Back in the mid-'50s, bandleader
Sun Ra
decided to get his music to his audience through a more direct process by starting his own label,
Saturn Records
. Equal parts creative futuristic vision and small-time Southern R&B bandstand hustle, these 45s were pressed in unbelievably small quantities (sometimes in runs of only 50 copies), making them the holy grail of
collectibles. The collection of singles runs a neat 30-year time-frame and features everything from
with an embryonic form of his
Arkestra
doing backup duties behind doo-wop groups and R&B slopbucket singers like 'Space Age Vocalist'
Yochannon
to wild-ass sonic experiements from the late '70s into the early '80s that would have atmospherically fit on any of his avant-garde albums. Pieced together for this release from the contributions of private collectors around the world -- and sonically cleaned up far beyond the audio capabilities of the original vinyl they were pressed on -- these 49 three-minute opuses will alternately confuse, astound, confound, delight, and illuminate
fans of all stratas of involvement. A major piece of puzzle that is the man, now in place. ~ Cub Koda