Sun Ra: Brother From Another Planet (BBC Documentary)
In 2005, the BBC released a short (an hour or so) documentary on Jazz legend Sun Ra. The Guardian wrote:
"Letts's BBC4 documentary, Sun Ra: Brother From Another Planet, is an attempt to make some sense of the man whom he describes as "The Salvador Dali of jazz", who was born in Alabama in 1914 but proclaimed himself to have come from Saturn, on a mission to save the black race in particular from the bondage of planet Earth. Letts himself, however, admits that, even having voyaged extensively through Ra's back catalogue, "a lot of the music goes right over my head. He certainly appeared to be a bit bonkers," he concedes. "But to him, all this stuff was deep and meaningful and had a continuity to it. But it was hard to get a handle on. [Even] Marshall Allen, his saxophonist, admits he didn't quite get it."
Featuring Wayne Kramer, Thurston Moore, Archie Shepp, Marshall Allen and more, and interview segments with Ra himself, the documentary tries to make sense of the Sun Ra legacy. Watch for yourself.