
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 31, 1993                   TAG: 9305310045
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: BIRMINGHAM, ALA.                                LENGTH: Short

JAZZ INNOVATOR SUN RA DIES AT 79

Sun Ra, the influential pianist and orchestra leader noted for his intergalactic treks into jazz and avant-garde music, died Sunday at Baptist Medical Center-Princeton. He was 79.

He had been hospitalized since Jan. 22 and had suffered a series of strokes and chronic circulatory problems, said hospital spokesman Greg Bryant, who announced his death.

In a career spanning 60 years, he gained wide notice in the jazz world for encompassing everything from bop and gospel to blues and electronic sounds.

"You know, for years, they've been saying my music is out too far," Ra said in a 1985 Associated Press interview. "But they can't convince all of the people of that, and I bridge the generation gap."

Starting in 1956, Ra traveled with the Arkestra, a multimedia ensemble that included a large stable of musicians and dancers in extravagant costumes.

The former Herman "Sonny" Blount was already a well-known jazz musician when he changed his name to Sun Ra in the 1950s.

He based his new persona on such diverse elements as the Bible, Egyptian mythology, black spiritualism and science fiction. - Associated Press

by CNB