hi Pursuit of s i mBY ROBERT HUGHES Photographs by Ragnars Veilands dozen or so black men, clad in a brightly colored fusion of African and outer space clothing, find their way to their instruments. The woodwind section begins to play in gentle floating tones. When they are finished, percussion sounds take over and a woman in a long gown gracefully takes the stage. She sings of how before the sun, there was darkness. “The world is waiting for the sunrise, for the sunrise;” she continued to sing. At that moment, a massive black figure with a golden cowl and decorative robes comes on stage as the band unleashes a cascade of sound. He announces to the audience: “Some call me Mr. Ra...Others call me Mr. Ree...You can call me Mr. Mystery.” He begins moving his arms and body to the music, creating the effect of being able to color and change the music at will. After an interplanetary exploration or two from soloists or groups of instrumentalists cued by the man, he moves toward his mass of keyboards. As he starts to play, Blammol, it’s suddenly tight and tough big band swing of the likes of Jelly Roll Morton's King Porter Stomp or Fletcher Henderson's Christopher Columbus. The audience is frenzied. Another voyage of the Ra Ship is underway... ome concert events have to be described as experiences. Sun Ra and his Arkestra have been giving their audiences experiences for the past twenty-five years. They recently did so again in Portland at Luis’ LaBamba Club. During an Arkestra performance, Sun Ra leads his unit through a vast range of musical styles from African rhythms to big band swing and bebop to free jazz originals and group improvisations that some would consider imcomprehensible noise and that others can only respond to with an awestruck "Oh Wow!” There are elements of theatre in the Sun Ra performance as well. The band might have to use the power of music to fight off a masked creature as they did that Sunday night, or they might be led through the audience by Sun Ra chanting “We travel the spaceways from planet to planet” or some other space ditty. The only one who knows what’s going to happen next is Sun Ra himself. Sun Ra and his music are well known throughout Europe where tickets to his concerts have been known to sell out in just a few hours. The cultural minister of Egypt once cancelled a performance of the Egyptian Ballet in order to make space available for an Arkestra concert. Although Sun Ra tours the United States frequently, his biggest American following is in New York where he was based during the '60s. Sun Ra talks of his origins in a manner reminiscent of the origins of Superman. But he does confirm that he went by the name Sonny Lee when he was younger and that his “arrival day” occurred when he came home from elementary school to find that his mother had bought him a piano. There in Birmingham, Alabama, Ra taught himself to read music and play by ear, and by high school he'd formed his own band. Later stages in his development included classical training and a one-year stint in 1946 with his mentor, Fletcher Henderson, in Chicago. By the mid-fifties, he'd assembled the core of his Arkestra, a woodwind section including John Gilmore, Pat Patrick and Marshall Allan. Being a disciplined musician is an essential requirement for an Arkestra member. Reading Ra’s music is difficult enough, but members of the Arkestra must communicate with their leader on his vibe. Most often during a performance, they don't know what’s going to happen next unless they are guided by their intuitions and are on Ra’s spiritual plane. This means many, many hours of rehearsal for the men who travel the spaceways. Described as a private person, Sun Ra is seldom seen in the outside world, and then, usually in the company of a member of his group who seems to function as a body guard. Photographer Ragnars Veilands catches up with the elusive Mr. Ra outside Portland’s Imperial Hotel. Ragnars drives Sun Ra and his companion to Washington Square to buy a paper cutter. “ I understand you’re fromJupiter,” says Ragnars, trying to make conversation. “ No, I ’mfromSaturn,” says Sun Ra. “ I wasn’t born, I arrived. Most people arrive on the earth dead and you have to spank them to wake them up.” Ra’s complex cosmological philosophies are the basis for his musical expression. He believes that he is a member of the Angel race, sent from his home planet of Saturn by the creator of the omniverse to bring harmony through music (the omni- versal language) in a planet full of disharmony. He is not trying to wake this planet up, but rather, to calm us down, and put us in a kind of dream state between myth and reality. "In my music, I speak of unknown things, ancient things, potential things.” The influences of Sun Ra can be heard in the works of a large number of musicians who have been associated with the Arkestra; people like Julian Priester, Marion Brown and Pharoah Sanders. John Coltrane was influenced by Sun Ra's master tenor player, John Gilmore. Coltrane also found the poetry and philosophy of Sun Ra instrumental in breaking his drug habit and moving on to another stage of musical styles and spiritual beliefs. Sun Ra says, "I'm actually painting pictures of infinity with my music, and that’s why a lot of people don’t believe me. But if they’d listen to this and other types of music, they’ll find this has something else in it, something from another world.” ytuutgUMd New Location: 35th & Hawthorne Opening December 1 Casual 100% Cotton and Wool Clothing 44 Clinton St. Quarterly fasr-Wesr College therapy • 7 5 hr. Pre- License Program • 1000 hr. Clinical Program • Classes offered by credit hour Winter Term begins January II To reserve your space call 238-0253 Everett Community Center 2917 NE Everett
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