Sun Ra Visits Planet Earth is another one of the great albums dating to the Chicago period in the mid- to late '50s. Assembled from two recording sessions,
Sun Ra Visits Planet Earth is an excellent snapshot of this early period. The first four tunes are all from the earlier session (1956) and feature
the Arkestra playing what might strike many listeners as fairly conventional material. The remainder of the tunes are from a 1958 session, and show the band moving away from straight bop and swing toward a more unique sound using much more prominent percussion and an increasing use of dissonance, along with instruments like solar bells and space lute. Most of these tracks were recorded a number of times in the '50s (check Sound of Joy), but arrangements and players vary from take to take. This album is a good example of how
the Arkestra sounded just prior to (figuratively) blasting off into outer space. [This release was remastered and co-produced by
Michael D. Anderson (of the
Sun Ra Music Archive) and
Irwin Chusid, under the auspices of
Sun Ra LLC, the heirs of the late music legend. Original session tapes were used when available and sound quality should surpass all previous CD/digital editions.] ~ Sean Westergaard