Sun Ra And His Interplanetary Vocal Arkestra - The Space Age Is Here To Stay (SUNDAZED MUSIC-MODERN HARMONIC 2018)

The first-ever collection of Arkestra vocal tracks! Over 75 minutes of vocal performances - audible perfection! Across the history of jazz, there is no wilder, more future-forward composer and performer than Herman Poole Blount, aka Sun Ra. Known as much for his wild on-stage persona as his innovative compositions, Sun Ra was the avant-garde bleeding edge of the jazz genre, introducing modal composition and electronic instrumentation before almost anyone else – not to mention bringing the space age to life with his obsession with all things extraterrestrial. Across more than 100 LPs released in his lifetime, Sun Ra charted a course to space and far, far beyond. Known primarily for his keyboard improv and freeform band arrangements, Sun Ra could also write great vocal songs when he set his mind to it. Such songs as "Space Is The Place" and "Interplanetary Music No.1" show Ra's unique approach to songwriting, using eerie chanting and repetition to create hypnotic moods. And Ra could get swingy when he wanted to as well -- "Enlightenment" and "Sometimes I'm Happy" are gorgeous ballads, as pretty as any Tin Pan Alley tune. Of course, it wouldn't be Sun Ra without his space age lyrics -- "Take your first step out to outer space/You're like a little baby who never walked before" shows up in the future-predicting "Walking On The Moon." At long last, Modern Harmonic has put together The Space Age Is Here To Stay, the very first collection of Sun Ra’s vocal tracks - two album’s worth of mind-blowing tunes from the mind of the Man from Saturn himself. Cue this one up and get ready to visit other worlds in Sun Ra's jazz rocket ship!

1. Along Came Ra / The Living Myth 04:17

2. Interplanetary Music, No. 1 02:27

3. Back In Your Own Back Yard 02:03

4. Enlightenment 02:36

5. 'Round Midnight 03:52

6. Sometimes I'm Happy 04:28

7. The Antique Blacks 04:16

8. Moorish Nights 03:46

9. Walking On the Moon 06:15

10. This Song Is Dedicated to Nature's God 03:55

11. 1984 07:01

12. Space Is the Place 09:47

13. The Forest of No Return 03:05

14. The Truth About Planet Earth 06:36

15. Nuclear War (Live) 05:40

16. Space Chant (Third Heaven) 06:04

Various Artists - Jazz For Hi​-​Fi Lovers (SUNDAZED MUSIC-MODERN HARMONIC 2018)

A smart set of fine beat-era jazz, beautifully programed and compiled for the hi-fi in your home! Includes some of the top players of the era- Zoot Sims, Paul Quinichette, Gene Roland, and others- in selections suited for a swingin’ starlit session! ”Start Here,” says it all as this both the perfect way to start this LP and the perfect way to start your jazz collection! From the distinctive style and touch of Randy Weston on the keys, to the tenor tones Paul Quinichette blows, these are the tracks to let your hi-fi strut its stuff! A virtual greatest hits of ’50’s jazz from the Dawn Records catalog, including cuts from The Modern Art Of Jazz by Mat Mathews, to cool jazz LPs from Zoot Sims, Paul Quinichette, Gene Rowland, Dick Garcia and more! …and when we say “cool jazz” we mean “cool” jazz!

1. Paul Quinichette and his Band - Start Here 04:53

2. Dick Garcia - If I'm Lucky (I'll Be the One) 03:57

3. Randy Weston - Loose Wig 03:02

4. Mat Mathews - Not So Sleepy 07:04

5. Les Modes - Catch Her 02:41

6. Alex Smith - Darn That Dream 05:46

7. Zoot Sims - Bye Ya 03:47

8. Gene Roland Octet - Suitcase 04:46

Dick Garcia - Message From Garcia (SUNDAZED MUSIC-MODERN HARMONIC 2018)

