Editing Marshall Allen

{{Short description|American jazz saxophonist (born 1924)}}
{{for|the journalist|Marshall Allen (journalist)}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
| image             = Marshall Allen-0269.jpg
| caption           = Allen in 2019
| background        = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name        = Marshall Belford Allen
| alias             = 
| birth_date        = {{Birth date and age|1924|5|25}}
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}}
| birth_place       = [[Louisville, Kentucky]], U.S.
| instrument        = {{hlist|[[Saxophone]]|[[flute]]|[[oboe]]|[[piccolo]]|[[EWI (musical instrument)|EWI]]}}
| genre             = [[Jazz]]
| occupation        = Musician
| years_active      = 
| label             = {{hlist|[[CIMP]]|ESP Disc|[[Eremite Records]]|[[RareNoiseRecords]]|Mulata}}
| current_member_of = [[The Sun Ra Arkestra]]
| website           = 
| current_members   = 
| past_members      = 
| module            = {{infobox military person|embed=yes
| allegiance = {{flagicon|USA}} United States
| branch = [[United States Army]]
| unit =[[92nd Infantry Division (United States)|92nd Infantry Division]]
| battles = [[World War II]]
}}
}}

'''Marshall Belford Allen''' (born May 25, 1924)<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=65}}</ref> is an American [[free jazz]] and [[avant-garde jazz]] [[alto saxophone]] player.<ref name="RCJE">{{Cite book
 | last = Cook
 | first = Richard
 | year = 2005
 | title = Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia
 | url = https://archive.org/details/richardcooksjazz00rich
 | url-access = registration
 | publisher = Penguin Books
 | location = London
 | isbn = 0-141-00646-3
 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/richardcooksjazz00rich/page/9 9]
}}</ref> He also performs on [[flute]], [[oboe]], [[piccolo]], and the [[EWI (musical instrument)|EWI]].

Allen is best known for his work with [[Sun Ra]], having recorded and performed mostly in this context since the late 1950s, and having led [[The Sun Ra Arkestra]] since 1995, after Sun Ra's death in 1993 and [[John Gilmore (musician)|John Gilmore]]'s death two years later.<ref name="AllMusic">Jason Ankeny, [http://www.allmusic.com/artist/marshall-allen-mn0000299353 "Marshall Allen biography"], AllMusic.</ref> Critic Jason Ankeny describes Marshall as "one of the most distinctive and original saxophonists of the postwar era."<ref name="AllMusic" />

==Biography==
===Early life and military service===
Marshall Belford Allen was born on May 25, 1924, in [[Louisville, Kentucky]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

During the [[Second World War]] he enlisted in the [[92nd Infantry Division (United States)|92nd Infantry Division]], known as the [[Buffalo Soldiers Division]],<ref name="Sullivan 2024"/> and was stationed in France.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elrarecords.com/ma.html |title=Marshall Allen |access-date=2007-10-06}}</ref> Allen studied alto saxophone in Paris.<ref name="Sullivan 2024">{{cite magazine |last=Sullivan |first=Robert |title=The Sun Ra Arkestra's Maestro Hits One Hundred |magazine=The New Yorker |date=2024-06-24 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/07/01/the-sun-ra-arkestras-maestro-hits-one-hundred |access-date=2024-06-26}}</ref>

===Music career===
Allen played in Europe with jazz pianist [[Art Simmons]] and saxophonist [[James Moody (saxophonist)|James Moody]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

Allen is best known for his mastery of explosive, jarring, chaotic sound effects on the alto saxophone. Some have referred to this as a "pyrotechnic" playing style.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/ablogsupreme/2009/06/a_sideman_in_the_limelight_mar.html |title=A Sideman In The Limelight: Marshall Allen |website=[[NPR]] | year=2009 |access-date=2023-01-23}}</ref> He has said that he "wanted to play on a broader sound basis rather than on chords" (1971 interview with [[Tam Fiofori]])<ref>Cited in {{cite book | author=Wilmer, Val |author-link=Val Wilmer|title=As Serious as Your Life | publisher=Quartet | year=1977 | isbn=0-7043-3164-0}}</ref>). The opportunity came through his long association with [[Sun Ra]], with whom he performed almost exclusively from 1958 to Ra's death in 1993, although he did record outside [[The Sun Ra Arkestra]], with [[Paul Bley]]'s group in 1964 and [[Babatunde Olatunji|Olatunji]]'s group during the mid-1960s.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Critic [[Scott Yanow]] has described Allen's playing as "[[Johnny Hodges]] from another dimension".

After Sun Ra died, first [[John Gilmore (musician)|John Gilmore]] led the Arkestra, then Allen took over as leader.<ref name="Sullivan 2024"/> The Arkestra recorded two albums with Allen as their bandleader. In May 2004, Allen celebrated his 80th birthday on stage with the Arkestra, as part of their performance at the Ninth [[Vision Festival]] in New York City. Allen gave other performances on his birthday in 2008 at Sullivan Hall and at [[Iridium Jazz Club]] in 2018, both in New York City.

Allen often appeared in New York-area collaborations with bassist [[Henry Grimes]] and has also participated in the "Innerzone Orchestra" together with Francisco Mora Catlett, [[Carl Craig]] and others in an appreciation of Sun Ra's music. He performed the part of Sun Ra, the Egyptian god, in The Eighth Hour of Amduat, an opera with text from a 5000-year-old book on the sun's nightly journey through the underworld.

