The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two

The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two is a 1965 recording by the jazz musician Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra. Where Volume One of the Heliocentric Worlds series had predominantly featured short abstract pieces, Volume Two features longer pieces[3] performed by a smaller group,[4] making it closer in spirit to the contemporaneous The Magic City, released on Ra's own Saturn label. The record has been widely bootlegged, some versions of which were retitled The Sun Myth.[5]

The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two
Studio album by
Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra
Released1966
RecordedNovember 16, 1965
GenreFree jazz
Length36:45
LabelESP-Disk
Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra chronology
The Magic City
(1965)		 The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two
(1966)		 Nothing Is
(1966)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[2]

The album was re-released on CD by ZYX-Music (ESP 1017-2) in the 1990s.

The songs

"The Sun Myth" is constructed around the intertwining of Ronnie Boykins's bowed bass and Ra's electronic keyboard. These predominantly low sounds contrast sharply with the interlude commentaries from the other Arkestra members. A rare alternative version – also on ESP, and with the same catalogue number – overlays African singing at the start and finish of the piece.[5]

"A House of Beauty" is a feature for piccolo, keyboards and bowed bass, which transforms into a piano and plucked bass duet.

"Cosmic Chaos" is an example of the apparently free but actually conducted blowing for which the Arkestra would become known over the following decades.

The sleeve design

The sleeve, designed by Paul Frick, features a German astronomical chart of the solar system. Beneath it, Frick has placed Sun Ra within a pantheon of astronomers and scientists including Tycho Brahe, Leonardo da Vinci, Copernicus, Galileo and Pythagoras.[6]

Track listing

12" vinyl

All songs by Sun Ra
Side A:

  1. "The Sun Myth" - (17:20)

Side B:

  1. "A House of Beauty" - (5:10)
  2. "Cosmic Chaos" - (14:15)

Recorded November 16, 1965 at Studio RLA, New York.[6]

Personnel

See also

References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 186. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  3. Jost, Ekkehard (1975). Studies in Jazz Research: Free Jazz. Universal Edition. pp. 187–189. ISBN 3-7024-0013-3.
  4. Butters, Rex (4 September 2005). "CD/LP/Track Review: Sun Ra: Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 1 & 2". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  5. "R Campbell's Sun Ra discography". www.uab.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-03-16. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  6. Sleeve notes, ESP-Disk 1017
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