Sun Ra Turns 100: Jazz at Lincoln Center October 5, 2013

http://jalc.org/about/press-room/general/437-sun-ra-turns-100-sun-ra-arkestra-with-marshall-allen

SUN RA TURNS 100: SUN RA ARKESTRA 

with MARSHALL ALLEN

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s The Allen Room

on October 5 at 7pm and 9:30pm

New York, NY (August 27, 2013) To celebrate the 100th birthday of prolific composer, bandleader, pianist, poet and philosopher Sun Ra, The Sun Ra Arkestra with Marshall Allen perform in a special concert event entitled Sun Ra Turns 100 in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s The Allen Room on October 5 at 7pm and 9:30pm. This performance marks The Sun Ra Arkestra’s first appearance at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Sun Ra organized The Arkestra sixty years ago as a platform to render a vision that simultaneously drew on the ancient and the modern, incorporating elements of black vaudeville, modern dance, Egyptian cosmology, Eastern philosophy, numerology, surrealism, kitsch, and the Bible. The Arkestra served as a canvas on which Sun Ra deployed African rhythms, atonal melodies, electronic timbres, raw blues expression, and unfailing swing, framed by one-for-all discipline. Sun Ra lives on in the current edition of the ever-changing Arkestra, led by alto saxophonist-woodwindist Marshall Allen, a founding member of the Arkestra in the laste ‘50s.

This show will also feature visual artist Michael Arthur creating live pen and ink artwork inspired by the performance. These real time works of art will be projected above the stage to underscore Sun Ra’s persistent modernity. Combining music and fine art, Sun Ra Turns 100 promises to be a most memorable journey.

As Marshall Allen said, “Sun Ra always said his music was from the 21st Century and here we are!”

Free pre-concert discussion at 6pm and 8:30pm in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Irene Diamond Education Center. Sun Ra Turns 100: Sun Ra Arkestra with Marshall Allen will stream live on October 5 at 7 and 9:30pmET on jalc.org/live. Ticket prices for The Allen Room start at $45.