Monorails & Satellites

CD reissue. This is an album of solo piano compositions by the American Jazz musician Sun Ra, (real name Herman Poole Blount) recorded in 1966. The album showcases Ra's skills as a pianist, which are often compared to Cecil Taylor's. Monorails and Satellites, a 1966 solo piano recording, showcases Ra's unique style, which bridges the bluesy architecture of Jelly Roll Morton with the angularity of Monk and Cecil Taylor's ascent beyond traditional structure. According to Ra's biographer, John Szwed, the title might refer to Stanley Kubrick's 2001, featuring a monolith that Ra remembered as a monorail, 'perhaps connecting it to his UFO experience'. Both albums shared the same sleeve of disembodied hands playing a keyboard that seems to be plugged directly into Saturn.