysticism and heaping doses of experiments in tone, tempo, and texture. -- Andrew Bartlett :: amazon.com editorial review This week's new jazz releases: Click on any album cover to purchase CDs
May 22 Cab Calloway - Hi De Ho Man (Revola) - Reissue Jazz 'Round Las Vegas M o n d a y, May 22 Caesars Palcce (Galleria Bar)
Dehner Franks (piano) T u e s d a y, May 23 Artisan Hotel 8-11pm Jerry Brookings Jazz Showcase (rotating jazz musicians) W e d n e s d a y, May 24 Capo's Italian Restaurant 7-11pm Peppe Merolla (drums, vocals) T h u r s d a y, May 25 Bootlegger Bistro 9:30-11pm Ruth Brown F r i d a y, May 26 Artisan Hotel 6-9pm Martin Mancuso (sax) S a t u r d a y, May 27 Artisan Hotel 6-9pm Martin Mancuso (sax) S u n d a y, May 28 Capozzoli's 9pm Lou Martinez 'Nuff Said Now it's your turn. If you have any information you would like to see in this JazzBeat column send an e-mail to info@jazzinternet.com. We especially welcome club listings. Telephone numbers are supplied for all venues. Please Call to verify events. Keep on jazzin' in Las Vegas and beyond. -- Bion Jazz Beyond the Neon
Thursday-Sunday, May 25-28th
What really separates Allyson from her peers is her ability to communicate oceanic emotions with minimal artifice. "The idea of craft permeates her music," wrote Richard Cook, author of the "Penguin Guide to Jazz Records," in a 2004 performance review that admirably encapsulates Allyson's qualities. "One of the most appealing things about her singing is its lack of mannerism. There are no dopey melismas, nothing of that afflicted gospel soul feel that a lot of younger singers depend on. She doesn’t try anything foolishly acrobatic. Yet in her way, she's an ambitious and adventurous performer. She sometimes puts in a scat chorus which is done almost diffidently, without showoff contours. She'll take over a familiar lyric and make it sound fresh by use of quiet touches—sitting back on certain beats, turning away from a big line and highlighting a different one." -- Source: www.karrin.com Two performances per night. Tickets prices ($18-$30) and show times vary
according to the concert date and time of day. Visit the Catalina Bar &
Grill web site at CatalinaJazzClub.com, or phone
323-466-2210 for more information. The club is located at 6725 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, CA. Las Vegas Academy Bands The Association of Partners in Music, the booster organization for the Las Vegas Academy Bands welcomes you to the 2005-2006 school year. We are the parent organization for the band department. Our mission is a clear one; we serve as a support to the band students and their parents. APM works as a partner with the band department. We take our role as partner seriously as does the Clark County School District. Please refer to the Clark County School District Policy 1140 regarding parent involvement. Here is an excerpt from this policy. Providing all district students with equal access to quality education is a primary goal. It is vital that all partners (parents, educators, communities, and others) have the opportunity to provide input and offer resources to meet this goal. These partnerships are mutually beneficial. Developing cooperative efforts and linking access to resources will ensure improved academic achievement for all students, as well as promote quality schools. For more information visit the Association's website at www.lvbands.com BluesBeat Nevada
Little Buster passed away in a Nassau County nursing home on May 11th 2006, due to complications from a stroke. He was 63. Recently his dexterity was increasingly ravaged from the effects of numerous strokes caused by acute diabetes and high blood pressure. His wife, Mary Forehand of Hempstead, said that even then he refused to put down his guitar. "He was an extraordinary man who never considered himself handicapped." Steven Kleinberg, President Little Buster Records, issued this statement. "This has not only been a tremendous set back to his family, associates, friends, and fans, but also to the world of R&B, Soul, and Blues music. The future and direction of Little Buster Records Inc. is dedicated to create and continue a Legacy for Edward (Little Buster) Forehand." read more For in depth coverage of the Las Vegas Blues scene, visit BluesBeat Nevada, your weekly guide to "all things blues." Sun Ra Biography
