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Marshall Allen: A Universe of Achievement
by AAJ Staff
Posted on behalf of Marshall Allen. It feels good to be receiving this Lifetime Achievement Award at the Vision Festival this month. Whenever somebody achieves something worthy, it's great to be recognized for it. The musicians who have received this award in the past include people that I have performed with, know and respect. I have received things like this before, like the Bluebird Award in Germany and some honorary mentions, but this award means a lot.
Continue ReadingPaul Bley: Barrage
by Lyn Horton
Recorded a year earlier than the previous ESP re-released Paul Bley Trio session, Closer (ESP Disk, 2008), Barrage takes an approach that tends toward the frenetic. In fact, judging from the very beginning of the record when the trumpet and sax synchronize in a group of short phrase spurts ("Batterie"), the music seems to deconstruct bebop, go on diverse tangents and then conclude in a synchronous reprise. Such a pattern exists throughout all of the pieces on the record.
Continue ReadingPaul Bley Quintet: Barrage
by Jerry D'Souza
Pianist Paul Bley recorded two albums for ESP Disk. The first was Barrage in 1964, the second was Closer in 1965. On the first Bley used Marshall Allen (alto sax), Dewey Johnson (trumpet), Eddie Gomez (bass) and Milford Graves (percussion). The latter was a more intimate outing with Steve Swallow (bass) and Barry Altschul (percussion). If there was a common thread besides Bley, it was the use of compositions by Carla Bley. Barrage was devoted completely to her music and ...
Continue ReadingMarshall Allen - Lou Grassi: Live at The Guelph Festival
by AAJ Italy Staff
Dapprima voce di spicco nelle varie edizioni dell’orchestra di Sun Ra per poi diventarne direttore musicale alla morte del leader, il contraltista Marshall Allen ha visto crescere i riconoscimenti della sua arte con il passare dell’età ed ora, ad oltre ottant’anni di età, si può considerare ancora in piena fase creativa. In questa incisione del settembre 2001, Allen si esibisce con il batterista Lou Grassi, musicista assai meno noto, ma importante figura di raccordo tra free, bop e avanguardia con ...
Continue ReadingMarshall Allen's Muse
by Clifford Allen
Born May 25, 1924 in Louisville, KY, alto saxophonist Marshall Allen has been as much an institution of the Arkestra as Sun Ra himself. Joining the band in 1958 in Chicago, Allen became part of the most important saxophone section since Ellington's--for along with John Gilmore and Pat Patrick, Allen and the Arkestra offered an entirely new approach to the big band in the postwar era, in contexts as diverse as swing, bop and avant-garde. Following Ra's transition in 1993, ...
Continue ReadingSun Ra: The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra
by Matthew Wuethrich
Sun Ra stated that he wanted to create otherworldly emotions on this album. These emotions are “disguised as jazz,” to quote one of Ra’s poems. The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra, recorded in 1961, consists of a range of simmering, swinging, riffing tunes full of deft counterpoint. On the surface, these tunes show a rather restrained side of Ra and his Arkestra, yet below that surface lurk some unsettling emotions. Some might mistake those unsettling feelings for detachment, or worse, ...
Continue ReadingMarshall Allen Quartet Featuring Mark Whitecage: Mark-n-Marshall: Monday
by AAJ Staff
It’s taken the legendary alto player Marshall Allen 50 years to record his debut as a leader – he first recorded with saxophonist James Moody in 1949 – but it was worth the wait. As anyone who’s seen Allen snapping his fingers and bobbing his head on his regular gig with the Sun Ra Arkestra can tell you, Allen can play some of the most excoriating horn lines around, but his main mission is to have fun. This Monday date ...
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