Space Is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra

Sun Ra, a.k.a. Herman Poole "Sonny" Blount (1914–1993), has been hailed as "one of the great big-band leaders, pianists, and surrealists of jazz" (New York Times) and as "the missing link between Duke Ellington and Public Enemy" (Rolling Stone). Composer, keyboardist, bandleader, philosopher, poet, and self-proclaimed extraterrestrial from Saturn, Sun Ra led his "Intergalactic Arkestra" of thirty-plus musicians in a career that ranged from boogie-woogie and swing to be-bop, free jazz, fusion, and New Age music. This definitive biography reveals the life, philosophy, and musical growth of one of the twentieth century's greatest avant-garde musicians.

Arts & Photography

Szwed, John F.

Photography & Video

Da Capo Pr

Always riveting, Space Is the Place is the definitive biography of "one of the great big-band leaders, pianists, and surrealists of jazz" (New York Times)--unparalleled for his purposeful outlandishness, a man who exerted a powerful influence over a vast array of artists. Sun Ra--a/k/a Herman Poole "Sonny Blount--was born in Alabama on May 22, 1914. But like Father Divine and Elijah Muhammad, he made a lifelong effort to obscure many of the facts of his early life. After years as a rehearsal pianist for nightclub revues and in blues and swing bands, including Wynonie Harris's and Fletcher Henderson's, Sun Ra set out in the 1950s to find a way to impart his views about the galaxy, black people, and spiritual matters through the various incarnations of the Intergalactic Arkestra. His repertoire ranging from boogie-woogie, swing, and bebop to free form, fusion, and whatever, Sun Ra was above all a paragon of contradictions: profundity and vaudeville; technical pianistic virtuosity and irony; assiduous attention to arrangements and encouragement of collective improvisation; respect for tradition and celebration of the fresh. Some might have been bemused by his Afro-Platonic neo-hermeticism; others might have laughed at his egregious excesses. But Sun Ra was at once one of the great avant-gardists of the latter half of the twentieth century and a black cultural nationalist who extended Afrocentrism from ancient Egypt to the heavens.

Humor & Entertainment

Pantheon

Jazz 101 makes jazz, with all its intricacies of artistry and vast array of forms, accessible to readers through Szwed's fluid, entertaining prose. Infinitely readable and highly entertaining, Jazz 101 is a vital tool in understanding and appreciating jazz.

Jazz 101: Library Edition

Music

Blackstone Pub

Jazz 101 makes jazz, with all its intricacies of artistry and vast array of forms, accessible to readers through Szwed’s fluid, entertaining prose. Infinitely readable and highly entertaining, Jazz 101 is a vital tool in understanding and appreciating jazz.

Jazz 101

Jazz 101 is a fascinating entree into the world of jazz, for the beginner, novice, or jazz enthusiast. Szwed takes listeners on a tour of the varied and nonlinear history of jazz, exploring how it developed from an ethnic music to become America's most popular music and then part of the avant-garde in less than fifty years. Szwed's complete overview includes the major types of jazz and significant jazz musicians of the twentieth century; the roots of jazz, including its European and African influences; and recommended listening, plus appendixes on jazz singers, record guides, and more. Infinitely readable and highly entertaining, Jazz 101 is a vital tool in understanding and appreciating jazz.

Jazz 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Jazz

Business & Money

Blackstone Audiobooks

Jazz 101 Lib/E: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Jazz

Blackstone Publishing

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Szwed, John F.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Szwed, John F.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Szwed, John F.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Space Is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra

Space Is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra

Jazz 101: Library Edition

Jazz 101

Jazz 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Jazz

Jazz 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Jazz

Jazz 101 Lib/E: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Jazz