b. Herman Sonny Blount, 22 May 1914, Birmingham, Alabama, USA, d. 30 May 1993, Birmingham, Alabama, USA. One of the most extraordinary figures in twentieth-century music who deserves much greater attention, Sun Ra claimed to have arrived here from the planet Saturn on a date that cannot be revealed because of its astrological significance! More down-to-earth researchers have suggested the birth-date above, although this remains unconfirmed. There is a similar uncertainty about his original name: while he sometimes went under the name of Herman "Sonny' Blount in the 30s and 40s, he also used the name Sonny Lee and claimed that his parents" name was Arman. However, for approximately 40 years he was known as Sun Ra - or, as he announced to countless concert audiences, "Some call me Mr Ra, some call me Mr Re. You can call me Mr Mystery." His first musical memories are of hearing classic blues singers such as Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters and he grew up a fan of the swing bands, especially those led by Fletcher Henderson. His early work experience as pianist, arranger and composer included stints with Fess Wheatley and Oliver Bibb in the Chicago area in the mid-30s, but this period of his life remains largely undocumented. In 1946 he was at Chicago's Club DeLisa, playing behind visiting jazz and blues artists such as Joe Williams and LaVern Baker and writing arrangements for his idol, Henderson, who had a 15-month residency at the club.
In the late 50s Ra set up his own label, Saturn Records (aka Thoth), one of the first musician-owned labels, and most of his 100-plus recordings have been released on Saturn, although many have been issued or reissued on other labels (notably Impulse! Records in the 60s and 70s). Nearly all Saturn albums have been limited-edition pressings that appear in plain white or hand-drawn sleeves and are now valued collector's items. (The facts that they are extremely rare, that they often contain no recording details, that they are sometimes reissued under different titles and that some "new" releases actually comprise a side each from two older albums, all mean that a complete and accurate Sun Ra discography is almost impossible to compile.) Despite years of severe poverty and relocations from Chicago to New York (1961) and then to Philadelphia (l968), Sun Ra kept the Arkestra in existence for over three decades, though they played under a different name almost every year: examples include the Astro-Infinity Arkestra, the Blue Universe Arkestra, the Cosmo Jet Set Arkestra and the Year 2000 Myth Science Arkestra. The list of illustrious band members over the years takes in Ahmed Abdullah, Marion Brown, Richard Davis, Robin Eubanks, Craig Harris, Billy Higgins, Frank Lowe, Julian Priester, Clifford Jarvis, Pharoah Sanders, James Jacson and James Spaulding (there are dozens more), while occasional guest performers have included Lester Bowie, Don Cherry and Archie Shepp. Many players returned for further stints, though the financial rewards were never great, and a handful remained virtually without a break from the very beginning - notably Gilmore and Marshall Allen. Several core band members lived together in a communal house where Ra reportedly imposed strict discipline: he allowed no drugs, no alcohol and was fond of waking everyone up in the middle of the night for extra rehearsals. (He was also credited as the person who persuaded John Coltrane to give up drugs, and Coltrane took saxophone lessons from Gilmore.) Almost from the outset the band wore exotic costumes, usually with Ancient Egyptian or outer space motifs, and used elements of spectacle in their stage act: light shows, dance, mime and an endearing habit of winding through the audience, chanting about their exploits on other planets ("we travel the spaceways, from planet to planet").
