Sunday 8 February 2026, 7.30pm
Loz Speyer’s INNER SPACE takes on the music of Outer Space, as composed by the mighty intergalactic bandleader Sun Ra – and arranged from his original piano scores for this 7-piece collaboration with special guests Jason Yarde and Marcina Arnold.
Dalston based trumpeter Loz Speyer first encountered Sun Ra in the 1980s, both in concert and in person, and has stayed somewhat connected ever since. Working with Arkestra drummer Clifford Jarvis (resident in Dalston through the 90s), led by a circuitous route to obtaining copies of Sun Ra’s handwritten sketch scores - from which he then arranged about a dozen compositions, initially for a Merseyside Improvisers Orchestra project in 2016, also reintroducing some elements from the scores that had never appeared in Sun Ra’s recordings.
Meanwhile INNER SPACE, with Xhosa Cole and Dee Byrne on saxes, has been touring with their 2024 album Live in Leipzig, and a set of Loz’s jazz portrait compositions. One of these, the majestic “Sun the One, Ra the Far” became the springboard from which to launch the Sun Ra project, expanding the band to this seven-piece lineup to catch some of that Arkestrated sound, while keeping the improvisational fluidity of the quintet Inner Space.
The collaboration builds on earlier ones: Jason Yarde and Loz worked together in the 90s, both in the innovative 12-piece Rare Mix, and in a reworking of a jazz-classical suite composed by Clifford Jarvis’s father. Later both Jason and bassist Larry Bartley delved deep into Sun Ra’s music as members of Gerry Dammers’ Spatial AKA… And kindred spirit Marcina Arnold shines a contemporary light on similarly planetary themes, in her recent album release Evolution.
This night promises to be a truly celebratory one, as we find out where this extraordinary band can take these very special compositions … exploring many and various sonic routes between Outer and Inner Space.
LOZ SPEYER’S INNER SPACE + * SPECIAL GUESTS *
Marcina Arnold / vocals *
Loz Speyer / trumpet, flugelhorn
Dee Byrne / alto sax
Xhosa Cole / tenor sax, flute
Jason Yarde / baritone & soprano sax *
Larry Bartley / double bass
Gary Willcox / drums
