Sun Ra Arkestra plays on at Brooklyn concert, delighting jazz fans of every age

99 year old Marshall Allen reveling in the applause at the end of the show presented by Blank Forms at Pioneer Works

Photo by Bob Krasner

“Sound of Joy” is the name of an LP by the celebrated Sun Ra and his Arkestra that was recorded way back in 1956. Although the leader of that group is long gone, his Arkestra plays on with a spirit and level of musicianship that ensures that the phrase still whole heartedly describes the music that emanated from the 20 or so musicians onstage on July 9 at Pioneer Works.

If you know Ra’s music, you know — but if you love jazz and you’ve somehow avoided the work of the man who claimed to have brought his music to us from beyond this earth, well, you’re missing out.

The free show was put on by Blank Forms, the occasion being their publication of “A Strange Celestial Road,” a memoir by trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah who was a member of Sun Ra’s Arkestra for 20-odd years.

Abdullah preceded the group’s stellar performance with a reading from that book, recounting the day that Ra called his house to recruit him for a gig that was to become more of a life journey than a job. He also performed with his wife and a few friends before the Arkestra took the stage decked out like a group of wizards from another (very glitzy) planet.

The star of the show was undoubtedly the marvelous 99 year-old Marshall Allen, who took over as band leader when Sun Ra passed in 1993. He has managed several feats of great magnitude: Not only has he continued to perform (beautifully, we must add), he has kept the group together and not just as a pale mirror of its former glory — the Sun Ra Arkestra is just as much a vital music making machine as any big band out there. 

Of course, there aren’t a lot of big bands out there — which is also to the point.

While the music is not as “out there” as it was in Sun Ra’s prime, it’s a thrill to watch a group of great musicians having a great time making great music. The audience —…