Never heard the subterranean bass on this recording reproduced with as much clarity and authority as I did this morning through my new PSA M1200 amps.
2 Likes
… and the music is quite good as well. 
1 Like
He recorded a great deal. Do you know how many studio albums he made?
I’ve been a fan of Jon’s music since I was a young man. I think Abdul Mati Klarwein’s surreal painting on the cover of 1979’s Earthquake Island is what got me to buy my first JH album. I was very sad to hear he’d thrown off the mortal coil last June. He was a truly great artist and an important progenitor in the world music scene.
Also have liked that album a long time, but only recently heard the origin of the title - from a Rumi poem:
It’s the old rule that drunks have to argue
and get into fights.
The lover is just as bad: he falls into a hole.
But down in that hole he finds something shining,
worth more than any amount of money or power.
Last night the moon came dropping its clothes in the street.
I took it as a sign to start singing,
falling up into the bowl of sky.
The bowl breaks. Everywhere is falling everywhere.
Nothing else to do.
Here’s the new rule: break the wineglass,
and fall toward the Glassblower’s breath.
1 Like
Allmusic lists twenty official releases.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jon-hassell-mn0000177588/discography
The question relays to Sun Ra.
I have no idea off the top of my head, Sun Ra, AKA Herman Blount, was not much of a businessman, thus there is a significant amount of unauthorized material out there. With Sun Ra unauthorized may not mean much as he never focused on distribution. I’d venture to say between the Saturn Research, ESP Disk, and Impulse Reissues there may be somewhere on the order of 50 studio recordings. That number can vary based on how one defines studio recordings with respect to Sun Ra. Alton Abrams took up that end, record distribution, with Saturn Research until they split. The recording methods and distribution were unconventional in terms of todays marketing. The Arkestra would record casually, an LP may result and was distributed by Saturn Records in Chicago, available locally or by mail, and typically sold at concerts until gone. Sun Ra was always looking to the next opportunity for the Arkestra to play and he would record rehearsals. Sometimes an LP would result. Many of the tapes, posters, ephemera, etc. ended up with the University of Chicago. My understanding is they were found in the home of Alton Abrams. My guess is there is an equivalent amount stashed in the Philadelphia Sun Ra Arkestra townhome, provided by Marshall Allen’s family. I do have the Robert Campbell The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra compendium, which attempted to document known Sun Ra recordings and musicians. It is the only authoritative compendium I am aware of. Dated as it is, circa 1994 and updated in 2000, it probably falls short. Many tapes have been found since. Sun Ra’s 100th birthday resulted in a resurgence in Sun Ra interest and additional recording releases. John Szwed’s book Space is the Place is highly recommended for those interested in the story of Sun Ra. For the writings of Sun Ra there is The Immeasurable Equation. Also recommended is Helmut Geerken’s Omniverse. I like to think I have an extensive collection including duplicates, but when I look (thank-you internet) there seems to be LPs I was not aware of. As of today my Discogs database lists 297 Sun Ra items including duplicates.
Further reading:
strong text
2 Likes
Thanks for the additional information. I knew there was a lot of studio recordings, plus many concert recordings as well. It is overwhelming.
1 Like
Gosh. . . there are so many. . . just counting only those recorded on this planet!
2 Likes
Rumor has it “Sonny” is still playing, solar winds and all as they say.
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/164437f3-6188-4066-aa81-a6b5c63b2878
I returned to Helmut Geerken’s book Omniverse which lists the known Sun Ra recordings as of publishing. The Omniverse book I reference is the most recent 2000 edition which lists 270 releases with Sun Ra, and 5 additional as Marshall Allen’s Sun Ra Arkestra. Since 2000 I venture to say there has easily been an additional 50 releases with Sun Ra, and possibly 20 with Marshall Allen’s Sun Ra Arkestra. I leave for the interested reader the sorting out of studio versus live, versus home recordings. Tabulating the Sun Ra Arkestra discography is a herculean effort attempted by Robert Campbell. Since publication gaps have been noted, and additional recordings identified as well as many released for the first time.
1 Like
Finally got a chance to fire up the big rig this year…one of Octave Records latest releases gets the honor.
Five tracks in…this is a winner/worth a listen.
Happy New Year, all.
I took that one yesterday. A Morning Raga with Ustad Sultan Khan, live performed in the early 90ies:
Happy New Year to all of you,
Frank
2 Likes
And let us not forget, when talking bass work on Hassell rekkids, fellow PS’er Dan Schwartz’s work on City: Works of Fiction
1 Like
