Sun Ra Arkestra - Discpline 99 (Out Beyond the Kingdom Of) '2018

Tracks list

Discipline 99, a.k.a. Out Beyond the Kingdom Of, was recorded at a Hunter
College, New York, performance by Sun Ra & His Arkestra on June 16, 1974.
Selected titles were issued that year on LP (Saturn 61674); the album went thru
several pressings with different-colored labels, at least as late as 1980. As
with many privately pressed Saturns from the 1970s and 80s, the total press run
is unknown, but presumably it totals in the hundreds, not the thousands, hence
original copies are rare.

Some copies of D99 featured a generic Acropolis cover, others were
hand-decorated or sported paste-on art. The cover of this digital edition,
scanned from an LP sleeve in the collection of Gilbert Hsiao, features one of
the best illustrations weve seen of ANY Saturn DIY release. (The artist is
unknown; this illustration graced the sleeves of other Saturn releases from the
period, but this particular cover had Discipline 99 handwritten in the upper
left.)

Facts and a bit of speculation about this date were chronicled in The Earthly
Recordings of Sun Ra, by Robert L. Campbell and Christopher Trent. At the time
of the first edition of ER, a 95-minute audience tape had been identified that
included most of the first set, and part of the second set (the end of the set,
it turned out); by the time the book was updated in 2000, a second audience tape
(recorded by a different attendee) had been located, containing 105 minutes of
concert audio. From these two tapes, Campbell and Trent were able to assemble
two likely (but not conclusive) set lists for the concert, including titles
which were omitted from the Saturn release.

“Solar Ship, which RLC/CT believe opened the second set, includes an
unidentified emcee announcing the band as Brother Sun Ra and the Space
Orchestra. However, this intro is not on either tape; it appears only on the
Saturn LP, unfathomably sequenced as track 4, the final track on side A. For
this digital edition, Solar Ship opens the album, where an emcees introduction
belongs. Is it possible this intro originated at a different concert? With Ras
penchant for intrigue, anything is possible.

From ER: The second, longer tape indicates that Cosmos Synthesis was edited on
the Saturn release. Both tapes reveal that Keep Your Sunny Side Up was faded [on
the LP] at the end of John Gilmore’s solo (solos by Kwame Hadi, Pat
Patrick, Ra on piano, and Ronnie Boykins, plus the final ensemble, were cut,
probably because Hadi was off-mic during his solo). [We] identified the baritone
sax soloist on this number as Charles Davis, but the electric bass line on
Angels and Demons would indicate Pat Patrick. A long bowed bass solo on
Discipline 27 is the work of Ronnie Boykins, and Danny Thompson can be heard on
the Neptunian libflecto during The Shadow World. A second [unknown] trap drummer
is audible on Angels and Demons. [These latter titles were not included on the
album.]

Discipline 99 (the track) starts as a recurring Discipline dirge (a cryptically
numbered series of Ra compositions), but after a few minutes of ensemble play it
segues into a lovely and unpredictable 7-minute solo piano odyssey. In this
era—mid-1970s—Ra more commonly performed and recorded with an
arsenal of electronic keyboards. He never abandoned the piano, and during this
period tracks featuring piano were scattered throughout many recording projects
(live and studio). But it wasnt until 1977 when Ra recorded two solo albums for
Paul Bleys Improvising Artists label that he gravitated back to acoustic piano
for full sessions. His piano chops were showcased on such late-70s releases as
Some Blues But Not the Kind Thats Blue (1977), God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be
(1979), Omniverse (1979), and a 1977 solo concert in Venice, Italy, that was
recorded and posthumously released. While no statement from the artist exists
for this career arc, its well-known among Ra scholars that after he moved to
Philadelphia in the late 1960s, Ra no longer had an acoustic piano in his living
quarters-cum-rehearsal space.

The standard How Am I To Know (lyrics by Dorothy Parker) opens with an extended
solo piano passage, after which Gilmore enters with a soulful tenor serenade.
With drums and bass barely audible due to ad hoc mic placement, the recording
essentially qualifies as a duet.

Out Beyond the Kingdom Of is also based on the Discipline template, with June
Tyson repeating for emphasis Ras declamations about the world having ended 3,000
years ago. The second (after Ra) declarative male voice on Outer Space
Employment Agency and Journey to Saturn belongs to horn player Akh Tal Ebah,
with responses by a vibrant June Tyson (who regrettably is not well-miked on
these recordings).

The overall audio quality is so-so, but for Sun Ra, sonic deficiencies were
always secondary to artistic intent. A close listening will reveal some very
artful performances on Discipline 99, especially by Ra and Gilmore.

Tracklist: 
01. Sun Ra Arkestra - Solar Ship (1:48)
02. Sun Ra Arkestra - Discipline 99 (12:19)
03. Sun Ra Arkestra - How Am I To Know (6:01)
04. Sun Ra Arkestra - Keep Your Sunny Side Up (3:21)
05. Sun Ra Arkestra - Out Beyond the Kingdom Of (4:30)
06. Sun Ra Arkestra - Cosmos Synthesis (5:37)
07. Sun Ra Arkestra - Outer Space Employment Agency (4:26)
08. Sun Ra Arkestra - Journey to Saturn/Rocket #9/Second Stop is Mars (10:22)

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