This is the great late-night Sun Ra chillout album you never knew about. The band had been working in a more groove-oriented setting off and on for over a year, as evidenced by the albums Lanquidity and On Jupiter, with both featuring prominent electric bass and electric guitar. Sleeping Beauty picks up right where On Jupiter left off, with the gentle, swaying "Springtime Again" echoing the same mellow vibe of "Seductive Fantasy" from On Jupiter. A skittering intro coalesces as different instruments pick up bits of the melody, which is then fully expressed by the horn section and ensemble vocals. It's a simple two-chord vamp, with beautiful solos that seem to embody the reawakening and rebirth of springtime. "The Door of the Cosmos" starts with a gospel-like chant and handclaps, with comments from Ra's electric piano and electric guitar. A strong bassline enters, very reminiscent of "A Love Supreme, Pt. 1: Acknowledgement," but the accompanying chant celebrates the mysteries of the unknown rather than the universal truth of A Love Supreme. This track builds in intensity, but never loses its groove or becomes nearly as raucous as the Arkestra is sometimes known for. "Sleeping Beauty" is the album centerpiece, taking up all of side two. Ra's beautiful electric piano gets things rolling, and the band falls into a peaceful groove before the vocals enter, led by the wonderful June Tyson. These songs are all built on the simplest of structures, and the playing from everyone is understated and sublime. Sleeping Beauty is truly a high point in an unwieldy discography, and something of an anomaly at the same time. There's a good reason copies of this album go for several hundred dollars on the collector's market, but it really deserves a proper release so more people can hear it. Outstanding. -Review by Sean Westergaard
SUN RA And His Intergalactic Myth Science Solar Arkestra
SLEEPING BEAUTY
By the late 1970s the Saturn record label had become a musical newspaper, keeping the world abreast of the latest developments in the Sun Ra story, for those people lucky or persistent enough to find the few outlets where the albums were appearing. Sun Ra was releasing more records on his own label than ever before – at least six Saturn LPs document his activities in 1979 alone. This however, is the first reissue of any 1979 Saturn album, and will be widely welcomed – Sleeping Beauty instantly became one of Sun Ra’s best loved records, and remains so to this day.
At this period, compared to previous years, Saturn records tended to document more of Sun Ra’s current work rather than older tapes. This was certainly true of one particular group of four albums released simultaneously into Saturn Records’ distribution channels within a year of being recorded: God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be, Omniverse and On Jupiter, and Sleeping Beauty. These all represented facets of Ra’s work during 1979, and between them include everything from piano trio compositions to conducted improvisations to disco music.
Sleeping Beauty features the funkier end of the Sun Ra spectrum. It is a studio recording featuring at least twenty-eight musicians, an enlarged version of the Arkestra which had just crossed the Atlantic to play the 1979 Moers festival. The line up includes both acoustic and electric bass players, and electric guitarists, and the reed and brass sections are both augmented beyond the core members of the Arkestra. The recording session which produced Sleeping Beauty also gave us Strange Celestial Road, released on the Rounder label. The two albums have a markedly different feel, in spite of the common date – according to vibraphone player Damon Choice, the differences perhaps partly stem from later post production, and the addition of vocals. All three tracks on Sleeping Beauty have tenor solos by John Gilmore which can count among his finest work. Other musicians’ work is also very worthy of note: Vincent Chancey’s french hom in particular. The overall textures of the arrangements and also the sound of this particular Arkestra, are unique, found on no other Sun Ra album: listen to the opening to “Door Of The Cosmos”, as vocals and keyboards are joined by guitars and bass, and the hom arrangements cut in around Gilmore’s solo. There are many fine such moments throughout the album.
