Honest Jons logo

Another unmissable Ra LP — previously impossible to find — from the same 1972 sessions as Space Is the Place. The opener Pan Afro is a modal tear-up bossed by Gilmore’s saxophone; the title track is a hugely enjoyable, side-long, Ra-led space chant.

The second NYC LP, from 1961, Ra on piano leading a three-saxes sextet away from the big-band Chicago sound, into the unknown. Plenty of Gilmore. Exotic Two is a terrific percussion-and-piano original.