Sun Ra On Jupiter

On Jupiter is a great album recorded in 1979, about a year after Lanquidity. After easing in with the fairly brief title cut, a fairly mellow affair featuring June Tyson on vocals, listeners are treated to the all-out disco-funk of "U.F.O." Anchored by a monster bassline courtesy of Steve Clarke, this tune has fun ensemble vocals and great solos on guitar and tenor sax. This is as funky as Sun Ra ever got and really must be heard to be believed. Side two consists of "Seductive Fantasy," a lovely piece composed on top of a three-note bass ostinato that features lots of great piano from Ra and some interesting guitar sounds from either Skeeter McFarland or Taylor Richardson. John Gilmore gets plenty of room on this track as well and Luqman Ali's drumming is superb. This album is well worth picking up, but being one of those Saturn rarities makes it pretty difficult to do so. ~ Sean Westergaard

• Format: Vinyl
• Genre: Jazz