This album features groove-oriented tracks with sublime multi-instrumental complexity, a large ensemble recording, similar to that found on Sun Ra’s Lanquidity and On Jupiter albums. Sleeping Beauty is a high point in Sun Ra’s discography. The electric guitar and bass play a critical role in driving the music, with hypnotic electric piano, organ and vibe lines that flow with gentle restraint and some beautiful sax solos from John Gilmore and Marshall Allen. This album features gospel-like vocals from the wonderful June Tyson and Rhoda Blount helping to establish the spiritual and mystical foundation of Sun Ra’s music – a totally uplifting and joyous listening experience. -Chris Trent
Sun Ra & His Arkestra – Sleeping Beauty (Expanded)
Label: Enterplanetary Koncepts – none
Format: 8 x File, FLAC, Album, Reissue
Visit: https://sunramusic.bandcamp.com/
Country: US
Released: Jul 19, 2021
Genre: Jazz
Style: Free Jazz, Big Band
Source: Digital
1. Springtime Again 9:15
2. Door of the Cosmos 9:00
3. Sleeping Beauty (a.k.a. Black Beauty) 11:49
4. Celestial Road 7:02
5. Say 12:10
6. I'll Wait For You 16:05
7. Door of the Cosmos (live Grendel's Lair, 1978) 3:06
8. Strange Celestial Road (Live Detroit, 1980) 6:41
Credits
Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Percussion – Noel Scott
Alto Saxophone, Flute – Marshall Allen
Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Hutch Jones
Baritone Saxophone, Flute, Percussion – Danny Ray Thompson
Bass – Richard Williams
Bass Clarinet, Flute, Percussion – Eloe Omoe
Drums – Eddie Thomas, Luqman Ali, Reg McDonald
Electric Bass – Steve Clark
Electric Guitar – Skeeter McFarland, Taylor Richardson
Engineer – Mike Dacek (tracks: 1 to 6)
Flute, Bassoon, Percussion [Infinity-Drum] – James Jacson
French Horn – Vincent Chancey
Mixed By – Michael Ray (tracks: 1 to 6), Mike Smith (20) (tracks: 1 to 6), Sun Ra (tracks: 1 to 6)
Percussion – Atakatune
Piano, Electric Piano, Organ, Synthesizer [Synth], Vocals, Composed By [All Compositions] – Sun Ra
Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Flute – Kenny Williams
Tenor Saxophone, Percussion – John Gilmore
Trombone – Craig Harris, Tony Bethel
Trumpet – Curt Pulliam, Walter Miller
Trumpet, Vocals – Michael Ray
Vibraphone – Harry Wilson
Vibraphone, Vocals – Damon Choice
By the late 1970s the Saturn record label had become a musical newspaper, keeping the world abreast of the latest developments in the Sun Ra story, for those people lucky or persistent enough to find the few outlets where the albums were appearing. Sun Ra was releasing more records on his own label than ever before – at least six Saturn LPs document his activities in 1979 alone. This however, is the first reissue of any 1979 Saturn album, and will be widely welcomed – Sleeping Beauty instantly became one of Sun Ra’s best loved records, and remains so to this day.
At this period, compared to previous years, Saturn records tended to document more of Sun Ra’s current work rather than older tapes. This was certainly true of one particular group of four albums released simultaneously into Saturn Records’ distribution channels within a year of being recorded: God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be, Omniverse and On Jupiter, and Sleeping Beauty. These all represented facets of Ra’s work during 1979, and between them include everything from piano trio compositions to conducted improvisations to disco music.
Sleeping Beauty features the funkier end of the Sun Ra spectrum. It is a studio recording featuring at least twenty-eight musicians, an enlarged version of the Arkestra which had just crossed the Atlantic to play the 1979 Moers festival. The line up includes both acoustic and electric bass players, and electric guitarists, and the reed and brass sections are both augmented beyond the core members of the Arkestra. The recording session which produced Sleeping Beauty also gave us Strange Celestial Road, released on the Rounder label. The two albums have a markedly different feel, in spite of the common date – according to vibraphone player Damon Choice, the differences perhaps partly stem from later post production, and the addition of vocals. All three tracks on Sleeping Beauty have tenor solos by John Gilmore which can count among his finest work. Other musicians’ work is also very worthy of note: Vincent Chancey’s french hom in particular. The overall textures of the arrangements and also the sound of this particular Arkestra, are unique, found on no other Sun Ra album: listen to the opening to “Door Of The Cosmos”, as vocals and keyboards are joined by guitars and bass, and the hom arrangements cut in around Gilmore’s solo. There are many fine such moments throughout the album.
This album features groove-oriented tracks with sublime multi-instrumental complexity, a large ensemble recording, similar to that found on Sun Ra’s Lanquidity and On Jupiter albums. Sleeping Beauty is a high point in Sun Ra’s discography. The electric guitar and bass play a critical role in driving the music, with hypnotic electric piano, organ and vibe lines that flow with gentle restraint and some beautiful sax solos from John Gilmore and Marshall Allen. This album features gospel-like vocals from the wonderful June Tyson and Rhoda Blount helping to establish the spiritual and mystical foundation of Sun Ra’s music – a totally uplifting and joyous listening experience. -Chris Trent
Album art 2021
A number of sessions recorded by Sun Ra from 1978 to 1980—issued on the albums Lanquidity, On Jupiter, and Sleeping Beauty—reflect the influence on Ra of commercial musical and production trends of the mid- and late-1970s, especially heavy, studio-enhanced dance floor grooves (traceable from soul and funk to disco), and atmospheric New Age "dream" pieces. But Ra neither surrendered to nor fully embraced these styles—he simply added these techniques to his toolkit, always stretching beyond the genres. The only aspect that eluded him was commercial success.
Sleeping Beauty (Saturn 79) was recorded in New York in June 1979 and released later that year. Like many Sun Ra albums from the 1970s and '80s, it was pressed in a limited (and unknown) quantity, packaged with generic (albeit often hand-decorated) sleeves, and distributed by Rounder and sold at concerts. Also like many releases of the period, it was known by a second title — Door of the Cosmos. Those alternate titles derived from two of the album's three tracks. Oddly, "Sleeping Beauty" had an alternate title — "Black Beauty," which was printed on some labels (and typed on others). Affirming that this release should be filed under "Alternative," the band was identified as "Sun Ra and His Arkestra" on most labels and as "Sun Ra Omniverse Jet Set Arkestra" on at least one extant sleeve.
