NEA Jazz Master Marshall Allen, 100-year-old bandleader of the iconic Sun Ra Arkestra, announces new live album by his all-star project Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons
Album to be released on May 23, 2025 by Otherly Love and Ars Nova Workshop
Live in Philadelphia features nine live collaborations with artists such as Immanuel Wilkins, James Brandon Lewis, William Parker, Chad Taylor, Eric Revis, Wolf Eyes, members of Yo La Tengo, Irreversible Entanglements, The War on Drugs, and more
Few of us are fortunate enough to enjoy a century of life on this planet; fewer still manage to remain active and creative for the entirety of that existence. As in so many facets of his life and career, NEA Jazz Master Marshall Allen is singular – the celebrated saxophonist, EVI master, composer, and bandleader not only continues to perform at an astonishing level after celebrating his 100th birthday in May 2024, but he has embarked on a fruitful new chapter of an already remarkable career.
Allen is of course best known for his nearly lifelong association with the iconic Sun Ra Arkestra, which he joined in 1957 and has led for the last thirty years. As his landmark centennial neared, Allen was invited by award-winning Philadelphia presenting organization Ars Nova Workshop to lead a series of concerts at its home venue, Solar Myth. Thus was born Ghost Horizons, a new ensemble with an ever-changing lineup, teaming Allen and longtime Arkestra guitarist DMHotep with a host of all-star collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary creative music.
Released by Otherly Love Records and Ars Nova Workshop, the thrilling new double album Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons collects 16 exploratory tracks from the ongoing series’ first two years, captured live on stage at Solar Myth.
Due out May 23, 2025 to coincide with Allen’s 101st birthday on May 25, the album spotlights wide-ranging improvisations with saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins, James Brandon Lewis and Elliott Levin; keyboardist Brian Marsella; bassists William Parker, Eric Revis (Branford Marsalis Quartet, Tarbaby), Luke Stewart (Irreversible Entanglements) and James McNew (Yo La Tengo); drummers Chad Taylor, Tcheser Holmes (Irreversible Entanglements), Mikel Patrick Avery (Natural Information Society, Theaster Gates), and Charlie Hall (The War on Drugs); 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.
Though Allen continues to lead and compose for the Arkestra and to perform close to home, health precautions in recent years have led him to cease international touring even as the ensemble continues to travel the globe. The timing coincided with the opening of Solar Myth in November 2022, providing Ars Nova with a permanent home after more than 20 nomadic years hosting concerts across the city. Sun Ra, who moved his Arkestra to the city he referred to as “Death’s Headquarters” in the late 60s, has been a guiding light for the organization throughout its history – the name Solar Myth is taken from one of the Arkestra’s myriad forms.
photo credit: Sheldon Abba
“For nearly 70 years, the Arkestra’s work has enriched community identity while providing a model for artistic renewal and inspiration as well as healing through communal creative expression,” says Mark Christman, Ars Nova’s Founder and Director. “DMHotep and I wanted to create a uniquely Philadelphia environment where Marshall’s nearly 100 years of bravery and virtuosity could continue and engage a revolving door of musicians.”
No matter his age, retirement was never an option for Allen according to DMHotep. “Marshall’s been on the road constantly since before I was born,” says the guitarist, a member of the Arkestra for more than two decades. “It’s his existence. The thought of not touring was devastating to him. He’s still lucid and cognizant, and he can certainly still play, so I couldn’t envision him sitting in bed watching football and news stations all day.”
The inaugural Ghost Horizons concert took place on November 12, 2022, with Allen and DMHotep joined by Arkestra trombonist Dave Davis, bassist Luke Stewart of Irreversible Entanglements, and drummer and recent Philadelphia transplant Chad Taylor, co-founder of the Chicago Experimental Duo and its varied offshoots. The show featured a buoyant take on the Sun Ra classic “Seductive Fantasy,” which opens Live in Philadelphia.
From there, the music veers down a number of diverse and venturesome pathways: into the textured electronic noisescapes and cryptic recitations of Wolf Eyes; to the atmospheric “The Last Transmission,” forefronting the space-age atmospherics of Allen’s EVI against James Brandon Lewis’ low tenor moans and William Parker’s entrancing basslines; to the propulsive “Slip Stream” with saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins and keyboardist Brian Marsella; to the spirit-raising Afro-Cuban percussion of the Ade Ilu Lukumi Batá Ensemble and the blistering rock-adjacent groove of “Square the Circle” with Yo La Tengo bassist James McNew and The War on Drugs drummer Charlie Hall (who also leads Get Up With It, a collective dedicated to the electric music of Miles Davis).
“I didn’t want it to turn into a cookie cutter series where every iteration is the same style with different faces,” DMHotep says of assembling the disparate lineups. “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.”
Live in Philadelphia illuminates the unceasingly inventive and collaborative spirit of a master musician undiminished after a century on Earth. As DMHotep concludes, “The Ghost Horizons series is a way to show the world that Marshall is still a vital figure in the avant-garde jazz scene, and that he hasn’t lost the ability to participate and be creative.”
Tracklist:
1. Seductive Fantasy
2. Back to You
3. We’ll Wait For You*/Hit That Jive, Jack
4. The Last Transmission
5. Stay Lifted
6. On Solar Planes
7. Space Ghost
8. The Hills
9. Square The Circle
10. In The Silence Of The Infinite
11. Cosmic Dreamers, Ode to Elegua
12. The Unknown
13. Warn Them
14. Slip Stream
15. Tachyons Flux From The Cosmic Blueprints
16. Rindima
Credits:
All performances produced by Ars Nova Workshop
All tracks recorded live at Solar Myth
Recorded and mixed by Beau Gordon
Mastered and lacquers by Dave Gardner at DSG Mastering Los Angeles
Produced by Stephen Buono and Yuri Seung
Executive Produced by Matthew Pierce
Cover Photography by Ryan Collerd
Gatefold Photography by Sheldon Omar Abba
Original artwork and design by D.Norsen
Thanks to: Celeste DiNucci, Eugene Lew, and Ronnie Boyd
The Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons project has received support from The Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia.