MMS: Children of the Sun: Current Developments in North American Black Music

This lecture offers an ethnographic exploration of contemporary North American Black music scenes with particular emphasis on artists influenced by the philosophical and aesthetic visions of space jazz pioneer Sun Ra. Drawing from extensive fieldwork and his scholarly expertise on Sun Ra’s ideology and axiology, Dr. Thomas "Bushmeat" Stanley examines how futurity and hybridity manifest in current Black musical innovation. The presentation will highlight how improvisation serves as a method of engaging with "historical epochs that have yet to begin" and activates affective dimensions of historical flow through sound. Stanley's unique perspective is informed by his diverse experience researching P-Funk, Garifuna musical traditions, and Butch Morris's compositional methodologies, providing a rich contextual framework for understanding the cosmic continuum of Black musical expression.