Sun Ra (1914-1993) was an innovator in jazz composition, pianist, and bandleader. He is also known for his Cosmic Afrofuturist Philosophy and his incredible musical compositions. Sun Ra was both a black man and an independent producer. Born 22 May 1914 in Birmingham, Alabama as Herman Poole Blount. He was known from his youth as “Sonny”. After his release from a prison camp for protesting against World War II he adopted the name and persona Sun Ra (after an ancient Egyptian sun god). He claimed he was part of the “Angel Race”, which he claimed to be not from Earth, but from Saturn. His most prominent influences were African and African American theatre, theosophy and masonic Afrofuturism. These art forms and principles drew him to a complex but consistent set cosmic philosophies and poetic poetry that preached spiritual awareness, peace, and harmony. Sun Ra was able to play both classical and modern music from memory. He had previously worked in western and country bands before moving to Chicago. He was constantly reviewing and learning from his personal music collection, which included over 10,000 discs. Many of his compositional and improvisational inventions were extensions of ideas from 20th-century European composers. These ideas were introduced into jazz decades before other commercial artists. Sun Ra was a leader of a large-band orchestra that he led from 1955 to his death on 30 May 1993. The core consisted of Marshall Allen (master of alto-saxophone pyrotechnics) and John Gilmore (the only saxophone player John Coltrane considered “worth listening”). He was accompanied by a rotating lineup of sidemen, all of whom are major names in jazz today. The Arkestra was named for its “ark between two universes” because it never repeated a performance or repeated an arrangement. They appeared under many names including the “The Solar Myth Arkestra” and “The Blue Universe Arkestra”. Sun Ra’s birth date is disputed. He claimed that he “arrived on Earth” at a variety of dates. He loved to show his doubters his United States passport. It clearly indicated the location of his birth as Saturn. His passport showed his birth date of 22 May 1914. However, other sources indicate that he was born anywhere between 1910 and 1918. Most sources support a 1914 or 1915 birth year. You can also access user-contributed text under the Creative Commons By–SA License.
