Editing Sun Ra (section)

==Biography==

===Early life===
He was born Herman Blount on May 22, 1914, in [[Birmingham, Alabama]], as discovered by his biographer, [[John F. Szwed]], and published in his 1998 book, ''Space Is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra''.<ref name="szwed">{{cite web|last=Szwed|first=John F.|title=CHAPTER ONE - Space Is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/szwed-space.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=1997|access-date=November 17, 2019}}</ref> He was named after the popular [[vaudeville]] stage magician [[Black Herman]], who had deeply impressed his mother.<ref name="szwed"/> He was nicknamed "Sonny" from his childhood, had an older sister and half-brother, and was doted upon by his mother and grandmother.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

For decades, very little was known about Sun Ra's early life, and he contributed to its mystique. As a self-invented person, he routinely gave evasive, contradictory or seemingly nonsensical answers to personal questions, and denied his birth name.<ref name="szwed"/> He speculated, only half in jest, that he was distantly related to Elijah Poole, later known as [[Elijah Muhammad]], leader of the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref name="szwed"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Jacobson|first=Mark|title=The Journey of Khalil Islam, the Man Who Didn't Shoot Malcolm X |url=https://nymag.com/news/features/38358/index4.html|work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|date=October 8, 2007|access-date=November 17, 2019}}</ref> His birthday for years remained unknown, as his claims ranged from 1910 to 1918. Only a few years before his death, the date of Sun Ra's birth was still a mystery. Jim Macnie's notes for ''Blue Delight'' (1989) said that Sun Ra was believed to be about 75&nbsp;years old. This turned out to be correct; Szwed was able to uncover a wealth of information about his early life, and confirmed a birth date of May 22, 1914.<ref name="szwed"/>{{rp|4}}

As a child, Blount was a skilled pianist. By the age of 11 or 12, he was composing<ref>Szwed (1998), p. 12.</ref> and [[sight reading]] music. Birmingham was an important stop for touring musicians and he saw prominent musicians such as [[Fletcher Henderson]], [[Duke Ellington]], and [[Fats Waller]], and other less well known performers. Sun Ra once said, "The world let down a lot of good musicians".<ref>Szwed (1998), p. 17.</ref>

In his teenage years, Blount demonstrated prodigious musical talent: many times, according to acquaintances, he went to [[big band]] performances and then produced full transcriptions of the bands' songs from memory. By his mid-teens, Blount was performing semi-professionally as a solo pianist, or as a member of various ''ad hoc'' jazz and [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] groups. He attended Birmingham's segregated Industrial High School (now known as [[A. H. Parker High School|Parker High School]]), where he studied under music teacher John T. "Fess" Whatley, a demanding disciplinarian who was widely respected and whose classes produced many professional musicians.<ref name="szwed"/>{{rp|18–22}}

Though deeply religious, his family was not formally associated with any Christian church or sect. Blount had few or no close friends in high school but was remembered as kind-natured and quiet, an [[Honors student|honor roll]] student, and a voracious reader. He took advantage of the Black [[Prince Hall Freemasonry|Masonic Lodge]] as one of the few places in Birmingham where African Americans had unlimited access to books. Its collection on [[Freemasonry]] and other esoteric concepts made a strong impression on him.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Szwed|first=John F.|title=Space Is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra|publisher=Pantheon|year=1997|isbn=0679435891|location=New York|pages=21–22}}</ref>

By his teens, Blount suffered from [[cryptorchidism]].<ref>Szwed (1998), p. 10.</ref> It left him with a nearly constant discomfort that sometimes flared into severe pain.<ref name="szwed"/> Szwed suggests that Blount felt shame about it and the condition contributed to his isolation.<ref name="szwed"/>

===Early professional career and college===
In 1934, Blount was offered his first full-time musical job by [[Ethel Ernestine Harper|Ethel Harper]], his biology teacher from the high school, who had organized a band to pursue a career as a singer. Blount joined a musicians' [[trade union]] and toured with Harper's group through the US [[Southeastern United States|Southeast]] and [[Midwest]]. When Harper left the group mid-tour to move to New York (she later was a member of the modestly successful singing group the Ginger Snaps), Blount took over leadership of the group, renaming it the Sonny Blount Orchestra. They continued touring for several months before dissolving as unprofitable.<ref name="szwed"/>{{rp|24–26}} Though the first edition of the Sonny Blount Orchestra was not financially successful, they earned positive notice from fans and other musicians. Blount afterward found steady employment as a musician in Birmingham.

