RAW DOPE will only be listening to Sun Ra for the month of July.

"To save the planet, I had to go to the worst spot on Earth, and that
was Philadelphia, which was death's headquarters." -Sun Ra

Sun Ra Events at Philly ICA Museum in July

The staff of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) Museum in Philadelphia have scheduled an exciting series of Wednesday evening events in July, each of which are Sun Ra related. This is in support of the Sun Ra Museum exhibit at the ICA in Philadelphia running through August 2, 2009. All of the below events on July 8, 15, 22, & 29, 2009 are free and open to the public at the ICA Museum, 118 South 36th Street, Philadelphia, PA. Following the Wednesday, July 1spectacular featuring the Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen, the events will be:

Wednesday, July 15 @ 7:00 pm:

Outdoor Double Feature: "Brother From Another Planet" and "A Joyful
Noise" curated by Jesse Pires

The 2005 documentary "Sun Ra: Brother From Another Planet" was made by director Don Letts for the BBC. This 59 minute film has only been screened once before in the USA and this is its Philadelphia Premiere. Don Letts, the legendary London DJ who introduced reggae and ska to a generation of punk rockers, delves into the mysterious world of Sun Ra in this British, made-for-television documentary. Sun Ra biographer John Szwed, musician Archie Schepp, and members of Sun Ra's Arkestra discuss the life and work of one of jazz music's pre-eminent pioneers. For the uninitiated, "Brother From Another Planet" is a great introduction to Sun Ra, and for Sun Ra devotees, it is required viewing.

The 1980 documentary "Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise" was made by director Robert Mugge, who will be in attendance at this screening and he will give an introduction to this film. Consisting of explosive live footage of the Sun Ra Arkestra and fascinating interviews with the man himself, "A Joyful Noise" is the complete Sun Ra experience. Filmed in and around Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. when the Arkestra was living in Germantown, Robert Mugge's documentary captures the group at the height of its creative powers. Each live performance featured in the film further illustrates the distinctive alchemy Sun Ra was able to create with his disciplined band. Ra makes his case for a better world through music, transcending banal, earthbound realities to produce a strange and fascinating aesthetic fusing ancient history with future visions.

Wednesday, July 22 @ 7:00 pm:

Saturn Never Sleeps: Sun-Ra: Lectric a night curated by King Britt and Rucyl Mills

Saturn Never Sleeps is a carefully curated electronic experience, created by music producer, King Britt and singer/visualist, Rucyl Mills combining audio-visual micro-components into a thought altering world of sight and sound. Live musicians of acoustic and electronic inventions come together in creating the sonic bubblebath for your listening pleasure. Visuals add the dimension needed to transport you into a different place. For this special mission, we are dedicating the night to reconstructing, in an improvisational way,  he sounds of jazz legend and fellow dreamer, Sun-Ra.

King Britt (electronics), Rucyl Mills (vocals & sampling), Tim Motzer (guitartronics), Damon Bennet (keyboards & flute), Jason Senk (visuals), and some very special guests.

Together we will be reducing Sun Ra sounds into a new context while combining with works by artists influenced by him as well into a night of vision!

Wednesday, July 29 @ 7:00 pm:

Death's Headquarters: In Celebration of Le Sony'Ra: curated by Ars Nova Workshop

Featuring performances by two local groups in the avant-garde spirit of Ra and the Arkestra: Planet Y and Sonic Liberation Front.

"To save the planet, I had to go to the worst spot on Earth, and that was Philadelphia, which was death's headquarters." -Sun Ra

An expanded 12-member Sonic Liberation Front, the Philadelphia ensemble acclaimed for their iconoclastic combination of Free Jazz passion and Afro-Cuban percussion, will premiere 93Jetway Confidential No.3 (for Sun Ra)=94, a new composition dedicated to Sun Ra and commissioned specifically for this performance, and perform an arrangement of Sun Ra's "Where Pathways Meet, from 1978-92" recording, which featured saxophonist and SLF member Julian Pressley. This evening will also feature a very rare appearance from Planet Y Buchla Music Easel master Charles Cohen and Stinking Lizaveta's Yanni Papadopoulos, best described as "Subotnick meets Sun Ra meets Schnitzler.=94 (Aquarius Records) In addition, newly-unearthed archival
films will be projected on the gallery walls. Planet Y: Yanni Papadopoulos (dg-20 Casio digital guitar), Charles
Cohen (Buchla Music Easel)

Sonic Liberation Front: Todd Margasak (cornet), Terry Lawson (tenor saxophone/flute), Dan Scofield (alto saxophone), Julian Pressley (alto saxophone), Brent White (trombone), dmHotep (guitar), Travis Woodson (guitar), Matt Engle (double-bass), Chuck Joseph (Bata drums/drumkit), Shawn "Dade" Beckett (Bata drums/percussion), Khari Clemmons (Bata drums), Kevin Diehl (Bata drums/drumkit).

Led by percussionist Kevin Diehl, a protege of Free Jazz pioneer Sunny Murray, Sonic Liberation Front merges post-bop with traditional Afro-Cuban Yoruba roots music. While other ensembles have merged Bata drumming and jazz, none have done it with the vigor of SLF. The band members are true students of the Lukumi tradition under the guidance of percussionist/omo ana Chuckie Joseph, a lifelong Yoruba cultural scholar. It'ss been said a million times that all music originates in West Africa, and by returning the focus to its origins, SLF achieves a natural eclectism that serves as a fountain of ingenuity. Ancient to the future, indeed. For this special performance, an expanded 12-piece SLF performs featuring some of the most notable names in Philadelphia's exploratory music scene including members of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Make A RIsing, and Shot x Shot.