Strut Records (Europe)
Qualities, The – Sun Ra presents The Qualities: "It's Christmas Time" b/w "Happy New Year" [IMPORT] – New 7"
Regular price
$ 16.00
Strut is celebrating the holiday season with an exclusive reissue of
The Qualities’ 1961 single, “It’s Christmas Time” b/w “Happy New
Year To You!” Originally released on Sun Ra’s Saturn label, this
mysterious harmony group 45 captures a unique moment in music
history.
Alongside his renowned jazz work in Chicago, Sun Ra experimented
with harmony groups from the mid-‘50s to the early ‘60s, before his
move to New York. “I had two main vocal groups at the time,” Ra
recalled. “One was called the Cosmic Echoes. And the Cosmic Rays
too. It was around the same time that John Gilmore joined the band. I
saw the possibility that they could be really great so I began to coach
them; they were connected with a barber shop, but I taught them other
things.” John Gilmore added, “We’d go down to the barber shops and
rehearse some groups. Sun Ra had them singin’ some beautiful stuff.
I think he probably was saving them from themselves. He heard them,
heard their potential, snatched them off the street, and started making
them do something constructive.”
This rare festive single from The Qualities, likely recorded around
1956, features Sun Ra as co-composer on both tracks alongside
Saturn Records co-founder Alton Abraham. Sun Ra might also be the
harmonium player on these recordings. Although two more songs by
the group appeared on a Norton Records collection of Ra-related
vocal numbers, these are the only known recordings by The Qualities.
Featuring two newly restored and remastered tracks thanks to
Technology Works and housed in an exclusive new 7" picture sleeve
designed by Liam Large.
The Qualities’ 1961 single, “It’s Christmas Time” b/w “Happy New
Year To You!” Originally released on Sun Ra’s Saturn label, this
mysterious harmony group 45 captures a unique moment in music
history.
Alongside his renowned jazz work in Chicago, Sun Ra experimented
with harmony groups from the mid-‘50s to the early ‘60s, before his
move to New York. “I had two main vocal groups at the time,” Ra
recalled. “One was called the Cosmic Echoes. And the Cosmic Rays
too. It was around the same time that John Gilmore joined the band. I
saw the possibility that they could be really great so I began to coach
them; they were connected with a barber shop, but I taught them other
things.” John Gilmore added, “We’d go down to the barber shops and
rehearse some groups. Sun Ra had them singin’ some beautiful stuff.
I think he probably was saving them from themselves. He heard them,
heard their potential, snatched them off the street, and started making
them do something constructive.”
This rare festive single from The Qualities, likely recorded around
1956, features Sun Ra as co-composer on both tracks alongside
Saturn Records co-founder Alton Abraham. Sun Ra might also be the
harmonium player on these recordings. Although two more songs by
the group appeared on a Norton Records collection of Ra-related
vocal numbers, these are the only known recordings by The Qualities.
Featuring two newly restored and remastered tracks thanks to
Technology Works and housed in an exclusive new 7" picture sleeve
designed by Liam Large.
releases November 29, 2024