Birmingham clubs often featured exotic trappings, such as vivid lighting and murals with tropical or oasis scenes. Some believe these influenced the elements Sun Ra incorporated in his later stage shows. Playing for the big bands gave black musicians a sense of pride and togetherness, and they were highly regarded in the black community. They were expected to be disciplined and presentable, and in the segregated South, black musicians had wide acceptance in white society. They often played for elite white society audiences (though they were typically forbidden from associating with the audience).

In 1936, Whatley's intercession led to Blount's being awarded a scholarship at [[Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University]]. He was a music education major, studying composition, orchestration, and music theory. He dropped out after a year.<ref name="szwed"/>{{rp|26–32}}

===Trip to Saturn===
Blount left college because, he claimed, he had a visionary experience as a college student that had a major, long-term influence on him. In 1936 or 1937, in the midst of deep religious concentration, Sun Ra claimed that a bright light appeared around him, and, as he later said:
{{cquote|My whole body changed into something else. I could see through myself. And I went up...  I wasn't in human form... I landed on a planet that I identified as [[Saturn]]... they [[Apport (paranormal)|teleported]] me and I was down on [a] stage with them. They wanted to talk with me. They had one little antenna on each ear. A little antenna over each eye. They talked to me. They told me to stop [attending college] because there was going to be great trouble in schools... the world was going into complete chaos... I would speak [through music], and the world would listen. That's what they told me.<ref>Szwed (1998), pp. 28–29.</ref>}}

Blount claimed that this experience occurred in 1936 or 1937. According to Szwed, the musician's closest associates cannot date the story any earlier than 1952. (Blount also said that the incident happened when he was living in Chicago, where he did not settle until the late 1940s). Sun Ra discussed the vision, with no substantive variation, to the end of his life. His trip to Saturn allegedly occurred a full decade before [[flying saucer]]s entered public consciousness with the 1947 encounter of [[Kenneth Arnold]]. It was earlier than other public accounts: about 15&nbsp;years before [[George Adamski]] wrote about contact with benevolent beings; and almost 20&nbsp;years before the 1961 case of [[Barney and Betty Hill]], who recounted sinister [[UFO abduction]]s. Szwed says that, "even if this story is [[fictional revisionism|revisionist]] autobiography... Sonny was pulling together several strains of his life. He was both prophesizing his future and explaining his past with a single act of personal mythology."<ref>Szwed (1998), pp. 30–31.</ref> [[Gavin Steingo|Steingo]] emphasizes understanding Sun Ra's statements about his life in relation to his music. Steingo writes: "Rather than think of [Sun Ra's] music as a performance and then consider only the content of his spoken words, we might instead understand everything he did as part of the same project to listen otherwise."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Steingo |first=Gavin |title=Interspecies communication: sound and music beyond humanity |date=2024 |publisher=the University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-83133-6 |location=Chicago, IL London}}</ref>

===New devotion to music (late 1930s)===
After leaving college, Blount became known as the most singularly devoted musician in Birmingham. He rarely slept, citing [[Thomas Edison]], [[Leonardo da Vinci]], and [[Napoleon]] as fellow highly productive cat-nappers. He transformed the first floor of his family's home into a conservatory-workshop, where he wrote songs, transcribed recordings, rehearsed with the many musicians who drifted in and out, and discussed Biblical and esoteric concepts with whoever was interested.<ref>Szwed (1998), p. 33.</ref>

Blount became a regular at Birmingham's Forbes Piano Company, a white-owned company. Blount visited the Forbes building almost daily to play music, swap ideas with staff and customers, or copy sheet music into his notebooks.{{cn|date=February 2024}} He formed a new band, and like his old teacher Whatley, insisted on rigorous daily rehearsals. The new Sonny Blount Orchestra earned a reputation as an impressive, disciplined band that could play in a wide variety of styles with equal skill.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

