A Pure Solar World: Sun Ra and the Birth of Afrofuturism (Discovering America)

Sun Ra Said He Came From Saturn. Known On Earth For His Inventive Music And Extravagant Stage Shows, He Pioneered Free-form Improvisation In An Ensemble Setting With The Devoted Band He Called The Arkestra. Sun Ra Took Jazz From The Inner City To Outer Space, Infusing Traditional Swing With Far-out Harmonies, Rhythms, And Sounds. Described As The Father Of Afrofuturism, Sun Ra Created Space Music As A Means Of Building A Better Future For American Blacks Here On Earth. This Is A Spirited Introduction To The Life And Work Of This Legendary But Underappreciated Musician, Composer, And Poet. Paul Youngquist Explores And Assesses Sun Ra's Wide-ranging Creative Output-music, Public Preaching, Graphic Design, Film And Stage Performance, And Poetry-and Connects His Diverse Undertakings To The Culture And Politics Of His Times, Including The Space Race, The Rise Of Technocracy, The Civil Rights Movement, And Even Space-age Bachelor-pad Music. By Thoroughly Examining The Astro-black Mythology That Sun Ra Espoused, Youngquist Masterfully Demonstrates That He Offered Both A Holistic Response To A Planet Desperately In Need Of New Visions And Vibrations And A New Kind Of Political Activism That Used Popular Culture To Advance Social Change. In A Nation Obsessed With Space And Confused About Race, Sun Ra Aimed Not Just At Assimilation For The Socially Disfranchised But Even More At A Wholesale Transformation Of American Society And A More Creative, Egalitarian World. Prelude To Infinity -- Intro : Wonder Inn -- Alien -- Marienville -- Bronzeville -- Thmei -- Egypt -- Washington Park -- Arkestra -- Immeasurable Equation -- El Saturn -- Isotope Teleportation -- Cry Of Jazz -- Sputnik -- Rocketry -- Tomorrowland -- Interplanetary Exotica -- Space Music -- Myth Science -- Black Man In The Cosmos -- Space Is The Place -- Tokens Of Infinity -- Continuation -- Outro : Extensions Out. Paul Youngquist. Includes Bibliographical References, Discography And Index.