For almost 50 years, cosmic jazz band Sun Ra Arkestra has enamoured audiences with its immersive live shows, wild space-age costumes, and unique sound – a heady combination of free jazz, funk, atonal tunings, and proto-electronica. Led for much of its time by visionary musician-mystic-philosopher Sun Ra, it would be hard to name a band or artist who has had as wide-ranging and lasting an impact, having influenced everyone from Solange and Janelle Monáe, to Thurston Moore and Lady Gaga.
Now, no matter where you are in the world or wider universe, you’ll have the chance to experience the band perform live. Streaming live and direct into your living room this Saturday (or otherwise wherever you happen to be), Sun Ra Arkestra is putting on a special show thanks to community-focused, LA-based label Total Luxury Spa.
Kicking off the label’s new initiative The Garden Series, the plan is to bring iconic musicians to the masses, while simultaneously raising awareness, resources, and capital to help secure the future of the musical spaces that have been hit so drastically by recent events.
This time around, in honour of Black History Month, South Los Angeles music resource The World Stage is the focus of the event. First opening its doors in 1989, the space that has had an immeasurable impact on the area’s local community, and helped shape its cultural landscape. “We believe, especially during this time of uncertainty, that the nurturing and healing powers of music and its inherent spaces must be preserved and protected,” TLS explain.
With Sun Ra Arkestra’s 90-minute performance set to be followed by a conversation hosted by industry veteran and manager Chace Infinite with members of Sun Ra, Aman Kufahamu, and Kamau Daáood, there’s also a selection of merch to get your hands on (without the usual queue for the merch stand? All the better). Made up of long-sleeved tees, tote bags, and posters, each piece bears Total Luxury Spa’s trippy take on Sun Ra’s own visuals.
The session goes live on Saturday (February 27) and will be available until March 20. Tickets are available now, so put on your spacesuit and get ready to blast off into the cosmos of Sun Ra Arkestra.