Lanquidity (Definitive Edition)

The Artist

Sun Ra, born Herman Blount in Birmingham, Alabama, spent decades insisting he came from Saturn, and his music made the claim feel plausible. After coming up through the Chicago scene, he built the Arkestra into a communal big band that lived, rehearsed, and recorded together for years. His sound fused swing-era arranging, free jazz, early electronic keyboards, and a cosmic philosophy that helped define what we now call Afrofuturism. By the late 1970s the band was based in Philadelphia and releasing records at a dizzying pace. Lanquidity arrives in that prolific stretch as one of his most groove-centered, approachable statements.

The Album

Lanquidity was recorded in New York in 1978 and originally issued on a small Philadelphia label, which kept it obscure for years. The session leans into slow, smoky funk and fusion, with Sun Ra's electric keyboards floating over electric guitars, bass, and a reeds-and-brass front line. Arranged parts dissolve into long, unhurried improvisations rather than tight showcases. This Definitive Edition pairs the remastered album with a full set of alternate mixes, so you hear every piece twice in different balances. Thematically, it is about drift and arrival: the title blends languid with liquidity, and the song titles point toward stars, crossings, and hidden worlds.

Listen For

Keyboard fog. On "Lanquidity - Remastered," listen for how Sun Ra's electric keys hang in the air like haze rather than leading. The horns seem to emerge out of that cloud.

The groove in charge. "Where Pathways Meet - Remastered" lets bass, drums, and rhythm guitar do the steering. Notice how the soloists ride the pocket instead of fighting it.

Open-ended form. "Twin Stars of Thence - Remastered" largely abandons any song structure. Track how it wanders and regathers without a chorus to come home to.

Organic versus electric. Throughout the album, breathy acoustic horns sit against synthetic keyboard tones. Ask which side feels more alien.

Two mixes, two moods. Compare "That's How I Feel - Remastered" with "That's How I Feel - Alternate Mix." Shifts in which instruments sit forward can change the track's emotional weather.