Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Marshall Belford Allen was born in Louisville, Kentucky on May 25, 1924. During World War II he enlisted in the 92nd Infantry Division and was stationed in France. He studied alto saxophone in Paris, France and played in Europe with Art Simmons and James Moody.

Best known for his mastery of explosive, jarring, chaotic sound effects on the alto saxophone, the opportunity came to create a long association with Sun Ra, with whom he performed almost exclusively from 1958 to Ra’s death in 1993. Marshall recorded with Paul Bley in 1964 and Olatunji during the mid-1960s.

Since Sun Ra death Allen has led the Arkestra and has recorded two albums. Allen often appeared in New York-area collaborations with bassist Henry Grimes, and participated in the Innerzone Orchestra with Francisco Mora Catlett, Carl Craig and others in an appreciation of Sun Ra’s music.

In 2022, the building at 5626 Morton Street known as the Arkestral Institute of Sun Ra was listed as a historic landmark in the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. Free and avant-garde jazz alto saxophonist Marshall Allen, who also plays flute, oboe, piccolo, and EWI, at the age of 99 continues to live at the Institute, which has been his home since 1968.

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