Sun Ra - Lanquidity

Sun Ra recorded Lanquidity in 1978 for Philly Jazz, and it remains the strangest kind of outlier in a catalogue built almost entirely from outliers. This is the Arkestra record that grooves. Where most Sun Ra albums of the period pushed toward free playing and cosmic sprawl, this one sits down in electric funk and stays there.

The title track opens on a bed of Fender Rhodes and wah guitar that would not sound out of place on a Miles Davis session from the same decade. "Where Pathways Meet" brings the horns in hard, and "That's How I Feel" stretches into the loosest, most hypnotic playing on the record. Side two belongs to "There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of)", nearly eleven minutes of murmured voices and drifting keys that is as close as Sun Ra ever came to ambient music.

For years this was a collector's item that traded for silly money, which meant a lot of people knew the reputation before they knew the music. It deserves the reputation. Lanquidity is the friendliest door into the Arkestra and loses nothing for being approachable.

Strut reissue on standard black vinyl, remastered with the original artwork restored. Essential for anyone with a shelf of spiritual jazz.