A Strange Celestial Road

In this memoir, Harlem-born trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah recounts decades of national and international touring with the Sun Ra Arkestra and charts the rise of New York loft jazz scene, offering a fascinating portrait of advanced music in Brooklyn and lower Manhattan from the 1970s through the 1990s, including thrilling stories about the politically important Bed-Stuy venue The East and Abdullah's tutelage under composer and long-time Archie Shepp collaborator Cal Massey. Along the way, it covers the author's spiritual development, battles with addiction, tribulations as a father, and working life as an educator and taxi driver.