Blog #12 -- Sun Ra

I thought that Sun Ra was an unique and enlightening musician. While his philosophical "equations" are definitely something to ponder about, I will focus more on his music.

Sun Ra hoped that his music, his jazz, would fulfill the functions and embody the happiness of pure jazz, the unmanufactured avant-garde. He has described the nature and role of his music in many different ways. I believe that it was closely tied to his aim of "saving humanity."

It seemed like one of the most prominent elements of Sun Ra's music was based on feelings. This agrees with Sun Ra's view that the original, creative music called jazz was a pure music, based on naturalness, spontaneity, sincerity, and feelings. Sun Ra characterized the playing of saxophonist John Gilmore as embodying these aspects: "his mind has expanded. . .outside of what they might call jazz although it is a superior form of jazz because it's built on sincerity, it's based on feelings". Sun Ra also viewed his music as based on "three energy factors", which correspond to the human attributes of mind, body, and spirit. Sun Ra has described his music's base in black culture in an interesting way. When asked if he was performing "black music", he answered, "I would say that it's black from the point of view that it's still got the darkness of myth. And it really pinpoints ancient Egypt in a definite way". 

Sun Ra has used a wide variety of terms to describe the nature of his music. Most of these incorporate some form of outer space imagery. One such word is "intergalactic", which Sun Ra used to characterize his music of the late sixties and early seventies. To Sun Ra, intergalactic music is "really outside the realm of the future on the turning points of the impossible" and "in hieroglyphic-sound: an abstract synthesis and analysis of man's relationship to the universe". He has also applied the term "omniverse" to a later stage of his music, beginning around 1980. Concurrently with "omniversal", he has also called what he is doing "world music". For Sun Ra, world music (and a world musician) would have equal relevance in any country and would incorporate everything "from the traditional. . .to the future". He has also described his music as being from "psychic sphere planes" and from a "celestial plane", both implying something that is beyond planet Earth. Sun Ra has also described his music as simple, and that often it is non-musicians who have an easier time comprehending what he is doing rather than musicians. One of the reasons for this, Sun Ra believes, is that non-musicians base their reactions on feelings and not what they think should be right or wrong.

Sun Ra has also used the term "bridge" to describe his music. This bridge leads to a better, potential future, a future "that's not supposed to be but that is better than is supposed to be". As a bridge it corresponds to the space age, which according to Sun Ra is another symbol of humanity's reach for a better future.