Part of Music City Mondays
Afrofuturist sci-fi, blaxploitation, cosmic free-jazz and radical race politics combine when Sun Ra returns to earth in his music-powered spaceship to battle for the future of the Black race and offer an “alter-destiny” to those who would join him. Intentionally created as an homage to the low-budget science fiction films of the ‘50s and ‘60s, SPACE IS THE PLACE became a visual embodiment of Sun Ra’s Afro-Egyptian myth of salvation in outer space. The special effects, outrageous plot line and apocalyptic message harmonize with the otherworldly score — and a climactic live performance by one of the most innovative and profound groups in jazz history, led to this day by 99-year-old mainstay saxophonist Marshall Allen.
“SPACE IS THE PLACE has more than a few hokey moments, but it also illuminates Ra's work. For him, outer space wasn't just a gimmick or a convenient source of song titles. It was a zone where racism was inoperative.” —Jon Pareles, New York Times (Sep 3, 1993)