{"title":"The Qualities","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"its-christmas-time-4","title":"Its Christmas Time","description":"\u003cp\u003eStrut is celebrating the holiday season with an exclusive reissue of The Qualities’ 1961 single, “It’s Christmas Time” b\/w “Happy New Year To You!” Originally released on Sun Ra’s Saturn label, this mysterious harmony group 45 captures a unique moment in music history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlongside his renowned jazz work in Chicago, Sun Ra experimented with harmony groups from the mid-‘50s to the early ‘60s, before his move to New York. “I had two main vocal groups at the time,” Ra recalled. “One was called the Cosmic Echoes. And the Cosmic Rays too. It was around the same time that John Gilmore joined the band. I saw the possibility that they could be really great so I began to coach them; they were connected with a barber shop, but I taught them other things.” John Gilmore added, “We’d go down to the barber shops and rehearse some groups. Sun Ra had them singin’ some beautiful stuff. I think he probably was saving the from themselves. He heard them, heard their potential, snatched them off the street, and started making them do something constructive.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis rare festive single from The Qualities, likely recorded around 1956, features Sun Ra as co-composer on both tracks alongside Saturn Records co-founder Alton Abraham. Sun Ra might also be the harmonium player on these recordings. Although two more songs by the group appeared on a Norton Records collection of Ra-related vocal numbers, these are the only known recordings by The Qualities.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFeaturing two newly restored and remastered tracks thanks to Technology Works and housed in an exclusive new 7\" picture sleeve designed by Liam Large.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Strut","offers":[{"title":"7\" - Black","offer_id":50905848054091,"sku":"2228073","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/The_Qualities_Sun_Ra_-_Its_Christmas_Time_-_STRUT347_8a0ad192_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1732856743"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/the-qualities.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}