Editing Sun Ra (section)

==Music==
Sun Ra's piano technique touched on many styles: his youthful fascination with [[boogie woogie]], [[stride piano]] and [[blues]], a sometimes refined touch reminiscent of [[Count Basie]] or [[Ahmad Jamal]], and angular phrases in the style of [[Thelonious Monk]] or brutal, percussive attacks like [[Cecil Taylor]]. Often overlooked is the range of influences from [[classical music]] – Sun Ra cited [[Chopin]], [[Rachmaninoff]], [[Arnold Schoenberg|Schoenberg]] and [[Shostakovich]] as his favorite composers for the piano.<ref>Szwed (1998), p. 28.</ref>

Sun Ra's music can be roughly divided into three phases, but his records and performances were full of surprises and the following categories should be regarded only as approximations.

===Chicago phase===
The first period occurred in the 1950s when Sun Ra's music evolved from [[big band]] [[swing music|swing]] into the outer-space-themed "cosmic jazz" for which he was best known. Music critics and jazz historians say some of his best work was recorded during this period and it is also some of his most accessible music. Sun Ra's music in this era was often tightly arranged and sometimes reminiscent of [[Duke Ellington]]'s, Count Basie's, or other important swing music ensembles. However, there was a strong influence from post-swing styles like [[bebop]], [[hard bop]], and [[modal jazz]], and touches of the exotic and hints of the experimentalism that dominated his later music.{{cn|date=February 2024}} Notable Sun Ra albums from the 1950s include ''[[Visits Planet Earth|Sun Ra Visits Planet Earth]]'', ''[[Interstellar Low Ways]]'', ''[[Super-Sonic Jazz]]'', ''[[We Travel the Space Ways]]'', ''[[The Nubians of Plutonia]]'' and ''[[Jazz In Silhouette]]''.

[[Ronnie Boykins]], Sun Ra's bassist, has been described as "the pivot around which much of Sun Ra's music revolved for eight years."<ref>{{cite book | last=Wilmer|first=Val |author-link=Val Wilmer| title=As Serious as your Life | publisher=Serpent's Tail | page=111 |year=2018}}</ref> This is especially pronounced on the key recordings from 1965 (''[[The Magic City (Sun Ra album)|The Magic City]]'', ''[[The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One]]'', and ''[[The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two]]'') where the intertwining lines of Boykins' bass and Ra's electronic keyboards provide cohesion.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hart |first1=Bill |title=Ronnie Boykins (The Will Come, Is Now) |url=https://thevinylpress.com/ronnie-boykins-the-will-come-is-now/ |access-date=30 September 2021 |work=The Vinyl Press |date=September 30, 2019}}</ref>

===New York phase===
After the move to New York, Sun Ra and company plunged headlong into the experimentalism that they had only hinted at in Chicago. The music was often extremely loud and the Arkestra grew to include multiple drummers and percussionists. In recordings of this era, Ra began to use new technologies—such as extensive use of tape delay—to assemble spatial sound pieces, such as "Saturn", which were far removed from earlier compositions. Recordings and live performances often featured passages for unusual instrumental combinations, and passages of collective playing that incorporated [[free improvisation]]. It is often difficult to tell where compositions end and improvisations begin.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

In this era, Sun Ra began conducting using hand and body gestures. This system inspired cornetist [[Butch Morris]], who later developed his own more highly refined way to conduct improvisers.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Though often associated with avant-garde jazz, Sun Ra did not believe his work could be classified as "free music": "I have to make sure that every note, every nuance, is correct... If you want to call it that, spell it ''p-h-r-e'', because ''ph'' is a definite article and ''re'' is the name of the sun. So I play ''phre'' music – music of the sun."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Doerschuk |first=Bob |date=January 1987 |title=Sun Ra |journal=[[Keyboard (magazine)|Keyboard]] |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=65}}</ref>

