The Sun Ra Arkestra Descends Upon Hollywood Theatre

"He is a miracle of the highest order, a grand eccentric, and true genius of the cosmos. A peerless 20th century composer, a poet, a brilliant pianist, a live performance visionary, one of the greatest to ever have lived. His music fused the American avant-garde to jazz, the wabi-sabi of bebop to the big band. He made the electric piano into the instrument of the future."

"He released more than a hundred albums, many through his own recording company, the rarest ones embossed with his personal artwork. Beautiful orchestral pop music, colossal free jazz freakouts, haunting solo piano recitals, straight up big band jams, John Cage collabs. If you can do it in jazz, he did it, and he may be back, someday, to do it all again, if the universe demands."

"Year after year, decade after decade, the Arkestra has traveled the world, sporting handsome lycra costumes and performing the great man's music for audiences everywhere. The band was playing their third night in a row of packed houses in their customary Hollywood Theatre homestand, a nearly yearly occurrence."

Sun Ra was a groundbreaking 20th-century composer and pianist who revolutionized music by blending American avant-garde with jazz, bebop, and big band traditions. He transformed the electric piano into a futuristic instrument and released over a hundred albums through his own recording company, creating diverse works from orchestral pop to free jazz. After Ra's death in 1993, saxophonist Marshall Allen assumed leadership of the Sun Ra Arkestra, a Philadelphia-based big band orchestra dedicated to performing Ra's music. The Arkestra, known for distinctive lycra costumes and cosmic philosophy, has toured globally for decades, establishing Portland as a West Coast home base with regular performances at the Hollywood Theatre.

Read at Portland Mercury