I doubt that Sun Ra really needs an introduction to the readers of Words on Sounds. His work is legendary, functioning as a living bridge between the early origins of jazz and free, cosmic territories that have yet to be fully explored. And this living bridge remains very much alive nearly 30 years beyond Sonny’s own tenure on our planet, as the latest Arkestra album “Swirling” that was released late last year proves. This is the kind of music that’s both exhilarating to hear and drenched in the whole history and importance of American musical mavericks, among whom Sun Ra is one of the best.

One of the releases I was most excited about in 2020 was the “Egypt 1971” box set from Strut, which aimed to put three of his most legendary albums back in print (Dark Myth Equation Visitation, Nidhamu, and Horizon), along with 2 full LPs of unreleased recordings from that first visit to Egypt. The originals of those albums are long out of circulation and among the most expensive Sun Ra records to hunt down on the collectors market. This was a particularly productive and vibrant time for the Sun Ra Arkestra, and the recordings of these Egypt ‘71 performances count among the very best albums in their large, almost intimidating discography. It’s hard to feel like any kind of expert on Sun Ra recordings simply because there are so many, but to my ears, these sessions are among my favorites of the Ra records I’m more familiar with. There are a number of tunes that reach back toward his early years like “Friendly Galaxy No. 2” or “To Nature’s God,” weird mostly-solo synth excursions like “Space Loneliness No. 2” or “Nidhamu (Part 1),” and lots of intense, free playing all over the place.  While it will always be hard to pick an entry point to Sun Ra, it’s fair to say that Egypt 1971 represents one of the more diverse sets of the Arkestra’s music you’re likely to find, which is all the more interesting considering that most of this material was recorded in the span of just a week.

So consider it a given that this is some of the best Sun Ra you’re going to find, and this is an essential set of jams for a wide range of listeners from novices to hardened Arkestra fanatics. What I’m more interested in exploring today is what format is the best for this music? The 5-LP box set arrived as part of the August 2020 Record Store Day drop, with a reported 2000 copies pressed worldwide. Normally I’d suspect that’s probably plenty of expensive LP box sets of Sun Ra albums to cover worldwide demand, but as it turns out, that doesn’t seem to be the case. They sold out everywhere on Record Store Day, and the prices on Discogs and other online markets skyrocketed to 2 or 3 times the retail cost immediately. They’ve stayed in that range ever since. However, Strut has already issued portions of this material in several different formats: late last year, single-LP editions of the original Egypt ‘71 records became available, although the 2 LPs of previously-unreleased material in the box set weren’t included with those editions. A 4-CD edition also was advertised, and that’s finally started shipping stateside over the last few weeks.

I was one of the lucky ones who managed to snag the LP boxset on Record Store Day, but this music is so spectacular that I also decided to pick up the CD set. Having spent a week with the CDs now, I wanted to contrast the two a little bit. First, there are some differences in content: there’s more music to enjoy on the 4-CD set than the 5-LP box. There are a pair of short interview tracks with Sun Ra on the “Dark Myth Equation Visitation” disc that aren’t on the LP, four extra tracks on the “Horizon” disc not present on the LP, and one extra track at the end of the “Egyptian Oasis” LP of unreleased tracks. It adds up to about a half-hour of additional (very good) material, not counting the interview tracks. However, to the LP box set’s advantage, there’s an additional and noteable essay, “Messages from the O-Zone,” that you’ll find in the LP booklet only.

The photos included in the LP booklet, and the record jackets themselves, are quite lovely, and of course the much larger size of the LP art wins over the CD edition. Sound quality-wise, both LP and CD versions sound great, and I wouldn’t say one has a noticeable sonic advantage over the other. These recordings were never the highest of hi-fi to begin with, mostly recorded live and on the fly by Arkestra member and recordist Thomas “Bugs” Hunter, but they’re perfectly listenable. It is nice to pop the four CDs in a carousel and relax with the liner notes, though–there’s a lot of interruptions for record flipping involved with the LP set. I must admit that I often prefer CD to LP for longer-form jazz and classical recordings. You know the routine: sometimes longer pieces get interrupted by needing to flip a side, which definitely hurts the integrity of a piece in my estimation. Although none of the pieces here have to be cut across a side, with the longest tracks staying under the 15:00 mark, you can really get into the feeling of each live set, and it’s a little bit of a bummer to stop and flip records mid-set.

If a digital download gets the job done well enough for you, Strut is offering the whole shebang, including the CD-only bonus tracks, as a download on Bandcamp for about the same cost as the CD set. It also appears that you get to download the whole set with purchase of any of the single albums for sale there. You have a lot of options! But the most important thing is getting a chance to hear this amazing music. Thanks to Strut for doing such a thorough, respectful job with one of the most magical weeks in Sun Ra’s career.