Sun Ra - Celestial Love [Orange]

Sun Ra leans into romance and swing on Celestial Love, a warm, surprisingly intimate album from 1982, pressed here on orange vinyl.

By the early eighties the Arkestra had spent decades exploring the outer reaches of jazz, but Sun Ra never lost his love for the big band tradition he came from. Celestial Love shows that side of him clearly, mixing his own compositions with standards from the swing era, all played with real affection rather than irony. It is one of the gentlest records in a catalogue famous for its cosmic chaos.

The title track sets a tender, starry mood, and Sometimes I'm Happy bounces along with old-fashioned charm. Sophisticated Lady is a loving salute to Duke Ellington, while the band's own originals stretch out with bluesy, otherworldly colour and plenty of space for the horns. Smile, the Charlie Chaplin melody, gets a wistful, unhurried treatment.

Throughout, Sun Ra's keyboards glow and flicker beneath the horns, giving even the most familiar tunes a slightly alien sheen.

It is an ideal entry point for anyone who has found Sun Ra's wilder records intimidating, and a lovely reminder for longtime fans that the man from Saturn could swing as sweetly as anyone on Earth.