Saturn with Thethys & Dione

Welcome to Saturn, the Web home of Sun Ra and his protean Arkestra.

Saturn is, of course, both the name of Sun Ra's record label and the place that he claimed as home, even though a more earthly account would have his birthplace (22 May 1914) and resting place (30 May 1993) as Birmingham, Alabama. Composer, arranger, keyboard master and philosophical guru (and Trickster), Le Sony'Ra became an internationally acclaimed exponent of free jazz, a leader in retro-swing and a continuing source of breath-taking originality in the music that we call jazz.

This Web Site, located in Sun Ra's home town, is dedicated to sharing information about the life, music, and world view of Sun Ra, in addition to transmitting some of the excitement and fun associated with the larger than life person known to Earthlings as Sun Ra. Additionally I would like to see Saturn Web provide a focus on the World Wide Web for research and information on Free Jazz.

Things Saturnian:
First among many items to be found on Saturn are Robert Campbell's Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame Lecture on Sun Ra and his guide to the recorded music of Sun Ra, the Discography and Tape-ography. A list of currently available recordings by Sun Ra & the Arkestra may be checked to see if there are holes in your collection. To keep collectors up to date there is also a section of Saturn Web giving information about new releases in the allied areas of Sun Ra, the Arkestra, and Free Jazz. Information on the Sun Ra Internet Discussion Group (LISTSERV) SATURN is also offered if you wish to have daily interaction with other Sun Ra collectors and enthusiasts throughout the world.
Original photograph of Sun Ra by Michael Wilderman
Original photograph courtesy of Michael Wilderman
Other areas of Saturn include an alphabetical list of Sun Ra compositions and an ever-expanding cross-referenced biographical dictionary of Arkestra members. A section has been added for articles on Sun Ra, the Arkestra, and free jazz, another for bibliographies of articles on Sun Ra and the Arkestra, and a section devoted to discographies of Sun Ra, Arkestra members, and other practitioners of free jazz. A concerts area provides visiting entities information about forthcoming concerts of the current Arkestra under the able direction of Marshall Allen, Arkestra members, and other jazz happenings.

Information on The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra, Robert Campbell's definitive discography of Sun Ra is available on Saturn Web. Susan Pearlstine has provided assistance in keeping the current incarnation of the Arkestra working: one way that she has done so is by offering Arkestra-related material for sale. She may have a few sets of the excellent Sun Ra Arkestra live at Kimball's East, August 17, 1995 and tee shirts in various limited edition designs.

The Sun Ra Arkestra Under the Direction of Marshall Allen may be contacted for booking and performances.

A new area of Saturn Web is the Saturn Community, where one may read biographies of people involved with Sun Ra, the Arkestra, and free jazz. These folks may not be musicians but rather entities for whom the music makes life much more exciting.

Reviews of Sun Ra concert tapes, lps, CDs, et al. to be added to this Web Site are actively solicited, as are reviews of new CDs and reissues of other musicians in the exciting field of free jazz. A Reviews section has been established for all reviews, broken down into Arkestra-related and Free Jazz. Offers of other material relating to Sun Ra and the Arkestra are also welcomed. I would like Saturn to be a constantly evolving and exciting presence on the Web, something that will require contributions from many Saturnians.

Also planned are: a gallery of album cover art; photographs of Sun Ra and Arkestra members; a set of archives of the Saturn Discussion Group that will be downloadable; and biorgaphical data on practitioners of free jazz who have nothing in the "standard" jazz reference works.

Moudry's suggestions for a basic jazz collection grew from a membership drive promise made for Alabama Public Radio's affiliated stations, WUAL (91.5 FM, Tuscaloosa/Birmingham), WQPR (88.7 FM, Muscle Shoals/northwest Alabama/north east Mississippi), and WAPR (88.2 FM, Selma/South Alabama), a few years ago. The Alabama Public Radio area of Saturn Web contains such items, as well as playlists of my programme on Alabama Public Radio, Classic Jazz and Creative Improv, my thoughts on more traditional areas of jazz, and general information about Saturn's Webmaster and how he ticks.

Listed in

Saturn's Webmaster is:
Joe Moudry
P.O. Box 550044
Birmingham AL 35255-0044
U.S.A.

This Web Site is designed, constructed, & constantly updated on my PowerMac 6500/250, with lots of help from my Duo 270C & iBook 2.