Sun Ra Arkestra
Sun Ra Arkestraalbum cover

At age 87, Marshall Allen is still performing and recording with the Sun Ra Arkestra. The band purported to be from outer space will land in Israel on Saturday night for a show in Tel Aviv.

Sun Ra was an American jazz pianist and composer who released numerous albums, virtually all on outer space themes. He maintained in interviews and on stage that he was from the planet Saturn. Avant garde compositions such as Space is the Place, and There are Other Worlds, mixed serious jazz talent with free jazz and experimental music. 

Allen spoke to Israel National Radio about the band. "The closest I ever got to Israel was the Sinai desert," he said, describing a concert played decades ago in the Sinai Peninsula. "We were about 35 miles from you." 

Allen says he is excited to visit Jerusalem and other locations. He reminisced about when he first met Sun Ra in 1958. "I said, from Saturn? Oh yeah? Well, welcome to Earth." Allen said that although Sun Ra thought he was a talented saxophonist, it took him several years to understand how his mentor wanted him to give the notes a different kind of feeling. "He had a creative way of bringing it out of you," Allen said. "it must be the spirit and vibrations from some other place and some other idea. We played the music of the space age." 

Today, Allen plays a variety of wind instruments including saxophone, flute, oboe, clarinet and the EVI, or Electronic Valve Instrument. The 12-piece band will perform a retrospective of jazz standards and originals, starting with the big band era and moving into Sun Ra compositions and Marshall Allen's own works. 

Joining the band on stage will be local musician Avshalom Ben Shlomo, a resident of southern Israel. The saxophonist played with the Sun Ra group in the United Stated before moving to Israel. Ben Shlomo also has performed with guitarist Steve Peskoff, another American-Israeli musician. Together they have released a album of Shlomo Carlebach cover songs. 

According to Allen, the band's usual elaborate outer space themed costumes can be expected, as well as lights, stage props and dancers. "We're using the creative spirit," he states. "When we come to Israel, we will be playing with the feeling of the people of Israel." 

The Sun Ra Arkestra will perform December 3rd at the Barby in Tel Aviv. 

Ben Bresky is a music journalist and host of the Israel Beat Jewish Music Podcast on Arutz Sheva - Israel National Radio. For show archives click here.