Suns of Arqa are a world music collective founded in 1979 by Michael Wadada (real name Michael Albert Ward, deceased 2021-10-24). Since the group's formation, over 200 people from around the world have played and recorded with them, and in many cases these were like-minded musicians Wadada met as he travelled the world.Suns Of Arqa Biography Pioneers of World Beat, Ambient, Downtempo and Electro-Dub, Suns of Arqa draw inspiration from around the world, interpreting indigenous, tribal and classical folk traditions. They have created an impressive legacy and earned worldwide recognition.
Early days Suns of Arqa started out in the World Music scene in 1979, recording their debut album Revenge of the Mozabites which was produced by Adrian Sherwood, who later became known for On-U Sound Records. In 1982, they were invited to play at the first WOMAD Festival by Peter Gabriel. They performed with Prince Far-I at Band on the Wall, his last concert before his death in 1983. Since then, they have gone on to work with a variety of musicians and performers, such as John Cooper Clarke, Professor Stanley Unwin, flautist Tim Wheater, Adrian Sherwood, singer Helen Watson and a great many others.
The 1990s and beyond In the early 1990s, Wadada started his own Arka Sound label, and started re-issuing the group's older vinyl albums on new compilation CDs. One of these, Land of a Thousand Churches, was a compilation featuring collaborations with artists such as James Young, Helen Watson and Feso Trombone. His combination of Hindu and Celtic traditions at a musical level became a trademark that ultimately became identifiable as his musical style. A few years later, Suns of Arqa worked with artists such as 808 State, A Guy Called Gerald, John Leckie, Zion Train, Muslimgauze, Youth and Astralasia. The results were a fusion of dub, drum and bass, and the existing styles which Suns of Arqa were associated with.
Live Throughout their career Suns of Arqa have played at various major music festivals, including the Glastonbury Festival, Phoenix Festival and the first WOMAD Festival. By the mid 1990s, the Suns of Arqa live setup added Scottish bagpipes, Indian strings, reggae percussion, and a variety of other instruments and sounds. They have released three live albums to date, Musical Revue (later reissued as Live with Prince Far I), Animan, and Big and Live.
Media NME have described Suns of Arqa albums as "definitely the most unusual records of all time", and added that "Some might call it 'genius'; most will just settle for the word 'insane'. Either way, the result is fascinating", while East West Journal (USA) have said "I'm not at all certain how this band manages to so cohesively merge rhythms no other group in the world has dared to mix, I only know that their music is reverent, humorous, profound, disorientating, terrifying and fantastic all at the same time.". Rick Anderson of AllMusic wrote that "Many bands claim to deal in global fusion music, but few have as firm a claim on the genre as the Suns of Arqa ... Big & Live documents several recent live performances and shows Wadada and his cohorts in top form, delivering everything from Celtic-reggae fusion 'Om Kaaraaya' ... to Asian meditational sounds ... and sounds in between, such as 'Majhi Ra', which adds the keening tones of the shenai to the Celtic-reggae mix. There are fine vocal performances by Angel Eye, Reba Bhaduri and Cat Von Trapp ... some listeners will find this music immediately delightful, while other will probably be mostly puzzled."
