a short musical introduction to one of the most controversial, mystical and possibly most radical and innovative jazz musicians of all time – sun ra. the movie ’space is the place’ find this introduction for him:
Sun Ra – space-age prophet, Pharaonic jester, shaman-philosopher and avant-jazz keyboardist/bandleader – lands his spaceship in Oakland, having been presumed lost in space for a few years. With Black Power on the rise, Ra disembarks and proclaims himself ‘the alter-destiny’. He holds a myth-vs reality rap session with black inner-city youth at a rec center, threatening “to chain you up and take you with me, like they did you in Africa” if they resist his plea to go to outer space. He duels at cards with The Overseer, a satanic overlord, with the fate of the black race at stake. Ra wins the right to a world concert, which features great peformance footage of the Arkestra. Agents sent by the Overseer attempt to assassinate Ra, but he vanishes, rescues his people, and departs in his spaceship from the exploding planet Earth.
first bonus track is ‘that’s how i feel’ from my possibly favourite sun ra lp, ‘lanquidity’, from 1978 on philly jazz/evidence records:
second up is ‘when there is no sun’ from the equally rare album ‘new steps (live in rome)’ 1978:
styleguides can also recommend these books for a deeper view into the mystics and music of sun ra: