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Don’t miss this special performance at the Bakersfield Jazz Workshop celebrating the 100th anniversary of the arrival of Sun Ra, featuring two hours of interplanetary music ranging from his very first recording session in 1956 to the postmodern Arkestra of the 1980s. The 14-piece orchestra will be led by local trumpeter and Bakersfield College Jazz Program director Kris Tiner, and will include current and former members of the BC Jazz Ensemble along with notable local musicians and special guests from Los Angeles. Multi-woodwind virtuoso Brian Walsh, who recently performed at Carnegie Hall with the contemporary music ensemble Gnarwhallaby, will be featured on baritone saxophone and bass clarinet. Master electric bassist Steuart Liebig, who has worked with everyone from Les McCann to Nels Cline, will complete the rhythm section along with the phenomenal percussionist Ted Byrnes, an alumnus of the Berklee College of Music who collaborates with improvising artists from around the world.

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The composer-pianist-bandleader Herman “Sonny” Blount, widely known as Sun Ra (1914-1993), was recognized for his pioneering musical experimentation, outer-space philosophy (he claimed to be from the planet Saturn), outrageous costumes and the earliest incorporation of electronic instruments in jazz. His music both encapsulated and transformed the popular and art music of the twentieth century, from swing-era big band roots through bebop, avant-garde jazz, and on into funk and disco. Artists ranging from John Coltrane to MC5 to George Clinton all professed a deep connection with Ra’s music.