Marshall Allen – New Dawn: :: Ondarock reviews

Exactly two days after celebrating the 100th birthday, Marshall Allen began to record the tracks that would end up on the first album of his very long career to be published in his name, “New Dawn”.
Allen entered the Arkestra at 34 years old, in 1958. He remained alongside Sun Ra until his death, which took place in 1993, continuing to direct the Sun Ra Arkestra, between records and concerts. The friend, as well as connects to the Arkestra, Knoel Scott helped Allen in the company to collect ideas for his “solo” album. The recordings took place in just two days, in Philadelphia, with a real big band of Arkestra veterans capable of playing Scott's elegant arrangements.

The sounds are those of an orchestra of the 40s: “African Sunset” is a riot of arches in bloom, with the warm stamp of the Allen saxophone to caress a romantic melody. Only the ECO of the Wii, always played by Allen, reminds us that Africa is directly connected with space-time tunnels in Saturn.
Even more languid and elegant the ballad that gives the title to the album, “New Dawn”, embellished with the voice of a divine Neneh Cherry and the dreamy guitar of Bruce Edwards.

The rest of the disc flows quickly between a Rhythm'n'blues recovered from who knows what a drawer of memories (“Are You Ready”), an interstellar journey in the most cosmic soul-jazz (“Sonny's Dance”), a long tribute to the imagination Afrodelic (“Boma”) and a stellar funk version of “Angels and Demons at Play” (from the 1965 Sun Ra album of the same name) which literally paste to neurons from the first listening.

23/04/2025