Purple Night
Purple Night | ||||
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Studio album by Sun Ra | ||||
Released | 1990 | |||
Recorded | November 1989 | |||
Genre | Free jazz | |||
Length | 66:02 | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Producer | John Snyder | |||
Sun Ra chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Select | [2] |
Purple Night is a studio album by free jazz pioneer Sun Ra. It was released in 1990 on A&M Records.
Background
The album was the second in a short-term recording deal with A&M Records, as part of their "Modern Masters Jazz Series" imprint. Sun Ra's profile had risen considerably in the preceding years, partially because of the support given to him in interviews by avant-garde alternative rock band Sonic Youth, who had named him as an influence and played shows with Ra and his Arkestra.[citation needed]
The album was recorded in a single session at BMG Studios in New York City, using a 22-piece group that included several Arkestra members or veterans, including three drummers and two bass players (one on upright bass and another on electric bass), plus fellow free jazz musician Don Cherry, who played the pocket trumpet.[citation needed]
Seven tracks were used for the album, and the remainder of the master multi-track tapes were given to Sun Ra and his manager Alton Abraham for future release on their own after the A&M deal concluded. Many of these recordings were released three years later by Rounder Records on the album Somewhere Else, released shortly before Sun Ra's death. Purple Night is out of print physically, although the album is available via digital outlets. The copyright on the original album passed on to Sun Ra's estate's holding company, Sun Ra LLC, in 2016.[citation needed]
Track listing
- "Journey Towards Stars" – 3:44
- "Friendly Galaxy" – 7:43
- "Love in Outer Space" – 7:12
- "Stars Fell On Alabama" – 10:27
- "Of Invisible Them" – 19:08
- "Neverness" – 13:16
- "Purple Night Blues" – 4:02
- All compositions composed by Sun Ra and published by Enterplanetary Koncepts (BMI), except "Stars Fell On Alabama" written by Mitchell Parrish and Frank Perkins and published by Mills Music Inc./Everbright Music Co. (ASCAP). All arrangements by Sun Ra.
Musicians
- Sun Ra - piano, synthesiser, vocal
- Don Cherry - pocket trumpet
- June Tyson - violin, voice
- Fred Adams - trumpet
- Michael Ray - trumpet, voice
- Ahmed Abdullah - trumpet
- Al Evans - trumpet, flugelhorn
- Tyrone Hill - trombone
- Julian Priester - trombone
- Reynold Scott - baritone sax, flute
- James Spaulding - alto sax, flute
- Marshall Allen - alto sax, flute, percussion
- John Gilmore - tenor sax, percussion, voice
- James Jackson - bassoon, African drum
- Earl C. "Buster" Smith - drums
- Eric "Samarai" Walker - drums
- Thomas "Bugs" Hunter - drums (misidentified in the sleeve notes as Thomas "Bugs" Henderson)
- Elson Nascimento - surdo, percussion
- Jorge Silva - repinique, percussion
- Rollo Radford - electric bass
- John Ore - acoustic bass
Production personnel
- John Snyder - producer
- Steve Ralbovsky - executive producer
References
- v
- t
- e
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
period
studio
albums
period
studio
albums
- 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
period
studio
albums
- 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
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