Marshall Allen

The first time I saw Marshall Allen perform was 50 years ago and he was already an old man, at least to 20-year-old me. This year, the longtime Sun Ra bandmate and later Arkestra bandleader released his debut solo album at age 100.

Let that sink in for a minute. The man is 100 and still performing music. New Dawn, the debut album, consists of Allen compositions, some new, but also including classics like Angels and Demons at Play, which he wrote with Ronnie Boykins for the Sun Ra Arkestra. The track was originally recorded by Sun Ra in 1960 and released on the album of the same name in 1965. Sixty years later (too soon?), Allen re-recorded it with members of the current version of the Arkestra.

I've seen Allen and the Sun Ra Arkestra numerous times in the 1970s and '80s, as well as in the '90s after Sun Ra left this planet. The last time I saw him perform was in 2015 at the Mammal Gallery, a former DIY performance space in downtown Atlanta, where he played in something called Cinema Soloriens with James Harrar.

Even as active as Allen still is at his age, I doubt that he will embark on a national tour in support of New Dawn, although I do imagine there will be a handful of shows at select locations, probably mostly within a day's drive of his home in Philadelphia. It would be amazing if I could find and attend one.