Live at Pit-Inn, Japan

Sun Ra has been making the Interstellar Spaceways safe for adventurous, pushing-the-envelope big band jazz since the 1950s. Before leaving this plane of existence in 1993, the great Sun Ra (born Herman Blount in Birmingham Alabama in 1914) thrilled fans all over the world (this set was recorded in Tokyo in August 1988). The Arkestra pays tribute to its classic swing era roots by performing respectful (but charmingly skewed) versions of Duke Ellington's "Prelude To A Kiss" and the Jerome Kern standard "Why Was I Born." On these, Sun Ra gets to shine on the acoustic piano, wearing his Monk/Duke influences proudly on his sleeve. On "Cosmo Approach Prelude," the Arkestra get down to some serious free wailing, with long-time saxophonists Marshall Allen and John Gilmore making a mighty, joyous racket. This live set is perhaps not the best place to begin with the works of Sun Ra (try SPACE IS THE PLACE or JAZZ IN SILHOUETTE), but for hardcore fans who can't get enough, it will do just fine.