A stroke in 1990 left Ra with impaired movement, but the Arkestra's 1991 London concerts proved there had been no diminution of musical quality. His influence has been enormous and has seeped through into every nook and cranny of modern music, from Funkadelic to Karlheinz Stockhausen to the Art Ensemble Of Chicago. "Musically," said drummer Roger Blank, "Sun Ra is one of the unacknowledged legislators of the world.' A poet and philosopher too, Ra published several volumes of writings. In fact, while a few critics have seized on items such as the Arkestra's glitzy costumes and space chants to dismiss them as a circus and Ra himself as a freak or charlatan, most of his ideas and proclamations made perfect sense when viewed in the context of African-American culture. Taking a new name, for instance, is a venerable blues tradition (think of Muddy Waters, Howlin" Wolf, Lead Belly) and Ra's emphasis on Ancient Egypt was just one of the means he used to focus attention on black history and black achievement. More detailed expositions can be found in the chapters on his music and thought in Chris Cutler's File Under Popular, John Litweiler's The Freedom Principle, Graham Lock's Forces In Motion and Valerie Wilmer's As Serious As Your Life. A documentary film, Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise, directed by Robert Muge, was released in 1980. Sun Ra was one of the great modern visionaries: he not only had a dream, but lived it to the full for over 40 years. He showed that, with imagination, commitment and a love of beauty, one can create one's own future and make the impossible real. Sun Ra left planet Earth in May 1993. Discography: Calling Planet Earth 3-CD box set (Freedom 1998)****, Greatest Hits (Evidence 2000)*****. Bibliography: Copyright Muze UK Ltd. 1989-2004 |
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jazz news | calendar | jazz chart | birthdays | new releases | feature | clubs | beyond the neon | biography | blues news
Calendar
LAS VEGAS – Internationally renowned trumpeter Randy Brecker will highlight the Las Vegas Academy jazz concert on Thursday, May 25th. In conjunction with the 7 p.m. performance, the Academy will rename its Theatre for the Performing Arts Center the Lowden Theater for the Performing Arts. The facility is being dedicated to Paul and Sue Lowden, longtime benefactors to the school district. The Academy is located at 315 S. 7th St. but the theatre is located on the northwest corner of 9th and Clark.
Saxophonist David Sanborn began his musical career as a teen-age sideman, playing on the burgeoning jazz and R&B club circuit in his native St. Louis.
Sunday May 28th - 7:30 p.m. with Guitars and Saxes Superstars Gerald Albright, Richard Elliot, Jeff Golub and Peter White. Tickets go on sale Saturday, April 22nd at all four Mr. Bills Pipe and Tobacco Stores, UNLV Performing Arts Center box office or charge by phone at 1-800-969-VEGAS. Gates open at 6:00 p.m. Low back chairs and picnic baskets are permitted. Be sure to buy your ticket early for this event as we expect another Guitars and Saxes sellout.
Randy Brecker has been shaping the sound of Jazz, R&B and Rock for more than
three decades. His trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by a wide range of artists from James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Chaka Khan, George Benson and Parliament-Funkadelics to Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan, David Sanborn, Horace Silver, Jaco Pastorius and Frank Zappa.
News
Born: December 21, 1941 in Atlanta, GA
(1969)
Now a popular and critically acclaimed fixture on the jazz landscape, Allyson established her mastery of lyric interpretation on nine previous Concord releases, including the GRAMMY® nominated Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane, In Blue, and Wild for You. The singer projects an instantly recognizable tonal personality, illuminating hidden layers of emotion within songs that are drawn from a vast well of styles and genres—from the blues, contemporary pop, and the American Songbook, to the bossa nova, chanson, and the more specialized jazz and bebop repertoire. Indeed, Allyson husky tone can, "makes palpable the carnal, the romantic and the spiritual, sometimes all at once" (Downbeat Magazine).
Setting aside the fact he claimed to be from Saturn, Sun Ra was one of the most distinctive, visionary artists in jazz. He combined big-band Ellingtonia, free jazz, electronic soundscapes, and celestial themes into an idiosyncratic stew, bolstered by the intense loyalty of his band members (they'd stay for decades, eschewing higher paying gigs for the opportunity to play his music). His huge discography is a singularly monumental legacy to his indefatigable artistry.
Ra then worked with bass player Eugene Wright's Dukes Of Swing in 1948 and also played with Coleman Hawkins and Stuff Smith. In the early 50s he began to lead his own small groups, which soon featured Pat Patrick and John Gilmore, and by the middle of the decade he had assembled a 10-piece big band, the Arkestra, who recorded their debut, Sun Song, in 1956. Originally playing an idiosyncratic bebop, with arrangements that also showed the influence of Duke Ellington and Tadd Dameron, the Arkestra had developed by the early 60s into possibly the era's most advanced and experimental group. Ra was one of the first jazz leaders to use two basses, to employ the electric bass, to play electronic keyboards, to use extensive percussion and polyrhythms, to explore modal music and to pioneer solo and group freeform improvisations. In addition, he made his mark in the wider cultural context: he proclaimed the African origins of jazz, reaffirmed pride in black history and reasserted the spiritual and mystical dimensions of music (all important factors in the black cultural/political renaissance of the 60s).
