{"id":2496,"date":"2018-12-25T12:55:43","date_gmt":"2018-12-25T17:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=2496"},"modified":"2024-03-11T11:15:52","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T15:15:52","slug":"luminous-pokempner-pix-of-ras-celestial-afro-futuristic-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2018\/12\/luminous-pokempner-pix-of-ras-celestial-afro-futuristic-music.html","title":{"rendered":"Luminous PoKempner pix of Sun Ra’s celestial music"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Marshall Allen, ageless 94, leads the Sun Ra Arkestra<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you liked Black Panther<\/em><\/a>, listen to the music that introduced and embodies Afro-Futurism<\/a>. Photojournalist Marc PoKempner captured a bit of the celestial magic of the Sun Ra Arkestra<\/a> (est. circa 1954) during its November touchdown in New Orleans’s Music Box Village<\/a>. This picturesque venue is an assembly of little houses which MPoK says “each has some sound producing capability – bells, chimes, horns, drums.” (Above: Marshall Allen, Arkestra leader since 1995. All photos here Marc PoKempner copyright 2018).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arkestra at the Music House Village. (This wide angle shot looks best in larger display. Either “un-pinch” or use “Command” and the + sign to open image, view HD details.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Marc continues, “It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s next to the bridge on the upper side of the Industrial Canal, surrounded by a fence made of recycled corrugated metal.  Since last time I was there, they’ve added loads of interesting lighting, and smoke generators that add to the magical atmosphere – perfect for the Arkestra.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vincent Chance, who plays French horn in the Arkestra (and elsewhere), commented, “The concerts there were pretty amazing. The audience was knocked out by both shows, we played two days there and had two days before to familiarize ourselves with the instruments from their installations.” Preparation is good for liftoff!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tara Middleton, Arkestra vocalist (successor to the great June Tyson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sun Ra was a visionary who gifted the Earth with his sensibility, forevermore. During winter holidays and times of social crisis — or really, whenever — traveling the spaceways with his sounds and messages in mind is recommended as an enhancement, inspiration, provocation and\/or escape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Tyler Mitchell bass; DM Hotep, guitar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

John Szwed’s biography Space Is The Place: The Life and Times of Sun Ra<\/a> is recommended for further reading about the singular bandleader\/composer\/arranger\/poet\/entrepreneur\/satirist\/philosopher, named by his Earthling parents at birth Herman Poole Blount. I’ve written about him, including liner notes for the Complete Performance<\/a> resulting from his meeting with John Cage, and a 1991 concert at Inter-Media-Arts.<\/a> Still, my favorite of Sun Ra’s many albums is Secrets of the Sun.<\/em> The Omniverse being one, start anywhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hear it now. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marshall Allen, ageless 94, leads the Sun Ra Arkestra If you liked Black Panther, listen to the music that introduced and embodies Afro-Futurism. Photojournalist Marc PoKempner captured a bit of the celestial magic of the Sun Ra Arkestra (est. circa 1954) during its November touchdown in New Orleans’s Music Box Village. This picturesque venue is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1544,1355,20,1696,1359],"class_list":{"0":"post-2496","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-great-new-jazz-photography","9":"tag-howard-mandel","10":"tag-jazz","11":"tag-jazzbeyondjazz","12":"tag-marc-pokempner","13":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF0845e-c-1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-Eg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1707,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2014\/09\/chicago-jazz-fest-highlights-a-la-pokempner-vision.html","url_meta":{"origin":2496,"position":0},"title":"Chicago Jazz Fest highlights a la PoKempner-vision","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"September 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"No one was shot at any jazz festivals held throughout the U.S. over Labor Day weekend, unless artists and audiences captured by photography count. 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He captured some of the diversity and vigor of the 35th annual Chicago Jazz Festival, August 28 - Sept 1 \u00c2\u00a02013. Click on these photos for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/rudresh-collage-chicago-jazz-fest-2013.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/rudresh-collage-chicago-jazz-fest-2013.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/rudresh-collage-chicago-jazz-fest-2013.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/rudresh-collage-chicago-jazz-fest-2013.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2236,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2017\/06\/great-new-jazz-photography-marc-pokempner-portfolio-from-new-orleans.html","url_meta":{"origin":2496,"position":3},"title":"Great new jazz photography: Marc PoKempner portfolio from New Orleans","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"June 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Photos of musicians making music -- visualizations stirred in the photographers by watching sounds manifest -- are exciting, and as different in style as the photographers and musicians themselves.\u00c2\u00a0Marc PoKempner 's\u00c2\u00a0portfolio from New Orleans of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Cuban drummers at the Music Box\u00c2\u00a0Village,\u00c2\u00a0a non-profit community arts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Ben Jaffe\"","block_context":{"text":"Ben Jaffe","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/tag\/ben-jaffe"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/DSCF5504-e-1-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/DSCF5504-e-1-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/DSCF5504-e-1-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/DSCF5504-e-1-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/DSCF5504-e-1-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/DSCF5504-e-1-1.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1908,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2015\/08\/jazz-images-made-in-chicago-pokempner-sees-steve-coleman-greg-ward-onye-ozuzu-gary-bartz-and-more.html","url_meta":{"origin":2496,"position":4},"title":"Jazz images Made in Chicago: PoKempner sees Steve Coleman, Greg Ward & Onye Ozuzu, Gary Bartz and more","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Marc PoKempner may be best known for his photos of pre-presidential Barack Obama, Chicago's reform mayor Harold Washington and the blues -- but his jazz photography illuminates what we hear by refreshing how we see it. Here are some of his complex compositions in bracing color from the Pritzker Pavilion\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/IMG_0528-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/IMG_0528-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/IMG_0528-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/IMG_0528-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/IMG_0528-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2321,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2017\/09\/youssou-ndour-on-stage-screen-pokempner-photos.html","url_meta":{"origin":2496,"position":5},"title":"Youssou N’Dour on stage & screen, PoKempner photos","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"September 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Photo-journalist Marc PoKempner's images from the Chicago Jazz Fest, as featured in my previous post, and these from Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour's rousing who two weeks earlier, exhibit how he's dealing straightforwardly and creatively with the screen backing musicians at the Pritzker Pavilion of Millennium Park. 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