When Marshall Allen’s first solo album was released in February (Allen was actually 100 years old at the time), the reviews were almost effusive. And New Dawn is a very fine album, no question about it. For Allen, who crossed several musical boundaries with the Sun Ra Arkestra in the course of his life, it’s a very accessible record that offers a nice overview of his work. It’s highly recommended for Allen-beginners in particular. Shortly before this, however, the man was on stage with several musicians in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia - and the music played there is more likely to be that preferred by readers of this website. Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons, which is the name of the project featuring an ever-changing lineup, teaming Allen and longtime Arkestra guitarist DM Hotep with a smorgasbord of outstanding musicians from various genres like saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins, James Brandon Lewis and Elliott Levin; keyboardist Brian Marsella; bassists William Parker, Eric Revis (from the Branford Marsalis Quartet and Tarbaby), Luke Stewart (of Irreversible Entanglements fame) and James McNew (Yo La Tengo’s bassist and guitarist). Also on board are drummers Chad Taylor, Tcheser Holmes (Irreversible Entanglements), Mikel Patrick Avery (Natural Information Society), and Charlie Hall (The War on Drugs). Finally, there are vocalist Tara Middleton, trumpeter Michael Ray and trombonist Dave Davis of the Arkestra; the Ade Ilu Lukumi Batá Ensemble; and experimental noise duo Wolf Eyes.
“I didn’t want it to turn into a cookie cutter series where every iteration is the same style with different faces. I tried to incorporate musicians with different improvisational mindsets. I’m very familiar with the things that really inspire Marshall, so I kept an eye and an ear towards that while occasionally throwing him a curveball,” DM Hotep says in the liner notes about the idea of disparate lineups.
And some of the results are outstanding. For example, “Square the Circle” with James McNew and The War on Drugs drummer Charlie Hall, which is a wild mixture of driving rhythms from the New York CBGBs scene (e.g. The Feelies‘ debut album) and Miles Davis’s jazz rock phase at the beginning of the 1970s. Other highlights are “Back to You“, which sounds like a strange Pink Floyd song with Wolf Eyes’s encrypted lyrics plus free jazz sprinkles; “Stay Lifted,” a panting tour de force on the basis of an endlessly repeating rolling bass and Allen on EVI, Elliott Levin on saxophone and Michael Ray on wah-wah trumpet fighting on top of it; “The Hills“, a polyphony of disparate particles of different origins, buzzing around independently, clumping together for moments, intertwining and then drifting apart again, flicking on and off again; and eventually “Slip Stream“ with saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins and keyboardist Brian Marsella, which is knee-deep in space jazz rock again.
Live in Philadelphia shows Marshall Allen’s interest in contemporary music of all kinds. In this project, the musicians are turned on, sometimes making fascinating contributions. Solos in the conventional sense are rather rare, it seems more as if an instrument pushes itself to the fore for a while and then sinks back into the stream of sound. Allen and DM Hotep are more like sorcerers who want to usher in a new age of jazz using a wide variety of ingredients. You have to imagine it: Marshall Allen is 100 years old and he’s still avant-garde. Isn’t that outstanding?
Live in Philadelphia is available on vinyl (in a limited version, too) and as a download.
You can listen to the album and pre-order/order it here:
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