Marshall Allen, leader of the Sun Ra Arkestra, celebrates his 100th birthday.
Most centennials in jazz celebrate musicians long since dead. May 25 is an exception when Marshall Allen celebrates his 100th birthday.
Yes, it is true, Marshall Allen was born in 1924, the same year as Max Roach and Sarah Vaughan, who also has their 100th birthday centennials this year. Unlike them, Allen was not well-known at an early age. Instead, he served in the army and was stationed in France during World War II.
Marshall Allen did not become a well-known musician until he joined Sun Ra and his Arkestra in the late 1950s. If you can call it well-known since Sun Ra mostly had a cult following, recording for small independent labels, with the musicians living together to cut coasts.
Marshall Allen live
You can hear Marshall Allen playing alto saxophone and flute on Sun Ra albums like Jazz in Silhouette (1959), and The Magic City (1966), or one any other Sun Ra recording after that since Allen never left Ra’s Arkestra. Following the death of Ra, Allen became the leader of the band in 1995, and Allen only recently decided to withdraw from international touring.
I have had the opportunity to see Allen live a couple of times the last decade when he has toured in Europe. Once in 2017 with his Double Spiral Infinity Quartet which gave the opportunity to hear Allen as a soloist with a smaller unit. His saxophone playing is a times explosive and experimental, a times deeply rooted in the blues.
The experience was of another kind when Allen returned two years later as the leader for the big and colorful Sun Ra Arkestra with a singer. His playing was the same but less featured. One thing is for sure, he must have been the most vital 95-year-old musician I ever saw on stage. So, happy 100th birthday to Marshall Allen!
Jazz Desk 