BOOKS BY OR ABOUT SUN RA

“The Space Age Is Here To Stay”
​ - Sun Ra’s first Album using the Minimoog electronic instrument

Sun Ra can not be defined.  In an interview I listened to with him, he used the word, “infinity” when describing his music, and that he played in an “altered reality," not the future but “a future".  The purpose of this post is to share the ever growing list of books available on the late great Sun Ra and flesh out an interpretation of the purpose behind some of his more eclectic work.  My background as a  musician with 15 years experience playing piano gives me a base to work from.  I hope you will be stimulated to read about his career and listen to his music for yourself.  You will find it jazzy, funky, eclectic, spacey, energetic, purposeful, chaotic, and dozens of other adjectives that only represent a small sample of his range of undiscovered genres.  His use of sound to bend and shape the feelings in the body that result is surgical in its precision and yet completely beyond words to describe.

Book List of tiles by or about Sun Ra

1. Space Is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra (just released 2020)
   
2. Sun Ra: Collected Works Vol. 1 - Immeasurable Equation
   
3. Sun Ra: The Immeasurable Equation. The collected Poetry and Prose
   
4. Sun Ra's Chicago: Afrofuturism and the City
   
5. A Pure Solar World: Sun Ra and the Birth of Afrofuturism
   
6. The Cosmobiography of Sun Ra: The Sound of Joy Is Enlightening
   
7. Sun Ra's "Astro Black Mythology". Narrating the Self
   
8. Calling Planet Earth: Close Encounters with Sun Ra
   
9. Sun Ra's Chicago: Afrofuturism and the City
   
10. Blutopia: Visions of the Future and Revisions of the Past in the Work of Sun Ra, Duke Ellington, and Anthony Braxton
    
11. The Last Temptation of Sun Ra

​The first time I heard about Sun Ra was through the high priest of music for meditation named Kelan Phil Cohran.  He was a giant and a trailblazer in his time.  He knew of my father Irving Bunton’s pioneering role in classical music with Black students from Englewood and knew of my mother, but we hadn’t met until my adult years.  And what a strong advocate for African centered living he was.  If you’ve spoken with him for any length of time, he was sure to always mention the name of Sun Ra - his mentor, teacher, and band director for years.  Knowing Kelan was to have a glimpse into the importance of the great Sun Ra.  

Kelan wrote the ethereal work, “White Nile” to honor Sun Ra’s memory; and it is a masterful meditation filled with the beautiful harp of Josefe Marie Verna, the melodiously soothing voice of Aquilla Sadalla and Kelan on trumpet and whatever else he got his hands on.  As I said in the Youtube comments three years ago, this piece sounds like “sacredness of tranquility distilled.”  Kelan also played in the Sun Ra Arkestra in Chicago from 1959 to 1961.  He appeared on the albums "Fate In A Pleasant Mood" and "Angels and Demons at Play."  I remember asking Kelan if he was playing on “Demons at Play” and marveling at his stratospheric range and precision. I doubt you’ll find a musician who could match his performance on “Urnack.” Kelan had a deep connection to the sunrise.  I used to accompany him on several occasions to Chicago's Lakefront and it always felt like I’d witnessed an historic moment as he sometimes played the Kalimba or zither which brought me to tears with its healing tones. I give thanks (Ashe) to his life and memory.

So now that you've heard the student, we turn to his teacher and mentor.  ​One of Sun Ra's more “classical” sounding works is “Lanquidity - Where Pathways Meet”.  There are parts that sound familiar with others quite unrecognizable in some of its chord changes.  Perhaps he wrote this in between one of his cosmic escapes to the furthest reaches of the galaxy when preparing it.  No, I’m no aficionado, but I do appreciate the cutting edge creativity and longevity of his works.  They are out of time and right on time.  They also insight curiosity.  I think that is likely the most important reason to listen if for no other.  We live in a time where material gratification is literally a click of the computer mouse away from us.  Our minds become numbed out and accustomed to habit and repetition; we’re on automatic eat, sleep, repeat.  But when you listen to Sun Ra,  at times it may seem scattered, disjoint and dissonant.  I used to listen with great strain to try to “understand” it, in other words, find a pattern that I’d previously recognized so I could categorize it.  But, I’ve come to learn that some things are just not definable and that is good.  That means the unknown or mysterious has the potential to expand the mind by stretching the imagination to comprehend it or create something to explain it..  This is the effect Sun Ra’s music can have on just one mind.  

What effect will Sun Ra's music have on you?

This is a Youtube interview with Sun Ra recorded in 1979.  I do not know where it falls In his musical transformation, but it is extemporaneously and philosophically all over the place.  I listen and consider.  If I try to make a decision or judge some of his statements, I stop myself.  I don't think that is even the point of his speech.  Sure, we’re used to doing that, but I think like some of his music, it’s just meant to be heard or consumed only. In reflection, of course I don’t agree with everything, some ideas I’d never considered to even have an opinion.  But somehow, it is in just the listening that can have an effect on future experiences that can’t be described.       

One of his more mild “way out there” cosmic pieces called, "God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be” also recorded in 1979.  The seemingly alternate harmoniously distant themes at the beginning fit unexpectedly well together.  I’ve often wondered how his music would look on paper.  When watching him perform, none of the band members appeared to have sheet music which would always fascinate me.  How would everyone know when to change keys, when to move to a different chord change or metronomic time or mood?  Again, I don’t think this is the point..  It’s almost like he’s a cosmic doctor with medicine to be applied by listening.  And of course, if it doesn’t have the effect you want, no side effects, just try a different piece by listening.  

The free-flowing nature of his music captivates the mind and yet is boundless in key and rhythmic signature.  It is like freely flowing water.  At 9:29 it seems he’s settled into a jazzy ragtime theme, but how did he get there, and who knows what is next.  Sun Ra’s music represents creativity in each moment.  It is liquid, transformative and evolutionary.  It is also gives the sound appearance of nothingness or unfinished-ness at the same time.  This description will never do justice to what is actually experienced, so listen for yourself… at your own risk of being pulled into an endless musical cosmic oblivion without drugs or any other stimulating chemicals.    

​“Proper evaluation of words and letters In their phonetic and associated sense Can bring the peoples of earth Into the clear light of pure Cosmic Wisdom.” - Sun Ra

raduate students at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University did their Master’sl thesis in English on Sun Ra which can be found here:  https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/32031/mymusiciswords.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.  They argue that Sun Ra's prose is just as important as his musical contributions to the world.

Sun Ra also starred in a very (racy at times) film called, "Space is the Place".  You'll see why there was an "uncut" and a "cut" version - I do not recommend watching this with your children.

Travel with Sun Ra to outer space by listening to this piece created when he introduced the minimoog to Earthlings on his album "Brother Wind."  The piece is called, "The Wind" Speaks."

Want More?

​As always, I appreciate that you have read through this blog post.  I hope that you’ve become curious to find out more into the mind of Sun Ra and do your own independent research.  We ask that you consider purchasing your books from our Black owned business, Afriware Books, Co.  If there is a title you’d like to purchase that is not mentioned here, or could not be found on the website, feel free to email us at:  [email protected]