Sun Ra (1914–1993), composer, bandleader, keyboardist and cosmic theorist, led the ever-evolving Arkestra and helped define Afrofuturism in jazz. From Chicago to Philadelphia, he fused swing, free improvisation, electronics and mythic pageantry into a singular universe. Essentials: Jazz in Silhouette, The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, The Magic City, Space Is the Place, Lanquidity.