The book of information sun ra

Szweds remarkably wellresearched biography of sun ra. The sun and his myth science arkestra paved the way of the black arts movement in harlem in the 1960s and carried thousands of international followers. On october 20, 1952 he legally changed his name into le sonyr ra. For much of his career, ra led the arkestra, an ensemble with an everchanging name and flexible lineup. I do relate to it in terms of the spiritual inspiration and information by intuiting the sounds that. The sun, and therefore ra, represented life, warmth, and growth to ancient egyptians. In 1966, the arkestra had a weekly monday night gig at slugs saloon, a jazz club in the lower east side in manhattan, which greatly increased his fan. Sun ra made the brilliant move of linking ancient egypt with the space. Szwed details a tour tale from turkey in 1990 where sun ra was approached by.

I am not a musician, so i dont relate to sun ras music in that way. Sun ra arkestra sun r sunrise in different di singles. The book of ra the book of overthrowing apep, also known as, the book of knowing the evolutions of ra if we consider for a moment the vast. Many of the graves in ancient egypts valley of the kings. The book also presents a thorough exposition of sun ra s life philosophy, one that was informed by works. This period saw the release of the heliocentric worlds of sun ra, vol. Jazz keyboardist, bandleader and composer sun ra recorded dozens of singles and over one hundred fulllength albums, comprising well over songs, and making him one of the.

Explanatory information about the knowledge bookthe alpha channelthe golden age dear friends, our planet. With the help of british sun ra expert chris trent, i have completed an expanded and updated second edition of the earthly. Also known as the sun god, ra was a powerful deity and a central god of the egyptian pantheon. Szwed details a tour tale from turkey in 1990 where sun ra was approached by a group of mystics who gave him the book of information. Sun ra simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Amunras boat traveled across the sky by day, and through the world of the dead by night. It included an album index, an index of musicians, an index of tune titles with composers, and a filmvideo index. Sun ra s collected poetry and prose is available as a book, published may 2005, entitled sun ra, the immeasurable equation.

The first edition of the earthly recordings of sun ra, published in 1994 by cadence jazz books, was a 247page paperback book listing around 520 sessions. He became a leader of afrofuturism, a cultural aesthetic and style that combines science fiction, fantasy, and afrocentrism to reimagine the african tradition. Ra states that itthey are a sixthdensity social memory complex that formed on venus about 2. An extraordinary documentary about the art of sun ra the. Space is still the place for marshall allen and the sun ra arkestra. Another book of over 260 of sun ra s poems, sun ra. Thomas stanleys new book the execution of sun ra blasts off with. Szwed is especially convincing when he documents the origins of sonnys unique blend of mysticism, egyptology, afrocentrism, and nonsense. Sun ra, byname of le sonyr ra, original name herman blount,byname sonny, born may 22, 1914, birmingham, ala. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Sun ra biography, albums, streaming links allmusic. It also provides lots of information on his particular philosophy and how he developed it. Le sonyr ra better known as sun ra, was an american jazz composer, bandleader, piano and. The wisdom of sun ra is an invaluable compendium of writings by one of the most intriguing and influential jazz figures of the century. Ra, or better know as amun ra, gained popularity and fame from dan browns novel the lost symbol and da divanci code. He abandoned his birth name, taking the name sun ra from the egyptian god of the sun named ra. The book also presents a thorough exposition of sun ras life philosophy, one that was informed by works stretching back thousands of years. After moving to new york in 1961, ra performed some of his most advanced work. Sun ras poetry leaves everything behind whats called contemporary, and flings out pictures of infinity into the outer space. A broad selection of musicians, producers and collectors share their extraordinary personal experiences of the music of sun ra.

The sun played a very important role in ancient egyptian life. While theres something curious and slightly arbitrary about these. In the first of our sun ra features this week in celebration of the music and legacy of the great jazz pianist and universal mystic for what would have been his 100th birthday, the vinyl factorys chris may goes deep into sun ras extraordinary back catalogue of handpainted and often privately pressed records to select 10 of the rarest around. Immeasurable equation was published by phaelos books in november 2005. The ancient egyptians revered ra as the god who created everything. Ra was all powerful and his power came from his secret name. The lives and times of sun ra, the definitive ra biography. One is amunra, which is a ram and the other, rahakorthaty which is a sky sun god. Our 1989 interview since the 40s, sun ra has remained a jazz oddity, a man who wore great hats and claimed to come from another planet. Considered by many to be a founder of afrofuturism, sun raaka herman blountwas a composer, keyboardist, bandleader, philosopher, entrepreneur, poet. The sun is the giver of life, controlling the ripening of crops which were worked by man. Sun ra was so disciplined and principled, he served time and suffered contempt from the community and his family for being a conscientious objector during the second world war.

A pioneer of afrofuturism, bandleader sun ra emerged from a traditional. Instead, he died in 1993 at the age of 79though it cant be said that the jazz icon didnt make good use of his time on earth. Speaking as a professional jazz musician, i appreciated the compelling insights into the creative processes behind sun ra s innovations in sound. To summarize, book of ra is a classic video slot machine with 5 reels and 10 adjustable pay lines. Dedicated to preserving the legacy of the sun ra arkestra.

