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Sun Ra was a musical innovator and an arranger without equal; he was a shaman and a showman. He was also the last of the big band leaders of his generation to maintain a touring band of committed musicians, attracting new audiences on the strength of new music. (Practically every other big band still touring or recording is either made up of studio musicians on holiday or underpaid ringers mining the nostalgia circuit - would Lionel's or Cab's audience stand for a show that didn't include hits from half a century ago?) This 1980 recording features an Arkestra 27 pieces strong, including tenor and alto legends John Gilmore and Marshall Allen, singer June Tyson, and trumpeter Michael Ray.