Infused with Sun Ra’s unique philosophy — a combination of Black nationalism, Egyptian culture, mysticism, science fiction and the occult — some termed his Arkestra “cosmic jazz”. In the 1974 film Space is the Place, Sun Ra repeatedly refers to the metaphysical properties of music. He truly believed that, “People have no music that’s in coordination with their spirits and because of this, they’re out of tune with the universe.” His Arkestra set out to fill this void, so we could all tune in.
     Full of shrill, atonal horns and chaotic keyboards, Sun Ra’s Arkestra was often a discordant and confusing experience even by avant garde standards. During their live shows, which often meant 20 to 30 musicians performing on stage along with singers and dancers for sometimes five hours straight, inevitably some audience members would stand up and walk out. Sun Ra certainly had his hecklers, but his fans included the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. Understandably, his music was not easy to market, and his mercurial temperament and impatience with earthlings probably did not make things any easier, so instead of trying to court the mainstream music industry, Sun Ra simply started his own record company, El Saturn Records.