Playing with Marshall Allen (Happy Birthday!)

I haven't really written about this experience much, but I will take the opportunity of Marshall Allen's 100th birthday today (here's to many more!) to say a little about the experience of playing with him, back in 2007 in Richmond. New Ting bandmate Tim Harding set it up, and Marshall Allen, Thomas Stanley, and Elliott Levin came down to RVA for two sets of improvisation. This was definitely one of the highlights of my musical life. We had some time to hang out a little beforehand, went out to eat, talked some, but didn't talk at all about the music we were going to play. I did get the chance to ask him about "The Shadow World" and how tricky that piece was, and he said, "well, it's in 7/4." All you need to know, I guess! And we sang the head to each other (the beginning of it, anyway). 

When the time came, we just started playing. And I have to say: it was a spiritual experience for me. When Marshall started soloing, and those rippling waves of energy and sonic exuberance hit my ears, I was electrified and transformed and almost damn near forgot -I- was actually playing drums with him! He split his time about half and half between alto sax and EVI, plus a smattering of flute. I was transported to other realms, seriously: that other, better world. We started off as a quartet, and here's a little rough video snippet of that (unfortunately, not much Marshall):

For the second set, we were joined by Thomas Stanley, another bass player, and a female vocalist. Not as transcendent as the first set, to me, but still pretty mind-blowing. And then it was over.

I did have the opportunity to play with Marshall one more time, this time up in DC in 2010, in a band called Marshall Allen and the Vertical Dogs, along with Danny Ray Thompson, Jimmy Ghaphery, Tim, and a DC bassist and second drummer. It was big fun, of course, but nothing will replace that first time.

I talked to Marshall a few years later when the Sun Ra Arkestra played the Richmond Folk Festival. I think he remembered me, but hey, I'll give him a pass if he didn't --- hell, he was 83 when we first played!

So again, happy birthday, Marshall, and know that the years and hours of music you've given us all, with and without Sun Ra, can never be surpassed. Peace.