SUN RA's Sleeping Beauty.

"Where do I start with SUN RA?" is a question that comes up in the record store from time to time. There's no simple answer as it really depends on the angle from which you're hoping to approach. That's surely overthinking it, but that's what I get paid to do. Do you want to come in from the beautiful, hypnotic solo piano excursions from the spaceman himself, the menacing avant-garde synth zoners, the slightly askew space-age lounge act, the big band telepathic soul-jazz jammers, or something else? Most often people politely wait for me to stop asking questions and just hand them a record already.

There are a couple easy launch points using Sun Ra / THE ARKESTRA's more well known records, namely Atlantis (1969), Space Is The Place (1973), and Lanquidity (1978), but with its brand new reissue, I can now starting pushing 1979's Sleeping Beauty alongside these again. It packs beauty and punch, swaying from deconstructed psychedelic jazz-funk to lilting cosmic big band ballads. It's a shining example of a perfect Sun Ra & His (Intergalactic) Arkestra record and it grooves for days. Thank you STRUT for the recent reissue.

BUY / READ: Sun Ra - Sleeping Beauty LP