Sun Ra: The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra (1962)
More than 30 years after his death, Sun Ra is still one of the hippest jazz names for rock musicians to drop. He created his own mythology as being from Saturn (he was actually Herman Blount from Alabama) and his spacedout sounds posited the idea of Afrofuturism. This early album however predates that in a collection of mostly short, funky and swinging jazz with horns and Ra on acoustic piano. A good introduction to Sun Ra (especially his Heliocentric Worlds albums) but also his inspirations like Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk.
Next: John Coltrane, Afro-Blue Impressions; Thelonious Monk, Genius of Modern Music
