Sun Ra

Sun Ra’s Nuits de la Fondation Maeght recordings are legendary within his extensive canon.

Across two nights in August 1970, these were the first concerts Ra and the Arkestra had performed outside North America and formed part of a stellar festival line-up alongside Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, LaMonte Young and Marian Zazeela. Prior to Maeght, The Arkestra’s early years in New York had been lean in terms of gigs, money and visibility. Their precarious situation improved after Ra’s participation in the 1964 October Revolution concerts and the release of the breathtaking Heliocentric Worlds LPs. A gradual increase in touring followed and talk had turned to brokering dates in Europe when they received an invitation to play at an art gallery in Southern France in 1970.

Set in the medieval town of St Paul-de- Vence in Provence, the Fondation Maeght celebrated modern art in all its forms, housing work from some of the most important artists of the 20th Century including Matisse, Georges Braque, Chagall and Giacometti. The Ra performance featured one of the great Arkestra line-ups with mainstays John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Pat Patrick, Danny Davis and Danny Ray Thompson at the peak of their powers. Festival curator Daniel Caux recalled, “The Arkestra’s performances were electrifying. Films were projected behind the musicians - vistas of New York and Chicago, moon rockets, Egyptian Gods and plumed African warriors. Sun Ra’s organ threw lightning bolts, dancers brandished symbolic objects. The audience was stunned by a spectacle that surpassed anything they could have imagined”.

Originally released across two edited volumes by Shandar in 1971, the concerts are now reissued by Strut across 4 CD’s. The set features a 36-page booklet featuring liner notes by Daniel Caux, Jacqueline Caux and Paul Griffiths and stunning restored photos of the festival by Philippe Gras.