Carl Craig and Francisco Mora recreate two of Sun Ra’s seminal works to perfection at the Wagram Hall in 2018. Carl Craig famously helped launch the second techno wave from Detroit, and Francisco Mora is renowned for being Sun Ra’s in-person drummer in his Sun Ra Arkestra. Ra’s work is left in the skilled hands of these accomplished musicians, who not only commemorate his composition with profound respect, but also—and above all—repaint it with a great modernist palette.
The two artists were asked about their revision of this work, situated on a cosmic level so characteristic of Sun Ra. Francisco Mora, who knew him well due to their legendary collaboration, explained: “Sun Ra is transcendental, he crosses generations. At our first concert with Carl Craig in London in the 90s, journalists came to see me and asked who I was…When I told them that I had performed with Sun Ra, they were blown away, and I was surprised that they had heard of him. And they told me: ‘Sun Ra’s music is a part of education’. He has truly crossed generations. Sun Ra’s music has become more important with time. The Sun Ra Arkestra has toured more today than Sun Ra did in his time, that’s for sure.”
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