Monday, February 20, 2017

Sun Ra Arkive Hartmut Geerken Interviewed by Suso Navarrete 01/2003

Hartmut Geerken's original 1994 book "Omniverse Sun Ra" was the first piece of substantial printed Sun Ra scholarship I saw - around the time Robert Campbell's "Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra Volume 1" was released too. Between these books, the Evidence CD reissues and the VHS reissue of the film "Space Is The Place" in 1995, it was a bountiful time to be a student of Sun Ra's recorded HIStory/MYstory.

It was a thing of wonder; large, beautiful, well-researched and a power source to hold and read. As a small-run independently published book it was expensive too. As I remember, around $100 USD, which was way too out-of-reach for a young hippie like me. Luckily my Sun Ra teacher had a copy, and I would humbly ask to look at it, as though I were handling some ancient and priceless scrolls. At least that's how it felt at the time.

My friend Suso Navarrete interviewed Hartmut Geerken for Sun Ra Arkive in January 2003. He arranged the entire thing, and to this day, I have never had any direct contact with Mr. Geerken. But, I would like to sincerely thank him for all he has shared with the Sun Ra community, as well as a "hello" to my long-lost friend Suso, who I lost track of many years ago. We had a fun and productive run together!

"Omniverse Sun Ra" eventually went out of print and commanded insane prices - several hundred dollars at least - on the secondary market for about 20 years. The author maintained that he would never reprint and the book became more and more of a sought after power source as time proceeded.

Thankfully, "Omniverse Sun Ra" was revised by by Hartmut Geerken and Chris Trent and reprinted in hardcover by Art Yard Limited on November 30, 2015. It's available from Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Omniverse-Hartmut-Geerken-Chris-Trent/dp/0993351409
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