Featuring:
Sun Ra (piano, synthesiser, organ); Tyrone Hill (trombone);
Marshall Alien (alto sax/flute); John Gilmore (tenor sax/timbales);
Eloe Omoe (alto saxlbass clarinet); Danny Ray Thompson
(Bass/flute); poss. Rollo Radford (standup electric bass);
unidentified (drums); poss. Atakatune (conga)
Track listing:
Fate in a Pleasant Mood; Cosmo Journey Blues; Cosmo Sun Connection;
Cosmonaut Astronaut Rendevouz; As Space Ships Approach;
Pharaoh's Den
Recorded live in 1984 at one of Sun Ra's many American concerts,
Cosmo Sun Connection captures the Arkestra in full big band
mode, blowing up a storm that could probably be heard on Venus.
The original vinyl LP was released by ReR/Recommended in 1985
via an agreement with Sun Ra's Saturn label. Long deleted and
now commanding collector's prices, this is the first time that
Cosmo Sun Connection has surfaced on CD. An edition that is
further boosted with a series of unpublished cover photographs
by Heike Liss and new descriptive notes by Chris Culter which tell
the history of how the record came about.
For those who have been travelling the Arkestra's musical
spaceways from the beginning, or for those who have just hopped
on board, Cosmo Sun Connection is an essential addition to any
serious Sun Ra collection.
source: RéR promotional onesheet
"Back in the late 70s and early 80s, Recommeded imported a great number of Saturn Records to Europe. The Arkestra would press them up to order and then I'd collect when I was in New York. We always paid in full and in advance to cover their pressing costs. Then came an occasion when there was nothing to collect; the Arkestra had urgently needed money and ours had been there - so they had spent it. I could hardly be angry - keeping the Arkestra afloat was a miracle at the best of times - but Recommended was also poor and such a loss was not really sustainable for us. In a spirit of generous compromise, Sun Ra gave us, in lieu of the unpressed LPs, the Cosmo Sun Connection mastertape, which we released in a small edition in 1985. This is the first time that this legendary recording has been widely available.
Money from this CD will be given directly to the
Arkestra, whose work it is and who gave it to us."