Super-Sonic Jazz

Super-Sonic Jazz
Super-Sonic Jazz
Studio album by Sun Ra and his Arkestra
Released	March 1957
Recorded	April 13 – October 1956, Chicago
Genre	Jazz
Length	49:31
Label	Saturn; Impulse! Records; Evidence
Producer	Alton Abraham
Sun Ra and his Arkestra chronology
Sun Ra recording chronology
Reissue cover
	Impulse reissue, 1974

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	^[4]
Rolling Stone	^[3]

Super-Sonic Jazz is the second studio album by Sun Ra, recorded in 1956 at RCA Studios, Chicago. Super-Sonic Jazz was the first album to be released on Saturn Records, the label run by Sun Ra and Alton Abraham, and was one of only three albums by Sun Ra to have been available in the 1950s. (The other two are Jazz by Sun Ra, also released in 1957, and Jazz in Silhouette, released May 1959.)^[1]

The album was retitled as Super-Sonic Sounds when it was reissued in 1974 by Impulse!, but reverted to its original title when it was released on CD by Evidence records in 1992.

Background

El Saturn Records

Super-Sonic Jazz was the first album to be released on El Saturn Records, the label run by Sun Ra and his business partner Alton Abraham. Set up in 1955, they released their first singles, including a doo-wop group The Cosmic Rays^[5] and the Arkestra's Saturn, at the beginning of 1956,^[6] and had recorded the whole of their first album by the end of the year, to be released in March 1957. El Saturn is now considered, along with Charles Mingus and Max Roach’s Debut label and Harry Partch’s Gate 5 label, "one of the very first and most active artist-owned record labels."^[7] Often pressed in editions of 75^[8] — sometimes as few as 20 were made for specific concerts — the records would be manufactured using local black businesses, and often put together in Abraham's own home.^[6] As John F. Szwed described,

El Saturn Records purchased no advertising, gave out no promotional copies for review, and no distribution channels except mail order, hand delivery to the record shops, and, in the southern tradition, sales from the bandstand after performances. An order to the El Saturn address might or might not get a response, and when a record came it might be a different one than ordered (a 1971 Saturn price list asked orderers to list five alternatives), or arrive months later.^[9]

Recording

The album was primarily recorded between September and October of 1956,^[1] with a handful of tracks recorded prior to the Jazz by Sun Ra sessions used to fill out the album.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sun Ra except where noted. All tracks recorded from September - October 1956 except where noted

Side One
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording Date	Length
1.	"India"			4:47
2.	"Sunology"			5:39
3.	"Advice To Medics"		June 16, 1956	2:01
4.	"Super Blonde"		June 16, 1956	2:31
5.	"Soft Talk"	Julian Priester	June 16, 1956	2:40
6.	"Sunology, Part II"			7:03
Total length:				24:41

Side Two
No.	Title	Recording Date	Length
7.	"Kingdom Of Not"		5:26
8.	"Portrait Of The Living Sky"		1:48
9.	"Blues At Midnight"		6:30
10.	"El Is A Sound Of Joy"		3:55
11.	"Springtime In Chicago"	April 13, 1956	3:50
12.	"Medicine For A Nightmare"	June 16, 1956	2:23
Total length:			23:52

Musicians

The Arkestra in an unidentified club, late 1955 or 1956; l-r, Sun Ra, Richard Evans, Robert Barry, John Gilmore & Pat Patrick

Sun Ra – Piano, Electric Piano, Space Gong on all tracks except 'Springtime in Chicago'
Art Hoyle – Trumpet, Percussion on all tracks except 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics'
Pat Patrick – Alto Sax on all tracks except 'Springtime in Chicago,' 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics', Percussion on all tracks except 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics',
John Gilmore – Tenor Sax on all tracks except 'Springtime in Chicago', Percussion on all tracks except 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics'
Charles Davis – Baritone Sax & Percussion on all tracks except 'Springtime in Chicago', 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics'
Victor Sproles – Bass on all tracks except 'Springtime in Chicago', 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics'
William Cochran – Drums on all tracks except 'Springtime in Chicago', 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics'
Jim Herndon – Tympani & Percussion on tracks except 'Springtime in Chicago'