===Draft and wartime experiences===
In October 1942, Blount received a [[selective service]] notification that he had been [[conscription|drafted]] into the [[Military of the United States]]. He quickly declared himself a [[conscientious objector]], citing religious objections to war and killing, his financial support of his great-aunt Ida, and his chronic hernia. The local draft board rejected his claim. In an appeal to the national draft board, Blount wrote that the lack of black men on the draft appeal board "smacks of [[Nazism|Hitlerism]]."<ref>Szwed (1998), p. 43.</ref> Sonny's refusal to join the military deeply embarrassed his family, and many relatives ostracized him. He was eventually approved for alternate service at [[Civilian Public Service]] camp in [[Pennsylvania]], but he did not appear at the camp as required on December 8, 1942. Shortly after, he was arrested in Alabama.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

In court, Blount said that alternate service was unacceptable; he debated the judge on points of law and Biblical interpretation. The judge ruled that Blount was violating the law and was at risk for being drafted into the U.S. military. Blount responded that if inducted, he would use military weapons and training to kill the first high-ranking military officer possible. The judge sentenced Blount to jail (pending draft board and CPS rulings), and then said, "I've never seen a nigger like you before." Blount replied, "No, and you never will again."<ref>Szwed (1998), p. 44,</ref>

In January 1943, Blount wrote to the [[United States Marshals Service]] from the [[Walker County, Alabama]] jail in [[Jasper, Alabama|Jasper]]. He said he was facing a [[nervous breakdown]] from the stress of imprisonment, that he was suicidal, and that he was in constant fear of sexual assault. When his conscientious objector status was reaffirmed in February 1943, he was escorted to Pennsylvania. He did forestry work as assigned during the day and was allowed to play piano at night. Psychiatrists there described him as "a [[psychopathic]] personality [and] sexually perverted," but also as "a well-educated colored [[intellectual]]."<ref>Szwed (1998), p. 46.</ref>

In March 1943, the draft board reclassified Blount as [[4F (military conscription)|4-F]] because of his hernia, and he returned to Birmingham, embittered and angered. He formed a new band and soon was playing professionally. After his beloved great-aunt Ida died in 1945, Blount felt no reason to stay in Birmingham. He dissolved the band, and moved to Chicago—part of the [[Second Great Migration (African American)|Second Great Migration]], southern African Americans who moved north during and after [[World War II]].{{cn|date=February 2024}}

===Chicago years (1945–1961)===
In Chicago, Blount quickly found work, notably with blues singer [[Wynonie Harris]], with whom he made his recording debut on two 1946 singles, ''Dig This Boogie''/''Lightning Struck the Poorhouse'',<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Wynonie (Mr. Blues) |title=Dig This Boogie |url=https://archive.org/details/78_dig-this-boogie_wynonie-mr-blues-harris-harris_gbia0069119a |website=Internet Archive |publisher=Bullet Recording |access-date=25 May 2019}}</ref> and ''My Baby's Barrelhouse''/''Drinking By Myself''. ''Dig This Boogie'' was also Blount's first recorded piano solo. He performed with the locally successful [[Lil Green]] band and played bump-and-grind music for months in [[Calumet City]] [[strip club]]s.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

In August 1946, Blount earned a lengthy engagement at the [[Club DeLisa]] under bandleader and composer [[Fletcher Henderson]]. Blount had long admired Henderson, but Henderson's fortunes had declined (his band was now made of up middling musicians rather than the stars of earlier years) in large part because of his instability, due to Henderson's long-term injuries from a car accident. Henderson hired Blount as pianist and arranger, replacing [[Marl Young]]. Blount's arrangements initially showed a degree of [[bebop]] influence, but the band members resisted the new music, despite Henderson's encouragement.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

