“The Life and Times of Sun Ra” by John Szwed Essay

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Introduction

In the biography Space is the Place: The Life and Times of Sun Ra, John Szwed sets an example of how historians should study a musical icon and his works. Szwed definitely shows that one must accept an artist and his music on his terms. The author concludes that discussing Sun Ra’s life presented several challenges. First, the artist refuses to acknowledge a fixed identity, which leads to the intentional obscurity of his biographical data. Second, the artist does not accept a locatable historical position, which can be explained by his haphazard jumble of material. Third, Sun Ra resists closure and, thus, makes it harder for a biographer to present facts about the artist’s life in a traditional matter (Wuethrich). Challenged by the complexity of the artist’s works and his personal character, Szwed manages to create a multi-dimensional and fascinating image of an enigmatic jazz performer.

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Ra’s life is presented in a chronological order, which is a traditional approach to biographical storytelling. The author follows Ra from his childhood in Alabama to his first steps in the jazz scene in Chicago, then to New York, and eventually Philadelphia. In this paper, the focus will be placed on exploring Szwed’s analysis of Sun Ra’s personal and musical characteristics, the artist’s biography and his contribution to jazz as a whole. From a personal perspective, a period from Sun Ra’s life will be discussed to reveal its impact on shaping the musical craft.

Sonny’s Childhood and First Experience with Music

To understand from where Sun Ra came and how his upbringing influenced his future views on art, it was chosen to first pay attention to the first half of the books first chapter, which encompasses pages 30 to 80. Szwed reveals that Herman Poole Blount (later known under the scene name of Sun Ra) was born on May 22, 1914, in Birmingham, Alabama (32). The name that mother gave him was inspired by the name of a famous Afrocentric magician who claimed to have the ability to resurrect women from the dead. This name is heavily associated with spirituality and, thus, contributes to Ra’s worldview that “he was not born, that he was not from earth, that he was not a man, that he had no family, that his name was not what others said it was” (Szwed 35). It is revealed that Sun Ra’s father left when the boy was young as well as that he had an older sister Mary and an older brother Robert. From his early childhood, Herman was nicknamed Sonny.

At elementary school, Sonny was a polite and studious boy who was protected from violence on the part of his teachers and the mother. As he reached adolescence, several health issues such as hernia and cryptorchidism started tormenting him (Szwed 48). When struggling with these issues, the boy found protection from his great aunt for whom Herman was “her favorite, her joy in life, and she refused to let anyone discipline or correct him” (Szwed 48). Sonny’s first memories came from Robert’s records as well as his grandmother’s love for church music. Soon after getting familiar with music, the boy began composing songs and writing poetry. Also, it should be mentioned that Birmingham was “flush with music,” which made it possible for Herman to visit musical plays and start learning the piano (Szwed 53). Walking down the city’s streets, the boy could get inspirations from church choirs, sounds of blues from the music shops, dance bands that performed at night at black nightclubs and social bars. Sun Ra said, “I never missed a band […] I loved music beyond the state of liking it […] I will give honor to all the sincere musicians who ever were and will be” (qtd. in Szwed 64). Music was an outlet for black people to express their disdain and anger with oppression and segregation.

Chicago Years

The second large stage in Sun Ra’s life relates to his Chicago years, where he moved after WWII (Youngquist 134). The musician quickly found work and first played for Wynonie Harries, a blues singer, and later collaborated with Fletcher Henderson at the Club DeLisa. The Henderson band began gaining momentum at the club and was successful in playing a series of shows such as “Sound Off,” “Early Fall Capers,” “Romance & Rhythm,” “Bronzeville Holiday,” “Favorites of 1947,” and several others (Szwed 159). As the band diffused its attention on different things, Sonny had an opportunity to remain at the club and work with other musicians. When given new arrangements to floor shows, Sonny started making small changes in them, which led to them becoming more dramatic. As Sun Ra remembered his experimentation with new arrangements, he mentioned that Red Saunders, the leader of the club’s new band, said “I give you these nice, clean arrangements each week, and look at what you did with them! But damn, they sure sound good, though” (qtd. in Szwed 162). It should be mentioned that Sonny did not fit in with the rest of the musicians. Not only because he did not drink or smoke but also because he paid attention to spirituality, physics, astronomy, and space travel. Often, Sonny lectured his fellow musicians about morality, which contributed to his reputation as a weird person even more.

