Jazz By Sun Ra is the debut album to be released by Sun Ra

Sun Ra

Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...

. The record label for the first pressing says "07-12-56", presumably when it was recorded. The LP originally appeared on Tom Wilson's short-lived Transition Records. In the mid-1960s it was purchased (along with much of the Transition catalog) by Delmark Records

Delmark Records

Delmark Records is an independent American jazz and blues record label, based in Chicago since 1958. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when owner Bob Koester released a recording of the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group, under the "Delmar" imprint.-History:Born in 1932 in...

 owner Bob Koester, finally being reissued in 1967.

When originally released, it came with an extensive booklet featuring words and photos of Sun Ra and his Arkestra. The LP featured original compositions by Sun Ra along with one by Arkestral bassist Richard Evans. Another composition by Arkestra member Julian Priester

Julian Priester

Julian Priester is an American jazz trombonist and composer.He has played with many artists including Sun Ra, Max Roach, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock.-Biography:...

 has been included in reissues from the session, and additional unreleased tracks (all Ra originals) are known to survive. The single non-Arkestral composition was Possession, by Harry Revel

Harry Revel

Harry Revel was an English composer of musical theatre.Revel was born in London. Before emigrating to the United States in 1929, he wrote musicals for productions in Paris, Copenhagen, Vienna and London....

, which had been written for Les Baxter

Les Baxter

Les Baxter was an American musician and composer.Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer...

's album Perfume Set to Music; Possession was arranged for the Arkestra by the Texan pianist and composer Prince Shell.

Earlier home recordings by Ra, including one dating from 1948 or 1949, were released with tracks from 1973 on the album Deep Purple

Deep Purple (Sun Ra album)

Deep Purple is an album by Sun Ra and his Arkestra featuring Stuff Smith on violin.-Pressings:*Saturn LP 485 *side A reissued on Evidence 22014 *side B reissued on Evidence 22217...

.

12" vinyl version

Side A

1. "Brainville" (Ra) - 4:29
2. "Call for all Demons" (Ra) - 4:30
3. "Transition" (Ra) - 3:40
4. "Possession" (Revel) - 5:00
5. "Street Named Hell" (Ra) - 3:55

Side B

1. "Lullaby for Realville" (Evans) - 4:40
2. "Future" (Ra) - 3:15
3. "New Horizons" (Ra) - 3:05
4. "Fall off the Log" - Ra) (4:00
5. "Sun Song" (Ra) - 3:40

When reissued on Compact Disc

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 in 1991, Swing A Little Taste was added. This was originally released on the Transition sampler Jazz in Transition alongside tracks by artists such as Cecil Taylor

Cecil Taylor

Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...

, Donald Byrd

Donald Byrd

Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a...

 and John Coltrane

John Coltrane

John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...

;

CD version

1. "Brainville" (Ra) - 4:29
2. "Call for all Demons" (Ra) - 4:30
3. "Transition" (Ra) - 3:40
4. "Possession" (Revel) - 5:00
5. "Street Named Hell" (Ra) - 3:55
6. "Lullaby for Realville" (Evans) - 4:40
7. "Future" (Ra) - 3:15
8. "Swing a Little Taste" (Ra) - 4:25
9. "New Horizons" (Ra) - 3:05
10. "Fall off the Log" - Ra) 4:00
11. "Sun Song" (Ra) - 3:40

Musicians

• Sun Ra - Piano, Hammond B-3
  Hammond organ
  The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
  
   organ, percussion
• Art Hoyle - Trumpet, Percussion
• Dave Young - Trumpet, percussion
• Julian Priester
  Julian Priester
  Julian Priester is an American jazz trombonist and composer.He has played with many artists including Sun Ra, Max Roach, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock.-Biography:...
  
   - Trombone, percussion
• James Scales - Alto Sax
• John Gilmore
  John Gilmore (musician)
  John Gilmore was an American jazz tenor saxophone player best-known for his long tenure as a member of Sun Ra's Arkestra...
  
   - Tenor sax, Percussion
• Pat Patrick - Baritone Sax, Percussion
• Richard Evans - Bass
• Wilburn Green - Electric Bass, percussion
• Robert Barry - Drums
• Jim Herndon - Tympani

Recorded Universal Recording, Chicago, July 12, 1956

Pressings

• Transition TRLP J-10 (1957)
• Delmark DL-411 (1967)
• Sonet SLP23 (Sweden)
• Delmark DD-411 (1991, CD)

External sources

• Chronological overview of Sun Ra albums
• Robert Campbell's Discography