In 1948, Blount performed briefly in a trio with saxophonist [[Coleman Hawkins]] and violinist [[Stuff Smith]], both preeminent musicians. There are no known recordings of this trio, but home recordings of two different Blount-Smith duets from 1953 appear on ''[[Sound Sun Pleasure!!]]'' and ''[[Deep Purple (Sun Ra album)|Deep Purple]]'', and one of Sun Ra's final recordings in 1992 was a rare sideman appearance on violinist [[Billy Bang]]'s ''[[A Tribute to Stuff Smith|Tribute to Stuff Smith]]''.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

In addition to enabling professional advancement, what he encountered in Chicago changed Blount's personal outlook. The city was a center of African-American [[political activism]] and fringe movements, with [[Nation of Islam|Black Muslims]], [[Black Hebrew Israelites|Black Hebrews]], and others [[proselytizing]], debating, and printing leaflets or books. Blount absorbed it all and was fascinated with the city's many [[ancient Egypt]]ian-styled buildings and monuments. He read books such as [[George G.M. James]]'s ''Stolen Legacy'' (which argued that classical [[Greek philosophy]] had its roots in ancient Egypt). Blount concluded that the accomplishments and history of Africans had been systematically suppressed and denied by [[European culture]]s.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

By 1952, Blount was leading the Space Trio with drummer Tommy "Bugs" Hunter and saxophonist [[Pat Patrick (musician)|Pat Patrick]], two of the most accomplished musicians he had known. They performed regularly, and Sun Ra began writing more advanced songs.<ref name="Patrick_Grove">{{Citation |last1=Hazell |first1=Ed |last2=Kernfeld |first2=Barry |date=2003 |title=Patrick, Pat [Laurdine Kenneth, Jr.] |publisher=Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J347700 }}</ref>

On October 20, 1952, Blount legally changed his name to Le Sony'r Ra. Sun Ra claimed<ref>Szwed (1998), p. 4.</ref> to have always been uncomfortable with his birth name of Blount. He considered it a [[slave name]], from a family that was not his. David Martinelli suggested that his change was similar to "[[Malcolm X]] and [[Muhammad Ali]]... [dropping] their slave names in the process of attaining a new self-awareness and self-esteem".<ref name=martinelli>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/staff/martinelli/Sun%20Ra.htm |title=The Cosmic-Myth Equations of Sun Ra |access-date=2008-05-30 |last=Martinelli |first=David A. |year=1991 |publisher=[[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] Department of Ethnomusicology |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080222063541/http://www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/staff/martinelli/Sun%20Ra.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=2008-02-22}}</ref>

Patrick left the group to move to Florida with his new wife. His friend [[John Gilmore (musician)|John Gilmore]] (tenor sax) joined the group, and [[Marshall Allen]] (alto sax) soon followed. Patrick was in and out of the group until the end of his life, but Allen and Gilmore were the two most devoted members of the Arkestra. In fact, Gilmore is often criticized for staying with Sun Ra for over forty years when he could have been a strong leader in his own right.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Jazz: the Basics|last=Meeder|first=Christopher|pages=148}}</ref> Saxophonist [[James Spaulding]] and trombonist [[Julian Priester]] also recorded with Sun Ra in Chicago, and both went on to careers of their own. The Chicago tenor [[Von Freeman]] also did a short stint with the band of the early 1950s.<ref>Litweiler, John (1984). ''The Freedom Principle: Jazz after 1958.'' Da Capo, p. 141. {{ISBN|0-306-80377-1}}</ref>

In Chicago, Sun Ra met [[Alton Abraham]], a precociously intelligent teenager and something of a kindred spirit. He became the Arkestra's biggest booster and one of Sun Ra's closest friends. Both men felt like outsiders and shared an interest in [[Western esotericism|esoterica]]. Abraham's strengths balanced Ra's shortcomings: though he was a disciplined bandleader, Sun Ra was somewhat introverted and lacked business sense (a trait that haunted his entire career). Abraham was outgoing, well-connected, and practical. Though still a teenager, Abraham eventually became Sun Ra's ''[[de facto]]'' business manager: he booked performances, suggested musicians for the Arkestra, and introduced several popular songs into the group's repertoire. Ra, Abraham and others formed a sort of [[Book discussion club|book club]] to trade ideas and discuss the offbeat topics that so intrigued them. This group printed a number of pamphlets and broadsides explaining their conclusions and ideas. Some of these were collected by critic [[John Corbett (writer)|John Corbett]] and Anthony Elms as ''The Wisdom of Sun Ra: Sun Ra's [[Polemic]]al Broadsheets and Streetcorner Leaflets'' (2006).{{cn|date=February 2024}}

