The second deluxe RA reissue in the new O-Card format from the UMS- released in conjunction with EL SATURN Records: Sun Ra rocks out on his ultra-rare "Roksichord" record... a small group outing from 1970 with an alternate take plus three mind-bending, never issued Wurlitzer solos from '64. Long-awaited, available on CD for the first time! The Night of the Purple Moon is Sun Ra's great "Roksichord record". It's also one of his most delightful- upbeat, and accessible outings, full of bluesy twists and turns, relatively short tracks, and the unforgettable nasal quack of his keyboard. Waxed in New York in 1970, just after the Rocksichord - that's how the company, RMI, spelled it, though Ra removed the "c" in typical, cryptic manner - had been introduced, Purple Moon is one of the classic (and relatively rare) small group Arkestra recordings.

The Night of the Purple Moon was issued on Saturn in 1972 (and, more or less at the same time, on Saturn's sister label, Thoth); augmenting the original LP is a familiar alternate take of the Arkestra chestnut "Love In Outer Space". To show something of the origins of Ra's keyboard playing in this period, we have added three incredible home recordings, made in 1964, on which Ra pummels a lightly amplified Wurlitzer electric piano, and on the first of them he adds the startling sound of Celeste.