On May 25, 2025, the recently anointed NEA Jazz Master Marshall Allen turns 101. It’s been a fantastic year for the iconic leader of the Sun Ra Arkestra. He delivered his first solo studio album, New Dawn, earlier this year, in addition to being awarded by the NEA.
On the cusp of his 101st birthday, we have the double LP live release, Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons Live in Philadelphia. Ghost Horizons is wide spanning all-star project involving multiple and ever-changing players that teams Allen, who plays alto sax and EVI, with Arkestra guitarist DM Hotep via the auspices of Philadelphia’s Ars Nova Workshop series of concerts at its home venue Solar Myth. These concerts took place over two years with 16 tracks highlighting some of the foremost names in creative music. As you likely know, the Sun Ra Arkestra has called Philadelphia home for almost 60 years. The venue takes its name from one of the Arkestra’s compositions. Allen continues to lead the Arkestra but has curtailed his travel considerably. These pairings reveal Allen’s unique alto and EVI techniques in mostly uncluttered settings. It is a significant, definitive statement that Allen is still a foremost champion of the avant-garde.
The guitarist, DM Hotep assembled a wide range of improvisers he knew would inspire Allen. Saxophonists include Immanuel Wilkins, James Brandon Lewis, and Elliot Levin. Bassists include William Parker, Eric Revis (Tarbaby, Branford Marsalis Quartet), Luke Stewart (Silt Trio, David Murray Quartet), and James McNew (Yo La Tengo). Drummers are Chad Taylor, Tcheser Holmes (Irreversible Entanglements), Mikel Patrick Avery (Theaster Gates), and Charlie Hall (War on Drugs). Keyboardist Brian Marsella (Nels Cline Singers), the Ade Hu Lukumi Bata Ensemble, experimental noise duo Wolf Eyes, and Arkestra members: vocalist Tara Middleton, trumpeter Michael Ray, and trombonist Dave Davis all joined in various sessions.
The first concert occurred on November 12, 2022, with Allen and the guitarist joined by trombonist Davis, bassist Stewart, and drummer Taylor, a recent Philadelphia transplant from Chicago. They performed the Sun Ra classic “Seductive Fantasy” with Allen issuing trademark squeals and shrieks from his alto solo and in raucous, atonal interplay with Davis. Later, they added other worldly sounds from his EVI with Taylor and Stewart motoring underneath. “Back to You” with poetic recitations and the backing of Wolf Eyes ventures further into the outer realms with Allen’s EVI meshing with the bizarre electronics of the duo. “We’ll Wait for You/Hit That Jive Jack” begins with recitation. Marshall, humming a melody, later joined by Hotep and Ray as the three sing the refrain and verses to “We’ll Wait for You” to the accompaniment of Levin on saxophone, Ray on trumpet and keys, and the bass-drum tandem of Stewart and Holmes. The one-minute-plus “The Last Transmission” pits Marshall’s EVi against James Brandon Lewis’s low register tenor and Parker’s basslines. At the same time, “Stay Lifted” features the same ensemble as “We’ll Wait for You” on a bumpy cosmic journey.
The spacey tracks continue with Marshall’s EVI accompanying vocalist Middleton and some guest string players on Sun Ra’s 1985 “Solar Planes” with electronics swirling through. Marshall gets a big introduction from Hotep as they launch into “99 years going to outer space” on “Space Ghost,” imbued by Marshall’s riffing alto, and the group of Davis, Taylor, Stewart, and Hotep setting a groove. As per usual, Taylor’s drumming is a marvel. We hear the first of two with a combination of Hotep, Marsella, Taylor, and Wilkins on the electronics-infused “The Hills” with Allen’s EVI colorings. Later, this ensemble drives hard on “Slip Stream.” “Square the Circle” is a rock-adjacent piece with bassist McNew and drummer Hall, as Allen joins the electronics milieu with his EVI or sharp bursts on alto. The Afro-Cuban percussion and African chanting of Ade Ilu Lukumi Bata Ensemble lend a different hue to “Cosmic Dreamers, Ode to Elegua.”
Throughout the many settings Marshall’s individual voice, either on his singular alto or EVI, is a prominent aspect of the piece, as he revels in improvisation along with these kindred spirits. It’s as ‘out there’ as you’d expect.
