Exotica by Sun Ra

Sensuous dreamscapes to transport the listener to the lush tropical environs of the outer reaches of the omniverse. Your choice of three astro black inter-stellar saucers or two compact saucers of "Exotic-Ra" bringing you to a lush cocktail party where space is the place. All packaged in a beautiful Chesley Bonestell adorned gatefold package with two sets of extensive notes! Sun Ra. Exotica. Incongruous? Listening to the 25 tracks herein will showcase that Sun Ra was, indeed, an Exoticat of sorts, albeit in his own unique way, of course. That Sun Ra hasn't been celebrated in Exotica circles is understandable. Though many collectors are fans of both, at cocktail soires Ra has never seemed to make the cut. This album aims to change that! While Sun Ra never made an "Exotica record," such tracks are mixed in his LPs alongside idiosyncratic space jazz, post-bop, electronic freakouts, and his other sonic experiments. Never an easy categorical fit, anyone who says "File Under: Jazz" doesn't understand the stylistic breadth of Sun Ra's recorded legacy. It's a rhapsodic pandemonium of Afro-centric rhythms, Latin beats, ostinato grooves, and unissued tunes!

Across the history of jazz, there is no wilder, more future-forward composer and performer than Sun Ra. Known as much for his wild on-stage persona as his innovative compositions, Sun Ra was the avant-garde bleeding edge of the jazz genre, introducing modal composition and electronic instrumentation before almost anyone else.