Happy Birthday, Sun Ra

Jazz composer, bandleader, and pianist Sun Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, 1914-1993) was born on May 22, 1914, in Birmingham, Alabama. Jazz critic Scott Yanow said that "Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial," primarily because of Sun Ra's eclectic music, unorthodox lifestyle, and claims that he was of the "Angel Race" and that he was from Saturn.

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons describes Sun Ra's Arkestra as "a band of high contrast in which driving riffs, free soloing, sensuous orchestration, and atonal collective blowing spin like the vanes of a pinwheel."

Lyons recommends Sun Ra's album, Live at Montreux (Inner City). The album is available on CD from Amazon.com.

Sun Ra and His Arkestra play "Of the Other Tomorrow" from that album here:

Robert
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