DIED. SUN RA, 79, jazz pianist and trailblazer; in Birmingham, Alabama. In keeping with his singular, surreal performance persona, Sun Ra claimed he came from Saturn; if true, his presence here was that planet's loss and Earth's gain. According to more conventional accounts, Herman ("Sonny") Blount first learned to play piano by ear as a child. During the 1940s, his brilliant versatility in swing, blues and boogie-woogie made him a valued sideman for the likes of Coleman Hawkins and Fletcher Henderson. In the '50s, however, Sun Ra set out on his own spectacularly peculiar path. He organized the Sun-Ra Myth-Science Arkestra, a big band that incorporated ancient African percussion, modern electronic instruments and everything in between.