Kevin Whitehead

This music comes from newly released recordings of Sun Ra in 1978 playing one of the Left Bank Jazz Society's weekly Sunday concerts in Baltimore. Some Left Bank regulars dislike the jazz avant-garde to the point of scolding musicians who went too far. And yet this show was Sun Ra's fifth for the Left Bank in under two years, making him very much a house favorite.

He did draw his own audience, but the Left Bank's African-American standbys dug him too, knowing a comic persona and a black carnival act when they saw one. Sun Ra was serious, but it's not like he didn't know he was funny. His wisdom was couched in puns and wordplay. But Sun Ra's warm welcome was really because his rocket to the future flew straight through the jazz of the 1930s and 40s.

He did draw his own audience, but the Left Bank's African-American standbys dug him too, knowing a comic persona and a black carnival act when they saw one. Sun Ra was serious, but it's not like he didn't know he was funny. His wisdom was couched in puns and wordplay. But Sun Ra's warm welcome was really because his rocket to the future flew straight through the jazz of the 1930s and 40s.

He did draw his own audience, but the Left Bank's African-American standbys dug him too, knowing a comic persona and a black carnival act when they saw one. Sun Ra was serious, but it's not like he didn't know he was funny. His wisdom was couched in puns and wordplay. But Sun Ra's warm welcome was really because his rocket to the future flew straight through the jazz of the 1930s and 40s.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I attended a few of Sun Ra's Left Bank concerts, and this one got even odder than usual when documentary filmmaker Bob Muggy's overhead movie lights came up after the first set, as if the gods were checking in from above. Some of Muggy's footage turns up in his fine film Sun Ra, A Joyful Noise.

I attended a few of Sun Ra's Left Bank concerts, and this one got even odder than usual when documentary filmmaker Bob Muggy's overhead movie lights came up after the first set, as if the gods were checking in from above. Some of Muggy's footage turns up in his fine film Sun Ra, A Joyful Noise.

I attended a few of Sun Ra's Left Bank concerts, and this one got even odder than usual when documentary filmmaker Bob Muggy's overhead movie lights came up after the first set, as if the gods were checking in from above. Some of Muggy's footage turns up in his fine film Sun Ra, A Joyful Noise.

In the 70s, Ra started reviving then-obscure 1930s swing tunes by his early idol and one-time employer, bandleader Fletcher Henderson. Those vehicles for trumpet sensation Michael Ray let the orchestra traverse time as well as space. This is Yeah Man.

In the 70s, Ra started reviving then-obscure 1930s swing tunes by his early idol and one-time employer, bandleader Fletcher Henderson. Those vehicles for trumpet sensation Michael Ray let the orchestra traverse time as well as space. This is Yeah Man.

In the 70s, Ra started reviving then-obscure 1930s swing tunes by his early idol and one-time employer, bandleader Fletcher Henderson. Those vehicles for trumpet sensation Michael Ray let the orchestra traverse time as well as space. This is Yeah Man.

Sun Ra and his orchestra played three sets that evening in 1978, and the double album, Lights on a Satellite, gives a fair sampling of their range and includes a few tunes they didn't record so much. There are good features for tenor saxophone hero John Gilmore and altoist Marshall Allen. At age 100, Marshall leads a posthumous Sun Ra orchestra that also has a new CD called Lights on a Satellite.

Sun Ra and his orchestra played three sets that evening in 1978, and the double album, Lights on a Satellite, gives a fair sampling of their range and includes a few tunes they didn't record so much. There are good features for tenor saxophone hero John Gilmore and altoist Marshall Allen. At age 100, Marshall leads a posthumous Sun Ra orchestra that also has a new CD called Lights on a Satellite.

Sun Ra and his orchestra played three sets that evening in 1978, and the double album, Lights on a Satellite, gives a fair sampling of their range and includes a few tunes they didn't record so much. There are good features for tenor saxophone hero John Gilmore and altoist Marshall Allen. At age 100, Marshall leads a posthumous Sun Ra orchestra that also has a new CD called Lights on a Satellite.

That modern band has its moments, But there's only one Sun Ra as a leader or keyboard player. Here he is on organ for round midnight, just playing the melody his way.

That modern band has its moments, But there's only one Sun Ra as a leader or keyboard player. Here he is on organ for round midnight, just playing the melody his way.

That modern band has its moments, But there's only one Sun Ra as a leader or keyboard player. Here he is on organ for round midnight, just playing the melody his way.

The producer of this and dozens of historical jazz records, many of which we've praised here on the show, is Zev Feldman, who likes to fill out album booklets with extracts from interviews he conducts with witnesses whose memories are not always accurate or pertinent.