Kronos Quartet announces Sun Ra tribute, Outer Spaceways Incorporated, featuring Jlin, Laurie Anderson, Armand Hammer and more

Earlier this year, nonprofit group Red Hot kicked off a series of tributes to eccentric, pioneering jazz legend Sun Ra, beginning with Red Hot + Ra: Nuclear War, featuring Georgia Anne Muldrow, Irreversible Entanglements, and Angel Bat Dawid. They followed that release with Solar, featuring Brazilian artists reinterpreting Sun Ra’s music, and then The Magic City, by Meshell Ndegeocello with a group of collaborators. The latest is Outer Spaceways Incorporated – Kronos Quartet & Friends Meet Sun Ra, which is out June 21 and features collaboration between the veteran string quartet and a number of artists, including Laurie Anderson, Jlin, Laraaji, Georgia Anne Muldrow, RP Boo, Armand Hammer, 700 Bliss (Moor Mother & DJ Haram), Marshall Allen of Sun Ra Arkestra and more.

Today they’ve shared two new tracks. “Outer Spaceways Incorporated” features Georgia Anne Muldrow, and Jacob Garchik, and “Daddy’s Gonna Tell You No Lie”, featuring Laraaji. Hear them both below.

David Harrington of Kronos Quartet said in a statement, “Sun Ra is a magical solar system in American music. The seeds he planted have inspired all of us on ‘Outer Spaceways Incorporated: Kronos Quartet & Friends meet Sun Ra’ to bloom in his cosmic garden of sonic splendor.”

Earlier this year, Jlin collaborated with Kronos Quartet on her new album Akoma. Read our interview with Jlin. Also, read our Beginner’s Guide to the music of Sun Ra.

Outer Spaceways Incorporated – Kronos Quartet & Friends Meet Sun Ra tracklist:

1 Kronos Quartet, Georgia Anne Muldrow, & Jacob Garchik – “Outer Spaceways Incorporated”
2 Jlin & Kronos Quartet – “Maji”
3 Laraaji & Kronos Quartet – “Daddy’s Gonna Tell You No Lie”
4 Steven Bernstein, Sex Mob, & Laurie Anderson, Marshall Allen, & Kronos Quartet – “Images”
5 Nicole Lizée, Kronos Quartet – “The Furthest Out Things”
6 Laurie Anderson & Marshall Allen – “Phenomenon”
7 Zachary James Watkins & Kronos Quartet – “Black Body Radiance”
8 RP Boo & Armand Hammer – “Blood Running High”
9 Laurie Anderson & Marshall Allen – “The Wuz”
10 700 Bliss (Moor Mother & DJ Haram) – “Secrets Of The Sun”
11 Trey Spruance, Secret Chiefs 3, & Kronos Quartet – “Love In Outerspace”
12 evicshen – “Three Seasons In The Tempestuous Twelve-Inch Planet”
13 Terry Riley, Sara Miyamoto, & Kronos Quartet – “Kiss Yo Ass Goodbye”