Sun Ra Atlantis

• 1. Mu
• 2. Lemuria
• 3. Yucatan
• 4. Bimini
• 5. Atlantis

One of the first jazz releases to make prominent use of the clavinet, ATLANTIS (recorded between 1967 and '69) is another hallmark of bold experimentation in the Sun Ra discography. The album consists entirely of spare, surging numbers featuring, for the most part, clavinet, percussion, and saxophone as the only instrumentation. The minimal, exploratory feel of these pieces offers fine examples of Ra's marriage of futuristic, otherworldly sounds to African tribal cross-rhythms.
The centrepiece of the record is the final track, which includes the entire Astro Infinity Arkestra. Clocking in at almost 22 minutes, "Atlantis" creates an epic landscape of shifting colours and textures, with occasional bursts in dynamics leading to a swelling, volcanic finale. It is a tense, overpowering piece that presaged the Arkestra's forays into intergalactic territory in the early '70s. For its compositional map-charting and early use of electric sounds (this was Ra's first outing to use only electric keyboards), ATLANTIS is a landmark recording, and will be of interest to fans of experimental music, as well as Ra enthusiasts.