Browse by Label: KS ART YARD SERIES (NETHERLANDS)

Artist:	RAGAB AND THE CAIRO JAZZ BAND, SALAH
Title:	Egyptian Jazz (Deluxe Edition)
Label:	KS ART YARD SERIES (NETHERLANDS)
Format:	LP
Price:	$23.50
Catalog #:	KSAY 002LP

The KS Art Yard series is a collaboration between Kindred Spirits and Art Yard, presenting high-quality collectors editions of these classic records.
Salah Ragab formed the first jazz big band in Egypt (The Cairo Jazz Band) in 1968. He was also the leader of the Military Music Departments in Heliopolis and some of the best musicians in Egypt of that time were members of the band such as Zaki Osman (trumpet), Saied Salama (tenor sax), Khamis El ‐Kholy, (piano) and Ala Mostafa (piano). On this recording, the band consists of five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones, piano, bass, drums, percussion and other exotic instruments. Salah Ragab accompanied the great band leader and composer Sun Ra on a tour in Egypt, Greece, France and Spain in 1984. He also studied jazz theories and improvisation with the jazz musician and composer from Kansas City Osman Kareem, with whom he formed the first jazz quintet in Cairo in 1963, recording with the Radio Service of Cairo. These recordings present Salah Ragab And The Cairo Jazz Band's definitive work, recorded in Heliopolis, Egypt between 1968 and 1973. The definitive work corresponds to the cross‐over of musical styles at the time of the recording, which were produced 6,000 miles away across the Mediterranean and Atlantic in New York with releases on Moodsville by Yusef Lateef and RCA by Ahmud Abdul‐Malik. Egyptian Jazz represents The Cairo Jazz Band responding to the American jazz scene of the '60s and '70s with influences from Mongo Santamaria to Randy Weston and Sun Ra. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl, limited to 500 copies. Housed in a rigid cardboard sleeve featuring a printed inner sleeve with pictures.

Artist:	SUN RA & HIS INTERGALACTIC MYTH SCIENCE SOLAR ARKESTRA
Title:	Sleeping Beauty (Deluxe Edition)
Label:	KS ART YARD SERIES (NETHERLANDS)
Format:	LP
Price:	$23.50
Catalog #:	KSAY 003LP

This LP of Sun Ra's from 1979 marks a pinnacle in one of the Arkestra's most‐loved phases, as they embraced a funky, laid‐back groove and shuffled through three tracks of upfront bass, electric guitar, spacey Fender Rhodes, and Luqman Ali's signature late snares. With this rhythmic core, the rest of the Arkestra step up with solos, slightly out-of-tune harmonies, and vocal chants. "Door Of The Cosmos" kicks the record off at a mid‐tempo pace with handclaps, vibraphones, a killer trumpet solo from Michael Ray, and a poetic chorus from June Tyson. But it's "Springtime Again" and the title track "Sleeping Beauty" that really steal the show, so loose that they threaten to fall apart, yet somehow the music holds together as the group rock back and forth like a hammock. It's testament to Sun Ra as a band leader that he could get such restrained yet emotional performances from the Arkestra, floating in and out of time and tune, on the edge of disintegration. "Sleeping Beauty" stands out in Ra's massive and varied discography as a true high point, with restrained and dreamy electric piano from the man himself, and hypnotic performances from Arkestra players like John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Francisco Mora, Danny Thompson, James Jacson, and the Disco Kid on guitar. This is the album '70s-era Miles Davis and Joe Zawinul wished they could have made together, but it couldn't have come from anyone, or anywhere, else. A favorite of producers and music lovers like Madlib, Yo La Tengo, Carlos Nino, Jimi Tenor, Tortoise, 4Hero, Kirk Degiorgio, Carl Craig, and Theo Parrish, this LP is quite simply a masterpiece, and anyone with even the slightest interest in Sun Ra and jazz should check it out. Inspired space‐age lullaby music of the highest order. This essential Sun Ra deluxe edition is housed in a heavy, rigid cardboard outer sleeve and pressed on 180 gram vinyl. Includes printed inner sleeve with pictures. Limited edition of 500 copies.

Artist:	SUN RA & HIS SOLAR ARKESTRA
Title:	On Jupiter (Deluxe Edition)
Label:	KS ART YARD SERIES (NETHERLANDS)
Format:	LP
Price:	$23.50
Catalog #:	KSAY 004LP

