First-ever collection of Sun Ra vocal tracks to be released on double vinyl

Sing-along with the Arkestra.

Modern Harmonic has announced The Space Age Is Here To Stay, the very first collection of tracks from Sun Ra’s songbook. The double LP compiles over seventy-five minutes of vocal performances and mind-expanding works by Ra and his Arkestra.

The release includes chanting free-jazz pieces like ‘Space Is The Place’ and ‘Interplanetary Music No.1’, as well as swinging ballads, ‘Enlightenment’ and ‘Sometimes I’m Happy’. As the label points out, “it wouldn’t be Sun Ra without his space age lyrics”: Take your first step out to outer space / You’re like a little baby who never walked before.

“Known primarily for his keyboard improv and freeform band arrangements, Sun Ra could also write great vocal songs when he set his mind to it,” reads the press notes.

Suitably the record has been pressed to space-age coloured vinyl, with artwork by “the father of modern space art” Chesley Bonestell. The deluxe package features liner notes by Charles Blass of Sun Radio. The first pressing of The Space Age Is Here To Stay will be limited to 750 units and available exclusively from indie shops.

The latest in an ongoing Sun Ra reissue project by Modern Harmonic, this double LP follows three unreleased tracks on 10″ EPs and the label’s John Cage Meets Sun Ra release.