Between Takes: Space is the Place for Sun Ra and John Sinclair – WDET

Welcome to Between Takes; where artists and musicians tell stories about what happens behindthescenes.

WDETs Sam Beaubien has been dedicated to making music in Detroit for 20 years, and this series connects you with the stories he has heard on gigs and atrecordingsessions.

Get a look into Stevie Wonders audition for Motown Records, sessions with funk master George Clinton, renowned hip-hop producer J Dillas first days with a drum machine, and many more stories about what shaped the legacy of thismusicalcity.

John Sinclair in an important figure in the activism and music movement in Detroit during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between hisimprisonment for marijuana, his role as manager for the MC5, opening the Artist Workshop, and helping found the White Panther Party, John had a huge culturalinfluence at thattime.

As a way to bring people and messages together, John hosted many free concerts and festivals. At these events, you would find cutting-edge music, protestsand public speakers talking about change that needed to happen for a better society including conversations about race, police brutality, and the freedom ofexpression.

Doug Coombe

JohnSinclair

John had a deep love for all genres of music that were a genuine expression of creativity. Jazz, soul, funk and rock all were welcome at his events. One artist who was known for his freedom of expression and far-out views was Sun Ra. A free-jazz and experimental musician whose music encapsulates the entire history of jazz in a single song, Sun Ra was THE Afro-Futurist of his time. His music was about the cosmos, planets, higher-beings and his whole band lived and worked together day-in and day-out. It was more than music it was alifestyle.

John was infatuated with Sun Ra and his music, which was also influential to the MC5. John was interested in meeting and working with Sun Ra. He interviewed Ra and also booked his band to perform in AnnArbor.

Related:

Essential Conversations: John Sinclair Still Hates the CIA

When John Lennon Supported JohnSinclair

John Sinclair, The MC5, and Kickin Out TheJams

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Between Takes: Space is the Place for Sun Ra and John Sinclair - WDET