Interstellar Low Ways
Encyclopedia
Interstellar Low Ways is an album recorded by the American Jazz musician Sun Ra
and his Myth Science Arkestra, mostly recorded in Chicago, 1960, and probably released in 1966 on his own Saturn
label. Originally titled Rocket Number Nine, the album had acquired its present name, and the red-on-white sleeve by Claude Dangerfield, by 1969. The album is known particularly for the two songs featuring space chants - Interplanetary Music and Rocket Number Nine Take off for the Planet Venus - that would stay in the Arkestra's repertoire for many years;
When reissued by Evidence, Interstellar Low Ways was included as the second half of a CD that also featured the whole of Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra Visits Planet Earth
.
, Holiday for Soul Dance
, Angels and Demons at Play
and We Travel the Space Ways
. The title track, however, was recorded on the same day - March 6, 1959 - as the whole of Jazz in Silhouette
and Sound Sun Pleasure!!
.
A single, Space Loneliness b/w State Street, was released shortly after the recording sessions. Whilst State Street was never released on an album by Ra, it was copyrighted as part of the Space Loneliness suite (Space Loneliness: A Sound Concerto) along with Fate In A Pleasant Mood & Lights on a Satellite, July 8, 1960. This single was followed up by another 7" from the session, The Blue Set b/w Big City Blues, which wasn't included on any of the Saturn Chicago albums.
Trumpeter Phil Cohran
later remembered the reaction Space Loneliness got when played on a local radio station;
; from here on in, the whole band started to dress for 'Space'. The engagement, lasting until early 1961, 'has justly become legendary'.
On other nights the Arkestra would wear 'purple blazers, white gloves, and beanies with propellers on top that lit up', and would set off robots with flashing lights and wind-up flying saucers into the audience.
Side A:
Side B:
On Space Loneliness, Somewhere In Space, Interplanetary Music, and Rocket Number Nine, recorded at the RCA Studios, Chicago, around June 17, 1960;
On Onward and Space Aura, recorded during rehearsals, Chicago around October 1960;
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...
and his Myth Science Arkestra, mostly recorded in Chicago, 1960, and probably released in 1966 on his own Saturn
El Saturn Records
El Saturn Records is the name of an American record label. The label was one of the most active artist-owned record labels created in 1957 by Alton Abraham. Notable albums produced by the label include works by Sun Ra....
label. Originally titled Rocket Number Nine, the album had acquired its present name, and the red-on-white sleeve by Claude Dangerfield, by 1969. The album is known particularly for the two songs featuring space chants - Interplanetary Music and Rocket Number Nine Take off for the Planet Venus - that would stay in the Arkestra's repertoire for many years;
Rocket Number Nine points toward the music that the Arkestra would be playing on the lower East Side of New York City. The tenor sax solo isn't the work of John ColtraneJohn ColtraneJohn 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...
in 1962, but of John Gilmore in 1960. And not even Ornette ColemanOrnette ColemanOrnette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
's bassists were playing like Ronnie Boykins at this date.' Robert Campbell
When reissued by Evidence, Interstellar Low Ways was included as the second half of a CD that also featured the whole of Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra Visits Planet Earth
Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra Visits Planet Earth
Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra Visits Planet Earth is a jazz album by the American musician Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra. Recorded between late 1956 and 1958, the album was originally released on Ra's own Saturn label in 1966, and has since been reissued on CD by Evidence in 1992...
.
Marathon sessions at the RCA Studios
Most of the tracks were recorded at a marathon session of between 30 and 40 songs, either at the RCA Studios, or possibly The Hall Recording Company (both in Chicago), around 17 June 1960. Other albums to include tracks from the session include Fate In A Pleasant MoodFate in a Pleasant Mood
Fate in a Pleasant Mood is an album by the American Jazz musician Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra recorded in Chicago, mid 1960 and originally released on his own Saturn label in 1965. The album was reissued by Impulse! in 1974, and by Evidence in 1993...
, Holiday for Soul Dance
Holiday for Soul Dance
Holiday For Soul Dance is an album by the American Jazz musician Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Arkestra recorded in Chicago, mid 1960 and originally released on his own Saturn label in 1970. The album was reissued by Evidence on Compact disc in 1992...
, Angels and Demons at Play
Angels and Demons at Play
Angels and Demons at Play is a jazz album by the American musician Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra.Side one was recorded in 1960, including two tracks taken from the mammoth session either at Hall Recording Company or at the RCA Studios , around 17 June 1960 whilst the tracks on side two were...
and We Travel the Space Ways
We Travel the Space Ways
We Travel the Space Ways is an album by the American Jazz musician Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra. Recorded mostly in 1960, the album was released in 1967, on Sun Ra's own label Saturn. The album brings together a number of eras and personnel of the Arkestra, and was probably mostly recorded...
. The title track, however, was recorded on the same day - March 6, 1959 - as the whole of Jazz in Silhouette
Jazz in Silhouette
Jazz in Silhouette is a jazz album by Sun Ra and His Arkestra. Recorded on March 6, 1959 and released May of the same year. The album was recorded in Chicago during a session that also included the whole of Sound Sun Pleasure!! and Interstellar Low Ways from the album of the same name...
and Sound Sun Pleasure!!
