Marshall Allen

A key member of Sun Ra's Arkestra, alto saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist reedman Marshall Allen is a distinctive performer whose style bridges early swing and bop traditions with the non-chordal note choices and explosive, pyrotechnic sound clusters associated with the free jazz movement. Following his emergence in the 1940s, Allen rose to prominence playing with the Arkestra in the '50s, and later assumed leadership of the group after the deaths of Ra and his immediate successor John Gilmore. Along with his extensive recorded output with Ra, including 1972's Space Is the...