Description
Sun Ra – Nothing is… – Compact Disc
Released in 1969, Nothing Is… is a live album by avant-garde jazz pioneer Sun Ra and his Arkestra. The album was recorded during a 1966 tour of New York state, capturing the Arkestra at their most dynamic, blending free jazz improvisation, hard bop rhythms, Afrocentric mysticism, and cosmic experimentation. Compared to Sun Ra’s more studio-based works, Nothing Is… provides an unfiltered, raw, and hypnotic live experience, demonstrating his unique approach to both composition and spontaneous performance.
This album is significant because it showcases Sun Ra’s transition from structured jazz forms into fully free, unrestrained cosmic improvisation. It also highlights the Arkestra’s use of chanting, collective improvisation, and unusual instrumentation, all of which contributed to Sun Ra’s growing reputation as a leader in Afrofuturism and avant-garde jazz.
By 1966, Sun Ra and His Arkestra were known for their theatrical live performances, often featuring elaborate costumes inspired by Egyptian mythology and space travel. Chanting and call-and-response vocals, connecting to African musical traditions. A mix of traditional jazz instruments and unconventional sounds (electronic keyboards, hand percussion, homemade instruments).
This album was recorded during a string of concerts in upstate New York, capturing the Arkestra’s intense, ritualistic energy in a live setting. Unlike some of Sun Ra’s earlier recordings, which still retained ties to swing and bebop, Nothing Is… fully embraces free jazz, polyrhythms, and experimental techniques.
Originally released on ESP-Disk, a label known for supporting avant-garde artists, the album gained cult status among jazz experimentalists, serving as an essential document of Sun Ra’s evolving live sound.
On Nothing Is…, Sun Ra and the Arkestra shift between wild, free jazz improvisations → Instruments weave in and out of chaos, creating dense, cosmic soundscapes. Repetitive, hypnotic grooves → Certain pieces revolve around ostinatos (repeating musical phrases), giving them a trance-like quality. Call-and-response vocals and chanting → This gives the album an almost ritualistic, communal feel. Unusual instrumentation → Sun Ra’s electric keyboards, percussion experiments, and extended horn techniques create otherworldly textures.
The balance between structure and chaos is crucial to Nothing Is…, showing how Sun Ra could guide his musicians through moments of absolute sonic anarchy while maintaining a cosmic, spiritual vision.
Notable Tracks & Highlights
“Dancing Shadows” – A deeply hypnotic, percussion-heavy piece, showcasing Sun Ra’s ability to build tension through repetition and layering.
“Imagination” – One of the more structured pieces, featuring playful brass melodies mixed with chaotic improvisation.
“Exotic Forest” – This track captures the Arkestra’s sense of space and texture, with fluttering horn lines and eerie atmospheres.
“Sun Ra and His Band from Outer Space” – A chant-based performance that reinforces the cosmic mythology of the Arkestra, serving as both a musical introduction and an affirmation of their philosophy.
“Shadow World” – A frenetic, high-energy piece, full of shifting rhythms and Sun Ra’s electrifying keyboard work.
“Theme of the Stargazers / Outer Spaceways Incorporated” – One of Sun Ra’s most iconic live themes, blending Afrofuturist lyrical chanting with avant-garde improvisation.
As a live recording from 1966, Nothing Is… has a raw, lo-fi production quality, but this enhances the energy and immediacy of the performance. The sound is dense, often chaotic, with multiple instruments competing for space in the mix. Unlike polished studio recordings, this album feels like an immersive, unfiltered dive into Sun Ra’s world.
Rather than capturing individual solos or precise melodies, the production focuses on the collective sound of the Arkestra as a swirling, intergalactic force. The result is a challenging yet deeply rewarding listen, full of surprises and moments of pure improvisational brilliance.
Sun Ra’s music was always about more than just sound—it was about a vision of the future, an alternate reality in which Black identity, science fiction, and spirituality merged into a cosmic whole. Sun Ra presents jazz as an otherworldly, futuristic form of expression, detaching it from its traditional roots. The Arkestra functions almost like a religious ritual, channeling ancient and cosmic energies. Sun Ra obliterates traditional jazz forms, favoring collective improvisation and experimentation.
The title Nothing Is… itself is cryptic, suggesting themes of existence, illusion, and cosmic emptiness, aligning with Sun Ra’s philosophical and spiritual beliefs.
At the time of its release, Nothing Is… was too radical for mainstream jazz audiences, but it found a home among avant-garde jazz fans, free jazz musicians, and experimentalists. Today, it is considered one of Sun Ra’s most important live recordings and a key album in the development of free jazz and cosmic jazz. A landmark in Afrofuturist music and philosophy
The album has been reissued multiple times, gaining recognition as one of Sun Ra’s most essential works, alongside The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra (1965) and Space Is the Place (1973).
Nothing Is… captures the raw, unfiltered energy of Sun Ra’s Arkestra in a live setting, showing their evolution into one of the most innovative free jazz collectives of all time. It’s an essential album for anyone interested in the intersection of jazz, improvisation, and Afrofuturism, offering a mind-expanding, cosmic listening experience.
For those new to Sun Ra, this album might feel chaotic and overwhelming, but for seasoned listeners, it represents one of the purest expressions of his cosmic jazz vision.
Recorded May, 1966, during tour of N. Y. state colleges.
An album of compositions and arrangements by Sun Ra played by Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra
Issued in cardboard sleeve
Brand new, never played and still in the factory plastic
Track Listing
Dancing Shadows
Imagination
Exotic Forest
Sun Ra And His Band From Outer Space
Shadow World
Theme Of The Stargazers
Outer Spaceways Incorporated
Next Stop Mars
