For more than two decades alto saxophonist Marshall Allen has carried on the legacy and sound of the Sun Ra Arkestra - he turned 98 in 2022 and as evidenced by Living Sky, his influence and leadership remain undiminished. On the group's first recording since the pandemic and their Grammy nomination, bandleader Marshall Allen and company give us something we can hold onto, an instrumental album rich in spirituality to guide us through the unknown yet again. The album includes the first studio recording of Sun Ra's elaboration of Frederic Chopin's "Prelude in A Major", first instrumental recording of Ra's "Somebody Else's Idea". Features Allen's "Day of the Living Sky", a meditative work that is a belated response to Sun Ra's composition "Night of the Living Sky" which is also featured in the album.
Omni Sound - Living Sky - Sun Ra Arkestra - Living Sky includes the first instrumental recording of Ra's "Somebody Else's Idea," originally recorded in 1955 and again in 1970 for proper release on 1971's My Brother The Wind, Vol II. Without June Tyson's fierce vocal presence, "Somebody Else's Idea" feels more measured, allowing for the hovering harmonic movement to glide into the foreground with the horns modulating their volume and presence in each cycle and bringing in new details, whether it be the mewling trumpets of Michael Ray and Cecil Brooks or the seeking sound flurries blow by Allen on Electronic Valve Instrument.