In the mid-1950s, Sun Ra and Abraham formed an [[independent record label]] that was generally known as [[El Saturn Records]]. (It had several name variations.) Initially focused on 45 rpm singles by Sun Ra and artists related to him, Saturn Records issued two full-length albums during the 1950s: ''[[Super-Sonic Jazz]]'' (1957) and ''[[Jazz In Silhouette]]'' (1959). Producer [[Tom Wilson (producer)|Tom Wilson]] was the first to release a Sun Ra album, through his independent label [[Transition Records]] in 1957, entitled ''[[Jazz by Sun Ra]]''.<ref name="earthlies">Campbell, Robert L., & Trent, Christopher. ''The Earthly Recordings of Run Ra'' (2nd edition). Redwood, NY: Cadence Jazz Books, 2000. {{ISBN|978-1-881993-35-3}}</ref> During this era, Sun Ra recorded the first of dozens of singles as a band-for-hire backing a range of [[doo wop]] and [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] singers; several dozen of these were reissued in a two-CD set, ''The Singles'', by Evidence Records.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

In the late 1950s, Sun Ra and his band began to wear outlandish, Egyptian-styled or [[science fiction]]-themed costumes and [[headdress]]es. These costumes had multiple purposes: they expressed Sun Ra's fascination with ancient Egypt and the [[space age]], they provided a recognizable uniform for the Arkestra, they provided a new identity for the band onstage, and comic relief. (Sun Ra thought ''[[avant garde]]'' musicians typically took themselves far too seriously.){{cn|date=February 2024}}

===New York years (1961–1968)===
Sun Ra and the Arkestra moved to [[New York City]] in the fall of 1961. To save money, Sun Ra and his band members lived communally. This enabled Sun Ra to request rehearsals spontaneously and at any time, which was his established habit. It was during this time in New York that Sun Ra recorded the album ''[[The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra|The Futuristic Sound of Sun Ra.]]''<ref name=":0" />

In March 1966, the Arkestra secured a regular Monday night gig at [[Slug's Saloon]]. This was a breakthrough to new audiences and recognition. Sun Ra's popularity reached an early peak during this period, as the [[beat generation]] and early followers of [[psychedelia]] embraced him. Regularly for the next year and a half (and intermittently for another half-decade afterwards), Sun Ra and company performed at Slug's for audiences that eventually came to include music critics and leading jazz musicians. Opinions of Sun Ra's music were divided (and hecklers were not uncommon).{{cn|date=February 2024}}

High praise, however, came from two of the architects of bebop. Trumpeter [[Dizzy Gillespie]] offered encouragement, once stating, "Keep it up, Sonny, they tried to do the same shit to me,"<ref>Szwed (1997), p. 219.</ref> and pianist [[Thelonious Monk]] chided someone who said Sun Ra was "too far out" by responding: "Yeah, but it ''swings''."<ref>Szwed (1997), p. 219; emphasis in original.</ref>

Also in 1966, Sun Ra, with members of the Arkestra and Al Kooper's Blues Project, recorded the album ''Batman and Robin'' under the [[pseudonym]], The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale. The album consisted primarily of instrumental variations on the [[Batman Theme]] and public domain classical music, with an uncredited female vocalist singing the "Robin Theme."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2006/02/sun_ra_and_the_.html|title=Sun Ra and The Blues Project Do Batman and Robin (MP3s) - WFMU's Beware of the Blog|website=blog.wfmu.org|date=February 4, 2006|access-date=2018-11-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/05/05/mazzy-star-batman/|title=Mazzy Star Batman|last=Courage|first=Nick|date=2015-05-05|website=The Paris Review|language=en|access-date=2018-11-30}}</ref>

Despite their planned management of money, the costs of New York eventually became too high and motivated the group to move to Philadelphia.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

