Sun Ra And His Solar-Myth Arkestra - The Nubians Of Plutonia mp3 album

I really love this album having purchased in only recently. Very tuneful with a nice mix of Sun Ra's bluesy swinging numbers and his more obscure forays into African inspired exotica. Has a slightly murky production like a few of his albums of this period being recorded on limited budgets. Plutonian Nights and The Golden Lady swing like made and have lots of lovely melodic soloing, combining Ra's trademark exuberance and yearning melancholy. His choice of percussion sounds always makes his work instantly identifiable, you hear that clattering "I dropped a dish while washing up" sound and you know it is the Arkestra!After the first four tunes of toe tapping jazz things get a bit stranger as Nubia turns into a great drum solo halfway through and Africa starts with an ominous drum riff and strange droning vocals before exploring some cool percussion textures and we drift into proto world music, an area Ra is underrated in bringing to the forefront of jazz. Aiethiopia combines jazz riffs before a beautiful flute melody comes in over tribal drums. If you want a nice introduction to Ra this is hard to beat as it has a bit of everything that made him great as well as showing where Madlib got all his best samples.WTC Productions