Sun Ra liked "the new", whether it be instruments, words, genres - The New Yorker points out in a profile about the innovator. He gave instruments new names, like the “space-dimension mellophone", the “cosmic tone organ" and the “sunharp", whereas his band the Arkestra weren't musicians, they were "tone scientists". Sun Ra himself was an exploratory soul - “the impossible attracts me, because everything possible has been done and the world didn’t change". This spring, the Chicago gallery and publisher Corbett vs. Dempsey reproduced a series of Sun Ra poetry booklets: 'Jazz by Sun Ra',' 'Jazz in Silhouette', and 'The Immeasurable Equation'.

"The film’s revelatory perspectives on Sun Ra’s work arise not only from the filmmaker’s analytical understanding of it, and the discussions that he films with Sun Ra and other members of the band, but also from his approach to filming music itself, in rehearsal and concert" - The New Yorker writes in a review of 'Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise', a documentary about the afro-futurist collective. The thing is it starts from the music - "scenes of performance, whether taken from archival clips or filmed anew for the documentary at hand, run for a few seconds at a time before being covered on the soundtrack by voice-overs". So, it's music first...

Danny Ray Thompson, longtime baritone saxophone player and flutist of space jazz collective Sun Ra Arkestra, died aged 72, according to The New York Times. “Danny Ray Thompson is now traveling the spaceways, joining the many beloved Arkestra members who have previously left the planet and who now soar with the spirit of Sun Ra” the band wrote in their post. Thompson joined Sun Ra Arkestra in 1967. and went on to play on dozens of the group’s recordings throughout the decades.

"Trends come and go in the music world, but then there are enduring pioneers who become icons due to their influential style and timeless tunes. The Sun Ra Arkestra is such an outfit, bringing their futuristic sounds to Planet Earth since the 1950s" - PopMatters writes after band's four-night run at the SFJazz Center. "The […]