Lights on a Satellite Sun Ra Arkestra

• 1 Lights on a Satellite 09:31
• 2 Dorothy's Dance 08:57
• 3 Big John's Special 03:37
• 4 Images 07:34
• 5 Friendly Galaxy 13:17
• 6 Baby Won't You Please Be Mine 07:00
• 7 Holiday for Strings 06:41
• 8 Tapestry from an Asteroid 04:58
• 9 Reflects Motion 09:10
• 10 Joy Delight 03:58
• 11 Way Down Yonder in New Orleans 05:30
• Total Runtime 01:20:13

Info for Lights on a Satellite

On the occasion of the 100th birthday of Marshall Allen, IN+OUT Records invited the Sun Ra Arkestra into the studio with 24 musicians.

As if from the farthest reaches of space, a tremendous positive energy has come to us via "Light on a Satellite": It is Sun Ra's music, played by his Arkestra, more than 30 years after the legendary band founder's earthly demise - or, in other words, after his reported ascent to Saturn. Under the direction of Marshall Allen, the NEA Jazz Master (2025) and multi-instrumentalist, who celebrated his 100th birthday on May 25, 2024, Sun Ra's big band has arrived safely in the 21st century, after traveling Sun Ra's space ways for almost 70 years. This album pays tribute to the lifetime achievement of Marshall Allen, who leads the Sun Ra Arkestra since 1993. Recorded in Studio A at New York's Power Station on June 16, 2024, the album celebrates the mastery of the exceptional musician Marshall Allen as a multi-instrumentalist, arranger, bandleader, teacher, and guardian of Sun Ra's unique legacy.

Perhaps this day will one day become part of the collective jazz memory, for what we are experiencing here is a simultaneity of the non-simultaneous, projected into the future, a time machine traveling through 100 years of jazz, out of the free approach of the Sun Ra Arkestra and in its signature groove right into the heart of swing - with a century-old jazz master as captain. That in itself is a superlative. We are even more inspired by the power with which the virtuoso Marshall Allen continues his life's vocation.

As a tribute to the life's work of Marshall Allen, IN+OUT Records invited the Sun Ra Arkestra into the studio with 24 musicians in the largest possible line-up, with the goal of documenting the music in its polyphony and expansion in space and time in the best possible way. It is not only the variety of instruments used, but also the fact that musicians from four generations come together with a repertoire that spans 100 years of jazz history.

Marshall Allen, leader, alto sax, EVI, gong, additional vocals
Tara Middleton, vocals, violin
Knoel Scott, alto & baritone sax, congas, additional vocals
Anthony Nelson, clarinet, baritone sax
Nasir Dickerson, tenor sax
James Stewart, flute, tenor sax
Chris Hemingway, alto sax
Michael Ray, trumpet, vocals
Cecil Brooks, trumpet
Vincent Chancey, french horn
Brent White, trombone & bass trombone
Dave Davis, trombone
Robert Stringer, trombone
Nina Bogomas, harp
Owen Brown Jr., violin
Gwen Laster, violin
Melanie Dyer, viola
Farid Barron, piano, keyboards, moog theremin
Carl LeBlanc, guitar, vocals
Dave Hotep, guitar
Tyler Mitchell, bass
George Gray, drums
Elson Nascimento, surdo, percussion
Jose Jorge Da Silva, percussion

Sun Ra
was a jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions, and performances. He was one of the most important figure in 60's avante garde jazz along with artists such as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Albert Ayler. "Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial," critic Scott Yanow said, due to Sun Ra's eclectic music and unorthodox lifestyle. Claiming that he was of the "Angel Race" and not from Earth, but from Saturn, Sun Ra developed a complex persona of "cosmic" philosophies and lyrical poetry that made him a pioneer of Afrofuturism as he preached awareness and peace above all. He abandoned his birth name and took on the name and persona of Sun Ra (Ra being the ancient Egyptian god of the sun), and used several other names throughout his career, including Le Sony'r Ra and Sonny Lee. Sun Ra denied any connection with his birth name, saying "That's an imaginary person, never existed ... Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym." From the mid-1950s to when he left the planet in 1993, Sun Ra led "The Arkestra" (a deliberate re-spelling of "orchestra"), an ensemble with an ever-changing lineup and name (it was also called "The Solar Myth Arkestra", the "Cosmo Discipline Arkestra", the "Blue Universe Arkestra", the "Jet Set Omniverse Arkestra", among many other permutations. Sun Ra asserted that the ever-changing name of his ensemble reflected the ever-changing nature of his music. Sun Ra's music ranged from keyboard solos to big bands of over 30 musicians. His music touched on virtually the entire history of jazz, from ragtime to swing music, from bebop to free jazz. He was also a pioneer of electronic music, space music, and free improvisation, and was one of the first musicians, regardless of genre, to make extensive use of electronic keyboards.

After Sun Ra left the planet, the Arkestra was led by tenor saxophonist John Gilmore. Following Gilmore's death in 1995, the group has performed under the direction of alto saxophonist Marshall Allen, who celebrated his 86th birthday (or Arkestrally "Arrival Day") on stage during a Sun Ra Arkestra performances at Johnny Brenda's in Philadelphia on May 25, 2010. Marshall Allen has now given 52 years of uninterrupted dedicated service to the Sun Ra Arkestra. He continues to move the Arkestra forward not as a repertory band or a ghost band, but as a spirit band, maintaining the discipline centered on the study, research, and further development of Sun Ra's precepts. The spirit of Sun Ra is alive and well in the present day manifestation of the Sun Ra Arkestra with Marshall featuring a mix of classic Sun Ra compositions and arrangements alongside Marshall's own compositions and arrangements that are deeply rooted in the spirit of Sun Ra. Along with leading the Arkestra, Marshall plays the alto saxophone, flute, clarinet, oboe, kora, and EVI (Electronic Valve Instrument). He is internationally recognized as the premier avant-garde saxophonist on the planet.

This album contains no booklet.