Mark the centenary of Sun Ra‘s birth with some bank-busting keepsakes.

An eBay entry is currently touting a clutch of “historic master tapes, stampers, and mothers” from the stargazing jazz icon, supposedly dating from his various stints at New York’s Variety Recording Studio from the 1960s through to the 1980s. According to the seller – Variety Studio founder Warren Allen Smith – the collection runs to ten discs, plus two which “might or might not be Sun Ra”. The haul supposedly includes material produced with occasional collaborator John Cage, plus various pieces of documentation and Sun Ra ephemera (see the letter below).

Bidding on the discs starts at $20,000, although the profligate can snap the bundle up right now for $26,000. Those hoping to recoup their costs by setting up a cottage industry of bespoke Sun Ra editions might be disappointed: as Smith points out, the metal stampers are probably too antiquated to allow any further vinyl pressings:

“The metal stampers/mothers are sold as a batch with the caveat that, unless a pressing plant with equipment similar to that used in the 1960s to 1980s can be found, no pressings could be made. It is possible that none  of the present stampers can be used to make further pressings. However, it might be possible to digitize the data in order that a digital master could be created for digitally downloadable and CD creations.”

Bidding ends on April 15. It’s not the only lost artefact currently getting online bidders in a tizz: an apparent test pressing of Aphex Twin’s unreleased album under the Caustic Window moniker is currently on Discogs for $13,500.

[via SPIN]