Sun Ra

• GATEFOLD SLEEVE

• 5 STARS ALL MUSIC GUIDE

Space Is the Place provides an excellent introduction to Sun Ra's vast and free-form jazz catalog. Typical of many Sun Ra recordings, the program is varied; earthbound songs, like the swing number "Images" and Egyptian exotica piece "Discipline," fit right in with more space-age cuts, like the tumultuous "Sea of Sounds" and the humorous "Rocket Number Nine." Sun Ra fuses many of these styles on the sprawling title cut, as interlocking harmonies, African percussion, manic synthesizer lines, and joyous ensemble blowing all jell into some sort of church revival of the cosmos. Throughout the recording, Sun Ra displays his typically wide-ranging talents on space organ and piano, reed players John Gilmore and Marshall Allen contribute incisive and intense solos, and June Tyson masterfully leads the Space Ethnic Voices on dreamy vocal flights. This is a fine recording and a must for Sun Ra fans. - All Music Guide

PERSONNEL:

• • Sun Ra (piano, Space Organ [Farfisa], Minimoog, Rocksichord, vocals); • Akh Tal Ebah (trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals); • Lamont McClamb [Kwame Hadi] (trumpet, percussion); • Marshall Allen (alto sax, flute, percussion); • Danny Davis (alto sax, flute, alto clarinet, percussion); • Larry Northington (alto sax, conga, percussion); • John Gilmore (tenor sax, drums, vocals); • Pat Patrick (tenor sax, baritone sax, flute, electric bass, vocals); • Danny Ray Thompson (baritone sax, flute, libflecto, percussion, vocals); • Eloe Omoe (bass clarinet, flute, percussion); • Lex Humphries (drums, percussion); • Robert Underwood [Aye Aton] (drums); • Harry Richards (drums, percussion); • Alzo Wright (drums, percussion); • Stanley Morgan [Atakatune] (conga, percussion); • Russell Branch [Odun] (conga, percussion); • June Tyson, • Ruth • Wright, • Cheryl Banks, • Judith Holton (space ethnic voices).

TRACKS:

• SIDE A
• A1. Space Is The Place ........ 21:14

• SIDE B
• B1. Images ......... 6:15
• B2. Discipline 33........4:15
• B3. Sea Of Sound.........7:42
• B4. Rocket Number Nine........2:50