Live at Babylon Sun Ra Arkestra with Marshall Allen

• 1 Astro Black 02:31
• 2 Ra #2 10:00
• 3 Saturn 08:01
• 4 Discipline 27b 11:44
• 5 Stardust 12:24
• 6 Care Free #2 10:03
• 7 Dancing Shadows 11:34
• 8 Satellites Are Spinning 11:23
• Total Runtime 01:17:40

Info for Live at Babylon

Legendary pianist and bandleader Sun Ra departed from this Earth in 1993 but his cosmic legacy lives on via this excellent live set featuring his Arkestra recorded at the Babylon Club, Istanbul in May 2014. Now directed by ninety year old alto saxophonist / flautist Marshall Allen, the music reflects the imperturbable spirit of freedom and creativity of a band which has existed for some six decades.

Also on board for this particular astral journey are long established members of the Arkestra crew including Vincent Chancey (french horn), Knoel Scott (alto saxophone), Elson Nascimento (percussion) together with relative newcomers Tara Middleton (vocals & violin) and Farid Barron, the first to occupy the pianists chair since Sun Ra's passing. As with all Arkestra performances the music is a beguiling mix of inter-planetary (free) flights of fancy and more conventional pieces such as 'Stardust', an appropriately titled standard, and the Ra penned 'Saturn', a fixture in the bands book since the mid -1950's.

Recorded by IN+OUT Records in centenary of Sun Ra's birth, this live set is a superb document of the Arkestra's music as it is today. The album is also dedicated to the memory of Mehmet Ulug, who together with his brother Ahmet, brought the Arkestra to Istanbul from the first time in 1990 and went on to open the Babylon Club.

Marshall Allen, director, alto saxophone, EVI, vocals
Tara Middleton, vocals, violin
Cecil Brooks, trumpet
Vincent Chancey, French horn
Dave Davis, trombone
Knoel Scott, alto saxophone, vocals
James Stuart, tenor saxophone
Danny Ray Thompson, baritone saxophone
Farid Barron, piano
Dave Hotep, guitar
Tyler Mitchell, bass
Stanley Morgan, congas, percussion
Elson Nascimento, surdo, percussion
Wayne Anthony Smith Jr., drums

Sun Ra
was a jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions, and performances. He was one of the most important figure in 60's avante garde jazz along with artists such as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Albert Ayler. "Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial," critic Scott Yanow said, due to Sun Ra's eclectic music and unorthodox lifestyle. Claiming that he was of the "Angel Race" and not from Earth, but from Saturn, Sun Ra developed a complex persona of "cosmic" philosophies and lyrical poetry that made him a pioneer of Afrofuturism as he preached awareness and peace above all. He abandoned his birth name and took on the name and persona of Sun Ra (Ra being the ancient Egyptian god of the sun), and used several other names throughout his career, including Le Sony'r Ra and Sonny Lee. Sun Ra denied any connection with his birth name, saying "That's an imaginary person, never existed ... Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym." From the mid-1950s to when he left the planet in 1993, Sun Ra led "The Arkestra" (a deliberate re-spelling of "orchestra"), an ensemble with an ever-changing lineup and name (it was also called "The Solar Myth Arkestra", the "Cosmo Discipline Arkestra", the "Blue Universe Arkestra", the "Jet Set Omniverse Arkestra", among many other permutations. Sun Ra asserted that the ever-changing name of his ensemble reflected the ever-changing nature of his music. Sun Ra's music ranged from keyboard solos to big bands of over 30 musicians. His music touched on virtually the entire history of jazz, from ragtime to swing music, from bebop to free jazz. He was also a pioneer of electronic music, space music, and free improvisation, and was one of the first musicians, regardless of genre, to make extensive use of electronic keyboards.

After Sun Ra left the planet, the Arkestra was led by tenor saxophonist John Gilmore. Following Gilmore's death in 1995, the group has performed under the direction of alto saxophonist Marshall Allen, who celebrated his 86th birthday (or Arkestrally "Arrival Day") on stage during a Sun Ra Arkestra performances at Johnny Brenda's in Philadelphia on May 25, 2010. Marshall Allen has now given 52 years of uninterrupted dedicated service to the Sun Ra Arkestra. He continues to move the Arkestra forward not as a repertory band or a ghost band, but as a spirit band, maintaining the discipline centered on the study, research, and further development of Sun Ra's precepts. The spirit of Sun Ra is alive and well in the present day manifestation of the Sun Ra Arkestra with Marshall featuring a mix of classic Sun Ra compositions and arrangements alongside Marshall's own compositions and arrangements that are deeply rooted in the spirit of Sun Ra. Along with leading the Arkestra, Marshall plays the alto saxophone, flute, clarinet, oboe, kora, and EVI (Electronic Valve Instrument). He is internationally recognized as the premier avant-garde saxophonist on the planet.

This album contains no booklet.