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**Bio: Sun Ra** Sun Ra, born Herman Poole Blount on May 22, 1914, in Birmingham, Alabama, was an influential American free-jazz composer, pianist, and bandleader. He was recognized as a music innovator and a pioneer of free improvisation and modal jazz, as well as an early user of electronic keyboards and synthesizers. Blount demonstrated musical talent from a young age, being able to sight-read and compose music by the age of 11. His first full-time musical job came in 1934 when he took over a band organized by his high school biology teacher, renaming it the Sonny Blount Orchestra. After a brief period, he continued to work as a musician in Birmingham. In 1936, after a transformative visionary experience during meditation, Blount left college and dedicated himself to music, transforming his family's home into a conservatory-workshop for musicians. In 1945, he moved to Chicago, where he was influenced by the political activism of the time. He adopted the name Le Sony'r Ra, later shortened to Sun Ra, after the Egyptian god of the Sun. He formed the first nucleus of what would become the Sun Ra Arkestra in 1952. Sun Ra's music career flourished in the late 1950s as he and his band began wearing distinctive, Egyptian-styled costumes, establishing an Afrofuturistic aesthetic. In 1961, they moved to New York City and