On today's show, the saxophonist and the newly-anointed bandleader of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Knoel Scott.
Sun Ra is the storied musician who came out of Alabama in the 1930s, landing in Chicago in the late 1940's, writing arrangements for the legendary big band leader Fletcher Henderson. Inspired by visions life in outer space, the musician transformed from Sonny Blount to Sun Ra, sent from Saturn to bring music to our embattled Earth. He assembled his big band, known as “The Arkestra,” and Sun Ra began writing, recording, and performing his music at an astounding clip, relocating to New York for most of the 1960s and finally settling in Philadelphia by the start of the 1970s.
Their live shows became the stuff of legend, a mix of psychedelic lights, costumes, chanting, dancing, and music mixing styles from across a range of 20th styles, with Ra's lecturing on ancient Egypt, space and the future while playing a dazzling selection of early mini-synths. In 1978 the band would be guests on Saturday Night Live and earlier this year were the subject of PBS' American Masters series with the documentary “Sun Ra: Do the Impossible.
Sun Ra would transition in 1993, John Gilmore led the band until his passing in 1995 and saxophonist Marshall Allen would vigorously lead the modern Arkestra as they expanded their profile performing and recording internationally. Marshall Allen's retirement has just been announced, stepping down at the age of 102. Now Knoel has officially taken the reins.
We got together to talk about the Arkestra then-forthcoming concert at the McCarter Theater September 3rd of 2026. We talk abut his early experiences growing up in a musical community in Jamaica, Queens, his first discovery with Sun Ra's music, the lure of money, fortune and fame, the brilliance of bebop and Charlie Parker, our place in the cosmos and more. Thanks to Bobbie's Bookstore in Philly's Germantown for graciously hosting the interview.
