Things haven’t been doing too well lately? Cheer up. 21 albums by pianist/keyboardist/composer/arranger/band leader/interplanetary traveler Sun Ra just got reissued! And, a bunch of them have never seen the digital world before. YAY!
They are being reissued in three categories. This first one mostly covers his pre-60 era, when he had his classic band with John Gilmore/ts, Pat Patrick/bs and Marshall Allen/as. These guys mixed classic big band jazz with experimental sounds that was as accessible as it was adventurous, creating a loyal legion of fans. If you’ve heard of him, bud didn’t 
know where to start, this is the place. The upcoming releases will be on his 70s and avant garde material. Buckle up!
1956’s Supersonic Jazz has songs like “Blues At Midnight” (which he re-recorded many times), “India,” “Sunology” and “Advice to Medics” with a mix of Ellingtonian swing and Gillespie bebop. This is a nice place to get your feet wet, as Ra has his feet pretty firmly on the ground.
Jazz in Silhouette from 1958 includes the complex “Saturn” and “Velvet” which have some amazing which features some amazingly tricky sections, while “Blues At Midnight” gets stretched to over a quarter hour. William Cochran’s drumming is solid, and Allen delivers some tasty alto work. A fun one!
Also from 1958 Sun Ra Visits Planet Earth has some wonderful reeds melding together with hip bop grooves. “Reflections in Blue,” “Saturn” and “Overtones of China” mix mildly exotic fragrances of a ‘space lute’and ‘solar bells’ with standard jazz fare. Nubians of Plutonia was a 1959 session that mixes progressive big band charts with bits of electronic. 
Tunes like “Nubia,” “Watusa” and a revisited “Africa” start leaning a bit left, but the base of fingersnapping jazz is still intact. A beaut.
In 1960, Angels and Demons at Play was an exciting travel through the universe, and it still holds up well. Allen’s flute is a delight on “Tiny Pyramid” and the opening few like “Music From the World Tomorrow” are angelic indeed. Spicy and enticing.
Likewise, Interstellar Low Ways pushes the envelope a bit. A couple tunes include lyrics, and then you’ve got some tunes that start raising the eyebrows such as “Space Aura” and “Space Loneliness.” The ship has taken off!
When Sun Comes Out was done in 1961, and Ra has added a ton of percussion to the band. He’s also much more aggressive 
on the keyboards, while Gilmore blasts into the stratosphere in “Calling Planet Earth.” This is the Ra that started going for the stars.
Lastly, you’ve got Astro Black from 1972, with some eerie pieces like “Discipline ‘99’” and then an eighteen minute opus of a ride on “The Cosmos-Fire” which is as wide ranging as a black hole. June Tysons adds some luminous vocals as well. Space is the place here!