Suns of Arqa musicians and collaborators
Michael Wadada (founder, creator of Suns of Arqa since 1979) Angel Eye (since 1989) Sanyogita Kumari (since 1987) Johar Ali Khan (since 1992) Kadir Durvesh (1987–2000) Gagarin (since 1987) John Snelson (1992–1999) Marek Miczyk (1982–1999) John Perkins (1987–1994) Prince Far I (1982–1983) Marcel King (1987) Graham Massey (1987–1990) Raghunath Seth (1992–2010) Youth (since 1992) A Guy Called Gerald (1994) John Leckie (since 1999) Alex Paterson (since 2000) Greg Hunter (since 1992) John Cooper Clarke (1987–2004) Roland Beelen (since 1983) Adrian Sherwood (1979–1980) Style Scott (1980) Chris Joyce (1982–1992) Prince Hammer (1982–1987) Keshav Sathe (1982–1987) Helen Watson (1982–1987) Kenny Margolis (1983–1985) Professor Stanley Unwin (1985–1987) Steve Hopkins (1987) James Young (1987) Roly Wynne (1994–1995) Bryn Jones (1996) Damon Reece (2003) Philippe Falliex (2007) Skip McDonald (2011) Delroy 'Sticksman' Walker (since 1992) Shaun Davis (since 2001) Brian Hyphen (since 2015) DJ Guapo (2005–2009) Kuba (since 2017) Tim Wheater (since 1989) Wayne Worm (1982–1994) Eric Random (1984–1988) Ian Green (1979-1980) Moot Beret (1980–1987) Mark Stone (1980) Tony Sullivan (1980) Anton Behrendt (1982) Big Red (1982–1983) Chris Gill (1982) Marie Louise Jackson (1982) Brian Jones (1982) Mustaphafakir (1982–1983) Danny Sheals (1982–1987) John 'JJ' Slater (1982-1983) Snuff (1982) Spliff (1982–1983) Tony Trundel (1982) Aziz Zeria (1982–1985) Kalu Zeria (1982–1995) Papu Zeria (1982–1983) Steve Cyclepath (1983) The Legendary Leperds (1983) Keith 'Lizard' Logan (1983–1987) John Scott (1983–1985) Amar Singh (1983) Doctor Himadri Chaudhuri (1984–1985) Doreen Edwards (1984–1985) Madastra (1984) Vocal Harders (1985) Martin Harrison (1985) Stalwart (1985–1987) Feso Trombone (1985) Kwasi Asante (1987–1994) Daniel Broad (1987) Kendal Ernest (1987) Khalid (1987) Paula McKennol (1987) Denyse MacNamara (1987) Phil Mullen (1987) Cliff Stapleton (1987) Sarah Wildwitch (1987) Colin Wood (1987) Country Culture (1988) Country Rankin (1988–1996) Clare 'Ireti' Durrant (1989–1996) Nicolas Magriel (since 1989) Hassan Makki (1989) Sandeep Popatkar (1989–1994) Phil Kirby (1991–1992) Reba Bhaduri (1992–1995) Sumit Bhaduri (1992) Sam McGrady (1992) Dhevdhas Nair (1992–1994) Wizard (1993–1996) Quentin Budworth (1994-1996) Garbi Armii (1995–2003) Alex Fiennes (1995–1996) Srirangam S Kannan (1995) Rick 'The Switch' Turner (1995) Alan DeCampos (1996–1997) Lamin Jassey (1996) Allan Martin (1996) Abu Mustafa (1996) Thierry 'Lion Man' Negro (1996) Eric Trochu (1996) Cod (1999) Arif Durvesh (1999) Gayan Uttejak Orchestra (1999–2003) Laszlo Hortobagyi (1999–2001) Shahbaz Hussain (1999–2002) RJ Simms (1999) Becky Spellar (1999) Cat Von Trapp (1999) Clive Wills (1999–2013) Lyne Okey (2001) Geshela Ngaqang Sherap (2001) Agnieszka Jablonska (2003) Kasha (2003) Khaya (2003) Joe McGill (2003) Gita Sparkle (2005) Michael Ormiston (2009) Candida Valentino (2009) David Hendry (2011) Maren Lueg (2011) Chas Whitaker (2011) Steve York (2011) Alan McLeod (2018–2019)
Discography Albums Title Format Released Record label Catalogue No Additional notes Revenge of the Mozabites LP 1979 Rocksteady Records MICKL01 Wadada Magic (Vol III) LP 1983 Antler Subway ANTLER 024 India? (Vol IV) LP 1984 Rocksteady Records 1 GIL Ark of the Arqans (Vol 5) LP 1985 Scarface MFACE11 Seven LP 1987 Rocksteady Records ARKA 7 The Musical Revue MC 1988 ROIR Europe A-161 1982 live concert featuring Prince Far I White Band Speak With Forked Tongue MC 1989 Bop Cassettes BIP 403 Jaggernaut LP 1989 Antler/Subway ANT 104 Alap-Joe-Jhala LP/CD/MC 1992 Arka Sound ARKA 2102 CD 13-track album Kokoromochi LP/CD/MC Feb 1992 Arka Sound