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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card
    Download available in 24-bit/96kHz.

      £7 GBP  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Comes in a deluxe matte laminate gatefold sleeve and polylined paper inner sleeve

    Original 1969 BYG album
    Restored and remastered from the original BYG tapes
    Insert featuring exclusive liner notes by jazz writer Kevin Le Gendre

    Includes unlimited streaming of Luna Surface via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 24-bit/96kHz.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £25 GBP or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in a deluxe matte laminate digi sleeve and printed inner wallet

    Original 1969 BYG album
    Digitally mastered from restored BYG tapes
    16-page booklet featuring archival photos & exclusive essay by jazz expert Kevin Le Gendre

    Includes unlimited streaming of Luna Surface via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 24-bit/96kHz.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £13 GBP or more 

     

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about

A landmark in avant-garde jazz returns: the definitive, remastered edition of Alan Silva’s 1969 Paris session for BYG’s Actuel series. Leading his 11-piece Celestial Communication Orchestra — with titans like Anthony Braxton, Archie Shepp, and Grachan Moncur III — Silva channels the raw, boundary-pushing energy of the New York free jazz explosion. Deluxe packaging, restored artwork, and new liner notes by Kevin Le Gendre complete this long-sought treasure.

Originally released in 1969, this explosive, large-scale work by Silva’s Celestial Communication Orchestra remains a towering achievement in free jazz and avant-garde composition.
Born in Bermuda and raised in Harlem, Alan Silva was a key figure in the New York avant-garde scene, performing with visionaries such as Albert Ayler, Sun Ra, and Cecil Taylor.

With Luna Surface, he reached new creative heights, leading a transatlantic ensemble of American and European improvisers. Together, these musicians create a sound that is richly layered — uproarious, torrid, and intensely moving.
Comprising two lengthy pieces, From the Luna Surface (Parts 1 & 2), the album unfolds like a constantly shifting landscape of sound, full of the boundless originality one would expect from such a talented group under Silva’s skilled direction.
Rooted in the legacy of Charles Mingus yet boldly forward-looking, Silva’s music reflects not just the unrest of the late '60s, but a yearning for unity, transcendence, and deeper cosmic understanding.

Luna Surface was — and remains — a radical proposition: music not just to entertain, but to transform.
This deluxe reissue offers a timely rediscovery of a work that still feels futuristic — a sonic reminder that the search for new worlds, whether musical or metaphysical, remains as urgent as ever.

credits

released October 10, 2025

PERSONNEL

Bernard Vitet (trumpet, French horn)
Grachan Moncur III (trombone)
Archie Shepp (soprano sax)
Kenneth Terroade (tenor sax)
Dave Burrell (piano)
Alan Silva (violin)
Leroy Jenkins (violin, viola)
Beb Guérin and Malachi Favors (basses)
Claude Delcloo (drums)

Produced by: Jean Karakos and Jean-Luc Young.
Coordination: Jacques Bisceglia.
Engineer: Claude Jauvert.
Recorded August 17, 1969, Paris.
Photos: Jacques Bisceglia.
All tunes published by: Charly Publishing Ltd
All tunes arranged by: Alan Silva

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

BYG Records London, UK

Pioneering French independent record label launched in 1967.

Avant-Garde / Free Jazz / Experimental / Psychedelic & Prog Rock

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