Jazz legend, after house partially collapses, gets help from philanthropist, neighbors

 

Marshall Allen, 96, has led Sun Ra's Arkestra since 1993 and still lives in the Sun Ra House in Germantown.

“The terrestrial headquarters of the Sun Ra Arkestra is a three-story rowhouse in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood, where the famously intergalactic jazz ensemble has lived, rehearsed, and pushed the boundaries of music for more than 50 years.The house has partially collapsed, but Marshall Allen, 96, the band’s founding saxophone player and current leader, still lives and works there. The first Sun Ra Arkestra album in 20 years, ’Swirling,’ was released last October to wide acclaim. The house is now undergoing major structural repairs funded by a Miami-based art and jazz philanthropy, the Robert D. Bielecki Foundation.The pump for the radiator heating system can’t heat the upper floors of the house, and the basement had been deteriorating for years. Allen has lived in the house since 1968, with a rotating cast of band members, and took over leadership of the Arkestra after Sun Ra’s death in 1993. ...”

WHYY

A Sun Ra poster remains affixed to the wall above the space where the floor collapsed into the sub-basement at the Sun Ra house in Germantown.