Sun Ra Arkestra

Sun Ra (May 22nd, 1914 – May 30th, 1993) was an innovative jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, who came to be known as much for his "Cosmic Afro-futurist Philosophy" as for his phenomenal musical compositions and performances.

Arriving on Planet Earth under the name of Herman Poole Blount, in Birmingham, Alabama, he was nicknamed Sonny from his youth. He later denied his birth name and took on the name and persona of Sun Ra (Ra being the name of the ancient Egyptian god of the Sun). From 1955 until his death in 1993, Ra led the 'Arkestra', a big-band ensemble with a constant core of John Gilmore (the only sax player John Coltrane thought "worth listening to"), Marshall Allen (master of alto saxophone pyrotechnics) and others, wrapped by an ever-changing lineup of sidemen who are today main names in modern jazz. The Arkestra, so named as to be an "arc between two worlds", never repeated a performance, rarely repeated an arrangement, and appeared under a variety of names such as "The Solar Myth Arkestra," the "Blue Universe Arkestra," and many other permutations.

Claiming that he was of the "Angel Race" and not from Earth, but rather from Saturn; borrowing from african and afro-american theatre, theosophy and masonic afro-futurism, Ra developed a complicated but disturbingly consistent library of "cosmic" philosophies and lyrical poetry that preached "awareness" and peace above all. Some regarded him as a kook in this regard, but most recognized his immense musical talents. Ra was fond of showing his doubters his United States Passport, which clearly gave the "Place of Birth" as "Saturn". For many, the ability to legally obtain such a document was more than enough of a sign.

A further sign was his uncanny command of many idioms of modern music. He could play many modern classical works from memory (to the amazement of rehearsal audiences) and had worked in country and western bands before moving to Chicago. His personal music collection contained over 10,000 discs, and he was constantly reviewing and studying. Many of Ra's improvisation and compositional innovations were extensions of ideas from Twentieth Century European composers, bringing these ideas into jazz music often decades before the same methods were popularized by the commercial artists. Ra fans in the East Village included Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus and John Coltrane.

Sun Ra eschewed racism (having been a victim of it many times experienced during his touring and booking schedule with the Arkestra) and insisted his musicians avoid drug abuse, though he rarely came out and directly spoke about any controversial subjects. Ra was also a stout pacifist and spent time in detention camps for his refusal to fight in WWII.

There is some disagreement as to Sun Ra's date of birth. Sun Ra himself stated that he "arrived on earth" at any number of ancient dates. The date listed above appeared on Sun Ra's passport, but others place his birth anywhere from 1910 to 1918, with most sources supporting a birth year of 1914 or 1915. Incidentally, Sun Ra reported that his astrological sign was Gemini.