#82 ART JACKSON'S ATROCITY Tribute To Sun Ra (1977) w/guest SUN RA


Independently released in 1977, Tribute To Sun Ra was the third and final official album from Art Jackson’s Atrocity. Jackson’s original plan for this LP was to enter the studio with material more structured than The Atrocity’s previous releases, a notion supported by this record’s 1976 (pre-sessions) live recording, “The Outer Limits,” taped at the Spot Me A Five Club in East St. Louis. But something happened that would alter Jackson’s intent… a chance meeting with legendary experimental jazz great Sun Ra, whose unexplained presence at the sessions would ultimately transform the LP’s stylistic approach. It was a seismic shift… or, perhaps, just a re-affirmation of Art Jackson’s core, anti-music intuition. Because, instead of tightening the reins, Jackson decided to completely abandon the group’s prepared material, resulting in The Atrocity’s fiercest, most chaotic album to date.

What listeners will hear on Tribute To Sun Ra is an Atrocity untethered by expectations, forged by alchemy and club work, and firing on all cylinders. An aggressive improvisational sonic assault that would even incorporate recordings of Sun Ra himself, whose distinctive vocals pepper the LP with ruminations on interstellar travel, alien space angels, and Ra's thoughts on an adopted planet in flux. These exclusive Sun Ra vocals have never been heard in any other context, and are available here for the first time in over four decades. There is speculation that Saturn’s man-about-town also performed additional keyboard work on the Hendrix suggestion, “6th Stone From The Sun,” but that suspicion has never been verified by Sun Ra’s estate. Tribute To Sun Ra’s cover, by the way, is different from the original 1977 indie LP (see that one here), and is now updated for the digital age.

Listen:

Let The Sacred Music Begin (8:09)
Opening Ceremonies (5:48)
29 Psalms (5:20)
The Outer Limits (Live At The Spot Me A Five Club, 1976) (8:52)
6th Stone From The Sun (5:22)
Hoarse Latitudes/Slave Ships To The New World (8:50)

Art Jackson: guitar
Artis Killins: bass
Pharaoh Keyes: keyboards
Kurtis Snider: drums
Joseph Mix: sax/trumpet/flute
Eric Gaye: sax
Mark Napoleon: percussion
Val Heston: violin
Sun Ra: guest voice


Free 320
LOSSLESS

6 comments:

jim said...

Do you know how to et an invite to the infinitefool? I had one years ago & lost my password. You can send me an answer at bunky01@comcast.net, please. I really used to enjoy his site.

We're Late For Class said...

Sorry Bunky, haven't heard from him. Or you, for that matter, because our email notification was off. There you have it. Thanks/Sorry.

mb40 said...

WoW .. i didn't even realize you were still putting tunes out. it had been from 2015 that i checked up on the page and man what a delight to my eyes. not to mention my ears .. they r floating on the sounds presented here .. on to Andromeda and beyond!! tnx for putting out sounds for everyone to enjoy ..

We're Late For Class said...

We were wondering where you were.

said...

Well, it hasn't been since 2015 but it's been til now. Didn't know you were still slinging the tuneage. I still listen to my Gout CD & all the archived files, but am overjoyed to get more...AJ Atrocity being some of my favorite. Now married to the incomparable Sun Ra. You all rock. Are you still late or are classes cancelled?

We're Late For Class said...

Glad you found us again, NØ. We were afraid you became a Mormon or - worse - started listening to real music, or something. We're happy to see you're still on the dark side. As for classes... we thought we we're late, but it turned out the government closed the schools in the wake of the pandemic. No wonder we're not learning anything.