Sun Ra, an Alabama native and pioneering force in jazz music, will be honored in his home state with a new, multi-day festival. Organizer Lee Shook has raised more than $21,000 for the May festival ...

The outlandish persona Sun Ra created and maintained for himself over the years may sometimes distract from the adventurous intent of the music he made. Yet it is testament to his vigorous loyalty to ...

A documentary covering the life and work of Alabama's most singular musician will have a national debut next year.

Without the jazz musician, poet, and bandleader Sun Ra, the music industry would look and sound somewhat different. Countless mainstream artists have been inspired by his boundlessness and his ability ...

Historical document or musical revelation? Music from Tomorrow’s World, the latest release in Atavistic’s Unheard Music Series, again poses this seemingly eternal, yet pertinent, question. Should live ...

You think Willie Nelson is a marvel in the music world, still recording and performing at age 91? Say hello to Marshall Allen, longtime leader of the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra. Allen, 100, has been at ...

February is Black History Month, and each week all month, World Cafe correspondent John Morrison is joining us to talk about a different trailblazer of Black music. These mavericks took musical risks ...

Legendary Afrofuturist bandleader, composer, and musician Sun Ra had an eye on the cosmos. Though he passed away in 1993, the members of his 13-person musical ensemble, the Sun Ra Arkestra, have since ...

Questlove, Dawn Richard and a range of other musicians, writers and critics share their favorites from the experimental pianist, organist and bandleader’s wide-ranging catalog. By Marcus J. Moore ...

Sun Ra, the trailblazing jazz musician, poet, and pioneer of the Afrofuturism movement, was also a utopian—both in outer space and here on earth. Known for a persona that mixed cosmic references, ...

Sun Ra Sun Ra, born Herman Poole Blount, was an innovative jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his "cosmic" philosophy of music and life. A pioneer in ...