sun ra

The Eternal Myth Revealed Vol. 1 (14CD + Book Box Set)

**Comprehensive overview of Sun Ra's early years 1914-1959 - fourteen discs containing 16 hours & 54 mins of ultra-rare & unreleased music taken from fifty 78rpms plus autobiographical commentary and a 5"x10" book with over 100 pages of extensive sleevenotes by executive director of the Sun Ra Music archive, Michael Anderson** Herman Blount aka Sun Ra was one of the 20th century's most defiantly unique and important sonic conduits. This boxset is the first in a revelatory series documenting his lesser known moments and the genesis of a cosmically connected sound which would influence generations to come. At the top we find a disc of interviews covering his early childhood in Alabama listening to blues singers and receiving piano lessons, through to the development of his identity within the nascent jazz scene and the racial politics of that era. It goes on to specific, in-depth documentation of Sun Ra as a vocal coach through to his solo piano recordings, thru the Afro-Cuban Jazz influence, and the earliest Arkestra recordings and Avant Garde rehearsals, shedding light on a much mythologised yet largely unknown, but foundational period in the creation of his all-encompassing sound. Highly recommended.