2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Song of the Stargazers (1979?)

Song of the Stargazers (Saturn 487 or sometimes 6161) was released in 1979 and is mostly a hodgepodge of various live recordings from the nineteen-seventies. But one track was obviously recorded much earlier, probably in 1967 or 1968, according to Prof. Campbell. Performed in a large, reverberant space in front of a sizable and enthusiastic audience, “Cosmo Dance” is an interesting quasi-modal composition featuring some evocative flute and oboe. Clacking wooden sticks set up a simple, repetitious rhythm with Boykins's bass and Pat Patrick’s “space lute” plucking out a droning three-note groove. Low horns and bowed bass enter with convulsively heaving whole-note fourths while flute and oboe and bass clarinet dance a medieval round. Flute and then oboe embark on expansive, Middle-Eastern sounding solos over the clacking sticks and throbbing bass/space lute, the audience bursting into spirited applause after each. Finally, the low horn/bowed bass whole-note fourths return, repeating several times before ending to more justifiably hearty ovation. Ra himself is not heard playing on this track, but the murky sound quality makes it hard to clearly make out who is doing what. Campbell says Marshall Allen is playing both flute and oboe, but that is impossible since both instruments are heard simultaneously during the ensemble section. So, is it Danny Davis on flute? It certainly sounds like him. There is also some talking barely audible throughout – is that Sun Ra lecturing the crowd or just random audience noise? In any event, this is a beautiful, prototypical Sun Ra composition of the period, perfectly realized by his Arkestra.
from NuVoid's Sun Ra Sunday (July 26, 2009)


135. [229d]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

Song of the Stargazers

Marshall Allen (fl, ob); Robert Cummings (bcl); Pat Patrick (space lute); Ronnie Boykins (b); poss. John Gilmore (perc); unidentified (perc).

This is a late 1960s number; the bass clarinetist is not Eloe Omoe!  Personnel identified by rlc and Larry Nai.

Saturn LP 487, Song of the Stargazers, was the last new Saturn release on the Chicago label.  It was issued before 1981, most likely in 1979.  Some copies bear the serial number 6161 (NMY).  Mark Webber calls it a "mystery album."

289. [229]  Sun R and his Arkestra

Song of the Stargazers

Sun Ra (p, syn, org); prob. Michael Ray (tp); unidentified (tp); Craig Harris (tb); Tyrone Hill (tb -1); poss Vincent Chancey (Fr hn); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, picc, perc); Danny Davis (as, perc); John Gilmore (ts, perc); Eloe Omoe (bcl); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, perc); James Jacson (bsn, Inf-d); Damon Choice (vib); prob. Dale Williams (eg); poss. Luqman Ali [Edward Skinner] (d); unidentified (d); unidentified (cga); unidentified (sticks).

…The only known copies of the LP are in Europe: "Maybe Saturn produced it in a very limited edition and they sold it while touring through Europe" (Geerken).  And all known copies are defective; Julien Vein says that the LP may have been mastered on only one stereo channel.

These particular items seem to be from the same live concert, and are similar in sound and conception to the free improvisations on the Soundscape sessions from November 1979.

The first discographical listing came from Tilman Stahl, who apparently took the misleading title "The Others in Their World" (which is not the 1960 composition) and the serial number 6161 to indicate that the album was recorded in Chicago in 1961!  Geerken and Hefele place the album in the late '60s and claim a 1970 release date.  The label, however, is a rather tattered El Saturn that was characteristic of the last Chicago pressings in the late 1970s.

290. [229a]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

Song of the Star Gazers

Sun Ra (p.)

This rather unusual solo piano piece could have been recorded anywhere between the mid-1960s and the late 1970s.  No further information is available.

291. [229b]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

Song of the Stargazers

Sun Ra (p.); unidentified (eg); unidentified (b); unidentified (perc).

This fragment from a live concert has a mid-1970s feel to it.  There is no connection with the 1960 or 1961 composition called "Distant Stars."

292. [229c]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

Song of the Stargazers

poss. Atakatune [Stanley Morgan] (perc, voc); poss. Odun [Russell Branch] (perc, voc); poss. Chiea (perc, voc -1).

These two numbers feature the same percussionists, playing in a manner that is unusual for Arkestra members.  On "Seven Points" they contribute some vocalizing as well.  "Seven Points" as a title is reminiscent of "The Place of Five Points," which was recorded in 1979.  If the percussionists are in fact Atakatune, Odun, and Chiea, a recording date in 1972 or 1973 is most likely.
from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Duo

Sun Ra and his Arkestra
Song of the Stargazers
Saturn 487 or 6161 (unknown year, poss. 1979 - 1980)

1. The Others In Their World   10:14
2. Somewhere Out   4:40
3. Distant Stars   1:01
4. Duo   3:04
5. Seven Points   4:49
6. Cosmo Dance   6:31
7. Galactic Synthesis   9:52

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