An online event, with a hang out after it
Two events with Sun Ra
It will be available for viewing until February 28 on the Fridman Gallery website
Please do not respond to this address
Wednesday, February 3 at 7pm
www.fridmanlive.com
Fridman Gallery is pleased to present two films honoring the legacy and continued influence of Sun Ra, Marshall Allen, and the Sun Ra Arkestra on Wednesday, February 3 at 7pm (www.fridmanlive.com). Phill Niblock’s newly restored, seminal film The Magic Sun featuring original footage of Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra, will be followed by Dave Soldier’s new work The Eighth Hour of Amduat, starring Marshall Allen, who leads the Sun Ra Arkestra today. The videos will remain viewable through February 28.
The screening will be followed by a “hang” with Niblock and Soldier on Zoom:
Meeting ID: 789 059 3491
Passcode: 9KZkfA
PHILL NIBLOCK
THE MAGIC SUN (1966-68)
Composer, photographer, and filmmaker Phill Niblock’s classic experimental underground film The Magic Sun features a sensational soundtrack by the legendary jazz musician Sun Ra and the members of his Solar Arkestra. Niblock used a very high contrast black-and-white film technique to shoot ultra-tight close-ups on the moving hands and mouths of the musicians.
This is the premiere screening of the newly restored film, which has been transferred from 16mm to HD video, color corrected by Adam Hogan and Laura Stayton, and sound revitalized by Dan Evans Farkas. The 16mm film was originally processed by J&D Film Labs, in NY.
DAVE SOLDIER
THE EIGHTH HOUR OF AMDUAT (2017–20)
AN OPERA BASED ON THE OLDEST SURVIVING MUSICAL SCORE
Marshall Allen, the leader of the Sun Ra Arkestra, is featured in the part of the Egyptian god Sun Ra, in Dave Soldier’s new classical/jazz/electronic opera based on the oldest musical score known, the Eighth hour of the Book of the Amduat. In this version from 1425 BC, the sounds and music are clearly specified during Sun Ra’s nightly travels on the underworld river to age, die, and be reborn to rise again every morning. The ancient hieroglyphs are translated to Italian by Egyptologist Rita Lucarrelli (professor at UC Berkeley) and the parts of the other gods and demons are sung by mezzo soprano (Sahoko Sato TImpone from the Metropolitan Opera) and a choir and by additional improvisers (Dan Blacksberg, Nick Millevoi, Michael Winograd, Rebecca Cherry) with a classical orchestra.
