Sun Ra with Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold. Numbered. Limited edition.

In November 1964, a number of New York musicians (including Sun Ra) formally banded together as the Jazz Composers Guild. Under JCG sponsorship, the series “Four Days in December” ran from December 28 through 31 at Judson Hall. Sun Ra and his Arkestra appeared on the 31st, along with the New York Art Quartet.

All of the music from the Four Days in December series was recorded by the JCG for its own label; a December 1964 announcement in Down Beat indicates that a sampler LP was planned as the first release. However, the Guild broke apart early in 1965, so this never came to pass. Later there were plans (again abortive) to issue the concerts on the Fontana label. Almost a dozen years later (1976), Sun Ra issued the LP “Featuring Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold” [comprised of tracks 6–11 of this digital edition].

Ahmed Abdullah (and the first edition of The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra) gave the location and date as Cellar Café, New York City, June 15, 1964, but this cannot be right because at that time tenor saxophonist John Gilmore was still in the Arkestra. [Gilmore left the Arkestra in summer 1964 to go on tour—as Wayne Shorter’s replacement—with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers; Gilmore is not on the Judson Hall dates.] The album serial number… more
credits
released November 14, 2018

Recorded at Judson Hall, New York on December 31, 1964, as part of the Jazz Composers Guild’s Four Days In December festival

Sun Ra: piano, celeste
Pharoah Sanders: tenor sax
Marshall Allen: alto sax, flute, percussion
Danny Davis: alto sax, flute, percussion
Pat Patrick: baritone sax
Robert Cummings: bass clarinet, percussion
Teddy Nance: trombone
Bernard Pettaway: trombone
Robert Northern: French horn
Al Evans: trumpet, flugelhorn
Chris Capers: trumpet
Alan Silva: bass
Clifford Jarvis: drums
Black Harold [Harold Murray]: flute, log drum
Art Jenkins: space voice, percussion

Mastered by Michael D. Anderson of the Sun Ra Music Archive from the master tapes

All compositions by Sun Ra © Enterplanetary Koncepts (BMI)

Cover art and layout by Animation Taxidermy