I am fascinated by artists who get wildly mixed reviews. If one person absolutely hates something and another person loves the same thing, I take notice.
Sun Ra was that sort of musician. It went beyond that with Ra because he created a whole persona that was larger than life. He claimed to have been abducted by aliens. Some thought he was a cult leader.
Sun Ra sometimes took jazz in controversial directions — some even accused him of running a cult. However, band members like saxophonist Danny Thompson said, “We’re here to enlighten people’s minds about outer space, and try and better this planet.”
I find the music and the story of Sun Ra highly entertaining.
A few weeks back, I was on my way home from a gig, late at night, and I heard part of a N.P.R. show called “Sun Ra’s Cosmic Swing”. This morning I found a link that has a free download of the entire show. You can find that here.
Sun Ra’s story would be impossible to nutshell but N.P.R. does a fine overview in 54 minutes. The music sounds great, the interviews are intriguing. Check it out.
JoJO A. wrote,
I’ve heard of Sun Ra before, mostly through his music (music that I find interesting and different, I do enjoy it for the most part). I also think he was quite out of the ordinary and a bit out of it. Abducted by aliens… very interesting.
“That’s an imaginary person, never existed,” Ra says. (Speaking of his original name Herman) “Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym.”
Ha!
JoJO A.’s last blog post..I’m Dreaming of a White (and debt-free) Christmas…
Link | December 10th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Pribek wrote,
Hey JoJO,
I’ve always thought of Sun Ra along the same lines as painters like Picasso or Mark Rothko. Meaning that they were schooled in more traditional types of stuff but, they chose to do this other because it was their vision.
We will never know to what degree Sun Ra was “out of it”. By that I mean, some of what he did and said was, undoubtedly in my mind, shtick. I think that sometimes there is an assumption that an artists who are “outside” or avant-garde don’t have a tendency to consciously use showbiz tactics.
“That’s an imaginary person, never existed,” Ra says. (Speaking of his original name Herman) “Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym.”
heh heh… can’t blame him for that one- Herman!!???
Link | December 10th, 2007 at 1:30 pm