Trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah has published a memoir, covering his time with the Sun Ra Arkestra in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. It is the first book authored by a group member. A Strange Celestial Road is out July 25 on Blank Forms.

Abdullah put in more than 20 years with the band. A key figure in jazz history in his own right, he’s now music director at Sistas’ Place in Brooklyn, and a music teacher at the New School for Social Research in Manhattan and an elementary school in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

We’re promised 540 pages, with more than 50 pages of pics.