Based on its title, one might assume that the LP Universe in Blue would be Sun Ra’s return to “roots” in the blues. Though we can hear the sonic heritage of blues forms in side A’s lament-like suite, Ra’s more abstract, futuristic work here sets out to liberate us from our earthly notions of blues, asking us to contemplate the nature of what a truly “universal” blues might be. How is it that Sun Ra’s music has the power to touch upon the universe and its lamentations? Why does music communicate universal desires and fears so well? According to his biographer, John F. Szwed, Ra believed that “music is the language of the universe,” but as far as Universe in Blue is concerned, perhaps the music’s true power lies more in Ra’s notions about freedom. To be truly free is, as Sun Ra himself tells us in Space is the Place, to recognize that “space is not only high, it’s low. It’s the bottomless pit. There is no end to it.”
—Will Scott ’18

From the exhibition: Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow (April 13 – April 16, 2017)