‘As all Marines are rifleman, all members of the Arkestra are percussionists.’ (liner notes)
This Sun Ra release, or at least my version, is on the Impulse label, not Ra’s own Saturn imprint. The cover sees Ra resplendent in full Crypto-Egypto regalia.
What was side one of the vinyl is now simply the epic opening/title track. ‘Space Is The Place’ has come to be very much identified with Ra and his Arkestra, as it was also the title of a 1974 film about them and their music.
The piece is structured around various riffs or motifs, some instrumental, some vocal. These elements weave a rug like tapestry on which the Arkestra and Ra ride, magic carpet style.
The track is loooong! At over twenty minutes. Poss’ outstaying it’s welcome? And in the latter stages gets rather stripped down, to relatively minimalist chanting, and Ra going all ‘lunar’ on his ‘space (Farfisa) organ’! I can imagine that live it might’ve been more compelling in its wacky intensity.
Side two is made up of four tracks. ‘Images’ is actually rather lovely. With Ra on acoustic piano, and a fairly ‘old-fashioned’ or straight ahead jazziness about it. Pat Patrick’s slightly out of tune electric bass helps remind us we’re on Planet Ra. And when the big band horns kick in…
‘Discipline’ is, along with ‘Images’, possibly my favourite on this recording, being one of the mellower and more ‘accessible’ numbers. The horns and wind arrangement are fascinating. I love how the piccolo-esque high flute parts dovetail into the mid- and lower register reed sounds. And the bass clarinet is fab.
The percussion on ‘Discipline’ is so very Ra; multi-layered, semi feral, chaotic, and utterly wonderful. He gets his Arkestra to layer cymbal sounds and bubbling percolating hand drums in a unique way. I love it!
‘Sea of Sounds’ is a mini-free-jazz-epic, and lives up to its title. I’m not a massive fan of free jazz. Esp’ not when it’s manic and atonal, as it is here. I can’t imagine listening to this track often! That said, Ra and co bring a sense of form and purpose to proceedings much free jazz lacks.
‘Rocket Number Nine’ is kind of nutty. It was released as a 45 rpm single (as was ‘Discipline’), on Ra’s Saturn label. That tells you all you need to know about Ra, et al. Almost nobody else on this planet would think of this manic chant based piece as single material. But that’s the whole point with Ra!
So, in summary, a mixed and interesting bunch. As usual with Ra, boring it ain’t. There are some great passages, and some terrific sounds. And whilst I’m not equally keen on everything, it all bears Ra’s hallmarks, and is a refreshing dose of pan-galactic Afro-Ameri-Egypto weirdness that is well worth hearing
As a footnote: the liner notes reproduce segments of Ra’s writings, which are semi-poetic screeds, that I find rather wonderful. I must get hold of his 1972 written anthologies.