Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

This tribute to the innovative jazz keyboardist and band leader synthesizes brilliant paintings with a narrative that strikes just the right chords for its audience. Born Herman Blount, aka Sonny, Sun Ra was an adept pianist by age 11 and gigging as an Alabama teen. A conscientious objector during World War II, Sun Ra thereafter dove into Chicago's vibrant jazz and blues scene. He and his band, the Arkestra, moved to New York in the 1960s, baffling some but pleasing jazz giants like Monk and Dizzy. Later based in Philadelphia, Sun Ra and company traveled the globe. Raschka respectfully embeds Sun Ra's iconoclastic philosophical perspective into the narrative, adopting a playfully conspiratorial tone: "Sun Ra always said that he came from Saturn. / Now, you know and I know that this is silly…. / And yet. / If he did come from Saturn, it would explain so much. / Let's say he did come from Saturn." Raschka likens the Arkestra to sailors bound for "a new world of sound" and calls their sleep-averse, bookstore-roaming leader "an intergalactic boulevardier." Incorporating musical notation sheets into luminous watercolor-and-ink pictures, Raschka repeats their horizontal lines in piano strings, library bookshelves, city blocks and the very rectangularity of many compositions. The joyful palette—yellow, red, blue-green, sienna—and wildly gestural black ink celebrate Sun Ra's unique spirit. Unequivocally stellar. (biographical note, selected discography in both aftermatter and on illuminated endpapers) (Picture book/biography. 6-9)

School Library Journal Starred Review (Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

Gr 3-6 Raschka's proven ability to convey in words and images the musical essence of composers or traditions as diverse as Sergei Prokofiev, John Coltrane, and Shaker hymnody now extends to the avant-garde jazz of Herman "Sonny" Blount. Carefully selected details respect subject and audience: "Sun Ra always said that he came from Saturn. Now, you and I know that this is silly&30;. And yet. If he did&30;it would explain so much. Let's say he did&30;." Readers learn that this "intergalactic boulevardier" was born in Birmingham, had an early aptitude for music, and enjoyed reading about philosophy. They discover his views on race and war, meet the "Arkestra," and follow his global footprints. It is the art, however, that transmits the showman's spirit and eclectic sound that featured big band elements, synthesizers, improvisation, and percussion. Raschka pulls out all the stops in what may be his finest work yet. Strong, black outlines define richly layered, multi-hued watercolors. The artist captures both the focused intensity of a composer's face in an intimate close-up and the verve of a musician playing through celestial cityscapes. Wet and dry brush strokes create a lively but fluid dynamic, while stars and motion lines electrify. Musical composition paper is cleverly integrated into particular page designs, including the cover, in which the musician, arrayed in his dazzling robe, is one with the staff and hand-lettered title. Endpapers display album titles; a selected discography is available. Pull up a YouTube recording, and enchant a new generation with this ode to transcendental joy.— Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library

ALA Booklist (Sat Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2014)

Raschka has given us Charlie Parker Played Be Bop (1992), Mysterious Thelonious (1997), and John Coltrane's Giant Steps (2002) why not Ra, whose sci-fi tendencies might be especially interesting to kids? Perhaps not musically interesting to kids (the audience for such books is debatable), but certainly biographically. Raschka's chief metaphor is a rich one: Sun Ra (born Herman P. Blount) fancied himself as Saturn born, and thus his quizzical questioning of the world is depicted extraterrestrially. "The earthlings insisted on sorting themselves into two varieties: the white variety and the black variety." Ra had a working band before he was out of high school, but being from Saturn, he did nothing the usual way: he barely slept, made his own space-age clothing, and was an early adopter of musical electronics. The art here is less interstellar than you would think; Raschka's trademark blotches excel at gritty cityscapes even while Ra's own personal style is harder to discern. As a biography, this is a bit clouded. As an experience, though, it definitely swings. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Everyone has an eye on Caldecott medal winner Raschka. Outré subject notwithstanding, there will be plenty of interest.

Horn Book (Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

Jazz pioneer and free-spirited iconoclast Sun Ra (he believed he came from Saturn) gets a portrait as bemusing as the man himself in this fantastical tribute. Raschka's trademark loose gestural style is effective in reflecting his subject's untethered spirit and impenetrable persona. The images themselves are dense and dynamic, full of brilliant color and heavy black. List of selected recordings appended.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

This tribute to the innovative jazz keyboardist and band leader synthesizes brilliant paintings with a narrative that strikes just the right chords for its audience. Born Herman Blount, aka Sonny, Sun Ra was an adept pianist by age 11 and gigging as an Alabama teen. A conscientious objector during World War II, Sun Ra thereafter dove into Chicago's vibrant jazz and blues scene. He and his band, the Arkestra, moved to New York in the 1960s, baffling some but pleasing jazz giants like Monk and Dizzy. Later based in Philadelphia, Sun Ra and company traveled the globe. Raschka respectfully embeds Sun Ra's iconoclastic philosophical perspective into the narrative, adopting a playfully conspiratorial tone: "Sun Ra always said that he came from Saturn. / Now, you know and I know that this is silly…. / And yet. / If he did come from Saturn, it would explain so much. / Let's say he did come from Saturn." Raschka likens the Arkestra to sailors bound for "a new world of sound" and calls their sleep-averse, bookstore-roaming leader "an intergalactic boulevardier." Incorporating musical notation sheets into luminous watercolor-and-ink pictures, Raschka repeats their horizontal lines in piano strings, library bookshelves, city blocks and the very rectangularity of many compositions. The joyful palette—yellow, red, blue-green, sienna—and wildly gestural black ink celebrate Sun Ra's unique spirit. Unequivocally stellar. (biographical note, selected discography in both aftermatter and on illuminated endpapers) (Picture book/biography. 6-9)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

For jazz fans who welcomed Mysterious Thelonious and John Coltrane-s Giant Steps, Raschka profiles the uncategorizable musician Sun Ra. One century ago, in 1914, -Sun Ra landed on Earth. Looking around, he found himself in Birmingham, Alabama.- Claiming to be from Saturn and mystified by terrestrial customs, young Herman (Sonny) Blount invented a new name, learned to compose all manner of music, and traveled the U.S. performing and absorbing musical cultures. Raschka pictures Sun Ra and his Arkestra orchestra in chromatic gouache daubs and silhouette-black lowlights, bringing to mind Romare Bearden-s sultry palette and mellifluous collages. Raschka acknowledges the social and musical influences on the innovative artist, noting Sun Ra-s surprise that the -earthlings insisted on sorting themselves into two varieties: the white variety and the black variety- and Sun Ra-s conscientious objector stance during WWII (curiously, Raschka mentions Sun Ra-s love of Egypt, but never the sun god Ra). Although Raschka cannot fully convey -the sound of joy- in a silent picture book, he provides a selective list of recordings, encouraging readers to consider Sun Ra-s nonconformity and genius alongside a first listen to his polyphonic music. Ages 6-9. (May)