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Summary
Summary
Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka shares his love of jazz great Sun Ra, just in time to mark the centennial of the musician's birth.
Jazz musician Sun Ra (1914-1993) always said that he came from Saturn. Being from another planet, he was naturally intrigued by everything earthly -- especially music, because music is the one thing on Earth most like the stars. Earthlings themselves confused Sun Ra, the way they sorted themselves by color and fought wars against one another. So he made music. And he traveled with other musicians and singers, calling themselves the Sun Ra Arkestra, playing, singing, and dancing for people all over the planet. Because music, he said, is what holds us all together. Join acclaimed author-illustrator Chris Raschka in celebrating a legend of the jazz world who was truly one of a kind.
Author Notes
Chris Raschka was born in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on March 6, 1959. He received a B.A. from St. Olaf College in 1981. Before becoming a full-time author, he was an art teacher in St. Croix, Virgin Islands and a freelance artist, cartoonist, and editorial illustrator. He is an author and illustrator of children's books including Yo! Yes?, Charlie Parker Played Be Bop, and Mysterious Thelonious. Hello, Goodbye Window won the Caldecott Medal in 2006 and A Ball for Daisy won the Caldecott Medal in 2012.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
For jazz fans who welcomed Mysterious Thelonious and John Coltrane's Giant Steps, Raschka profiles the uncategorizable musician Sun Ra. One century ago, in 1914, "Sun Ra landed on Earth. Looking around, he found himself in Birmingham, Alabama." Claiming to be from Saturn and mystified by terrestrial customs, young Herman (Sonny) Blount invented a new name, learned to compose all manner of music, and traveled the U.S. performing and absorbing musical cultures. Raschka pictures Sun Ra and his Arkestra orchestra in chromatic gouache daubs and silhouette-black lowlights, bringing to mind Romare Bearden's sultry palette and mellifluous collages. Raschka acknowledges the social and musical influences on the innovative artist, noting Sun Ra's surprise that the "earthlings insisted on sorting themselves into two varieties: the white variety and the black variety" and Sun Ra's conscientious objector stance during WWII (curiously, Raschka mentions Sun Ra's love of Egypt, but never the sun god Ra). Although Raschka cannot fully convey "the sound of joy" in a silent picture book, he provides a selective list of recordings, encouraging readers to consider Sun Ra's nonconformity and genius alongside a first listen to his polyphonic music. Ages 6-9. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Jazz pioneer and self-proclaimed space case Sun Ra (born Herman P. Blount) gets a portrait as bemusing and sparkly as the man himself in this fantastical tribute. Raschka begins by identifying Sun Ra as a free-spirited iconoclast who believed that he came from Saturn, simple as that. From there Raschka offers readers a linear history of Sun Ra's musical education and innovation, in a direct, admiring narrative. The pianist and bandleader journeys from Birmingham to Chicago, where he forms his famed collective the Arkestra, and on to New York and Philadelphia, with stops across Europe and at the Great Pyramids (his favorite place) along the way. This is not the first time Raschka has captured jazz in imagery (Charlie Parker Played Be Bop, rev. 11/92; John Coltrane's Giant Steps, rev. 9/02), and here his trademark loose gestural style is especially effective in reflecting both the subject's untethered spirit and impenetrable persona. The images themselves are dense and dynamic, painted on a variety of textured papers and musical notation sheets and full of brilliant color and heavy black. Raschka clips and arranges them in irregular, rectilinear space, attempting to capture this individual force of nature. In the end, readers get a bright, impressionistic portrait that follows its subject's refusal to play by the rules. A brief author's note and list of selected recordings are appended. thom barthelmess (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Raschka has given us Charlie Parker Played Be Bop (1992), Mysterious Thelonious (1997), and John Coltrane's Giant Steps (2002) so why not Ra, whose sci-fi tendencies might be especially interesting to kids? Perhaps not musically interesting to kids (the audience for such books is debatable), but certainly biographically. Raschka's chief metaphor is a rich one: Sun Ra (born Herman P. Blount) fancied himself as Saturn born, and thus his quizzical questioning of the world is depicted extraterrestrially. The earthlings insisted on sorting themselves into two varieties: the white variety and the black variety. Ra had a working band before he was out of high school, but being from Saturn, he did nothing the usual way: he barely slept, made his own space-age clothing, and was an early adopter of musical electronics. The art here is less interstellar than you would think; Raschka's trademark blotches excel at gritty cityscapes even while Ra's own personal style is harder to discern. As a biography, this is a bit clouded. As an experience, though, it definitely swings. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Everyone has an eye on Caldecott medal winner Raschka. Outre subject notwithstanding, there will be plenty of interest.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2014 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-Raschka's proven ability to convey in words and images the musical essence of composers or traditions as diverse as Sergei Prokofiev, John Coltrane, and Shaker hymnody now extends to the avant-garde jazz of Herman "Sonny" Blount. Carefully selected details respect subject and audience: "Sun Ra always said that he came from Saturn. Now, you and I know that this is silly.. And yet. If he did.it would explain so much. Let's say he did.." Readers learn that this "intergalactic boulevardier" was born in Birmingham, had an early aptitude for music, and enjoyed reading about philosophy. They discover his views on race and war, meet the "Arkestra," and follow his global footprints. It is the art, however, that transmits the showman's spirit and eclectic sound that featured big band elements, synthesizers, improvisation, and percussion. Raschka pulls out all the stops in what may be his finest work yet. Strong, black outlines define richly layered, multi-hued watercolors. The artist captures both the focused intensity of a composer's face in an intimate close-up and the verve of a musician playing through celestial cityscapes. Wet and dry brush strokes create a lively but fluid dynamic, while stars and motion lines electrify. Musical composition paper is cleverly integrated into particular page designs, including the cover, in which the musician, arrayed in his dazzling robe, is one with the staff and hand-lettered title. Endpapers display album titles; a selected discography is available. Pull up a YouTube recording, and enchant a new generation with this ode to transcendental joy.-Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
