The Sun Ra Arkestra
Michael Ray put on a show after Jazz Fest at his home and I had never heard music like that before. It blew me away.
The next year at Detroit's Jazz Festival I was able to see the Sun Ra Arkestra band perform with out the late great Sun Ra. Again, the music was mind blowing and it took me to outer space.
From then on I have been a Sun Ra Arkestra fan and I greatly appreciate what they did for music and culture.
Sun Ra Arkestra - Retrospect (1990)

Sun Ra, New York City 1976
Sun Ra Arkestra Music
Sun Ra - Space Is The Place DVD Video Clip
Space Is The Place On DVD
Sun Ra - Space Is The Place
Amazon Price: $38.99 (as of 02/13/2012)![]()
This peculiar, rather warped feature is a product of the highly original mind of the late "musician-thinker" Sun Ra (the former Herman "Sonny" Blount, an accomplished jazz pianist and bandleader). The 82-minute, 1974 film melds effects that are straight out of '50s Japanese sci-fi, politics reflecting '60s racial radicalism, and the overall vibe of '70s blaxploitation films, with some African-Egyptian mythology thrown in for good measure. It isn't exactly a masterpiece of cinema; the production values are mediocre, the story is thin (Ra, who co-wrote, portrays an alien who offers oppressed African Americans the opportunity to seek their "alter-destiny" in outer space; complications ensue before his spaceship departs with true believers on board), the acting amateurish. But it's entertaining--Ra's array of costumes (especially his headgear) is impressive, and we do at least get a taste of his Intergalactic Solar Arkestra's heady brew of avant-garde jazz. --Sam Graham
Sun Ra On The Keys Live
Sun Ra Arkestra Performing Face The Music
Sun Ra Arkestra "Shadow World" West Berlin
SUN RA "Calling Planet Earth"
on an outerspace voyage.

Sun Ra Arkestra
Literature On Sun Ra And His Music
Sun Ra Arkestra Online Resources
- Official website of the Sun Ra Arkestra
- Home of the Sun Ra Arkestra under the Direction of Marshall Allen.
- SATURN: Sun Ra and the Arkestra
- Sun Ra, the Arkestra, and Free Jazz
- Sun Ra: Stranger from the Outer Space
- Article by Mike Walsh about the life, music, and philosophies of jazz band leader Sun Ra. This article is part of mission creep online publishing.
What Do You Think About The Music Of The Sun Ra Arkestra
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Reply
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susannaduffy
Apr 26, 2009 @ 12:19 am | delete
- I've never heard if this group before but, after reading this and watching the videos, I'm practically an expert! Thanks
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RolandTumble
Dec 11, 2008 @ 6:38 pm | delete
- I got to see the Arkestra, with Sun Ra, play live twice in the late '70s/early '80s (don't recall exactly, at this remove...). Wonderful stuff--I find most "straight" jazz boring, but that's something you could never accuse Sun Ra of being.
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