SATURN / MYSTERY MR. RA by SUN RA

"Mystery, Mr. Ra," recorded live in 1984 and originally unissued, is just on the friendly side of ominous. Its deep funk, delivered by James Jacson on the Ancient Egyptian Astro Infinity Drum, lifts up Ra's dark bravado with no uncertainty:Across the history of jazz, there is no wilder, more future-forward composer and performer than Herman Poole Blount, aka 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 � not to mention bringing the space age to life with his obsession with all things extraterrestrial. Across more than 50 LPs released in his lifetime, Sun Ra charted a course to space and far, far beyond.