did anyone else catch the tv show about sun ra on uk channel bbc4 last friday?  it was hilarious and sad at the same time.  he seemed to me to be a kind of asperger case, but a very unusual one.  it would be interesting to get the opinion of someone with psychiatric knowledge.

anyway, there was a great story about his final illness.  his hospital doctor was completely baffled by this strange patient so he called a colleague:
"this man insists he's from saturn.  what should i do?"
the second doctor came along, took one look and said:
"this is sun ra.  of course he's from saturn".

have you ever heard the arkestra's version of king porter stomp?  the funniest piece of music of all time.

jazz is a  serious business, no argument.  but it should always aim be witty too, and sometimes it can even be funny.  sun ra knew this.

he was also a surprisingly interesting monkish pianist, when he was in the mood.

respect to sun ra, in whatever galaxy he's gone to.

sid
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