Evidence Records will release four reissues and a double-disc set of previously unavailable recordings from the late, great, space-warped big-band leader Sun Ra on Sept. 26. The CDs include Greatest Hits: Easy Listening for Intergalactic Travel, When Angels Speak of Love, Lanquidity, Pathways to Unknown Worlds and The Great Lost Sun Ra Albums: Cymbals and Crystal Spears. Cymbals and Crystal Spears originally were produced for the Impulse label. ...

In other Sun Ra news, the Atavistic label has released Spaceways Incorporated: Thirteen Cosmic Standards by Sun Ra & Funkadelic, performed by a Chicago power trio of saxophonist Ken Vandermark, bassist Nate McBride and drummer Hamid Drake. Sun Ra started his career in Chicago (after departing Saturn, of course) and was a huge influence on all the creative strands that have emerged from the Windy City, including the Art Ensemble of Chicago. ...

Rocker Lenny Kravitz and Medeski Martin & Wood bassist Chris Wood sat in with saxophonist Karl Denson's Tiny Universe during the band's show Saturday (Aug. 5) at New York's Bowery Ballroom. Denson, who served as a sideman for Kravitz on his debut album Let Love Rule(1989) and its follow-up, Mama Said(1991), is amid a U.S. solo tour that wraps at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium on Sept. 22–23 before he heads back out Oct. 6 in Philadelphia. Actor Denzel Washington also was in attendance at the Bowery. ...

French horn specialist and composer David Amram will be honored Aug. 12 by the Hollywood Arts Council as part of this year's Jazz Pilgrimage Series in Tinsel Town. Trumpeter Jack Sheldon, trombonist Bob Enevoldsen, saxophonist Lanny Morgan and others will join Amram as they perform music from the score he composed for the Jack Kerouac film "Pull My Daisy." The event, titled "Hipsters, Jazz and the Beat Generation," will have images, film clips and readings that pay tribute to the Beat generation. For more information, check out www.discoverhollywood.com/arts.htm. ...

Blue Note will open its new club and cafe Aug. 17 in Las Vegas with inaugural performances by singer Lou Rawls and Nancy Wilson throughout the weekend. Also booked into the club are the Duke Ellington Orchestra, singer Cassandra Wilson, pianist Chick Corea, guitarist Pat Metheny and saxophonist David Sanborn. This is the latest addition to the Blue Note franchise. Currently, there is one Blue Note in New York, three in Japan and one is expected to open in Seoul, South Korea. The organization is also looking at Paris, Rome, and three more U.S. cities as possible venue sites. For more information, see www.bluenotejazz.com. ...

Pianist Jon Jang, Circle of Fire featuring tabla master Zakir Hussain, Melody of China and saxophonist Francis Wong are performing at this year's Asian American Jazz Festival in the San Francisco Bay Area on Sept. 22–24. The event also will be host to the world premiere of "Wave Twister" — an animation film written, produced and composed by DJ Qbert formerly of Invisibl Skratch Piklz and illustrated by graffiti artist Doug Cunningham. Visit www.asianart.org/programs/performances.htm for more information. ...

Looks like the Buena Vista Social Club film and CD have fomented Cuban jazz fever in Japan. Guitarist Eliades Ochoa singer Ibrahim Ferrer, pianist Ruben Gonzales and singer Omara Portuondo are all scheduled for performances in Japan before the end of the summer. Juan de Marcos Gonzales' Afro-Cuban Allstars also will head to the Far East for a tour starting in October. ...

Singer extraordinaire Jimmy Scott, resurgent saxophonist Stanley Turrentine and Satchmo trumpet devotee Kermit Ruffins and his Barbecue Swingers are among the jazz acts at the Ann Arbor (Mich.) Blues & Jazz Festival Sept. 15–17. For more info check out http://a2.blues.jazzfest.org/hist/2000/2000.html. ... In an article in the Aug. 4 Christian Science Monitor, Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University in New York, said: " 'Survivor' and 'Big Brother' are to TV what jazz is to music." Yeah, right. ...

Drum master Andrew Cyrille, saxophonist Ellery Eskelin and former Mother's of Invention pianist Don Preston are among the artists at the Spruce Street Forum Music Series Oct. 14 through Dec 16 in San Diego. The event consists of six concerts with musicians from the United States, Canada and Europe. Other performers include saxophonist Oliver Lake, drummer Han Bennink, pianist Paul Plimley and percussionist Le Quan Ninh. For more info, visit www.sprucestreetforum.com/index.zhtml?action=music. ...

Fabulous Danish big band Pierre Dorge and the New Jungle Orchestra are playing their only U.S. dates of the year this month. They will be at the Eddie Moore Jazz Festival on Aug. 13 in Oakland, Calif. (with Danish-born saxophonist John Tchicai sitting in), then at the Earshot Aug. 14–15 in Seattle and finally, at the Hothouse Aug. 17 in Chicago. ...

Pianist Chick Corea will make his only U.S. solo performances on a double bill with pianist John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet at New York's Blue Note from Aug. 29 through Sept. 3. Before that he'll play solo in Norway, Japan and Korea. After his solo gigs, Corea will perform trio dates with bassist Avishai Cohen and drummer Jeff Ballard, the core of the pianist's group Origin. The three plan to record a CD Sept. 17 at the Las Vegas Blue Note for release on Stretch in spring 2001. ...

TBA-TV, the broadcast unit of TBA Entertainment Corporation, will air the "Montreaux Festival on Tour" on pay-per-view on Sept. 4 from the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville, Wash. The live broadcast will show performances by singer Al Jarreau, pianist/singer Roberta Flack, pianist Joe Sample, saxophonist David Sanborn and pianist George Duke. For more information, visit www.tbaent.com/tbatv/showlistings.html. ...

The Monterey Jazz Festival is auctioning off eight front-row box seats at the Jimmy Lyons stage, starting at $9,000. The winner will be able to watch guitarist Pat Metheny, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, singer Dianne Reeves and others from 12 feet away on Sept. 15–17. The auction lasts until Aug. 18 and is raised in $1,000 increments. Proceeds from the auction go to the Festival's Jazz Education Programs. For more information go to www.montereyjazzfestival.org. ...

— sonicnet.com staff report