Sun Ra (born Herman Blount) was a talented pianist and composer who played and arranged for one of Fletcher Henderson's last bands.  He began collecting a company of musicians around him in the 1950's including tenor saxophonist John Gilmore, baritone saxist Pat Patrick, altoist Marshall Allan and others.  They created a music that began as hard bop, moved through soul and then became something quite extraordinary!  Here are examples (issued as singles on Ra's label Saturn) from all those periods