Music of the Abstract: Rocket Number Nine by Sun Ra

For the first time in this feature the subject is a jazz composition, a genre of music that can include some of the most experimental music possible. My first knowledge of Sun Ra, fittingly for a blog devoted to abstract cinema, came from the maligned cult film Space Is The Place (1974), the same title as the famous album Rocket Number Nine comes from, an attempt for the late Sun Ra to promote his message that was yet spliced into a longer cut with blaxploitation elements that he was not impressed with.

Rocket Number Nine is a great way to begin with the album of the same title, even if it's the last track, containing both the more unconventional sounds heard throughout it but at its most playful. A fitting introduction to a man and his Arkestra orchestra who are just as fascinating for the concept and ideals around them as the music is. As someone who has properly gotten into Sun Ra through the Space Is The Place album, I recommend it to anyone else as a starting point as well.