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A vocalist, violinist, dancer, choreographer, and costume designer,
June Tyson spent nearly 25 years as a member of
Sun Ra & His Arkestra; she was one of the ensemble's most distinctive members, and one of the very few women who were longtime associates of the Saturnian jazz icon. As a vocalist,
Tyson was capable of smoothly disciplined, joyous delivery in traditional jazz styles, or she could keep up with the expressive free jazz cacophony of
the Arkestra in full experimental flight.
Tyson was the singer most closely associated with
Sun Ra, and her entire body of recorded work was essentially created as part of his organization. Given the sheer bulk of
Ra's canon (well over 100 albums), citing highlights from
Tyson's tenure with the group is a challenge, but the soundtrack to
Sun Ra's 1972 film
Space Is the Place, the 1980 live album
Sunrise in Different Dimensions, and 1990's studio effort Purple Night are strong and relatively accessible releases, while the 2019 collection,
Saturnian Queen of the Sun Ra Arkestra, is a splendid overview of her work with
the Arkestra.
June Tyson was born in Ablemarie, North Carolina on February 5, 1936. Very little is known about her early life or introduction to music, but at some point she made her way to New York City and worked as a lounge singer in the late '60s; she was spotted by Lem Roebuck,
Sun Ra's manager at the time, while performing as part of a revue devoted to Broadway show tunes. Roebuck offered to introduce
Tyson to
Ra, and she was soon drawn into
Ra's creative orbit, joining the group in 1968. While
Tyson was initially brought into the group to sing, she began taking on other tasks over the next few years. She helped design and build the elaborate stage costumes
Ra and his bandmates wore for their concerts, and helped maintain them on the road. When dancers were brought into the ensemble,
Tyson joined them and choreographed their movements. And at
Ra's behest,
Tyson took up the violin to add additional tonal colors to
the Arkestra.
When
Tyson joined
Sun Ra, he and the group were based in New York City, but they soon relocated to Philadelphia, where they lived communally in the city's Germantown neighborhood.
Tyson entered into a romantic relationship with Richard Wilkenson, who was
the Arkestra's road manager and handled sound and lighting for their performances. When
Tyson and Wilkenson married, they returned to New York City, finding a home in Harlem where the musicians and their associates would stay while in the city. Despite relocating,
Tyson continued to perform and record with
Sun Ra, appearing on late-period studio efforts such as Purple Night (1989),
Mayan Temples (1990), and
Somewhere Else (1993). In the early '90s, her health began to fail her, and she died in Philadelphia on November 24, 1992 at the age of 56.
Sun Ra would follow roughly six months later, on May 30, 1993.
Sun Ra's following continued to grow after his death as extensive reissues of his catalog introduced his music to new audiences, which in turn put a greater emphasis on
Tyson's contributions to
the Arkestra. The Sundazed-distributed Modern Harmonic label released several archival
Sun Ra collections, and gave her a rare moment in the spotlight with the release of the 2019 anthology
Saturnian Queen of the Sun Ra Arkestra, which featured 17 of her most memorable performances with
Ra. ~ Mark Deming