Three additional tracks were recorded at the June '79 session: "Celestial Road," "Say," and "I'll Wait for You." Those tracks were licensed to Rounder Records, who issued them on the LP Strange Celestial Road (Rounder 3035) in 1982. (Note: The Rounder label and Rounder Distribution were related companies, but separate operations. Saturn LPs were distributed by Rounder, but were not released by Rounder. However, there were, in time, three Sun Ra albums issued on Rounder—Strange Celestial Road, Somewhere Else, and Sun Ra Sextet at the Village Vanguard—but none of the three had been previously issued on Saturn.)
Art Yard released an authorized edition of Sleeping Beauty on CD in 2010. (Those rights reverted to Sun Ra LLC in 2021.)
This digital edition combines all tracks from the June 1979 Variety studio session, along with two bonus tracks: an alternate of "Door of the Cosmos" recorded in Philadelphia at the club Grendel's Lair in 1978, and a live version of "Strange Celestial Road" recorded in Detroit in 1980. Both tracks were derived from tapes in Michael D. Anderson's Sun Ra Music Archive. — I.C.
Sleeping Beauty (Saturn 79) was recorded in New York in June 1979 and released later that year. Like many Sun Ra albums from the 1970s and '80s, it was pressed in a limited (and unknown) quantity, packaged with generic (albeit often hand-decorated) sleeves, and distributed by Rounder and sold at concerts. Also like many releases of the period, it was known by a second title — Door of the Cosmos. Those alternate titles derived from two of the album's three tracks. Oddly, "Sleeping Beauty" had an alternate title — "Black Beauty," which was printed on some labels (and typed on others). Affirming that this release should be filed under "Alternative," the band was identified as "Sun Ra and His Arkestra" on most labels and as "Sun Ra Omniverse Jet Set Arkestra" on at least one extant sleeve.
Three additional tracks were recorded at the June '79 session: "Celestial Road," "Say," and "I'll Wait for You." Those tracks were licensed to Rounder Records, who issued them on the LP Strange Celestial Road (Rounder 3035) in 1982. (Note: The Rounder label and Rounder Distribution were related companies, but separate operations. Saturn LPs were distributed by Rounder, but were not released by Rounder. However, there were, in time, three Sun Ra albums issued on Rounder—Strange Celestial Road, Somewhere Else, and Sun Ra Sextet at the Village Vanguard—but none of the three had been previously issued on Saturn.)
Art Yard released an authorized edition of Sleeping Beauty on CD in 2010. (Those rights reverted to Sun Ra LLC in 2021.)
This digital edition combines all tracks from the June 1979 Variety studio session, along with two bonus tracks: an alternate of "Door of the Cosmos" recorded in Philadelphia at the club Grendel's Lair in 1978, and a live version of "Strange Celestial Road" recorded in Detroit in 1980. Both tracks were derived from tapes in Michael D. Anderson's Sun Ra Music Archive. — I.C.
Label: Enterplanetary Koncepts – none
Format: 8 x File, FLAC, Album, Reissue
Visit: https://sunramusic.bandcamp.com/
Country: US
Released: Jul 19, 2021
Genre: Jazz
Style: Free Jazz, Big Band
Source: Digital
1. Springtime Again 9:15
2. Door of the Cosmos 9:00
3. Sleeping Beauty (a.k.a. Black Beauty) 11:49
4. Celestial Road 7:02
5. Say 12:10
6. I'll Wait For You 16:05
7. Door of the Cosmos (live Grendel's Lair, 1978) 3:06
8. Strange Celestial Road (Live Detroit, 1980) 6:41
Credits
Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Percussion – Noel Scott
Alto Saxophone, Flute – Marshall Allen
Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Hutch Jones
Baritone Saxophone, Flute, Percussion – Danny Ray Thompson
Bass – Richard Williams
Bass Clarinet, Flute, Percussion – Eloe Omoe
Drums – Eddie Thomas, Luqman Ali, Reg McDonald
Electric Bass – Steve Clark
Electric Guitar – Skeeter McFarland, Taylor Richardson
Engineer – Mike Dacek (tracks: 1 to 6)
Flute, Bassoon, Percussion [Infinity-Drum] – James Jacson
French Horn – Vincent Chancey
Mixed By – Michael Ray (tracks: 1 to 6), Mike Smith (20) (tracks: 1 to 6), Sun Ra (tracks: 1 to 6)
Percussion – Atakatune
Piano, Electric Piano, Organ, Synthesizer [Synth], Vocals, Composed By [All Compositions] – Sun Ra
Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Flute – Kenny Williams
Tenor Saxophone, Percussion – John Gilmore
Trombone – Craig Harris, Tony Bethel
Trumpet – Curt Pulliam, Walter Miller
Trumpet, Vocals – Michael Ray
Vibraphone – Harry Wilson
Vibraphone, Vocals – Damon Choice
Vocals – June Tyson, Rhoda Blount
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