In an odd and beautiful way, the earliest strains of jazz, along with the restless creative impulse which birthed them, lived on in the works of Sun Ra. Thankfully his singular weirdness has always alienated (lol) respectable jazz scholars like Stanley Crouch, leaving Ra for the schizos and potheads - you know, the REAL jazz fans.

His stuff ranges from big band exotica to cosmic noise across more than a hundred albums. This one is a near-perfect piece of late-night listening from the 1970s, that glorious era where the rest of the jazz world almost caught up to him.

#jazzstr

https://youtu.be/238Dh6N9GLg

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Just got shot in the face with a Nerf gun while waxing lyrical about Sun Ra. Such is my life.

Point blank, too. Still hurts.

Omg lolol I was gonna ask you about Moondog but worried I might get shot too

I've only given him a brief listen. He didn't do much for me at the time but I should probably revisit.

I think I like his get up and vibe lol, which is insuppose a good enough reason to get into an album ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

that's how i feel about sun ra. i like his vibe, but the music i've heard didn't really do it for me. any particular recommendation?

The album linked to above is a good start, as is "Nubians Of Plutonia" which is a more traditional jazz album with a cool, early 60s exotica vibe. If you like weird shit, check out the "Heliocentric Worlds..." albums or you could try "Live At Montreux" which has a nice mix of his traditional and way out modes.

He's definitely not for everyone though and, despite the ridiculous, snobbish tone I use for my music posts, I'd never begrudge anyone loving or hating a particular artist.