Sun Ra : Saturn / Hours After

Sun Ra (1914-1993) was born Herman Poole Blount. His legal name became Le Sony'r Ra. He was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a 1979 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. "Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial," critic Scott Yanow said, because of Sun Ra's eclectic music and unorthodox lifestyle. Claiming that he was of the "Angel Race" and not from Earth, but from Saturn, Sun Ra developed a complex persona of "cosmic" philosophies and lyrical poetry that made him a pioneer of Afro-futurism, as he preached awareness and peace above all. He abandoned his birth name and took on the name and persona of Sun Ra (Ra being the ancient Egyptian god of the sun). Sun Ra denied any connection with his birth name, saying "That's an imaginary person, never existed. Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym." From the mid-1950s to his death, Sun Ra led The Arkestra, an ensemble with an ever-changing lineup and name (it was also called The Solar Myth Arkestra, His Cosmo Discipline Arkestra, the Blue Universe Arkestra, The Jet Set Omniverse Arkestra, and many other permutations. Sun Ra asserted that the ever-changing name of his ensemble reflected the ever-changing nature of his music.) His mainstream success was limited, but Sun Ra was a prolific recording artist and frequent live performer. Sun Ra's music ranged from keyboard solos to big bands of over 30 musicians; his music touched on virtually the entire history of jazz, from ragtime to swing music, from bebop to free jazz. He was also a pioneer of electronic music, space music, and free improvisation, and was one of the first musicians, regardless of genre, to make extensive use of electronic keyboards. Some of the finest musicians in the jazz world devoted many years of their lives to Sun Ra's Arkestra, even when more lucrative opportunities were available. In Chicago in the 1950s, Sun Ra met Alton Abraham, a spirited, intelligent teenager and something of a kindred spirit, who became the Arkestra's biggest booster and one of Sun Ra's closest friends. The men both felt like outsiders and shared an interest in fringe esoterica. Abraham's strengths balanced Ra's shortcomings: though Sun Ra was a disciplined bandleader, he was somewhat introverted and lacked business sense (a trait that would haunt his entire career). Abraham was outgoing, well-connected, and practical. Though still a teenager, Abraham eventually became Sun Ra's de facto business manager; he booked performances, suggested musicians for the Arkestra, and introduced several popular songs into the group's repertoire. Sun Ra and Abraham formed an independent record label in the mid-1950s; it was generally known as El Saturn Records, though (as with the Arkestra) there were several variants of the name. Initially focused on 45 rpm singles by Sun Ra and artists related to him, Saturn Records did issue two full-length albums during the 1950s: Super-Sonic Jazz (1956) and Jazz In Silhouette (1958). The two tracks included in this video - Saturn and Hours After - are from Jazz In Silhouette.

I was fortunate to meet Sun Ra and his Arkestra in the 1980s when I drove for the jazz festival in Vancouver, helping him with a few basic needs as they settled into their hotel. Though tired from travel, he was warm, quiet, funny, and gracious for the help I offered. The Arkestra remains the one band whose members told me to sit and relax while they carefully loaded and packed their own equipment into the truck I was driving. DL

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Music

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• Sun
• Ra
• Arkestra
• Saturn
• Hours
• After
• Jazz
• In
• Silhouette
• John
• Gilmore
• Marshall
• Allen
• Doug
• Lang
• paganmaestro

[sumguhsounds]

great pics and description!

[HendrixClaptonSRV]

great story man, pretty cool that you got to meet them. Sun Ra clearly was out to live the better life. and it wouldnt surprise me if the daily worries of normal humans didnt bring worry to his mind like others, he didnt want that. warm quiet, gracious, and funny are perfect words to describe the man.