Knoel Scott instructing Sun Ra’s Arkestra on the banstand resembles what it would look like if NFL coach Mike Tomlin were to conduct Stravinsky’s Rites of Spring. Composer Scott stepped into the role previously held by the ever-so-saintly centenarian Marshall Allen, who is currently restricting his travel (but still very active in Philadelphia, having just released his debut solo record this past February).

On this first of a four-night engagement on July 31 by the pioneering Afrofuturist band at SFJAZZ, Scott’s was working non-stop during the two-hour performance. Standing, sitting, leaning over, bobbing, and weaving—from my seat at the nearly-sold-out, 700-seat Miner Auditorium, I can see that he was constantly switching from baritone sax to alto, in one moment cueing the trombone playe

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