The Magic City

by Sun Ra

Type: Album
Released: 1966
Label: El Saturn
Country: United States
Length: 42:21
Community rating: 3.83/5 from 6 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

A stunning and formidable document of large-ensemble free improvisation. The side-long title track is an abstract sound collage depicting Birmingham, Alabama, Sun Ra's 'Magic City.' After a dizzyingly complex written theme on 'The Shadow World,' the Arkestra erupts into a maelstrom of collective, free-form invention. It is a pivotal recording of the jazz avant-garde, demonstrating a path for free jazz on a massive, orchestral scale that few others dared to tread.

Genres

Descriptors: experimental, spacey, atonal, long-form, sprawling

Tracklist

Credits

Sun Ra - primary artist, composed by [compositions], arranged by, marimba [bass], piano, timpani [tympani], celesta [electronic], harp [sun], drum [dragon drum], keyboards [clavioline], piano
Danny Davis - alto flute, alto saxophone, soloist
Marshall Allen - alto saxophone, flute, piccolo flute, oboe, soloist
William White - artwork [cover art]
Pat Patrick - baritone saxophone, flute, soloist, timpani
Ronnie Boykins - bass
Robert Cummings - bass clarinet
The Sun Ra Arkestra - drums [other], featuring
Bud Pressner - lacquer cut by
Jimmy Johnson - percussion
John Gilmore - tenor saxophone, soloist
Bernard Pettaway - trombone
Teddy Nance - trombone
Chris Capers - trumpet
Harry Spencer - alto saxophone, soloist
Roger Blank - percussion
Ali Hassan - trombone
Walter Miller - trumpet