Sun Ra, 1992

Birmingham, Jefferson County, native Herman Blount (1914-1993), shown here at the New England Conservatory in 1992, was an influential jazz musician who experimented with electronic instruments and free-form techniques. Recording under the name Sun Ra, after the Egyptian Sun god, he created a persona that combined elements of outer-space philosophy and Egyptian mythology.

Photograph courtesy of Creative Commons; photo by Pandelis Karayorgis