Seeking to broaden his compositional possibilities, Sun Ra insisted all band members double on various percussion instruments – predating [[world music]] by drawing on various ethnic musical forms – and most saxophonists became [[multireedist]]s, adding instruments such as flutes, oboes, or clarinets to their arsenals. In this era, Sun Ra was among the first of any musicians to make extensive and pioneering use of [[synthesizer]]s and other various [[electronic keyboards]]; he was given a prototype [[Minimoog]] by its inventor, [[Robert Moog]]. According to the [[Bob Moog Foundation]]: "Sun Ra first met Robert Moog after ''[[Down Beat|Downbeat]]'' journalist and Sun Ra acquaintance [[Tam Fiofori]] arranged for a visit to Moog’s factory in [[Trumansburg]] in the Fall of 1969....it was during this visit that Moog loaned Sun Ra a prototype Minimoog (Model B), several months before the commercial instrument (Model D) was introduced in March 1970. Ra immediately added the instrument to his repertoire of keyboards, later acquired a second, and featured the Minimoog prominently on many of his recordings of the early 1970s."<ref>Thom Holmes, [http://moogfoundation.org/sun-ra-the-minimoog-by-historian-thom-holmes/#_edn2 "Sun Ra & the Minimoog"], Bob Moog Foundation, November 6, 2013.</ref><ref>Tam Fiofori, "Sun Ra: Myth, Music & Media", ''Glendora Review, African Quarterly on the Arts'', vol. 3, No. 3 and 4.</ref>

Notable titles from this period include ''[[The Magic City (Sun Ra album)|The Magic City]]'', ''[[Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy]]'', ''When Sun Comes Out'', ''[[The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One]]'', ''[[Atlantis (Sun Ra album)|Atlantis]]'', ''Secrets of the Sun'' and ''Other Planes of There''.

===Philadelphia phase===
During their third period, beginning around 1976, Sun Ra and the Arkestra settled down into a relatively conventional sound, often incorporating swing standards, although their records and concerts were still highly eclectic and energetic, and typically included at least one lengthy, semi-improvised percussion jam. Sun Ra was explicitly asserting a continuity with the ignored jazz tradition: "They tried to fool you, now I got to school you, about jazz, about jazz" he chanted in concerts,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lock|first=Graham|url=https://archive.org/details/blutopiavisionso0000lock|url-access=registration|quote=They tried to fool you, now I got to school you.|title=Blutopia: Visions of the Future and Revisions of the Past in the Work of Sun Ra, Duke Ellington, and Anthony Braxton|date=1999|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-2440-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/blutopiavisionso0000lock/page/25 25]|language=en}}</ref> framing the inclusion of pieces by [[Fletcher Henderson]] and [[Jelly Roll Morton]].{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

In the 1970s Sun Ra took a liking to the films of [[Walt Disney]]. He incorporated smatterings of Disney musical numbers into many of his performances from then on. In the late 1980s the Arkestra performed a concert at [[Walt Disney World]]. The Arkestra's version of "[[Pink Elephants on Parade]]" is available on ''Stay Awake'', a tribute album of Disney tunes played by various artists and produced by [[Hal Willner]]. A number of Sun Ra's 1970s concerts are available on CD, but none have received a wide release in comparison to his earlier music. In 1978–1980 performances, Sun Ra added a large electronic creation, the Outerspace Visual Communicator, which produced images rather than sounds; this was performed at a keyboard by its inventor, Bill Sebastian. During concerts, the OVC usually was positioned at center stage behind the Arkestra while Sebastian sat on stage with the musicians.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

===Musicians===
Dozens of musicians—perhaps hundreds—passed through Sun Ra's bands over the years. Some stayed with him for decades, whilst others played on only a few recordings or performances.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Sun Ra was personally responsible for the vast majority of the constant changes in the Arkestra's lineup. According to contrabassist [[Jiunie Booth]], a member of the Arkestra, Sun Ra did not confront any musician whose performance he was unsatisfied with. Instead, he would simply gather the entire Arkestra minus the offending musician, and skip town—leaving the fired musician stranded. 
The following is a partial list of musical collaborators, and the eras when they played with Sun Ra or the Arkestra:

