Sun Ra - Space Is The Place (1973)

"Space Is the Place" provides an excellent introduction to Sun Ra's vast and free-form jazz catalog. It is a wonderful 1972 recording with the 'definitive' version of the title track, and some very nice shorter pieces too.

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. 

It is impossible, given the breadth and depth of Ra's work, as well as the fact that most of the albums which he recorded are out-of-print and owned only by a select few collectors, to attempt to trace Ra's career with any thoroughness in less than a hundred pages or so. You find some overview to Sun Ra's life and music on http://www.furious.com/perfect/sunra.html and an interview with John F. Szwed about his superb Sun Ra biography "Space Is The Place" on http://www.furious.com/Perfect/sunra2.html.

Tracklist:

A	Space Is The Place Baritone Saxophone – Danny Thompson* Bass – Pat Patrick Bass Clarinet – Eloe Omoe Organ [Space] – Sun Ra Vocals [Space Ethnic] – Akh Tal Ebah, Cheryl Banks, John Gilmore, Judith Holton, June Tyson, Ruth Wright	21:14
B1	Images Bass – Pat Patrick Piano – Sun Ra Tenor Saxophone – John Gilmore Trumpet – Akh Tal Ebah, Lamont McClamb	6:15
B2	Discipline 33 Flute – Danny Davis, Danny Thompson*, Eloe Omoe, Marshall Allen Organ [Space] – Sun Ra Tenor Saxophone – John Gilmore Trumpet – Lamont McClamb	4:50
B3	Sea Of Sound Alto Saxophone – Danny Davis, Marshall Allen Baritone Saxophone – Pat Patrick Drums – Lex Humphries Flugelhorn [Fugelhorn] – Akh Tal Ebah Organ [Space] – Sun Ra Percussion – Russell Branch, Stanley Morgan Tenor Saxophone – John Gilmore Trumpet – Lamont McClamb	7:42
B4	Rocket Number Nine Bass Clarinet – Eloe Omoe Organ [Space] – Sun Ra Vocals [Space Ethnic] – Cheryl Banks, Danny Thompson*, John Gilmore, Judith Holton, June Tyson, Pat Patrick, Ruth Wright	2:50

Sun Ra - Space Is The Place (1973)
(256 kbps, front cover included)