THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Individually, Kronos Quartet and Sun Ra are two of the most groundbreaking names in contemporary music. The former are the legendary San Francisco string quartet that laid a blueprint for what concert music could become, working with the likes of John Cage, Tanya Tagaq and Astor Piazzolla. The latter was a singular jazz and avant-garde bandleader, as well as a philosopher and poet, who honed an extraordinary strain of cosmic experimental music from the 1950s until his ascension in 1993.
As a capstone to Kronos Quartet’s 50th anniversary, they have joined forces with the Red Hot Organization for the new album Outer Spaceways Incorporated: Kronos Quartet & Friends Meet Sun Ra. It’s stacked with some of the most innovative artists active today — everyone from multidimensional electronic musician Jlin, to Moor Mother and DJ Haram’s radical noise / rap project 700 Bliss, to abstract hip-hop luminaries Armand Hammer, to avant-garde hero Laurie Anderson, to minimalist pioneer Terry Riley.
Three preview singles from the record were released. The first features New Age pioneer Laraaji, and finds the beloved, orange-clad zither and piano player putting a hypnotic spin on Sun Ra’s propulsive early doo-wop piece Daddy’s Gonna Tell You No Lie. The second reimagined Ra’s iconic Outer Spaceways Incorporated, which pairs Kronos’ swooping sounds with vocals by Los Angeles’ inimitable cosmic diva Georgia Anne Muldrow.
The third — Images Suite (Images / Horoscope / Ancient Aiethopia / Interstellar Low Ways) — featured a suite of gorgeous movements, mystical and charged with the ethereal space-like narrations by Anderson. In collaboration with Steven Bernstein, Marshall Allen, Sex Mob and Kronos, this track is a star-studded, synergetic collection of Sun Ra interpolation. All feature powerful performances from Kronos Quartet, offering an enticing glimpse at what could easily go down as one of the most eclectic, boundary-pushing, and delightful albums of the year.”