In Chicago, Sonny became obsessed with Egyptian mythology and read numerous works on the origins of the civilization, its history, and occult interpretation. Alongside with composing new music, he delved into the exploration of his moral and spiritual value, and mythology played a significant part in that process overall. Soon after, the musician came up with a stage name for himself. The name ‘Ra’ is associated with the central deity in the Egyptian mythology as was considered the most powerful among all other gods (Pinch 185). Also, the name was translated as ‘the sun’, which sounded similar to the musician’s lifetime nickname Sonny. The name Sun Ra became a stage name, warranted by the traditions of jazz royalty (Szwed 227). As it was set in place, the name prompted some debates, with Sonny challenged to reveal his real name. However, to the artist, Sun Ra was his real name and any explanations he gave for it were hard to follow (Beta). Similar to his pseudonym, Sonny wanted to give his orchestra a name and started referring to it as ‘Arkestra,’ which also had the word ‘Ra’ in it twice (Szwed 252).

New York Years and Secrets of the Sun

The Arkestra established an independent record label – El Saturn Records, which helped in creating Sun Ra’s singles and records for artists related to him. In the fall of 1961, the Arkestra moved to New York City, which represents a new chapter in Sun Ra’s musical career. This period will be analyzed in terms of shaping the artist’s craft to a large degree. To capture the free spirit of New York, Sonny began wearing his stage clothes on the streets and always introduced himself as Sun Ra, “a descendant of the ancient Egyptians” (Szwed 463). From the very beginning, Sonny was fascinated by the street life of New York and liked strolling through the city. His unusual outfit as well as interesting conversations in which he engaged gave Sun Ra the reputation of a public fixture. When one was to stop for a brief talk with Sun Ra on the streets of New York, the conversation would briefly turn into a coffee or a fruit juice at a café, the musician would start writing poetry of complex formulas on napkins, pondering on the meaning and value of mystical things (Szwed 427). Thus, it was New York where Sun Ra got an opportunity to connect with his audience and share the most important thoughts he had about life and the world overall.

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Despite the spiritual revelations that Sun Ra had in New York, the Arkestra had some issues with finding work in the city. Eventually, one year after arriving, the band had the breakthrough performance that gave it national notice and a review in New York Times. The Arkestra’s music was described as space-age jazz, rhythmically strong and “full of keening dissonance varied by thick, heavy ensembles, by three saxophones and a euphonium” (Szwed 443). Secrets of the Sun is an album that is particularly important to mention in relation to this era of the musician’s work because it was recorded by Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra in New York but was available years later.

The album is valuable to the discussion about Sun Ra’s New York years because it represents an increased form of free musical experimentation, although it is considered one of the most under-represented albums in the artist’s career (Collins). Compared to more structured and less aggressive recording made in Chicago, Secrets of the Sun pushed the limits of tonality and harmony, as mentioned by music critics (Collins). For instance, as stated by Troy Collins for the All About Jazz article, “Ra’s veteran saxophone line-up is vociferous on “Space Aura,” as Marshall Allen, John Gilmore and Pat Patrick […] spin an angular web of interweaving lines that venture into outside territory.” Recordings on the album have a definite raw quality with its warehouse-like acoustics, the erratic proximity of microphones, and the distortion of sound. Listening to the album, one can come to the impression that the album represented garage jazz with psychedelic undertones, which were heavily influenced by the diverse musical scene of New York.

Conclusion

To conclude, Sun Ra was more than a musician. The artist was deeply interested in the spiritual aspect of his life, which had a noticeable influence on his work as a composer and performer. His life was full with the exploration of the inner and external world and appealed to his audience due to his mysterious persona. After reading several chapters from Space is the Place: The Life and Times of Sun Ra by John Szwed, a conclusion can be made that the artist inspired spiritual rather than intellectual creativity and helped the audience understand Ra’s contribution to its fullest. Lastly, Szwed’s approach was more reverential than critical despite having to deal wit Sun Ra’s confusing retelling of stories. The author wanted his readers to understand the enigmatic personality of Sun Ra and his inclinations to explore the transcendent and the mysterious.

Works Cited

Beta, Andy. Vulture. 2017, Web.

Collins, Troy. All About Jazz. 2008, Web.

Pinch, Geraldine. Handbook of Egyptian Mythology. ABC-Clio, 2002.

Szwed, John. Space is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra. Pantheon Books, 1997.

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Wuethrich, Matthew. All About Jazz. 2003, Web.

Youngquist, Paul. A Pure Solar World: Sun Ra and Youngquist and the Birth of Afrofuturism. University of Texas Press, 2016.

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