Sun Ra's profound impact on Arkestra members
Clip: 2/20/2026 | 3m 39sVideo has Closed Captions
Sun Ra had a profound and lasting influence on members of the Sun Ra Arkestra.
Sun Ra had a profound and lasting influence on members of the Sun Ra Arkestra. In this clip, Arkestra members Marshall Allen, Cheryl Banks-Smith and Alex Blake recount what Sun Ra meant to them.
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Support for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, Blanche and Hayward Cirker Charitable Lead Annuity Trust, Koo...
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Sun Ra's profound impact on Arkestra members
Clip: 2/20/2026 | 3m 39sVideo has Closed Captions
Sun Ra had a profound and lasting influence on members of the Sun Ra Arkestra. In this clip, Arkestra members Marshall Allen, Cheryl Banks-Smith and Alex Blake recount what Sun Ra meant to them.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship(ethereal music) - My name is Marshall Allen.
At the moment, I'm the director of the Sun Ra Arkestra.
I don't know what Sun Ra was.
He was everything.
He'd be a bad guy, good guy, intelligent, everything.
He was just a special person.
When that come into your life, you get what you can get, straighten your life out.
And I got a lot of good things from him.
But I come out of conservatory.
I was sharp, you know, and he didn't want that.
He wanted this.
(ethereal music) When I met Sun Ra, I was searching for a place in space, seek and ye shall find.
(ethereal music) (lively music) - I really believed strongly in that alternate myth that Sun Ra was talking about.
(lively music) I'm sure I would've gone wherever he led, if it were to another planet, the cosmos, if it were through teleportation, through the music.
I was ready.
I was ready to go.
(lively music) (soulful music) - I was 16 years old when I started with Sun Ra.
(soulful music) It gave me a whole other dimension about music.
(lively music) Sun Ra helped me with understanding that you could take your music anywhere.
(lively music)
How Sun Ra created his own record label, Saturn Records
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Clip: 2/20/2026 | 2m 3s | Sun Ra was one of the first Black artists to have his own record label. (2m 3s)
How Sun Ra gave thanks to the Creator
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Clip: 2/20/2026 | 2m 46s | Each day, Sun Ra wrote a piece of music solely for “the Creator.” (2m 46s)
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Preview: 2/20/2026 | 2m 2s | Discover the extraordinary life of poet, philosopher and music visionary Sun Ra. (2m 2s)
Sun Ra’s concept of “alter destiny” was his way of changing humanity
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Clip: 2/20/2026 | 3m 29s | Sun Ra wanted to change humanity with his concept of the “alter destiny.” (3m 29s)
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
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Support for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, Blanche and Hayward Cirker Charitable Lead Annuity Trust, Koo...