Sound Sun Pleasure!!
Sound Sun Pleasure!! is an album by the American Jazz musician Sun Ra and his Astro Infinity Arkestra. Recorded March 6, 1959 , it wasn't released until 1970 on Sun Ra's Saturn label...
.
A single, Space Loneliness b/w State Street, was released shortly after the recording sessions. Whilst State Street was never released on an album by Ra, it was copyrighted as part of the Space Loneliness suite (Space Loneliness: A Sound Concerto) along with Fate In A Pleasant Mood & Lights on a Satellite, July 8, 1960. This single was followed up by another 7" from the session, The Blue Set b/w Big City Blues, which wasn't included on any of the Saturn Chicago albums.
Trumpeter Phil Cohran
Phil Cohran
Kelan Phil Cohran is a jazz musician. He is known most for his trumpet contributions in the Sun Ra Arkestra in Chicago during 1959-1961 and for his involvement in the foundation of the AACM.-Biography:...
later remembered the reaction Space Loneliness got when played on a local radio station;
"When we played it on the radio in 1960 a woman called up the station. She said, 'It sounds like something that crawled up from beneath the earth and died when it reached the sunlight.'" Phil Cohran
The Wonder Inn, Chicago
It was around this time - June 1960 - that their manager, Alton Abraham, secured the band a solid booking - their first since the Queen's Mansion gigs- playing first Wednesdays and then five nights a week at the Wonder Inn, 75th & Cottage Grove, Chicago. Originally billed as 'a special added attraction' for July 30, 1960 featuring Sun Ra and his 'recording band', Alton Abraham celebrated the engagements by acquiring for the band the entire wardrobe from a local opera company - heavily stocked with capes, puffed sleeves and doublets - that had been discarded after performing William TellWilliam Tell (opera)
Guillaume Tell is an opera in four acts by Gioachino Rossini to a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy and Hippolyte Bis, based on Friedrich Schiller's play Wilhelm Tell. Based on the legend of William Tell, this opera was Rossini's last, even though the composer lived for nearly forty more years...
; from here on in, the whole band started to dress for 'Space'. The engagement, lasting until early 1961, 'has justly become legendary'.
"We started [wearing space costumes] back in Chicago. In those days I tried to make the black people, the so-called negroes, conscious of the fact that they live in a changing world. And because I thought that they were left out of everything culturally, that nobody had thought about bringing them in contact with the culture, none of the black leaders did that.... that's why I thought I could make it clear to them that there are other things outside their closed environment. That's what I tried with those clothes. I designed some of them myself. I did it because just by seeing those clothes the people could get an idea of what I meant." Sun Ra
On other nights the Arkestra would wear 'purple blazers, white gloves, and beanies with propellers on top that lit up', and would set off robots with flashing lights and wind-up flying saucers into the audience.
12" Vinyl
All songs were written by Sun Ra.Side A:
- Onward - (3.31)
- Somewhere In Space - (2.56)
- Interplanetary Music - (2.24)
- Interstellar Low Ways - (8.23)
Side B:
- Space Loneliness - (4.30)
- Space Aura - (3.08)
- Rocket Number Nine Take off for the Planet Venus - (6.14)
Musicians
On Interstellar Low Ways, March 6, 1959;- Sun RaSun RaSun 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...
- Gong - Hobart Dotson - Percussion
- Marshall AllenMarshall AllenMarshall Belford Allen is an American free jazz and avant-garde jazz alto saxophone player. He also performs on flute, oboe, piccolo, and EVI ....
- Flute - James Spaulding - Flute
- John GilmoreJohn 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 - Percussion
- Ronnie BoykinsRonnie BoykinsRonnie Boykins was a jazz bassist and is best known for his work with pianist/bandleader Sun Ra, although he had played with such disparate musicians as Muddy Waters, Johnny Griffin, and Jimmy Witherspoon prior to joining Sun Ra's Arkestra.-Biography:He joined the Arkestra during the Chicago...
- Bass - William Cochran - Drums
On Space Loneliness, Somewhere In Space, Interplanetary Music, and Rocket Number Nine, recorded at the RCA Studios, Chicago, around June 17, 1960;
- Sun Ra - Piano
- Phil CohranPhil CohranKelan Phil Cohran is a jazz musician. He is known most for his trumpet contributions in the Sun Ra Arkestra in Chicago during 1959-1961 and for his involvement in the foundation of the AACM.-Biography:...
- Cornet - Nate Pryor - Trombone
- Marshall Allen - Alto Sax, Flute, Bells
- John Gilmore - Tenor Sax, Percussion
- Ronnie Boykins - Bass, Space Gong
- Jon Hardy - Drums, percussion, gong
- Ensemble vocals
On Onward and Space Aura, recorded during rehearsals, Chicago around October 1960;
- Sun Ra - Piano
- George Hudson - Trumpet
- Marshall Allen - Alto Sax, Bells
- John Gilmore - Tenor Sax, Percussion
- Ronnie Boykins - Bass, percussion
- Jon Hardy - Drums