We Travel the Spaceways was recorded at a handful of sessions in Chicago from 1956-1959, possibly 1960. Although several of the tunes also appear on other '50s-era recordings, as usual, personnel and arrangements differ from album to album. Many of the tunes are quite bluesy, with timpani, bells, and percussion adding an exotic flair, but the big event here is the appearance of the "space chant," which would become an
Arkestra calling card for decades to come. The band was starting to shed its bop tendencies in favor of a more personalized sound, but aside from the novelty aspect of the space chants, nothing on this album gets too far out. The three sessions represented here demonstrate the rapid evolution of the Chicago
Arkestra from an interesting bop-influenced ensemble to the singular antics of the world's first space-age jazz outfit. [This release was remastered and co-produced by
Michael D. Anderson (of the
Sun Ra Music Archive) and
Irwin Chusid, under the auspices of
Sun Ra LLC, the heirs of the late music legend. Original session tapes were used when available and sound quality should surpass all previous CD/digital editions.] ~ Sean Westergaard