===Philadelphia years (1968)===
In 1968, when the New York building they were renting was put up for sale, Sun Ra and the Arkestra relocated to the [[Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Germantown]] section of [[Philadelphia]]. Sun Ra moved into a house on Morton Street that became the Arkestra's base of operations until his death. It eventually became known as the Arkestral Institute of Sun Ra. Apart from occasional complaints about the noise of rehearsals, they were soon regarded as good neighbors because of their friendliness, drug-free living, and rapport with youngsters. The saxophonist [[Danny Ray Thompson]] owned and operated the Pharaoh's Den, a convenience store in the neighborhood. When lightning struck a tree on their street, Sun Ra took it as a good omen. James Jacson fashioned the Cosmic Infinity Drum from the scorched tree trunk. They commuted via railroad to New York for the Monday night gig at Slug's and for other engagements.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Sun Ra became a fixture in Philadelphia, appearing semi-regularly on [[WXPN]] radio, giving lectures to community groups, or visiting the city's libraries. In the mid-1970s, the Arkestra sometimes played free Saturday afternoon concerts in a Germantown park near their home. At their mid-1970s shows in Philadelphia nightclubs, someone stood at the back of the room, selling stacks of unmarked LPs in plain white sleeves, pressed from recordings of the band's live performances.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

===California and world tours (1968–1993)===
[[File:SunRa in 1992 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Sun Ra at the [[New England Conservatory of Music]], February 27, 1992]]

In late 1968, Sun Ra and the Arkestra made their first tour of the US West Coast. Reactions were mixed. Some [[hippie]]s accustomed to long-form psychedelia like the [[Grateful Dead]] were entranced and enthralled by the Arkestra, others merely bewildered. San Francisco was friendly to avant grade jazz from the early 50s and quickly welcomed Sun Ra's music.  By this time, the performance included 20–30&nbsp;musicians, dancers, singers, [[fire-eater]]s, and elaborate lighting. John Burks of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' wrote a positive review of a [[San Jose State College]] concert. Sun Ra was featured on the April 19, 1969 cover of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, which introduced his inscrutable gaze to millions. During this tour, Damon Choice, then an art student at San Jose, joined the Arkestra and became its [[vibraphonist]].{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Starting with concerts in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom in 1970, the Arkestra began to tour internationally. They played to audiences who had known his music only through records. Sun Ra continued playing in Europe almost to the end of his life. The saxophonist Danny Ray Thompson became a ''[[de facto]]'' tour and business manager during this era, specializing in what he called "no bullshit [[Cash on delivery|C.O.D.]],"<ref>Szwed (1998), p. 273.</ref> preferring to take cash before performing or delivering records.

In early 1971, Sun Ra was appointed as [[artist-in-residence]] at [[University of California, Berkeley]], teaching a course called ''The Black Man In the [[Cosmos]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sensitiveskinmagazine.com/professor-sun-ra |title=Professor Sun Ra – Berkeley Lecture, 1971 |date=8 May 2011 |publisher=Sensitiveskinmagazine.com |access-date=2013-05-20}}</ref> Few students enrolled, but his classes were often full of curious people from the surrounding community. One half-hour of each class was devoted to a lecture (complete with handouts and homework assignments), the other half-hour to an Arkestra performance or Sun Ra keyboard solo. Reading lists included the works of [[Madame Blavatsky]] and [[Henry Dumas]], the [[Bardo Thodol|Tibetan Book of the Dead]], [[Alexander Hislop]]'s ''[[The Two Babylons]]'', [[Oahspe|The Book of Oahspe]], and assorted volumes concerning [[Egyptian hieroglyph]]s, [[African American]] [[folklore]], and other topics.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

