Avant-garde jazz icon Sun Ra is being celebrated not for his other-worldly musical compositions, but for his poetry. In a new album from Omni Sound, titled My Words Are Music: A Celebration of Sun Ra’s Poetry, the late composer’s verse will be honored with various spoken word recordings.
“My Words Are Music provides direct access to the sentiments of a poet who never called Earth home,” Omni Sounds shared of their latest project on social media. “The tracks on the album provide a sonic introduction to the philosophy that sustains Sun Ra’s music and poetry.” The work is meant to offer listeners “an opportunity to follow Sun Ra into a better future, through sound and poetry.”
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On My Words Are Music, various Sun Ra poems will be recited by the legends colleagues and followers alike, featuring the voices of Knoel Scott, Marshall Allen, L’Rain, Tunde Adebimpe, Abiodun Oyewole, Tara Middleton, and more.
The collection’s lead single “When Angels Speak,” voiced by Saul Williams, can be heard below. My Words Are Music: A Celebration of Sun Ra’s Poetry is set for release on August 25.
My Words Are Music: A Celebration of Sun Ra’s Poetry Track List:
1. Marshall Allen – “EVI Introduction”
2. Saul Williams – “When Angels Speak”
3. Mahogany L. Browne – “Circle Eternity”
4. Anthony Joseph – “The Three Dimensions of Air”
5. Melanie Charles – “[Anything can give up its life]”
6. Abiodun Oyewole – “Somebody Else’s Idea”
7. Tara Middleton – “I Have Forgotten”
8. Jive Poetic – “Flight”
9. L’Rain – “Love in Outer Space”
10. Tunde Adebimpe – “The Endless Realm”
11. Zakia Sewell – “The Cosmic Age”
12. Cal Hancock Rux – “Sun-Day”
13. Knoel Scott / Marshall Allen – “The Melody of Air”
14. Anthony Joseph – “The Invisible Giants”
15. L’Rain – “I Deal in Souls”
16. Tunde Adebimpe – “Black Prince Charming”
17. Mahogany L. Browne – “Message to Black Youth”
18. Jive Poetic – “Nothing Is”
19. Melanie Charles – “The Friends of Skill”
20. Saul Williams – “The Outer Darkness”
21. Zakia Sewell – “If I Told You”
22. Carl Hancock Rux – “The Void”
23. Knoel Scott / Marshall Allen – “The Neglected Plane of Wisdom”
(Photo by Frans Schellekens/Redferns)
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