Sun Ra Arkestra

Strut present the final instalment in their series of reissues of Sun Ra’s historic recordings in Egypt with The Sun Ra Arkestra meets Salah Ragab in Egypt plus the Cairo Jazz Band, originally released on Greek label Praxis in 1983.

Salah Ragab first encountered the Arkestra at a concert at the house of Goethe Institut ex-pat Hartmut Geerken during the Arkestra’s first visit to Cairo and Heliopolis in December 1971 and, although Ra and Ragab did not meet in person on that occasion, they did meet and bond together when Ra returned to Egypt in 1983, resulting in these recordings.

This first ever official reissue of the album features previously unseen photos and memorabilia alongside brand new liner notes by Hartmut Geerken and Paul Griffiths. The album is released in its original artwork and is fully remastered by Technology Works.

PERSONNEL:

• Tyrone Hill (trombone)
• Marshall Allen (alto sax)
• John Gilmore (tenor sax)
• Danny Ray Thompson (baritone sax)
• Leroy Taylor (bass clarinet)
• James Jacson (bassoon)
• Sun Ra (synthesizer)
• Chris Henderson, Claude Broche (drums)
• Salah Ragab (congas)

Heliopolis, Cairo, May, 1983

TRACKS:

• 01. EGYPT STRUT
• 02. DAWN
• 03. RAMADAN
• 04. ORIENTAL MOOD
• 05. A FAREWELL THEME