ARKA 2104 CD 6-track album, includes 'Kalashree' and 'Vairabi' from 'India?', and 'Sanskrit Hymn' from 'Ark of the Arqans'. LP version does not include the two 'India?' tracks. Shabda CD 1995 Arka Sound ARKA 2109 CD 14-track album Animan CD 1996 Arka Sound ARKA 2110 CD 11-track live album SOA meet Gâyan Uttejak Orchestra CD 1999 Arqa Sound ARKA CD 22113 8-track album Cosmic Jugalbandi CD 1999 Arka Sound ARKA CD 22115 12-track album Un1verse City CD 2001 Arka Sound/EMI 7243 5 34968 2 1 8-track album Magiczna Miłość CD 2003 Arka Sound ARKA CD 33124 11-track album, including 3 tracks from 'Wadada Magic' ('Brujo Magic', 'Steppin to the Music', 'The Step'), sleeve designed by Skip Sommerville Hallucinasia CD Nov 2005 Arka Sound ARKA CD 33125 12-track album, sleeve designed by Skip Sommerville Big and Live CD Feb 2006 Arka Sound ARKA CD 33129 12-track live album, including 3 remixes based on tracks from 'Musical Revue', sleeve designed by Skip Sommerville Scared Sacred CD 2009 Dragonfly Records BFLCD90 7-track album Know Thyself CD 2010 Interchill Records ICHILL CD 040 4-track album Stranger Music CD/DVD Apr 2011 Arka Sound ARKA CD 33137 15-track album packaged with 12-track Live DVD All Is Not Lost, But Where Is It ? CD Mar 2015 Liquid Sound Design LSD91CD 7-track album Wadada CD 26 February 2016 Tracks & Traces Footprint 201502 11-track album including remixes Spiritual Sanity in an Insane Society Digital 11 April 2016 Arka Sound ARKA CD 33139 18-track album including new tracks, new Brian Hyphen remix, and older rarities 23,789 Day Excursion To Planet Earth Digital 18 November 2016 Arka Sound ARKA CD 33141 15-track album including new tracks, older rarities, and remixes by Adrian Sherwood, Brian Hyphen, Astralasia and others The Space Mountain Sessions Digital 13 December 2017 Arka Sound 6-track album including live recordings from Space Mountain Festival, and remixes by Kuba Pressure Drop - A Tribute to Lizard Logan Digital 11 March 2018 Arka Sound ARKA CD 33144 10-track album of old Suns of Arqa recordings covering classic reggae tracks, including mixes and edits by Adrian Sherwood, John Brierley and Brian Hyphen Cape Town Rock Digital 27 April 2018 Arka Sound ARKA CD 33145 11-track album including new single 'Cape Town Rock', live recordings from Cape Town, and remixes by Youth, Astralasia, Gaudi, Gagarin, and Brian Hyphen Ambyss Digital 6 January 2019 Arka Sound ARKA 33151 4-track album including live recordings from Ozora Festival, Hungary August 2018 Bringing Light to the New World Disorder 4xCD 27 March 2020 Digital Reprints DR010LE 59-track box set of rarities, produced by Michael Wadada, mixed by Brian Hyphen The Wolf of Badenoch CD 5 June 2020 Arka Sound ARKACD 33149 12-track album produced by Michael Wadada, arranged and mixed by Brian Hyphen Live At Télérama Digital 5 March 2021 Arka Sound ARKA33156 8-track live album recorded in Paris in 2006
Remix albums Title Format Released Record label Catalogue No Additional notes Jaggernaut (Whirling Dub) CD 1992 Arka Sound ARKA 2103 CD Remixed from Jaggernaut LP Cradle CD/MC 1992 Earthsounds CDEASM 004 Remixed from Jaggernaut LP Total Eclipse of the Suns CD 1995 Arka Sound ARKA 2108 CD First album of individual remixes Remixes Vol 2 & 3 2CD 1998 Echo Beach LC 2188 Technomor CD 2001 Arka Sound ARKA CD 22116-2 Subtitled 'Remixes Vol 4' Muslim Gauze CD 2001 Arka Sound ARKA CD 22120 Remix album by 'Muslimgauze' Bryn Jones Cradle (new remix) CD 2002 Arka Sound ARKA CD 33122 Remixed from Jaggernaut LP, sleeve designed by Skip Sommerville All Is Not Lost, All Is Dub Digital 10 December 2015 Liquid Sound Design (None) 7-track album of remixes Kuba Mixes Digital 5 February 2021 Arka Sound ARKA33155 Remix album by Kuba
Re-issues