Sun Ra: Jazz’s Interstellar Voyager

From The Guardian:

Ra was hardly the first bandleader to drive his band hard, but he took it to another plane. Musicians who didn’t focus or turned up late were locked in cupboards or, even worse, given the “royal treatment”. At the Arkestra‘s next gig, they would be placed on a chair at the front of the stage, and Ra would announce that, because of a lack of discipline, they would not be allowed to play. It might sound ludicrous, but this musical naughty step exemplified the power that Ra and his music wielded over band members. Many remained with him for decades, honouring his vision long after his death from pneumonia in 1993. Saxophonist Marshall Allen joined the Arkestra in 1958 and, at the age of 90, leads the band to this day.