Bland, Ed, 1982 September 28

Musician, composer and musical director Ed Bland was born on July 25, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois. He began his musical career in Chicago during the 1930s as a clarinetist in jazz bands. But upon hearing Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, Bland became fascinated with Western classical music. After serving briefly in World War II, Bland attended the University of Chicago and the American Conservatory of Music studying philosophy, musicology, and composition with Jean Boyd.

In 1958, Bland produced and directed the documentary The Cry of Jazz. The film argued that current African-American life shared a structural identity with jazz. Most of the music is composed and performed by Sun Ra and his Arkestra and provides some of the earliest footage of Sun Ra from his 1950’s Chicago years.

From 1961 to 1994, Bland composed commercial music and became a freelance composer, producer, musical director, and musical arranger for major television networks. Although, in 1974 Bland began composing art music, and completed his most well regarded piece, Piece for Chamber Orchestra, in 1979.

[International dictionary of Black composers, 1999 / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bland]