Open today: 12:00 - 19:00

By continuing your navigation on this website, you accept the use of cookies for statistical purposes.

Celestial Love

Catno

MH-8218

Formats

1x Vinyl LP Album Reissue Stereo

Country

US

Release date

Nov 7, 2020

Genres

Jazz

MH8218 - US - 1984/2020RP




True studio albums of Ra with the Arkestra are rare on this planet or beyond. This studio saucer is an interplanetary interpreter, here to convert even the faintest of heart to the sounds of Sun Ra. Recorded with Arkestra veterans at the same NY studio that hosted countless Sun Ra sessions since the late 60s, this first ever reissue of Celestial Love contains the only known recordings of the titular track and “Blue Intensity,” plus a cut not on the original Saturn LP!

The music here is mostly "inside Ra." In fact, it's one of the most accessible albums in the Ra canon. One of Ra's early heroes, Duke Ellington, is represented twice with "Sophisticated Lady" and "Drop Me Off In Harlem," and two other standards ("Smile" and "Sometimes I'm Happy," both sung by June Tyson) are given snappy Ra arrangements.

Though Sun Ra was renowned for outrageous music and performances, Celestial Love is a reminder that he was a man of many moods, with a deep respect for jazz history. His embrace of Futurism never implied a rejection of the past. Even rocket ships were constructed with raw materials discovered eons ago.

Media: Mi
Sleeve: M

$31.31*

*Taxes excluded, shipping price excluded

MH8218 - US - 1984/2020RP

A1

Celestial Love

5:31

A2

Sometimes I'm Happy

4:28

A3

Interstellarism

6:14

A4

Blue Intensity

5:16

B1

Sophisticated Lady

7:30

B2

Nameless One #2

4:00

B3

Nameless One #3

5:42

B4

Smile

4:22

B5

Drop Me Off In Harlem (Bonus Track)

5:04

Other items you may like:

One of our all-time favourite artists and extended Circus Company member The Mole returns to the label for a proper presentation of his album The River Widens. Originally a limited, cassette-only release via fellow Canadian Eddie C’s Red Motorbike, we are proud to offer this album in its full glory for the first time on all formats. Never one to shy away from synth deep dives, or raw sample flip collaging, this collection of 21 works checks all the boxes. Ambient trippers to straight up neck-snapping instrumental beats. Not forgetting tastes of the more uptempo, highly-assured and hypnotic dance floor feels the world has come to love The Mole for. Moments of casual chillin are interspersed with effortless, emotive angles, some evoking the charm of his Little Sunshine release for us in 2017.
IG Culture returns for a second album as Likwid Continual Space Motion in 2024. This upfront album sampler contains a taster of what's coming up on the forthcoming 3LP release. Released on Amsterdam's Super-Sonic Jazz.
Following my recent phone call with Prof. Benson, I left him to continue his 92nd birthday celebrations with his family. We'd talked about his life, his music, his achievements. Throughout our conversation it struck me what a kind, humble and pleasant man he was. I felt that I was in the presence of greatness – not the egotistical greatness that emanates so often from high achievers, but that of someone who had simply won at life."I was a music teacher. I wasn't trying to make a record to compete, I was trying to make a record so the students would have something to remember the experience that we had... I was doing it for the kids."It was 1973 that Prof. James Benson had self-funded his private press LP for the benefit of the teenage musicians he tutored at Cal Poly, California. The album was a momentous achievement for him and his young protegees, something they were all proud of, and rightly so. Taking inspiration from their recent trip to Africa and blended with the radical jazz associated with the young minds of early '70s black America, the Gow-Dow Experience is a unique foray into the enthusiastic mindset of up-and-coming jazz musicians, as encouraged by their mentor Prof. Benson.We present the album as it was released in 1973 with a heavyweight tip-on jacket and 180g vinyl or on CD. We also include an insert with liner notes and photos provided courtesy of Prof Benson. The LP and CD come with 4 additional tracks taken from the recording session. Until now these tracks have never been heard since the day they were recorded.