Sun Ra - 1969 - The Nubians From Plutonia

Sun Ra 

1969

The Nubians From Plutonia

01. Plutonian Nights 04:22
02. The Lady with the Golden Stockings (a.k.a. The Golden Lady) 07:45
03. Star Time 04:18
04. Nubia 08:06
05. Africa 05:05
06. Watusa (a.k.a. Watusi) 02:35
07. Aiethopia 07:14
08. Images in a Mirror (Stereo, Previously Unreleased) 03:42
09. Ankhnaton (Stereo, Previously Unreleased) 04:18
10. Spontaneous Simplicity (Stereo, Previously Unreleased) 03:01
11. Black Sky and Blue Moon (Stereo, Previously Unreleased) 03:01

Recorded in Chicago 1958-59

According th Robert L. Campbell it was initially issued as Saturn SR 9956-11E/F "Lady with the Golden Stockings" in 1966 (in a generic "Tonal View of Times Tomorrow" cover). In 1967 it was given the catalog number 406. It was retitled "The Nubians of Plutonia" by the end of 1967. By the 1969 the album was given a new cover by Richard Pedreguera.

Sun Ra: piano, electric piano, Wurlitzer organ, bells
John Gilmore: tenor sax (1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11), Nigerian bells (4, 7), percussion (5)
Marshall Allen: alto sax (1, 3, 6, 7), flute (2, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11)
Pat Patrick: baritone sax (1, 3, 7), percussion (2, 6), space lute (5, 11), vocals (5)
Charles Davis: baritone sax (3, 5, 9, 11)
James Spaulding: alto sax (2, 3, 5, 9, 11), flute (7)
Lucious Randolph: trumpet (1, 2, 3, 7)
William Fielder: trumpet (6)
Hobart Dotson: trumpet (9)
E.J. Turner: trumpet (11)
Nate Pryor: trombone (3, 5, 7)
Bo Bailey: trombone (9)
Ronnie Boykins: bass (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11)
Jim Herndon: tympani, timbales, conga (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11)
Robert Barry: drums (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11)
Additional personnel unknown

Research herewith on vocal ensembles for tracks 5 and 11, variously identified by historians as The Nu Sounds or The Cosmic Rays: These groups are not the same ensembles, nor do they have overlapping members. The actual vocalists on these tracks might not be either group (the original Saturn LP back cover says "Arkestra" on "Africa"). Lacking session logs, any identification of vocalists on these tracks is speculative. The vocalists on "Black Sky" are unknown and could have been overdubbed at a date later than the original recording. 

  

Originally titled The Lady With The Golden Stockings (released 1966), The Nubians of Plutonia (as it was retitled in the ca. 1967-69 reissue) was compiled from tracks recorded in Chicago in 1958 and 1959. Sunny was still in his Space Bop phase, although mystical overtones begin radiating through the jazz. The revised album title cleverly juxtaposes ancient Egypt with outer space—the primitive with the futuristic, characteristics reflected in the compositions and arrangements. The album is redolent with percussion, often played by Arkestra brass or reed players providing a simple, quasi-Latin or African rhythmic foundation behind solos. (Having everyone in the band play percussion remained a longstanding Arkestral tradition.)

Like dozens of Sun Ra tracks recorded in Chicago in the late 1950s, this material was released in the late 1960s (long after Sunny had left Chicago) on the Saturn label, and reflected musical styles Sunny had long since transcended (but never abandoned).

These Saturn LPs were pressed in limited quantities and sold at Arkestra concerts, many of which presented new material radically at odds with the post-swing and hard bop contained on the vinyl. These LPs were also distributed by mail order and tucked in the bins of independent record stores who could get their hands on stock.

Some tracks on Nubians echo the then-prevailing Exotica aesthetic of Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman and Les Baxter (the latter a personal favorite of Sunny—see the Modern Harmonic 2017 compilation EXOTICA). "The Golden Lady" (a.k.a. "The Lady with the Golden Stockings) features an exquisite alto solo by James Spaulding. "Watusa" (a.k.a. "Watusi") became a staple in the Arkestra repertoire. "Aiethopia" is a remake of "Ancient Aiethopia" (Ethiopia), which appeared on Jazz in Silhouette.

Also included on this digital edition are four unreleased stereo recordings from the period: "Images In A Mirror" (different from the version on Jazz in Silhouette), "Ankhnation" (a.k.a. "Ankhnaton"), "Spontaneous Simplicity," and "Black Sky and Blue Moon," which features an unknown vocal ensemble (see personnel notes below).

Trying to keep track of Ra's recordings gives me a headache. What was recorded when under what original title with whom, in Chicago, New York, or on Saturn, how many times was the original broken down into later-released, differently packaged fragments in editions of twelve copies each with wrongly attributed credits before getting paired with another patched-together album from a different era with different unknown musicians...

In this case, the later title Nubians of Plutonia is much more endearing, and much more in keeping with Ra's colorful outer space conceits, but I'm documenting it under Golden Stockings, because that's how it came out initially.

Anyway, more relevantly, it's my favorite Ra. It's got the earthy Afro and Afro-Cuban percussive sound he had begun to use in late '50s Chicago, prior to his going full bore esoteric, which moving to New York seemed to do to him (not an uncommon outcome for those who move to New York, I suppose). And yet there's enough residual boppiness and remnant strands of big band corniness to keep it varied while his influences are all flashed.

I find it more adventurous and less predicta-boppy than Jazz in Silhouette, which is many Ra fans' reference point for his early outings. In fact, while Golden Stockings (Nubians) seems to be a minor diversion in the ears of many Ra lovers, it tops his prolific pile for me, blending all his elements into the ultimate Duke Ellington Docks at an Abandoned Space Station with a Tribe of African Drummers on his way to visit the Great Pyramids blended set.

In the late '50s, Sun Ra emerged from big band to modern/progressive big band status, began to employ electronics, and used a more Afro-Centric percussive focus. This recording perfecly demonstrates those qualities, and more. There are several definitive themes from The Arkestra included, such as "Plutonian Nights," "Nubia," "Africa," "Watusa" and "Aethiopia." Dig for this one on vinyl from the Impulse LP reissue if you can (the cover art is stunning,) but it is nigh impossible to find on Saturn Research. If not, the Evidence CD combined with "Angels & Demons At Play" (containing the original graphics) will suffice.