Jacques Guetta is a surfing and travel enthusiast who is studying photography and learning about renewable technologies. A music aficionado, Jacques Guetta particularly enjoys the free-form, improvisational qualities found in jazz.
One of the most remarkable figures in modern jazz was Sun Ra, who developed a “cosmic swing” style that enabled the development of free jazz. Starting out with the Fletcher Henderson band in the late 1940s as Herman Blount, Sun Ra started his own band in the mid-1950s and successfully synthesized big band traditions and jazz’s African roots.
Sun Ra’s futuristic vision was embodied in the collective Arkestra, which imagined a utopia in outer space for musical inspiration. Over the years, he explored concepts such as collective improvisation using acoustic, electric, and electronic sounds.
Sun Ra also pioneered the use of free rhythm and atonality in lengthy compositions. His pioneering works included 1965’s “The Magic City,” which involved “electronic forest sounds” created by instruments such as drums, bass clarinet, flute, keyboard, and the tambourine. As the decades passed, Sun Ra remained true to his vision, which included longstanding collective members with distinctive costumes that embodied the spirit of improvisation.
