Sun Ra Arkestra, Union Chapel, Islington, London (GB) - 31 mars 2017

Saw this band years ago when Sun Ra himself was still around. The musicians are all different now of course, apart from Marshall Allen (alto sax, electronic instruments and bandleader) who at the amazing age of 92 vigorously led the show. The rest of the band: Knoel Scott alto sax, James Stewart tenor sax/flute, Danny Ray Thompson baritone sax/flute, Cecil Brooks trumpet, Dave Davis trombone, Dave Hotep guitar, George Burton piano, Tyler Mitchell double bass, Wayne Anthony Smith Jr drums, Elson Nascimento percussion, Tara Middleton singer + various percussion and singing by most of the musicians. Dressed in their trademark intergalactic mock-ups, the orchestra played the accustomed repertoire of space-related numbers (the most familiar being Space Is The Place). The music had the weird sound effects you would expect but the bedrock of it all was solid jazz playing based on earlier forms, even giving us a piece by Fletcher Henderson. A wonderful mishmash.