Jazz guitar autodidact and 1956 Downbeat Critics Poll winner Dick Garcia struts his stuff while the likes of Bill Evans, Gene Quill, and John Drew try to keep up! The combination of Bird, Christian and his own personality meld here in Dick’s own swinging style, delivering repertoire so diverse it required three different backing bands! Message From Garcia presents Dick in various contexts so as to give the listener an idea of his scope - the material is diversified in order to give Garcia and the other instrumentalists a chance to speak of varied moods. The first group is a quartet typified by a quietly pulsating, yet exploratory quality on “Have You Met Miss Jones,” “I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire,” and “Potatoes.” The second unit finds its identification in the ensemble sound of the guitar and piano on “Ev’ry Night About This Time,” “Like Someone In Love,” and “Kimona My House.” The last group tends toward a more basic jazz quartet persuasion on “The Deacon,” “Stompin’ At The Savoy,” “If I’m Lucky” and “It Could Happen To You.”

1. Have You Met Miss Jones 02:50

2. If I'm Lucky 03:57

3. Kimona My House 03:36

4. I Don't Want To Set the World On Fire 03:28

5. The Deacon 03:07

6. Stompin' At the Savoy 02:13

7. Like Someone In Love 05:20

8. Potatoes 03:17

9. It Could Happen To You 05:19

10. Ev'ry Night About This Time 02:48

Barney Kessel - Live At The Jazz Mill 1954, Vol. 2 (SUNDAZED MUSIC-MODERN HARMONIC 2018)

More unearthed tape from a jazz icon! This second volume of Jazz Mill recordings shows Barney firmly at the top of his game. Once again, Kessel and the Jazz Millers (pianist Pete Jolly, drummer Art Kile, and bassist Gene Stoffell) interpret a variety of standards from The Great American Songbook and each arrangement serves to demonstrate the group’s superb chops and collective creativity. In “Mean to Me,” a vintage standard from 1929, a high velocity rendition of Harold Arlen’s “Let’s Fall in Love,” the riff tune “Godchild,” and others, Kessel and the Jazz Millers demonstrate superb chops and collective creativity. Thanks to Jack Miller, a young Phoenix audiophile, armed with his Knight-brand recorder, today we can relive and enjoy the artistry of one of jazz’s most extraordinary musicians. This is Barney in his salad days when he was topping all the major jazz polls and emerging as one of the most important guitarists of that or any subsequent era.

1. Mean To Me 07:23

2. Tea For Two 05:51

3. Indian Summer 02:40

4. Let's Fall In Love 04:33

5. Blue Moon 08:32

6. I Can't Get Started 04:35

7. Godchild 06:07

Paul Tanner - Music For Heavenly Bodies (SUNDAZED MUSIC-MODERN HARMONIC 2018)

STELLAR GOOD VIBRATIONS FROM THE INVENTOR OF THE ELECTRO-THEREMIN! 

Light years ahead of its time, the eerie sound, colorful orchestral blending, and haunting melodies of Music For Heavenly Bodies has become a crate digging classic. 

America's fascination with space and its mysteries was at a peak during the 1950s, and this astral awareness got the attention of professional musician, Paul Tanner. Tanner, a trombonist, got his start in the original Glenn Miller Orchestra. The theremin first caught Tanner's attention as he witnessed a studio player fighting to control the pitch and keep his theremin parts in tune. Never before had he an interest in the instrument, but with its ghostly glissando and unlimited range, Tanner got the idea of doing a space-themed album. Inspired by the studio player's struggle, and with the help of Robert Whitsell, Paul Tanner created the Electro-Theremin, a theremin played with a knob and slide mechanism rather than hands-free. 

A mere two days after the creation of the Electro-Theremin, Paul Tanner recorded Music For Heavenly Bodies, a lush, eerie, and atmospheric take on space music. After the 1958 release, people around Hollywood took notice, and would lead to Tanner recording themes for My Favorite Martian, Lost in Space, and Dark Shadows. This work would secure for Tanner and his Electro-Theremin, a place in the history books, when he was contracted to record with the Beach Boys. The iconic theremin sound from "Good Vibrations" came from the very same Electro-Theremin created for Music For Heavenly Bodies.

