"Happy Arrival Day Marshall Allen - May 25 2020
He arrived to planet Earth 96 years ago, joined the Sun Ra Arkestra in 1958 and leads the band since 1995. With all performances cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus crisis, he is currently at home waiting for the moment to go on stage again. Happy Arrival Day, Marshall!"
Last year at this time Marshall and the Sun Ra Arkestra were celebrating Marshall's arrival day with a 37 show tour of Europe that started in London on April 19th and ended back in the UK on June 8th. Such a bummer that he can't go out and perform to celebrate his 96th. The first time I saw Sun Ra and the Arkestra play was at the 1969 Newport Jazz festival a mere three weeks after my first Grateful Dead show. Both events would be transformative music experiences for me. I was so happy to get to see Marshall and the band in San Francisco last summer fifty years after first hearing them play. The only two members at the show in SF who played at Newport were Marshall and Danny Ray Thompson. I had met Marshall a number of times over the years but had never gotten to talk to Danny previously. I am especially glad to have gotten the opportunity after the show last summer as Danny passed away earlier this year. So many key Arkestra members floating around the greater omniverse and I miss them all. Healing music for a planet that needs healing...