May 22, 1914

Jazz musician Herman Blount, better known as Sun Ra, was born in Birmingham. Taught by influential jazz educator John “Fess” Whatley, Blount became a successful transposer and arranger before moving to Chicago in 1946, where he adopted the persona of Sun Ra and formed the Arkestra. With his band, Sun Ra infused theatrical elements of science fiction and Afrocentrism with musical improvisation and experimentation to record more than 100 albums. His influence can be seen and heard in bands such as Pink Floyd, P-Funk, and NRBQ. Sun Ra was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Arkestra continues to perform today.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Birmingham native Herman Blount (1914-1993), later known as Sun Ra, was an influential jazz musician who experimented with electronic instruments and free-form techniques. His Sun Ra persona combined elements of outer-space philosophy and Egyptian mythology; Ra was an Egyptian sun god. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Photograph by Raymond Phillips)

Sun Ra at New England Conservatory, February 27, 1992. (Photo by Pandelis Karayorgis, Wikipedia)

(Bunky’s pickle, Flickr)

The Sun Ra Arkestra performing in London, 2010. (Andy Newcombe, Wikipedia)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.