Sun Ra Arkestra
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Sun Ra Centennial Dream Arkestra - Estival Jazz Lugano 2014
About
The Lowell Folk Festival has presented artists from all across planet Earth-but never before from Saturn. Part visionary jazz ensemble, part cosmic myth, through six decades together the Sun Ra Arkestra has explored the history and trajectory of American jazz, from big band, ragtime, and swing, to bebop, hard bop, free jazz, and beyond.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1914, Arkestra founder Herman "Sonny" Blount demonstrated exceptional talent as a pianist and composer at a young age and was fascinated by boogie-woogie, stride piano, and blues. In 1952, already a successful jazz artist living in Chicago, Blount shed his "slave name"-much like his contemporary, Malcolm X-and named himself Sun Ra, after Ra, the Egyptian God of the Sun. He also began to tell a story about a trip to Saturn in the 1930s, when aliens told him he "would speak [through music], and the world would listen." He formed his legendary Sun Ra Arkestra shortly thereafter; among the first members was saxophonist Marshall Allen, already a well-known clarinet and alto sax player in Paris and Chicago before becoming the leader of Ra's reed section.
By the late 1950s, the Arkestra recorded their first album and adopted their signature onstage dress: flowing robes, pseudo-Egyptian adornments, and sci-fi headgear. During a sojourn in New York during the 1960s, they experimented with free jazz and collective improvisation. They also innovated with electronic keyboards, moving in step with the psychedelic generation. In 1969 the Arkestra moved to a row house in Philadelphia that belonged to Marshall Allen's father. There they created a communal living arrangement that allowed them to rehearse without distractions, and many ensemble members still live there to this day. Allen, now 95, has led the Arkestra since shortly after Ra departed this earth in 1993. He steers the Arkestra's continually evolving exploration of jazz past, present, and future, keeping the precepts of Sun Ra alive across the universe.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1914, Arkestra founder Herman "Sonny" Blount demonstrated exceptional talent as a pianist and composer at a young age and was fascinated by boogie-woogie, stride piano, and blues. In 1952, already a successful jazz artist living in Chicago, Blount shed his "slave name"-much like his contemporary, Malcolm X-and named himself Sun Ra, after Ra, the Egyptian God of the Sun. He also began to tell a story about a trip to Saturn in the 1930s, when aliens told him he "would speak [through music], and the world would listen." He formed his legendary Sun Ra Arkestra shortly thereafter; among the first members was saxophonist Marshall Allen, already a well-known clarinet and alto sax player in Paris and Chicago before becoming the leader of Ra's reed section.
By the late 1950s, the Arkestra recorded their first album and adopted their signature onstage dress: flowing robes, pseudo-Egyptian adornments, and sci-fi headgear. During a sojourn in New York during the 1960s, they experimented with free jazz and collective improvisation. They also innovated with electronic keyboards, moving in step with the psychedelic generation. In 1969 the Arkestra moved to a row house in Philadelphia that belonged to Marshall Allen's father. There they created a communal living arrangement that allowed them to rehearse without distractions, and many ensemble members still live there to this day. Allen, now 95, has led the Arkestra since shortly after Ra departed this earth in 1993. He steers the Arkestra's continually evolving exploration of jazz past, present, and future, keeping the precepts of Sun Ra alive across the universe.
