Astro Black (2014 Remaster) [feat. June Tyson, John Gilmore, Pat Patrick, Marshall Allen & Ronnie Boykins]

During its association with Sun Ra from 1972 to 1975, many of the albums that Impulse! released were reissues. Yet there were occasional bursts of new music. Recorded and released in 1972, Astro Black was the first Impulse! effort of new material, featuring a return from the experimental outer edges of the late ‘60s and something semi-anchored in groove (often thanks to returning bassist Ronnie Boykins) and textured jazz. Vocalist June Tyson and Boykins’ snaky bass help bring the title track to life. While “Discipline 99” is a spacewalk through the Sun Ra galaxy that's all vibe, the tribal exotica of “Hidden Spheres” snaps things back into focus with multiple drummers and urgent horn playing. The sprawling “The Cosmo-Fire” continues the tribal thunder while adding Ra’s alien synthesizer and organ lines, as well as freeform contributions from more than a dozen other players that make this epic on many levels. Originally released with quadrophonic sound, this stereo remastering—using 24-bit transfers from the source tapes—is one of the best-sounding Arkestra albums out there.