1. Over the Rainbow 02:28

2. Midnight Sun 04:55

3. The Red Sea of Mars 02:31

4. Lost in the Stars 02:23

5. Sunrise Serenade / Moonlight Serenade 05:03

6. I Wished on the Moon 03:02

7. Up to Jupiter 02:53

8. Misty Moon Blues 02:05

9. Holiday on Saturn 04:16

10. The Story of a Starry Night 03:28

11. 20th Century Venus 05:54

12. Out of this World 03:33

John Cage Meets Sun Ra - The Complete Concert (SUNDAZED MUSIC-MODERN HARMONIC 2018)

If you were going to envision the ultimate avant-garde meeting-of-the-minds jam session, who would you pick? Even the most hopeful fan of strange and innovative music couldn't have seen this one coming: on one afternoon in 1986, at Coney Island's dilapidated freak show, space-age avant-jazz genius Sun Ra met avant-garde "serious music" composer John Cage in an unforgettable performance. 

You couldn't imagine two figures more opposite. Cage was known for his unusual approach to composition, using objects such as radios and television sets, as well as pure silence, as instruments, often encouraging his musicians to do other things at their whim on stage. Sun Ra, on the other hand, was a jazz arranger known for his "space-age" approach to jazz, adding free-jazz and surrealist elements into a musical form that Cage often disdained -- improvisational music. And yet, for one afternoon, they pooled their talents -- Ra playing keyboards, leading his small group and reading his unusual poetry; Cage "performing" vocal readings and passages of vocal sound -- plus his trademark silence -- designed to baffle and disorient. The combination is breathtaking, both organic and mechanical, free-form and totally composed. 

For the very first time, Modern Harmonic presents the full and unexpurgated concert from 1986. In addition to never-before-heard songs and musical passages, this album at last presents the long-rumored co-performance between the two musical giants. Take yourself back to 1986 and a once-in-a-lifetime performance that you can finally hear as it was intended. 

"This live album documents the meeting of two avant-garde legends." - Pitchfork 

"This month?s WTF prize goes to John Cage Meets Sun Ra, a monophonic double LP released on clear vinyl by the Modern Harmonic label, which documents a performance by the two eponymous giants of the 20th century avant-garde in a Coney Island freak show in June 1986. With the whole concert released for the very first time, including 25 minutes of previously unheard material, it’s an absolute no-brainer for friends of the strange." 
-Daniel Spicer, What's New In Vinyl--JAZZWISE Magazine

1. Rick Russo - Introduction 01:11

2. Marshall Allen - Untitled Wind Synthesizer Intro 01:02

3. Sun Ra - Untitled Keyboard Solo 1 06:43

4. John Cage - Empty Words (Vocal Solo) 02:39

5. John Cage - Empty Words (Silent Solo) 03:03

6. John Cage - Empty Words (Vocal Solo) 04:46

7. Sun Ra - Untitled Keyboard Solo 2 02:54

8. Sun Ra - We Hold This Myth To Be Potential 02:41

9. Sun Ra - The Damned Air 02:51

10. John Cage - Empty Words (Vocal Solo) 01:29

11. John Cage - Empty Words (Silent Solo) 02:37

12. John Cage - Empty Words (Vocal Solo) 04:01

13. Sun Ra - The Living Parable 00:37

14. Sun Ra - This Is The Space Age 01:25

15. Sun Ra - Untitled Keyboard Solo 3 06:55

16. Sun Ra - Enlightenment (featuring June Tyson) 02:28

17. Sun Ra - Untitled Keyboard Solo 4 02:03

18. John Cage and Sun Ra - Silent Duet 02:14

19. John Cage and Sun Ra - Empty Words and Keyboard 05:23

20. John Cage and Sun Ra - Silent Duet 2 02:47

21. Sun Ra - Untitled Keyboard Solo 5 10:05