For this album, Sun Ra collected an arsenal of exotic string instruments and handed them out to his Arkestra on the precept that "strings could touch people in a special way." That the Arkestrans didn't know how to play or tune these instruments was not beside the point-it was the point. Ra framed it "a study in ignorance." The result was primitive, yet sophisticated; brutal, yet highly sensitive.In his essay for this expanded edition of the 1967 Saturn LP, musician-curator David Toop calls Strange Strings "saturated in mystery."

Fans of Sun Ra's Space Bop and genre-bending jazz were in for a shock with Strange Strings. Even in the eclectic and sometimes baffling Sun Ra catalog, Strange Strings is an outlier. It's primitive, it's sophisticated, but it's not a gradient of either. It's brutal, yet highly sensitive. Is it music, or just noise? Or noise as music? John Cage could not be reached for comment.

The original 1967 Saturn LP version of Strange Strings was monophonic, contained three tracks, and suffered distortion in the mastering (perhaps due to the high-decibel studio performance and excessive reverb). Yet some sessions were captured in stereo. A dozen strange-string works have been located, five of which are included on this remastered edition. (The others have been released on other labels; see discography inside gatefold.) No track titles appeared on the original Saturn LP verso, but the three works issued were later identified as "World's Approaching," the LP title track, and an inversion of the title, "Strings Strange." A belatedly discovered tape box listed the third recording as "Strange Strange," a title which has been used in this edition.

Universe in Blue is a rarity. This collection of undated live club performances was issued in small-run pressings with two different LP covers on Sun Ra's Saturn label around 1972, but has largely escaped further notice. The performances originated in the early 1970s at the rowdy Lower East Side jazz mecca Slug's Saloon, located at 242 East 3rd Street. Starting in 1966 (or possibly as late as 1968), Sunny and his band performed at Slug's almost every Monday night for several years, and took the stage sporadically for several years thereafter. They typically started around 9:00 pm and played without a break until 4:00 am. The personnel fluctuated, depending on who showed up, who was hanging around and could handle an instrument, and the bandleader's divinations. These legendary evenings were raw, unpredictable, calamitous, and not without artistic controversy. They brought Sun Ra to the greater attention of the New York press and helped cement his reputation for audacious showmanship.

I have always thought orchestra. I play that way, even when playing the piano. - Sun Ra Considering the monumental depth of Sun Ra's recorded oeuvre, there are surprisingly few solo piano albums. Monorails and Satellites Volumes 1 and 2 were the first commercial LPs of the artist's solo keyboard excursions. Recorded in 1966 and released on his Saturn imprint in 1968, Volume 1 featured seven idiosyncratic originals and one standard ("Easy Street") delivered in Sunny's singular manner. Volume 2 was released the following year, and contains five compositions, all originals. A third volume was prepped but shelved, and this deluxe edition marks it's premiere release. As with all Cosmic Myth releases these volumes are superbly mastered, and are available as a deluxe 2xCD or 3xLP tri-gatefold cover with copious liners notes by renown American jazz pianist Vijay Iyer, and additional overviews by jazz historian Ben Young and producer Irwin Chusid.

For this album, Sun Ra collected an arsenal of exotic string instruments and handed them out to his Arkestra on the precept that "strings could touch people in a special way." That the Arkestrans didn't know how to play or tune these instruments was not beside the point-it was the point. Ra framed it "a study in ignorance." The result was primitive, yet sophisticated; brutal, yet highly sensitive. In his essay for this expanded edition of the 1967 Saturn LP, musician-curator David Toop calls Strange Strings "saturated in mystery." Fans of Sun Ra's Space Bop and genre-bending jazz were in for a shock with Strange Strings. Even in the eclectic and sometimes baffling Sun Ra catalog, Strange Strings is an outlier. It's primitive, it's sophisticated, but it's not a gradient of either. It's brutal, yet highly sensitive. Is it music, or just noise? Or noise as music? John Cage could not be reached for comment. Ra had accumulated an arsenal of exotic string instruments from curio shops and music stores. At his makeshift rehearsal/recording space (Sun Studio = Ra's apartment at 48 East 3rd Street), these artifacts were handed out to members of the Arkestra on the precept that "strings could touch people in a special way." That the Arkestrans didn't know how to play these instruments was not beside the point-it was the point. Ra termed it "a study in ignorance." To this unconventional "string section" he added a few sonic oddities, including a large piece of tempered sheet metal on which was chiseled the letter "X." The band's "space vocalist" Art Jenkins rounded out the ensemble. The original 1967 Saturn LP version of Strange Strings was monophonic, contained three tracks, and suffered distortion in the mastering (perhaps due to the high-decibel studio performance and excessive reverb). Yet some sessions were captured in stereo. A dozen strange-string works have been located, five of which are included on this remastered edition. (The others have been released on other labels; see discography inside gatefold.) No track titles appeared on the original Saturn LP verso, but the three works issued were later identified as "World's Approaching," the LP title track, and an inversion of the title, "Strings Strange." A belatedly discovered tape box listed the third recording as "Strange Strange," a title which has been used in this edition.

MY BROTHER THE WIND 1

One of a number of sessions cut at the Choreographers' Workshop, this 1963 set establishes Sun Ra's Arkestra as a New York band, sonically coupled to developments in the decidedly urbane downtown arts underground. The stargazing clamor of the music reflects the intensity of a cultural crossroads where concrete and dust pervade any skyward view, from East 3rd Street to Mars and beyond. One of Sun Ra's rarest releases, it had negligible circulation through shops.