Jazz Archives

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.

:::Review by Stephen Cook:::

Sun Ra - Space Is The Place (1972)

1. Space Is The Place 21:14
2. Images 6:15
3 Discipline 4:50
4. Sea Of Sounds 7:42
5. Rocket Number Nine 2:50

Credits
Alto Saxophone – Danny Davis (tracks: 4), Marshall Allen (tracks: 4)
Art Direction – Hollis King
Baritone Saxophone – Danny Ray Thompson (tracks: 1), Pat Patrick (tracks: 4)
Bass Clarinet – Eloe Omoe (tracks: 1, 5)
Composed By, Arranged By – Sun Ra
Design [Graphic Design] – Senora Brown
Drums – Lex Humphries (tracks: 4)
Electric Bass – Pat Patrick (tracks: 1, 2)
Engineer – Baker Bigsby
Engineer [Assistant] – Dominic Lumetta, Jim Dolan, Mitch Hennes, Preston Wakeland, Steve Skinder
Flugelhorn – Akh Tal Ebah (tracks: 4)
Flute – Danny Davis (tracks: 3), Danny Ray Thompson (tracks: 3), Eloe Omoe (tracks: 3), Marshall Allen (tracks: 3)
Organ [Space (farfisa)] – Sun Ra (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 5)
Other [Poems From Original Liner Notes Bts-41] – Sun Ra
Percussion – Atakatune (tracks: 4), Odun (tracks: 4)
Photography – Jim Newman, Chuck Stewart
Piano – Sun Ra (tracks: 2)
Producer [Original Sessions] – Alton Abraham, Ed Michel
Reissue Producer – Ed Michel
Tenor Saxophone – John Gilmore (tracks: 2, 3, 4)
Trumpet – Akh Tal Ebah (tracks: 2), Kwame Hadi (tracks: 2, 4)
Vocals – Akh Tal Ebah (tracks: 1), Danny Ray Thompson (tracks: 5), John Gilmore (tracks: 1, 5), Pat Patrick (tracks: 5)
Vocals [Space Ethnic Voices] – Cheryl Banks (tracks: 1, 5), Judith Holton (tracks: 1, 5), June Tyson (tracks: 1, 5), Ruth Wright (tracks: 1, 5)

Notes
Recorded October 19 and 20 (Sea Of Sounds, Rocket Number Nine), 1972, at Streeterville Recording Studio, Chicago.
Mixed at The Village Recorder, Los Angeles.
The Arkestra and Space Ethnic Voices perform with permission from El Saturn Records.
"Note: Space Is The Place was originally released on Blue Thumb Records in 1973 as BTS-41. Impulse  producer Ed Michel supervised the recording session.

Impulse, then owned by ABC, was releasing many of Sun Ra's albums under a distribution agreement with Saturn Records during the same time. For these reasons Space In The Place has been returned to its rightful place on Impulse." In digipak case.
(P) 1988 MCA Records, Inc. & (C) 1972 MCA Records, Inc. & 1998 GRP Records, Inc.