Musician Marshall Allen has released his first solo album at a somewhat advanced age, proving that enjoyment and self-expression are not things from which we need retire.
In the days after a recent birthday, jazz saxophonist Marshall Allen finally set about starting a project many musicians aspire towards: a solo album. Here’s the thing, though. The birthday in question was Allen’s 100th.
On May 25 last year (2024), Allen celebrated his centenary. A few days later he entered the studio, laying down the first notes of what would become New Dawn, the only solo release to date of Allen’s illustrious career.
Although I’d not previously heard of Mr Allen, I was certainly familiar with the Sun Ra Arkestra, of which the sax player has been a member since 1958, and a co-spiritual leader since its founder, Sun Ra, passed away in 1993. The band has been playing, recording and touring consistently for the past 60 years or so.
New Dawn was released on February 14 (Valentine’s Day) earlier this year.
“We have created a record that showcases Marshall Allen’s musical versatility, including a surprising calmer side we may not have heard before,” says the record’s producer, Jan Lankisch.
Collaborating with Allen on the album was lifelong friend and fellow Arkestra member Knoel Scott, who helped select the seven original tracks from a considerable cache of unrecorded Allen compositions. Neneh Cherry provides vocals on the title track.
“The song reflects Allen’s ability to balance complexity with clarity, moving from serene introspection to explosive musical statements,” writes Mike Flynn in Jazzwise. “As the track unfolds, it becomes a perfect encapsulation of the album’s spirit: the melding of the past and the future, of legacy and discovery.”
In recording his first solo album at a well-rounded age, it’s something of a moot point whether Allen has left it too late in terms of playing ability. Would a better album have been produced at age 75, 85 or 95? As author Tom Vanderbilt says of his own imperfectly executed efforts at trying new ventures: “The important thing was the doing, rather than the not-having done.”
In a landmark study some years ago, it was discovered that Okinawans are among the world’s most long-lived races, a fact attributed to their healthy diets, unhurried pace of life, social connectedness, and sense of purpose. Worth noting is that the traditional language of the island has no word for “retirement”. Traditionally, Okinawans never step away from farming their small plots, or retire from martial arts practice. Along with a couple of other remote locales, Okinawa is (or was at the time) credited with having a remarkable number of centenarians living productive lives into their 101st years.
Like the Okinawans with whom he shares longevity, Allen doesn’t seem to be contemplating hanging up his saxophone.
When he recorded his final album New World Order, Curtis Mayfield had already issued some highly influential, infectious and downright groovy records and tunes, including the much imitated “Superfly” and “I’m You’re Pusher Man”. Father to nine children, Mayfield had lived a full life, travelled widely, and mastered his craft.
But there was more to say. Profoundly injured while performing his final concert when a bank of lights fell on him, Mayfield was left a quadriplegic. Still, he had a positive message he wanted to send to the world, and this is the prevailing theme of the final long player, released in 1996.
“Never forget,” Mayfield sings on the album, “this life we live is oh so beautiful.”
Paralysed from the neck down, Mayfield didn’t have the lung capacity to sing entire songs – or even verses – at the time of recording. Rather, he developed a technique whereby he would lie on the floor of his home recording studio and sing a line or two at a time, take a break, and move on to the next line, and thus create an entire album.
“How many 54-year-old quadriplegics are putting albums out? You just have to deal with what you got, try to sustain yourself as best you can, and look to the things that you can do,” he said in an interview at the time.
It’s an amazingly positive sentiment.
In “Back to Living Again” Mayfield sings, “Whenever life pulls you down, you just get back up and hold your ground. Let’s get back to living again. Right on.”
In a rare treat, Aretha Franklin sings backing vocals on the track.
Some artists decide at a certain age that they have done enough, that their output is complete. Any additional works to their canon would only tarnish or diminish a reputation built up over a lifetime of conscious, considered dedication.
Bill Withers effectively walked away from his music career in 1985 at the age of 47, having fallen out of love with the industry. Contractual and creative imbroglios blighted Withers’ career, perhaps somewhat incongruously given the sunny and optimistic nature of many of his musical offerings such as “Lovely Day”. Withers, however, had no regrets.
Others never stop. In the tradition of old bluesmen, the octogenarian Rolling Stones keep producing new records, their most recent (Hackney Diamonds) in 2023. Some of the surviving members have issued solo records too. Keith Richards’ Talk is Cheap is widely considered to contain some of his best songwriting work. It is very Stonesy indeed, boasting some killer riffs and Keef’s surprisingly effective gravelly voice.
Willie Nelson at 91 and Bob Dylan at 83 just keep on making stuff. In fact, Nelson’s 77th solo studio album, Oh What a Beautiful World, was released this week on April 25. I can’t speak to the quality of Nelson’s offering. But I can say that as a long-time fan of his work and owner of several of his albums, not everything hits the high mark of albums such as, say, Teatro, or songs such as “Crazy” or “You Were Always on My Mind”. And there are those who think the slick releases in the latter half of Nelson’s career don’t match his early tunes for rough-hewed authenticity.
The requirement to settle a tax bill with the US Internal Revenue Service doubtless also impacted Nelson’s busy recording schedule.
For their part, Nelson, Dylan, the Stones and Allen seem unconcerned about what critics, fans and others may think. All have adhered to the formula that Cambridge Professor of Positive Psychology Nick Baylis says is common among successful artists, which is what he’s termed “tenacious productivity”. Baylis says a focus on regular output from artists invariably results in better-quality products because the process inevitably leads to improvement at one’s chosen craft – to more experimentation, honing of skills and technique, and growth in understanding.
I’m reasonably certain that the legendary recording artists discussed here have not heard of nor read The French Art of Not Trying Too Hard by Ollivier Pourriol, although they happen to ably demonstrate some of its central precepts. (Fact: It is not a self-help book for those wishing to sing like Serge Gainsbourg.)
Despite Pourriol’s stated belief that some goals can be achieved only by “sincerely abandoning any attempt to attain them”, this was not my main takeaway from the book, which is best read as a guide to getting out of your own way.
The conclusion offers some practical advice we can all follow. First, renounce perfectionism. Abolish the distance between intention and action. Finally, understand that the key to action is getting down to it.
As Marshall Allen says, a new dawn is waiting for you.
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