East Village Arts of Birmingham will host a birthday celebration and tribute to the late legendary bandleader and Birmingham native, Sun Ra.
The event, which kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 22, will feature a performance from a local volunteer “Sun Ra Birthday Arkestra” --a nod to the late bandleader’s assembly of musicians-- and a community celebration (the arts center encourages guests to bring their own drinks and snacks).
Born Herman Blount on May 22, 1914, Sun Ra blended jazz, Black culture, and science fiction to interpret the experience of the African diaspora and envision a better, more progressive future for Black people-- one without the burden of oppression. Sun Ra, who claimed to be from Saturn, led a large and ever-changing ensemble of musicians known as the Arkestra. The late jazz musician is considered to be the godfather of Afrofuturism.
Sun Ra’s Arkestra, which continued to tour after the bandleader’s death in 1993, was nominated for its first Grammy award in 2021. “Swirling,” the group’s first album in over 20 years, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.
Last year, Marshall Allen, the longest serving member of the Arkestra and one of the last surviving people from the group’s formation, said he appreciated the honor, but was happier to share the recognition with his bandmates.
“I’m happy for my musicians that they put out a nice album and everyone played well,” Allen told CBS 42 in an interview.
The Grammy nomination wasn’t the only recognition for Sun Ra and the Arkestra in 2021. In October, a trailer for season three of the FX show “Atlanta” featured “It’s After the End of the World,” the title track from the Arkestra’s 1970 live album released and recorded in 1970.
Located at 7611 1st. Ave N in Birmingham, East Village Arts is a blooming artist collective and community space featuring resident artists of all mediums. A nod to New York’s East Village, which is known as a haven for artists and the birthplace of punk, the mission of East Village Arts of Birmingham is to support local emerging and established artists, as well as be a beacon for traveling artists.
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