Guests

Julian Priester – Trombone on 'Springtime in Chicago,' 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics'
Wilburn Green – Electric Bass on 'Springtime in Chicago,' 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics'
Robert Barry – Drums on 'Springtime in Chicago,' 'Super Blonde', 'Soft Talk', 'Medicine for a Nightmare', and 'Advice to Medics'
James Scales – Alto Sax & Percussion on 'Springtime in Chicago'

Mixed at RCA studios, Chicago, February 14, 1957, and released in March with an initial pressing of 500.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d From Sunny Blount to Sun Ra; R Campbell:
^ Wynn, Ron. "Super-Sonic Jazz Allmusic Review". AllMusic.
^ Swenson, John (March 4, 1993). Review: Super-Sonic Jazz. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2010-10-10.
^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1355. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
^ Szwed, John F., "Space is the Place", Mojo, 2000, p. 152
^ ^a ^b John Corbett Archived June 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago".
^ Talk, Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, Campbell, 1995 retrieved 31-07-09
^ Szwed, John F., "Space is the Place", Mojo, 2000, p. 170

External links

[RLC-1] From Sunny Blount to Sun Ra; R Campbell:

[2] Wynn, Ron. "Super-Sonic Jazz Allmusic Review". AllMusic.

[3] Swenson, John (March 4, 1993). Review: Super-Sonic Jazz. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2010-10-10.

[Penguin-4] Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1355. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.

[5] Szwed, John F., "Space is the Place", Mojo, 2000, p. 152

[Corbett-6] John Corbett Archived June 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine

[7] "Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago".

[8] Talk, Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, Campbell, 1995 retrieved 31-07-09

[9] Szwed, John F., "Space is the Place", Mojo, 2000, p. 170

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v t e Sun Ra
Discography Arkestra members John Gilmore Julian Priester Pat Patrick Charles Davis Victor Sproles Marshall Allen Ronnie Boykins James Spaulding Phil Cohran Clifford Jarvis Lex Humphries Michael Ray June Tyson Ahmed Abdullah Danny Ray Thompson
Studio albums	Jazz by Sun Ra Super-Sonic Jazz Sound of Joy Visits Planet Earth The Nubians of Plutonia Jazz in Silhouette Sound Sun Pleasure!! Interstellar Low Ways Fate in a Pleasant Mood Holiday for Soul Dance Angels and Demons at Play We Travel the Space Ways The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra Bad and Beautiful Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow Secrets of the Sun When Sun Comes Out Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy When Angels Speak of Love Other Planes of There The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One The Magic City The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two Strange Strings Monorails and Satellites Atlantis Space Is the Place (soundtrack) Space Is The Place Pathways to Unknown Worlds Cosmos Deep Purple Some Blues But Not the Kind That's Blue New Steps Other Voices, Other Blues Visions Lanquidity Sleeping Beauty Strange Celestial Road Reflections in Blue Hours After Blue Delight Somewhere Else Purple Night Mayan Temples
Live albums	Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold Nothing Is Nuits de la Fondation Maeght It's After the End of the World Black Myth/Out in Space Live in Egypt 1 Nidhamu Horizon Live In Montreux Unity Live from Soundscape I, Pharaoh Sunrise in Different Dimensions Cosmo Omnibus Imagiable Illusion Thunder of the Gods

v t e Julian Priester
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.
Albums	Keep Swingin' (1960) Spiritsville (1960) Love, Love (1973) Polarization (1977) Hints on Light and Shadow (with Sam Rivers, 1996) In Deep End Dance (2002)
with Sun Ra	Super-Sonic Jazz (1956) Jazz by Sun Ra (1956) Sound of Joy (1956) Angels and Demons at Play (1956 & 1960) Jazz in Silhouette (1959) Lanquidity (1978) Blue Delight (1988) Purple Night (1989) Somewhere Else (1989)