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Space Is the Place (soundtrack)

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Space Is the Place
Soundtrack album by
Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Solar Arkestra
Releasedmid-/late 1993
Recordedearly 1972, Oakland, California
GenreJazz
Length74:21
LabelEvidence Music
ProducerIhnfinity Inc. (music), Jerry Gordon (CD)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Penguin Guide to Jazz(8th ed.) ()

Space is the Place is an album by Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Solar Arkestra. The music was recorded in early 1972 in San Francisco, California for the film Space Is the Place.[2] However, the music remained unreleased until Evidence Music issued a compact disc in 1993.[2]

During the late-1960s and early-1970s, Sun Ra and his ensemble made several forays to California. In 1971, Sun Ra taught a course, "The Black Man in the Cosmos," at University of California, Berkeley.[3] Over the course of these California visits, Sun Ra came to the attention of Jim Newman, who produced the film Space Is the Place starring Sun Ra and his Arkestra, and based, in part, on Sun Ra's Berkeley lectures.[3] The soundtrack CD compiles 16 tracks that Sun Ra recorded for the film.

Critical reception

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The Penguin Guide to Jazz describes the album as "a brisk montage of Arkestra music....[I]t works remarkably well and the playing is tight and enigmatic."[3] The Penguin editors also note that "Mysterious Crystal" is of particular interest, with the track "combining a huge array of elements into something that simply cannot be characterized by reference to any other music."[3] Ron Wynn of Allmusic describes the tracks as being "among Sun Ra's most ambitious, unorthodox, and compelling compositions."[4]

Track listing

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All compositions and arrangements by Sun Ra.

  1. "It's After the End of the World" – 3:25
  2. "Under Different Stars" – 3:55
  3. "Discipline 33" – 3:22
  4. "Watusa" – 7:11
  5. "Calling Planet Earth" – 3:04
  6. "I Am the Alter-Destiny" – 1:08
  7. "Satellites Are Spinning" – 2:33
  8. "Cosmic Forces" – 3:09
  9. "Outer Spaceways Incorporated"– 3:00
  10. "We Travel the Spaceways" – 2:28
  11. "The Overseer" – 3:04
  12. "Blackman/Love in Outer Space" – 16:53
  13. "Mysterious Crystal" – 5:53
  14. "I Am the Brother of the Wind" – 5:54
  15. "We'll Wait for You" – 4:11
  16. "Space Is the Place" – 4:23

Personnel

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Release history

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Region Date Label Format Catalog
Worldwide 1993 Evidence Music CD ECD 22070-2

References

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  1. ^ Wynn, Ron. Space Is the Place at AllMusic
  2. ^ a b Space Is the Place (CD booklet). Sun Ra. Conshohocken, PA: Evidence Music. 1993. ECD 22070-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ^ a b c d Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2006) [1992]. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (8th ed.). New York: Penguin. pp. 1247. ISBN 0-14-102327-9.
  4. ^ Wynn, Ron (1994). All Music Guide to Jazz. San Francisco: Miller Freeman. p. 610. ISBN 0-87930-308-5.