Born Herman "Sonny" Blount on May 22, 1914, in Birmingham, Ala., Sun Ra studied music at an early age. He took a conventional path, playing in high school, studying music at Alabama A&M University, dipping into classical music and then breaking through into the jazz sphere thanks to the influence of Ethel Waters, Bessie Smith and Fletcher Henderson. He later wrote arrangements for the latter.

The seeds of the Arkestra began in Chicago, where the bandleader assembled such simpatico free spirits as saxophonists John Gilmore, Marshall Allen and Pat Patrick. Even though he was always ready to tweak jazz into unknown regions, Sun Ra's early sides as a leader (on the Chicago-based Delmark imprint) were standard modal-swing dates fueled by the collective sensibilities of the band.

By the time Sun Ra moved his commune of musicians east to Philadelphia in 1961, he and his band were deemed a jazz anomaly. That didn't stop the intrepid leader from issuing his border-busting music on his own Saturn label (as well as micro indie ESP-Disk). Many of these hard-to-find recordings, often printed in the low triple numbers and sold out of crates at gigs, have found new life in an impressive reissue series by Evidence Records.

While Sun Ra's club appearances into the '80s and early '90s continued to be characterized by a festive spirit (maybe that had to do with the band's unlikely signing to pop label A&M, which resulted in two fine twilight records), it was clear the intergalactic pilot was ready to take wing to another plane. Even though Sun Ra died on May 30, 1993, his Arkestra still performs on occasion, though the shows pale in comparison to when the Saturnite keyboardist still roamed the earth.

In 1982, Sun Ra was elected by the Critics into the Down Beat Hall of Fame.