Whatever it was that sparked Sun Ra to investigate the funk between 1976 and 1979, we should all be thankful that he did. Having explored dreamy, languid rhythms before ‐- with off‐key arrangements and chants on records like New Steps, Lanquidity, Of Mythic Worlds, and Disco 3000 -‐ On Jupiter, originally released in 1979, sees Sun Ra really flexing his funk muscles, stretching the group like a rubber band. Blissful, flanged guitar threads its way throughout the title track, and Ra throws up piano chords and vamps all over an upfront, but fragmented bass pulse. But while the Arkestra might be getting their oblique grind on in the rhythm section, the music still carries those cosmic messages from the stars. Just as Ra transplanted the big band traditions of Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington into his own cosmic vision, here he takes the backbeat of funk and disco, and teleports it into another dimension. Despite revamping the current musical trends, the emotional core of this LP is something that Sun Ra never forgot. There is a story that when they were rehearsing ["UFO"], some of the musicians complained when Sonny asked them to listen to examples of currently popular disco records: "This is some hokey shit, Sonny," they said. "This hokey shit is somebody's hopes and dreams," he chided them. "Don't be so hip!" Something else to note on this singular LP is the way it has been mixed. Michael Ray, the horn player, was sent back to the Arkestra base by Sun Ra during the mixing session, and returned with "a handful of tapes," with which he then dubbed all kinds of percussion, guitar, and vocals into the studio mix ‐- bringing another ghostly, spacey element to the layers. This album stands out in one of Sun Ra's most exciting creative periods, and it's incredible to think of Ra, then in his mid‐'60s, still pushing the group to further heights, and taking no prisoners. As he chants on "UFO": "I know you got a hiding place, somewhere deep in outer space! Watch out!" Housed in a heavy, rigid outer sleeve and pressed on 180 gram vinyl. Includes a printed inner sleeve with pictures. Limited to 500 copies.

Artist:	SUN RA
Title:	The Antique Blacks (Deluxe Edition)
Label:	KS ART YARD SERIES (NETHERLANDS)
Format:	LP
Price:	$23.50
Catalog #:	KSAY 005LP

Although Sun Ra wouldn't have called Earth home, there were a couple of cities that proved to have considerable significance on him and his music, and Philadelphia was one of the places that he really felt in his element. With the Arkestra HQ based at Marshall Allen's family home, a period of stability followed that resulted in some of Sun Ra's most well‐loved albums like Lanquidity, Sleeping Beauty, and On Jupiter. With the Foxhole Cafe and WXPN‐FM radio studio, there were excellent facilities for Sun Ra to broadcast his music to the world. The vitality you can hear on 1978's Antique Blacks is a testament to the unique energy of the community around The Foxhole. From Arkestra sax‐man Danny Thompson running the local convenience store, to the small but perfectly-formed Philly Jazz label, to knickers being thrown at Ra during a concert at the Foxhole, Philly lit Sun Ra's creative spark from 1968 right up to the early '90s. On Antique Blacks, Sun Ra blends elements of free jazz, off‐key synth explorations, and experimental theater into an otherworldly concoction that doesn't crop up anywhere else in the Arkestra's massive discography. He relishes his role as galactic narrator, with lines like "Let's try something different for you... Something like being alive, hahahaha!" sounding more like a quote from Zoltar rather than the Afro‐futurist bandleader we all know. Antique Blacks takes its starting point from The Bible and slavery, and throws these issues into the contemporary political frame hurtling up‐to‐date with late 60's Civil Rights. At this time, the Arkestra typically consisted of 20 to 30 musicians, dancers, singers, and fire‐eaters, combined with elaborate lighting effects and playing sets for 2-3 hours non‐stop. The Arkestra was a regular fixture around Philly, giving lectures and community workshops, drifting among the bookshelves of the city library, and performing at the closing party of the very last night of the Foxhole in October 1982. Rumors of increased UFO sightings over the Philadelphia airspace are unfounded, but one thing is certain: Sun Ra and the Arkestra will go down in the chapters of Philadelphia's rich jazz history, just as non‐earth‐dwellers will make pilgrimages to the human metropolis known as Philadelphia in light years to come. Comes with an insert featuring an unpublished photo and new liner notes by the Arkestra's Michael Anderson. Housed in a rigid, spot-varnished outer sleeve and pressed on 180 gram vinyl. Limited numbered edition of 1000 copies.

Artist:	SUN RA
Title:	The Mike Huckaby Reel-To-Reel Edits Vol. 1
Label:	KS ART YARD SERIES (NETHERLANDS)
Format:	12"
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	KSAY MH01-EP

During afterhours, Mike Huckaby produces Sun Ra edits from a dancefloor perspective, using only a mixer and a reel-to-reel player. Now, some of his finest edits are released on The Mike Huckaby Reel To Reel Edits series, containing reworks of classic tracks from the Art Yard catalog which were previously-released on the collaborative series between Art Yard and Kindred Spirits. Housed in a full-color outersleeve including a silkscreen-printed plastic insert by L.A. designer Stephen Serrato. Limited quantities, so don't miss out!

Artist:	SUN RA
Title:	The Mike Huckaby Reel-To-Reel Edits Vol. 2
Label:	KS ART YARD SERIES (NETHERLANDS)
Format:	12"
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	KSAY MH02-EP

Detroit's Mike Huckaby returns on Kindred Spirits with the second volume of Sun Ra edits. Renowned for his DJ sets, edits and productions, he was the perfect choice for re-working highlights of the Sun Ra catalog. The A-side features "Friendly Galaxy" and the flip contains a beautiful stretched-out version of the classic cut "Space Is The Place," accompanied by "To Nature's God" from Nidhamu/Dark Mythic Equation, originally released on Art Yard records. Includes exclusive artwork by Stephen Serrato and a silk-screen printed plastic insert. On red vinyl.

Previous Page Index of Labels Next Page

Artist:	SUN RA & HIS ARKESTRA
Title:	The Lost Arkestra Series Part 1
Label:	KS ART YARD SERIES (NETHERLANDS)
Format:	10"
Price:	$12.50
Catalog #:	KSAY OFF1-EP