Hartmut GEERKEN – Michael RANTA
“The Heliopolar Egg”

Documentary recordings of Hartmut Geerken and Michael Ranta’s November and December 1976 tour of the Middle East and East Asia. Geerken is known for his long relationship with Sun Ra including compiling a discography), but he wears many other hats too: musician, film-maker, archivist. Ranta is a percussionist best known for his famous “Improvisation Sep.1975” collaborative
record with Toshi Ichiyanagi and Takehisa Kosugi. This is a CD reissue of an LP boxset, originally released in 2010 as the last release on the now dormant Italian label Qbico. The tour started in Iran before moving east to India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Korea, and ending in Japan. At their show in Osaka, they played together with Toshi Ichiyanagi. This edition includes the concert with Ichiyanagi, solo performances by Ichiyanagi and Shoko Shida, as well as a rare Delhi performance that was originally only included in the highly limited 6LP edition of the Qbico set. All the tracks overflow with rich multi-dimensionality, providing a glimpse of Ranta and Geerken’s depth as performers.
Boxset. Includes a 12-page booklet with flyers from the period.
Limited edition of 500.
Disc 1. rec. November 25; Baghe Ferdows-Zafaranieh, Teheran, Iran. rec. December 1; Max Mueller Bhavan, Delhi, India. rec. December 3/4; Max Mueller Bhavan, Calcutta, India.
Disc 2. rec. December 8, German Cultural Institute in co-op with the Academy of the Arts, Dacca, Bangladesh.
Disc 3. rec. December 13; Abelardo Inner Green (open air) in co-op with the U.P. College of Music, Manila, Philippines.
Disc 4. rec. December 15; Korea Drama Center, Seoul, Korea.
Disc 5. rec. December 18, Goethe-Institute, Osaka, Japan.