Bassist Tyler Mitchell was a member of Sun Ra's Arkestra in the mid-1980s and has been a key player in that cosmic ensemble's resurgence under Marshall Allen's direction. He's also proven himself to be an adroit arranger of Ra's catalogue for smaller groups, as evidenced on 2021's Dancing Shadows – a sextet date – and now this affectionate session for octet, recorded live at Smalls Jazz Club in New York.

For the most part, Mitchell concentrates on numbers that emphasise Ra's debt to, and abiding passion for, swing-era greats like Fletcher Henderson, injecting much joie de vivre into early Ra stompers such as ‘Care Free’ and ‘Velvet’ – and skilfully converting their Big Band heft into lithe swingers with neatly interlocking front-line arrangements for trumpet, tenor and alto. As on Dancing Shadows, the indefatigable Allen – now 98 years old – is the moon rock in the ointment, roughing up the smooth charts with his unmistakably raw and vinegary alto yelp, and sounding utterly at home on Ra classics such as the irrepressibly hip ‘Discipline.’ On ‘Love In Outer Space’ – one of Ra's many intergalactic signature tunes – Allen breaks out the Electronic Valve Instrument, adding brain-bending astral whooshes and swoops. It's an ever-living joy.