Sun Ra & His Arkestra - 'Jazz in Silhouette' (2023 Expanded Edition)

According to Sun Ra (born Herman Poole Blount), in the mid-1930s, while studying to be a teacher in Alabama, aliens took him to Saturn and revealed that he had a greater purpose than teaching.  The aliens explained that he had been chosen due to his extraordinary discipline, as they believed not all humans could handle space travel.  They thought his mastery over his mind and body made him the ideal candidate.  The aliens shared knowledge beyond human understanding with him. Sun Ra was instructed to wait until Earth reached its lowest point before he could share the “equations” for transcending ordinary life.

As Sun recalls it:

My whole body changed into something else. I could see through myself. And I went up... I wasn't in human form... I landed on a planet that I identified as Saturn... they teleported me and I was down on [a] stage with them. They wanted to talk with me. They had one little antenna on each ear. A little antenna over each eye. They talked to me. They told me to stop [attending college] because there was going to be great trouble in schools... the world was going into complete chaos... I would speak [through music], and the world would listen. That's what they told me.

In 1952, he changed his name from Herman Poole Blount to Sun Ra, after the Egyptian sun god; and put together a band, later known as "The Arkestra".

Fun Fact: Sun Ra has one of the largest discographies in music history.  He recorded numerous singles and over a hundred full-length albums, totaling well over 1,000 songs. This makes him one of the most prolific recording artists of the 20th century.

"In tomorrow's world, men will not need artificial instruments such as jets and space ships.  In the world of tomorrow, the new man will 'think' the place he wants to go, then his mind will take him there." 
— Sun Ra, Jazz in Silhouette album notes

Jazz in Silhouette is the ultimate record of Sun Ra’s Chicago days in the late 1950s.  Recorded in 1958 and released in 1959, the album, Ra’s third, is like a final chapter for his bebop/hard-bop phase, as his interstellar traveler persona started to take shape at the end of the decade.  Sun’s compositions here show off his talent for crafting memorable jazz pieces, even as arrangements like "Ancient Aiethopia" hint at new directions in blending primitive-futurism.  After Ra moved to New York in 1961, he began to explore different musical paths beyond jazz, but 'Jazz in Silhouette' full of excitement.

Many of these early works, like "Images", "Enlightment" and "Saturn" would become staples in Arkestra’s setlists for the rest of Sun’s life. These recordings spotlight the incredible tenor sax playing of John Gilmore and introduce the legendary playing of Marshall Allen and Pat Patrick; all three would stay with Ra for decades (as would bassist Ronnie Boykins).  On the extended "Blues At Midnight", each horn soloist stretches out like they’re playing live in a club.  Here, Sun Ra and the band capture the spirit of Chicago jazz from the time, with their lilting melodies, intertwining chords, and surprising dynamic shifts.

This expanded edition is a 2CD set that has the full original album in the widely known mono mix and non-album bonus tracks from the period, some never-before issued, as well as rare stereo mixes.  It also features the original space nymph cover art, which only appeared in cropped and washed-out reproductions on the El Saturn Records label (Sun's own independent label).

Along with Sun Ra on piano, celeste, and gong are:
Hobart Dotson — Trumpet
Pat Patrick — Baritone sax, flute, percussion
Charles Davis — Baritone sax, percussion
John Gilmore — Tenor sax, percussion
William Cochran — Drums
Marshall Allen — Alto sax, flute
James Spaulding — Alto sax, flute, percussion
Ronnie Boykins — Bass
Bo Bailey — Trombone

Sun Ra’s application to NASA’s art program.

For the freeload, who are some of your favorite musicians, whom are shall we say eccentric?