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:

• ON SIDE A
• Sun Ra (keyboards)
• Salah Ragab (congas)
• John Gilmore (tenor sax)
• Marshall Allen (alto sax)
• Danny Thompson (alto sax
• Leroy Taylor (bass clarinet)
• James Jacson (bassoon)
• Tyrone Hill (trombone)
• Eric Walker (drums)
• Chris Henderson (drums)
• Claude Broche (drums)

• ON TRACKS B1 & B3
• THE CAIRO JAZZ BAND
• Salah Ragab (drums)
• Zaky Osman (trumpet)
• Mohamad Abdu (trumpet)
• Ibrahim Wa Gdy (trumpet)
• Khalifa Samman (trumpet)
• Mahmoud Auoob (trombone)
• Sadik Basioni (trombone)
• Ali Dahroug (trombone)
• Abdel Atie (trombone)
• Saied Aidy (sax)
• Farouk Abdou (sax)
• Saied Salama (sax)
• Fathi Salam (sax)
• El Zammel (sax)
• Khamis El-Khouly (piano)
• Mohey El-Din (bass)
• Sayed Ramadan (bongos)

• ON TRACK B2
• Salah Ragab (percussion)
• Toto Abdel Hameed (bamboo flute)
• Zaky Osman (piccolo)
• Khamis El-Khouly (piano)
• Esmat Abbas (bass)

Heliopolis, Cairo, May, 1983

TRACKS:

• SIDE A
• A1 EGYPT STRUT
• A2 DAWN

• SIDE B
• B1 RAMADAN
• B2 ORIENTAL MOOD
• B3 A FAREWELL THEME