In the 70s Ra began to expand his repertoire to include more traditional material, especially big band numbers by the likes of Ellington, Henderson, Jimmie Lunceford and Jelly Roll Morton. At the same time he kept abreast of jazz funk and also continued to perform his ear-splitting, freeform synthesizer solos, so any live concert by the Arkestra was likely to span the entire gamut of black creative music. Their recordings proved more erratic (and often very low-fi), but over the years they had accumulated a set of indisputable masterpieces, with apparent creative peaks coming in the early/mid-60s (Jazz In Silhouette, Rocket Number Nine Take Off For The Planet Venus, The Heliocentric Worlds Of Sun Ra, Vols. 1 & 2, Nothing Is, The Magic City) and the late 70s (Media Dreams, Disco 3000, Omniverse, Sleeping Beauty, Strange Celestial Road, Sunrise In Different Dimensions). The Arkestra made occasional guest appearances (for example, they played on three tracks of Phil Alvin's Unsung Stories and contributed "Pink Elephants" to Hal Willner's Disney tribute, Stay Awake - an episode that led to them playing entire sets of Disney tunes in the late 80s) and selected members have occasionally made small-group recordings with Ra: for instance, both New Steps and Other Voices, Other Blues feature Ra, Gilmore, Michael Ray (trumpet) and Luqman Ali (percussion). Sun Ra himself released a handful of solo piano albums - Monorails & Satellites, Vols. 1 & 2, Aurora Borealis, St Louis Blues Solo Piano - and the duo Visions with Walt Dickerson. His piano style ranged across a variety of influences, including blues, Count Basie's bounce, Thelonious Monk's dissonance and a degree of European impressionism.
Sun Song (Delmark 1956)***, Super-Sonic Jazz (Evidence 1957)****, Jazz By Sun Ra (Transition 1957)***, Angels And Demons At Play (Evidence 1958)***, Jazz In Silhouette (Saturn 1958)****, Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra Visit Planet Earth (Impulse! 1958)****, Fate In A Pleasant Mood (Impulse! 1959)****, The Nubians Of Plutonia aka The Lady With The Golden Stockings (Impulse! 1959)****, Rocket Number Nine Take Off For The Planet Venus aka Interstellar Low Ways (1962)***, When Sun Comes Out (Saturn 1963)****, Bad & Beautiful (Impulse! 1963)****, The Futuristic Sounds Of Sun Ra aka We Are In The Future (Savoy 1963)****, Art Forms Of Dimensions Tomorrow (Evidence 1965)***, Secrets Of The Sun (Saturn 1965)***, When Angels Speak Of Love (1965)***, The Heliocentric Worlds Of Sun Ra, Vol. 1 (ESP 1965)****, Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy (Evidence 1966)***, The Heliocentric Worlds Of Sun Ra, Vol. 2 (ESP 1966)****, The Magic City (Evidence 1966)****, Nothing Is (ESP 1967)****, Other Planes Of There (Evidence 1967)****, Sound Of Joy 1957 recording (Saturn 1968)***, Sun Ra Visits Planet Earth (Saturn 1968)****, Holiday For Soul Dance (Evidence 1968)****, Atlantis (Evidence 1968)****, Sound Sun Pleasure (Evidence 1969)***, My Brother The Wind (Evidence 1970)*****, The Night Of The Purple Moon (1970)***, Continuation (1970)***, Pictures Of Infinity 1967 recording (Black Lion 1971)***, Nuits De La Fondation Maeght, Vols. 1 & 2 (1971)***, The Solar Myth Approach, Vols. 1 & 2 (Affinity 1971)***, It's After The End Of The World (MPS 1971)***, Song Of The Stargazers (1971)***, Strange Strings 1968 recording (1972)***, To Nature's God aka Sun Ra In Egypt (1972)***, Horizon (1972)***, Nidhamu (1972)***, Space Is The Place (Blue Thumb 1972)****, Monorails & Satellites, Vol. 1 1967 recording (Evidence 1973)***, Astro Black (Impulse! 