==Honors and later life==
Since 1968, Allen has lived in the Arkestral Institute of Sun Ra in [[Germantown, Philadelphia|Germantown, Philadelphia]]. In 2022, it was listed as a historic landmark in the [[Philadelphia Register of Historic Places]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/sun-ra-house-in-philadelphia-is-now-a-historic-landmark/|title=Sun Ra House in Philadelphia Is Now a Historic Landmark|date=May 16, 2022|website=Pitchfork}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://xpn.org/2019/02/06/encounters-at-the-mothership-brings-expansive-improv-to-west-philly/|title=Encounters at The Mothership brings expansive improv to West Philly|date=February 6, 2019|website=WXPN}}</ref>

Allen [[Centenarian|turned 100]] on May 25, 2024.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nts.live/shows/marshall-allen-birthday/episodes/marshall-allen-birthday-a-musical-tribute-25th-may-2024|title=HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY MARSHALL ALLEN: A MUSICAL TRIBUTE|publisher=NTS Radio|date=25 May 2024}}</ref>

On October 4, 2024, he released the first single "African Sunset" from his forthcoming debut album as a solo artist which was recorded a few days after his 100th birthday. The album ''New Dawn'' was released on February 14, 2025.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pareles |first=Jon |date=2025-01-17 |title=A 100-Year-Old Jazz Legend’s Solo Debut, and 11 More New Songs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/17/arts/music/playlist-marshall-allen-lucy-dacus-bartees-strange.html |access-date=2025-01-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Discography==
[[File:Marshall Allen 1.jpg|thumb|Allen in 2005, playing a [[EWI (musical instrument)|Steiner EVI]]]]
[[File:Marshall Allen-0370.jpg|thumb|Marshall Allen at the [[Moers Festival]] 2019]]{{For|records with Sun Ra|Sun Ra}}

===As leader===
*1998: ''[[Mark–n–Marshall: Monday]]'' ([[CIMP]])
*1998: ''[[Mark–n–Marshall: Tuesday]]'' (CIMP)
*2000: ''[[PoZest]]'' (CIMP)
*2025: ''New Dawn'' (Week-End Records)

===As co-leader===
*2003: ''[[The All-Star Game (album)|The All-Star Game]]'' ([[Eremite Records|Eremite]]) with [[Hamid Drake]], [[Kidd Jordan]], [[William Parker (musician)|William Parker]], and [[Alan Silva]]
*2003: ''Opportunities & Advantages'' (CIMP) with Elliott Levin and the Tyrone Hill Quintet
*2005: ''Ten by Two'' (Edisun) with [[Terry Adams (musician)|Terry Adams]]
*2005: ''Cosmic Tsunami'' (Nolabel) with [[Michael Ray (trumpeter)|Michael Ray]], Toshi Makihara, and Jeffrey Shurdut
*2010: ''[[Night Logic]]'' ([[RogueArt]]) with [[Matthew Shipp]] and [[Joe Morris (guitarist)|Joe Morris]]
*2011: ''Vibrations of the Day'' (Re:konstruKt) with Konstrukt, Hüseyin Ertunç, and Barlas Tan Özemek
*2014: ''Two Stars in the Universe'' (Little Rocket) with Kash Killion
*2019: ''Ceremonial Healing'' ([[RareNoiseRecords]]) with [[Danny Ray Thompson]], [[Jamie Saft]], [[Trevor Dunn]], [[Balázs Pándi]], and [[Roswell Rudd]]
*2020: ''[[Flow States (album)|Flow States]]'' (ScienSonic) with [[Roscoe Mitchell]], [[Scott Robinson (jazz musician)|Scott Robinson]], and [[Milford Graves]]

===As sideman===
;With [[Terry Adams (musician)|'''Terry Adams''']]
* ''Terrible'' (New World Records, 1995)

;With [[Paul Bley]]
*''[[Barrage (Paul Bley album)|Barrage]]'' (ESP-Disk, 1965)

;With Tyrone Hill
*''Out of the Box'' (CIMP, 1998)

;With [[Medeski, Martin and Wood]]
*''[[The Dropper]]'' (Blue Note, 2000)

;With [[The Muffins]] and [[Knoel Scott]]
*''Loveletter #2 The Ra Sessions'' (Hobart Films & Records, 2005)

;With the [[Odean Pope]] Trio
*''In This Moment'' (CIMP, 2016)

;With [[Alan Silva]]
*''[[H.Con.Res.57/Treasure Box]]'' (Eremite, 2003)

;With [[Dave Soldier]]
*''The Eighth Hour of Amduat'' (Mulatta Records, 2016)

;With [[Surrender to the Air]]
* ''[[Surrender to the Air (album)|Surrender to the Air]]'' (Elektra, 1996)

;With Hawk Tubley & The Airtight Chiefs
*''Cooking With Dynamite!'' (2011)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.thesunraarkestra.com Official website of the Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen]
* {{Discogs artist|Marshall Allen}}

{{Marshall Allen}}
{{Sun Ra}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Marshall}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American saxophonists]]
[[Category:20th-century American flautists]]
[[Category:21st-century American saxophonists]]
[[Category:21st-century American flautists]]
[[Category:African-American saxophonists]]
[[Category:American jazz alto saxophonists]]
[[Category:American jazz flautists]]
[[Category:American jazz oboists]]
[[Category:American male jazz musicians]]
[[Category:American male saxophonists]]
[[Category:American men centenarians]]
[[Category:Avant-garde jazz flautists]]
[[Category:Avant-garde jazz saxophonists]]
[[Category:Buffalo Soldiers]]
[[Category:Free jazz flautists]]
[[Category:Free jazz saxophonists]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Kentucky]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American male oboists]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Louisville, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Musicians from Louisville, Kentucky]]
[[Category:RogueArt artists]]
[[Category:Sun Ra Arkestra members]]
[[Category:Surrender to the Air members]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:NEA Jazz Masters]]