In credit lists of sun ra releases entered in discogs, sun ra is sometimes credited playing a harp sun harp. For a man who claimed citizenship on the planet saturn, sun ra traveled galaxies away from his alabama roots where he was born herman sonny blount. This was unusual because osiris lived in the underworld and ra lived in the heavens. Sun ra and the birth of afrofuturism, author paul youngquist argues that sun ra was primarily a political artist, protesting not just war he was jailed for being a. The two gods were combined into one, amunra, in the time of the new kingdom, between the 16th and 11th centuries bce. Every aspect of the sun ra experience, from business practices like saturn records to published collections of poetry to his 35year career in music, is a manifestation of his equations. Ra, abraham and others formed a sort of book club to trade ideas and discuss the offbeat topics that so. The material, which was channeled by ll research between 1981 and 1984, discusses the law of one, the infinite creator, the logoss plan, the seven densities, the two paths, and free will. Lesonyra herman sonny blount herman poole blount pianist, organist, keyboardist, bandleader, composer, arranger, record company founder. The lives and times of sun ra is being published this april. In executing sun ra, the book performs a kind of posthumous sun ra, taking his. This gave him the power to create a thing just by calling its name.

A talented pianist and composer in his own right, sun ra 1914 1993 founded and conducted one of jazzs last great big bands from the 1950s until he left planet earth. A new edition of john szweds 1988 biography of sun ra space is the place. Saturns contribution to jazz fusion, the unpeggably eclectic bandleadercomposer wowed audiences from the 1940s until his death. Robert langdon, in the novel the lost symbol, explained to his students at harvard university how he prayed to ra during full moon nights with others who believed in this mystical egyptian king, who many advised was a being of another world. It was natural then, given the vital functions of the sun, that a. As far as anybody knows, sun ra was born herman poole blount on 22nd may 1914, making 22nd may 2014 the day that would have marked his 100th birthday. From the mid 1950s until his death in 1993, sun ra led the arkestra, a fluid collective that lived and played together under the despotic tutelage of their. Because of the life giving qualities of the sun the egyptians worshiped the sun as a god.

Herman poole blount sun ra was born and raised in alabama became involved in the jazz scene in chicago after world war ii. The mysterious tale of a dark body sent to earth to usher in an unprecedented era of cosmic regeneration and happiness volume. But szwed was able to uncover a wealth of information about his early life and confirmed a birth date of may 22, 1914. Sun ra presents a unified conception, incorporating music, myth, and performance into his multileveled equations. In 1971 while in egypt, he gave this sun harp as a present to.

Space is still the place for marshall allen and the sun ra. A new book exploring the philosophy, world view, and historical role of sun ra. Page 17 ra of the ament, who hast created the earth, who lightest the gods of the empyrean, ra who art in thy disk, guide him on the road to the ament, that he may reach the hidden spirits. Some time around the middle kingdom, ra and osiris became friends. The book consistently succeeds in making the idiosyncrasies of sun ra much less strange by placing them within the mainstreams of african american culture. God ras main enemy was an evil serpent named apep who fought each day as he traveled across the sky. Celebrating sun ra at 100 in my music i speak of unknown things, impossible things, ancient things, potential things, the influential and eccentric jazz musician once said. Enter your mobile number or email address below and well send you a link to download the free kindle app. Sun ras life and music surveyed in space is the place book.

The creator of the universe and the giver of life, the sun or ra represented life, warmth and growth. Ra was the god of the sun and light, who traveled across the sky every day in a burning boat. Few only know that he also was a gifted thinker and poet. Ra is the sun god or creator god in ancient egyptian religion. It is also one of the first slot machines that use the ancient egypt theme this slot was released in 2005, and believe it or not, it is 14 years old. The law of one material is a series of 106 conversations, called sessions, between don elkins, a professor of physics and ufo investigator, and ra, speaking through carla rueckert. Composer, bandleader, pianist and space philosopher, sun ra was a unique individual and one of the most colorful and enduring of musical legacies, transcending time, place and culture. Mugges documentary isnt a biography for that, id highly recommend john f. Secrets of amun ra revealed, amun ra and christ were not. While the sun god ra was in the underworld, the moon was in the sky to light up the sky. Sun ra was born this day, may 22, 1914, a date which wasnt known until the mid1990s when author john szwed dug it up for his excellent book, space is the place.

A searchable database of the law of one the ra material. Each morning as the sunrise, ra was reborn and his boat again sailed from east to west. He was the most powerful and most worshiped of all egyptian gods. Le sonyr ra born herman poole blount, may 22, 1914 may 30, 1993, better known as sun ra, was an american jazz composer, bandleader, piano, synthesizer player, and poet. American freejazz composer, pianist and band leader. The life and times of sun ra by matthew wuethrich, published on january 24, 2003 at all about jazz. From the mid1950s until his death, ra led the musical band known as the. Where it came from, where its at, united states information agency. And arkestra fan favorites like 1969s atlantis and 1978s. He was so important that he earned the status of king of the gods, with the egyptian kings. The ancient egyptians worshiped ra more than any other god and pharaohs often connected themselves with ra in their efforts to be seen as the earthly embodiment of the sun god. The sun ra discography is one of the largest discographies in music history.