In 1971, Sun Ra traveled throughout Egypt with the Arkestra at the invitation of the drummer [[Salah Ragab]]. He returned to Egypt in 1983 and 1984, when he recorded with Ragab. Recordings made in Egypt were released as ''Live in Egypt'', ''Nidhamu'', ''Sun Ra Meets Salah Ragab'', ''Egypt Strut'' and ''Horizon''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Westergaard |first=Sean |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-in-egypt-vol-1-mw0001407038 |title=Live in Egypt, Vol. 1 – Sun Ra : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |website=AllMusic |access-date=2013-05-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Loewy |first=Steve |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/sun-ra-arkestra-meets-salah-ragab-in-egypt-mw0000672699 |title=Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab in Egypt – Sun Ra : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |website=AllMusic |access-date=2013-05-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Planer |first=Lindsay |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/horizon-mw0001333132 |title=Horizon – Sun Ra : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |website=AllMusic |date=1971-12-17 |access-date=2013-05-20}}</ref>

In 1972, San Francisco public TV station [[KQED (TV)|KQED]] producer John Coney, producer [[Jim Newman (Dilexi Gallery, Other Minds)|Jim Newman]], and screenwriter Joshua Smith worked with Sun Ra to produce an 85-minute feature film, entitled ''[[Space Is the Place]]'', with Sun Ra's Arkestra and an ensemble of actors assembled by the production team. It was filmed in [[Oakland]] and [[San Francisco]]. A 1975 show concert by the Arkestra in Cleveland featured an early lineup of [[Devo]] as the opening act. On May 20, 1978, Sun Ra and the Arkestra appeared on the TV show ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' (S3 E20).{{cn|date=February 2024}}

In New York City in the fall of 1979, Sun Ra and the Arkestra played as the "house band" at the [[Squat Theatre]] on 23rd Street, which was the performance venue of the [[avant-garde]] Hungarian theater troupe.<ref name="Boch 2017 268">{{Cite book|last=Boch|first=Richard|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/972429558|title=The Mudd Club|publisher=[[Feral House]]|year=2017|isbn=978-1-62731-051-2|location=Port Townsend, WA|pages=268|language=English|oclc=972429558}}</ref> Janos, their manager, transformed the theater into a nightclub while most of the troupe was away that season performing in Europe. [[Debbie Harry]], [[The Velvet Underground]]'s [[John Cale]] and [[Nico]] (from [[Andy Warhol]]'s Factory days), [[John Lurie]] and [[The Lounge Lizards]], and other pop and avant-garde musicians were regulars. Sun Ra was disciplined and drank only club soda at the gigs, but did not impose his strict code on his musicians. They respected his discipline and authority. Soft-spoken and charismatic, Sun Ra turned Squat Theater into a universe of big band "space" jazz backed by a floor show of sexy Jupiterettes. He directed while playing three synthesizers at the same time. In those days, "Space Is The Place" was the space at Squat.<ref name="Boch 2017 268"/>

The Arkestra continued their touring and recording through the 1980s and into the 1990s.

===Death===
Sun Ra had a [[stroke]] in 1990, but kept composing, performing, and leading the Arkestra.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/2015/10/27/sun-ra-arkestra-still-shining/74607586/|title=Sun Ra Arkestra still shining|website=Democrat & Chronicle|date=October 27, 2015}}</ref> Late in his career, he opened a few concerts for the New York–based rock group [[Sonic Youth]]. When too ill to perform and tour, Sun Ra appointed Gilmore to lead the Arkestra. Gilmore was frail from [[emphysema]]; after his death in 1995, Allen took over leadership of the Arkestra.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

In late 1992, Sun Ra returned to his birth city of Birmingham to live with his older sister, Mary Jenkins, who (along with various Blount cousins) became his caretaker. In January, he was admitted to Princeton Baptist Medical Center, suffering from [[congestive heart failure]], [[respiratory failure]], strokes, [[Cardiovascular disease|circulatory problems]], and other serious maladies.<ref name=watrous>{{cite news |first=Peter |last=Watrous |title=Sun Ra, 79, Versatile Jazz Artist; A Pioneer with a Surrealist Bent |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE0DE1131F932A05756C0A965958260 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=1993-05-31 |access-date=2008-06-01}}</ref> He died in the hospital on May 30, 1993, and was buried at the [[Elmwood Cemetery (Birmingham, Alabama)|Elmwood Cemetery]]. The footstone reads "Herman Sonny Blount aka Le Sony'r Ra".<ref>Szwed (1998), p. 382.</ref>