Description
180-Gram Limited Gatefold Edition.
The Magic City is a testimony of the evolution in Sun Ra's music in the mid-'60s. According to many enthusiasts and scholars, this album is among Ra's most definitive studio recordings. Although the "city" mentioned in the album's title was believed to be New York, the place where the LP was taped, in fact it refers to the leader's birthplace, Birmingham, Alabama and to a large metal sign with the words "Birmingham, The Magic City"' erected in front of the railway station in 1926. The Magic City contains just four tracks, but the title-theme lasts nearly half an hour. Then come "The Shadow World," and "Abstract Eye"/"Abstract I" which are two variants of the same composition. "These pieces are essentially ensemble improvisations recorded live", explained Lindsay Planer on AllMusic. "Any direction from Sun Ra, indicating the order of soloists for instance, would be given either through his playing or with hand signals.
