The Immersive Jazz-Art Series at Lumonics
The Sun Ra Project featuring Hugh Ragin and Friends
Friday, April 26, 2024
Friday, May 17, 2024
7 pm to 9:30 pm
$20 advance
$25 at door
“The Sun Ra tribute is designed to connect the audience with an experience of listening by vibrating a deeper understanding of cosmic mathematics, or intelligence, rooted in the science of music, color and healing. In other words: the artist will provide a message piece in a very colorful setting.”
– Hugh Ragin, recipient of the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Five Points Jazz Festival.
Thanks to the Denver Westword Staff for writing about our monthly Friday event at Lumonics!
you are welcome to sit on comfy couches or floor cushions
“Jazz: Colorado’s Hugh Ragin playing Sun Ra”
Hugh Ragin, as brilliant a trumpeter as he is a dedicated educator, greeted me at Englewood’s Colorado Jazz Workshop on a Saturday afternoon in January. He had just finished a day’s worth of rehearsing three different bands, yet he was eager to speak with me on a subject with which we were mutually enthusiastic: the bandleader, pianist and cosmic traveler known as Sun Ra.
First, a bit of background on Ragin. He’s made Colorado his home for decades, but has frequently traveled the world, sharing the stage with luminaries as varied as Anthony Braxton and Maynard Ferguson. Even though he’s wholeheartedly local, he’s a member of one of the world’s most distinguished creative music groups, The Art Ensemble of Chicago. Listen to last year’s “The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris,” and get a profound sense of his sonic accomplishments. Ragin is also Dr. Ragin now, after recently obtaining his doctorate of musical arts from the University of Colorado-Boulder.
Ragin, who performed with Sun Ra and his big band, known as the Arkestra, in New York decades ago, is still in awe of Ra’s sophisticated music and profound philosophies.
Ragin and friends will perform selections from Sun Ra’s expansive catalog at Denver’s Lumonics Light and Sound Gallery on Feb. 16 and March 15.
“He had this presence, this consciousness; the whole ‘big picture’ consciousness he lays on you,” he says of Ra, who died in 1993.
“It will be a multimedia presentation,” Ragin said of the upcoming Lumonics Gallery shows. “We’re definitely fusing everything. There are some fascinating Sun Ra (video) clips.”
Ragin let out a joyful “Ooooooh!,” adding, “Sun Ra will nudge you out to the universe, but he also knows how to bring you home.”
“Music is the spiritual language of Earth.”
– Sun Ra
Sun Ra (1914-1993) was one of the most unusual musicians in the history of jazz, An outsider who linked the African-American experience with ancient Egyptian mythology and outer space, Sun Ra was years ahead of all other avant-garde musicians in his experimentation with sound and instruments, a pioneer in group improvisations and the use of electric instruments in jazz. He was best known for his “cosmic jazz”.
In the 1950s, Sun Ra began issuing recordings of his unusual music on his Saturn label, becoming one of the first jazz musicians to record and sell his own albums. Sun Ra released more than a hundred albums of visionary jazz, comprising well over 1,000 songs, and making him one of the most prolific recording artists of the 20th century.
Sun Ra was among the first musicians to make extensive and pioneering use of synthesizers and other various electronic keyboards. In 1969, he was given a prototype Minimoog by its inventor, Robert Moog.
– various internet sources, including the National Endowment for the Humanities
Hugh Ragin is a lecturer of Jazz Studies at the College of Music at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He leads a variety of ensembles, master classes and workshops. Hugh Ragin also played trumpet with Sun Ra’s Arkestra. He has a residency at Immersive Jazz-Art.
Hugh Ragin was raised in Houston, Texas, and began playing trumpet in his early teens, taking lessons in classical music; he was also a member of the Houston All-City High School Orchestra.
Mr. Ragin earned a degree in music education from the University of Houston and a degree in classical trumpet performance from Colorado State University. He continued his education in 1978 at the Creative Music Studio with Roscoe Mitchell. A year later, he performed with Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith and the Creative Orchestra at the Moers Festival in Germany. He then toured with Anthony Braxton.
During the early 1980s, Mr. Ragin toured with jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. He began an association with David Murray, becoming a member of Murray’s band in the 1980s. Currently, Ragin is a member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
Mr. Ragin earned a DMA in jazz studies from the University of Colorado-Boulder.
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Host Janine Santana is the Artistic Director/Radio Personality at The Arts Validation Network and Leader/ Conguera at Janine Santana Latin Jazz. A popular on air host at KUVO Denver for many years, Janine hosts Afternoon Jazz Mondays through Fridays from 2:30 pm-5:30 pm Mountain Time on TAVN-Jazz , and Saturdays from 10 am -11:30 am
Join us for an evening of art, film, and live improvisational jazz accompanied by the Lumonics Light Orchestra/video projection. Host Janine Santana selects a jazz film for each event. The evening concludes with a mini-Lumonics Immersed, a transformative multisensory art experience.
“Janine Santana here…and I want to personally thank all who have attended our Jazz-Art Immersion events. The response has been absolutely heart-warming! Each event is unique with a different film and an individualized light experience curated by Lumonics Gallery. A percentage of any profit goes to support The Arts Validation Network, a 501c3 not-for-profit organization.”
***** (Google Reviews)
Really interesting, tucked away spot. I went for a jazz show with inspiration by Sun Ra and it fit the space well. They showed a short film and also gave a taste of the normal programming there which involves all of the light based art and visuals on screen synchronized to music. There’s comfy couches, floor cushions, and snacks included with the ticket price.
Steve K.
A wonderful and amazing experience! Some of the best jazz I have ever heard! GO!
John A.
We had an amazing time immersed in Sun Ra Jazz surrounded by such creative artwork. Truly a spectacular night.
Jer G.
Awesome space with really cool and fascinating art. Incredible experience witnessing the Sun Ra Project here. If you have an appreciation for experimental jazz then don’t miss them play, otherwise come on a different night for their immersive experience. Would highly recommend checking out this place!!
Yipp Yo
The Arts Validation Network, known as TAVN.org is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to to supporting and promoting musicians, performers and visual artists and their work by providing them with platforms for performances, community education and validation. This work also nourishes the audiences and students of these arts.
You are also welcome to attend the full immersion that takes place on Saturday evenings.
BEST OF DENVER® /// ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/// 2023
BEST LONG-RUNNING IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE
Some attendees like to wear their fun clothing like Will and Sarah!