American Masters: Sun Ra, on PBS

Forget Madonna. No artist ever reinvented themselves more thoroughly and profoundly than Herman “Sonny” Blount. The relatively successful regional big bandleader declared himself an angel from the planet Saturn—and people believed him. In the process, he became a jazz legend and arguably the most significant figure in Afro-Futurism. He definitely had multitudes, as viewers will quickly pick up from Christine Turner’s Sun Ra: Do the Impossible, which premieres tomorrow as part of the current season of PBS’s American Masters.

Sun Ra’s rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is a shrewd choice to introduce to the musician-composer-bandleader to viewers, because it is free in an exploratory avant-garde sense, yet also barrelhouse bluesy. In fact, Sun Ra’s accessibility is the one aspect of his music Turner’s experts largely underplay. They make much of his experimentation with sonic distortion and Moog synthesizers. However, he always remained a big bandleader, who idolized Fletcher Henderson.

As Sun Ra, Blount incorporated elaborate space-age costume and concepts into his stage show, as well as ancient Egyptian imagery. In an effort to create a mythology for Black America, Sun Ra developed his own personal mythology, which he lived every day. Aptly, one of Turner’s commentators describes his life as an extended work of performance art. Yet, bassist Alex Blake also reluctantly (and with all due respect) likens the experience of being a member of Sun Ra’s communal Arkestra to being in a cult. That shows a rare critical evenhandedness that elevates Do the Impossible above most PBS profiles.

Notably, Turner features commentary from several longtime band-members, including Blake, John Gilmore, and stalwart Marshall Allen, the 101-year-old reed player, who succeeded Sun Ra as leader of the Arkestra. Last year, at the age of 100, Allen released his first session as a solo-leader. He has also been honored as an NEA Jazz Master, which should put the Arkestra’s musical significance in proper perspective.

Throughout the film, Turner incorporates clips from Sun Ra’s Afro-Futuristic blaxploitation science fiction film Space is the Place (which also extensively riffs on Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal)—with good reason. It is easily one of the two or three coolest movies ever produced. It also expresses Sun Ra’s cosmic mythic notions better than words ever will.

Turner’s subtitle comes from a Sun Ra poem, whose origins many fans might not be familiar with. However, it is ultimately quite fitting, because it fully places Sun Ra in a futuristic space age context. Altogether, this is an excellent documentary that consistently exhibits a high level of understanding of Sun Ra’s music and jazz in general. Enthusiastically recommended, Sun Ra: Do the Impossible airs tomorrow (2/20) on most PBS stations nationwide.