Without a doubt the highlight of ZXZW 2008 (yes, before we were even called Incubate. That long ago.) was Sun Ra Arkestra, who did up to six shows that week.
Sun Ra was one of the main innovators in jazz. The Arkestra is his future dream and his ancient body. It never was as popular as jazz’s best-known big bands, but it did have a steady following and was highly regarded in jazz circles. It appeared on “Saturday Night Live”, played a Central Park concert with Sonic Youth and was named best big band in Down Beat magazine’s critics poll five times. Sun Ra influenced the whole contemporary music scene and was a true independent mind.

Now, while we were digging through our archive, we found the recording of the Tuesday show in Paradox. It’s such a great show that we couldn’t keep it to ourselves. So here it is. The complete show. One of the six and the only one we could find. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.