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* [[Yahya Abdul-Majid]], tenor saxophone (1980–2020)
* Fred Adams, trumpet (1981–?)
* [[Luqman Ali]] (Edward Skinner), drums (1960,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sites |first1=William |title=Sun Ra's Chicago: Afrofuturism and the City |date=2020 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |page=206 |isbn=9780226732244 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hAwHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA206}}</ref> 1977–?)
* [[Marshall Allen]], alto saxophone, flute, oboe (1957–present)
* [[Atakatune]] (Stanley Morgan), percussion (1972–1992)
* [[Ayé Aton]] (Robert Underwood), drums and percussion (1972–1976) 
* [[Robert Barry (musician)|Robert Barry]], drums (1955–1968, 1979)
* [[Ronnie Boykins]], double bass (1957–1974)
* [[Jiunie Booth|Arthur "Jiunie" Booth]], double bass
* Darryl Brown, drums (1970–1972)
* [[Owen "Fiidla" Brown]], violin, dance, vocals (1987–1990s and later appearances)
* [[Tony Bunn]], electric bass (1976)
* [[Francisco Mora Catlett]], drums (1973–1980)
* Samarai Celestial (Eric Walker), drums (1979–1997)
* [[Don Cherry (trumpeter)|Don Cherry]], [[pocket trumpet]] (1983–1990)
* [[Vincent Chancey]], [[French horn]] (1976–1995)
* [[Damon Choice]], [[vibraphone]] (1974–?)
* [[Phil Cohran]], trumpet (1959–1961)
* India Cooke, violin (1990–1995)
* Danny Davis, alto saxophone, flute (1962–1977, 1985)
* [[Dave Davis (musician)|Dave Davis]], trombone (1997–present)
* Joey DeStefano, alto saxophone (1968–1969)
* [[Arthur Doyle]], saxophone (1968, 1989)
* Bruce Edwards. guitar (1983–1993)
* [[Eddie Gale]], trumpet (1960s)
* Richard Evans, bass (1950s)
* [[John Gilmore (musician)|John Gilmore]], tenor saxophone, [[bass clarinet]] (1954–1964, 1965–1995)
* [[Kwame Hadi]] ([[Lamont McClamb]]), trumpet, conga, vibraphone (1969–1996)
* [[Billy Higgins]], drums, (1989)
* [[Tyrone Hill (musician)|Tyrone Hill]], trombone (1979–present)
* [[Tommy "Bugs" Hunter]], drums, [[sound engineer]] (1951–1990)
* [[Ahmed Abdullah]], trumpet, (1976–1993)
* [[James Jacson]], bassoon, oboe, flute, Ancient Egyptian infinity drum (1963–1997)
* [[Clifford Jarvis]], drums, (1961–1976, 1983)
* [[Donald Jones (musician)|Donald Jones]], drums (1973–1974)
* [[Dr. VonFiend (musician)]], various instruments, effects (2006–2009)
* [[Wayne Kramer]], guitar (2006)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.waynekramer.com/wk/reports.cfm |title=My Night as a Tone Scientist |access-date=2008-05-31 |last=Kramer |first=Wayne |author-link=Wayne Kramer (guitarist) |date=2006-10-23 |work=The Kramer Report |archive-date=June 11, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611174833/http://www.waynekramer.com/wk/reports.cfm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Elson Nascimento]], percussion, vocals (1987–present)
* [[Bob Northern]], [[french horn]]
* [[Eloe Omoe]], bass clarinet, oboe
* [[John Ore]], double bass
* Taylor Richardson, guitar (1979–1983)
* [[Pat Patrick (musician)|Pat Patrick]], baritone saxophone, alto saxophone, clarinet, flute (1950–1959, 1961–1977, 1985–1988)<ref name="Patrick_Grove"/>
* [[Julian Priester]], trombone (1955–1956, 1980s–1990s)
* [[Rollo Radford]], bass
* [[Knoel Scott]], alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, singer and dancer (1979–present)
* [[Buster Smith (drummer)|Buster Smith]], drums
* [[Marvin "Bugalu" Smith]], drums
* [[James Spaulding]], alto sax, flute (1959)
* [[Michael Ray (trumpeter)|Michael Ray]], trumpet (1978–present)
* [[Pharoah Sanders]], saxophone (1964–1965)
* Bill Sebastian, outerspace visual communicator (1978–1980)
* [[Talvin Singh]], tablas<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2001/jun/08/artsfeatures4 |title=Home entertainment: Talvin Singh |last=Hodgkinson |first=Will |date=8 June 2001 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=25 September 2012}}</ref>
* [[Alan Silva]], double bass, cello, violin (early 1970s)
* [[Tani Tabbal]], drums
* [[Clifford Thornton]], trombone
* [[June Tyson]], singer, violin

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===Outer Space Visual Communicator===
The Outer Space Visual Communicator was a giant machine that was played with hands and feet to create light designs, similar to how musicians create and sound with their instruments. The name of the instrument arose from Bill Sebastian's collaboration with Sun Ra, who incorporated the OVC into the Arkestra from 1978 to 1980 and experimented on video applications from 1981 to 1987.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visualmusicsystems.com/ovc.htm|title=The OVC|work=Visual Music Systems|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420230910/http://www.visualmusicsystems.com/ovc.htm|archive-date=2016-04-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2013/04/01/inventor-updates-creation-bring-vision-music/4KRSQ8c35h4ejqSU2Zk4EO/story.html |title=Inventor brings 3-D vision to music |last=Sullivan |first=James |date=2013-04-02 |work=The Boston Globe}}</ref>