The Sun Ra Arkestra Festsaal Kreuzberg, Berlin am 11.08.18

Sun Ra was a jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet
and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions, and
performances. He was one of the most important figure in 60's avante garde
jazz along with artists such as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Albert
Ayler. "Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial,"
critic Scott Yanow said, due to Sun Ra's eclectic music and unorthodox
lifestyle. Claiming that he was of the "Angel Race" and not from Earth, but
from Saturn, Sun Ra developed a complex persona of "cosmic" philosophies
and lyrical poetry that made him a pioneer of Afrofuturism as he preached
awareness and peace above all. He abandoned his birth name and took on the
name and persona of Sun Ra (Ra being the ancient Egyptian god of the sun),
and used several other names throughout his career, including Le Sony'r Ra and Sonny Lee. Sun
Ra denied any connection with his birth name, saying "That's an imaginary person, never existed …
Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym." From the mid-1950s to when he left the
planet in 1993, Sun Ra led "The Arkestra" (a deliberate re-spelling of "orchestra"), an ensemble
with an ever-changing lineup and name (it was also called "The Solar Myth Arkestra", the "Cosmo
Discipline Arkestra", the "Blue Universe Arkestra", the "Jet Set Omniverse Arkestra", among many
other permutations. Sun Ra asserted that the ever-changing name of his ensemble reflected the
ever-changing nature of his music. Sun Ra's music ranged from keyboard solos to big bands of
over 30 musicians. His music touched on virtually the entire history of jazz, from ragtime to
swing music, from bebop to free jazz. He was also a pioneer of electronic music, space music,
and free improvisation, and was one of the first musicians, regardless of genre, to make extensive
use of electronic keyboards.