Sun Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, legal name Le Sony'r Ra; May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993) was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a 1979 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. 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. Line-up / Musicians Sun Ra/Piano,space organ Akh Tal Ebah,trumpet,vocals Kwame Hadi/trumpet Marshall Allen/saxophone,flute Danny Davis/saxophone,flute John Gilmore/saxophone/vocals Danny Thompson/saxophone,flute,vocals Eloe Omoe/clarinet,flute Pat Patrick/bass,saxophone,vocals Lex Humphries/drums Stanley Morgan/percussion Russel Branch/percussion Discography(Album) Space Is the Place 1973
1.Space is the Place 2.Images 3.Discipline 4.Sea of Sounds 5.Rocket Number Nine