1973)***, Monorails & Satellites, Vol. 2 1967 recording (1974)***, Discipline 27 - 11 (1974)***, Pathways To Unknown Worlds (1974)***, Dreams Come True 50s/60s recordings (1975)***, My Brother The Wind, Vol. 2 (1975)***, The Antique Blacks (1975)***, Cosmo Earth Fantasy aka Temple U aka Sub-Underground (1975)***, Taking A Chance On Chances (1975)***, The Invisible Shield 50s/60s recordings (1976)***, Featuring Pharoah Sanders And Black Harold 1964 recording (1976)***, Live In Paris aka Live At The Gibus (1976)***, Outer Spaceways Incorporated (Black Lion 1977)***, Primitone (1977)***, Universe In Blue (1977)***, Discipline 99 aka Out Beyond The Kingdom Of (1977)***, What's New (1977)***, Over The Rainbow (1977)***, Celebrations For Dial Tunes (1978)***, Cosmos (1978)***, Live At Montreux (1978)***, Solo Piano (1978)****, Unity (1978)***, New Steps (1978)***, Other Voices, Other Blues (1978)****, Media Dreams (1978)***, Sound Mirror (1978)***, Disco 3000 (1978)***, Lanquidity (1978)***, St Louis Blues (1979)****, The Soul Vibrations Of Man aka Soul Vibrations (1979)***, The Other Side Of The Sun (Sweet Earth 1980)***, Blithe Spirit Dance (1980)***, Omniverse (1980)***, Seductive Fantasy (1980)***, Of Mythic Worlds (1980)***, Strange Celestial Road (1980)***, Sleeping Beauty (1980)***, Dance Of Innocent Passion (1980)***, Rose Hued Mansions Of The Sun aka Voice Of The Eternal Tomorrow (1981)***, Sunrise In Different Dimensions (1981)***, Aurora Borealis (1981)***, I Pharaoh (1981)***, Some Blues But Not The Kind That's Blue aka My Favourite Things (1981)***, Beyond The Purple Star Zone (1981)***, Journey Stars Beyond (1981)***, Otherness Blue aka Just Friends 50s-80s recordings (1983)***, Hiroshima (1984)***, Sun Ra Meets Salah Ragab In Egypt (1984)***, Ra To The Rescue (1984)***, Live At Praxis '84, Vols. 1-3 (Golden Years 1984)***, A Fireside Chat With Lucifer (1985)***, Cosmo Sun Connection (ReR 1985)***, Celestial Love (1985)***, Children Of The Sun (1986)***, Stars That Shine Darkly (1986)***, Reflections In Blue (Black Saint 1987)***, Love In Outer Space 1983 recording (Leo 1988)***, Live At Pit-Inn, Tokyo (DIW 1988)***, Blue Delight (A&M 1989)***, Cosmo Omnibus Imaginable Illusion (DIW 1989)***, Out There A Minute 60s recordings (Blast First 1989)***, Purple Night (A&M 1990)****, Sun Ra & His Year 2000 Myth Science Arkestra - Live In London 1990 (Atlantic 1990)****, Mayan Temples (Black Saint 1992)***, Destination Unknown (Leo 1992)****, Friendly Galaxy (Leo 1993)***, Pleiades (Leo 1993)***, The Singles (Evidence 1996)***, various artists Wavelength Infinity (Rastascan 1996)***, the Sun Ra Arkestra A Song For The Sun (El Ra 2000)****, At The Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival, In Exile 1974: It Is Forbidden (Total Energy 2001)***, Nuclear War 1982 recording (Atavistic 2001)****, Music From Tomorrow's World (Unheard Music 2003)**.