2023 -- S 0973

========

LC002966

========

     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

____________

S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

HONORING MAESTRO MARSHALL ALLEN FOR HIS MOMENTOUS MUSIC CAREER

AND WELCOMING HIM TO RHODE ISLAND IN JOYOUS CELEBRATION OF HIS 99TH

BIRTHDAY ON MAY 25, 2023

     Introduced By: Senator Joshua Miller

     Date Introduced: May 08, 2023

     Referred To: Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar

     WHEREAS, Marshall Bedford Allen was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1924. He is a

famed and beloved jazz musician specializing in American free jazz and performing as an avant-

garde jazz alto saxophone player. He is also an accomplished performer on the flute, oboe, and

the piccolo; and

     WHEREAS, During World War II, Mr. Allen joined the United States Army and served

our nation with honor and distinction in France as a member of the 92nd Infantry division. He is

one of the last surviving Buffalo Soldiers and was a member of the famous Black Cavalry Unit;

and

     WHEREAS, As a soldier, Mr. Allen began to study and learn how to play the clarinet and

saxophone, and directed small musical units to entertain the troops. After World War II, he

continued his clarinet studies under the GI Bill at the Paris Conservatory. He played the

saxophone and toured Europe with numerous important jazz musicians as well as playing with

small groups that he formed; and

     WHEREAS, Starting in 1955, Mr. Allen began performing for famed jazz artist Sun Ra

(Herman Poole Blount) and his popular group “The Arkestra.” Since Sun Ra’s passing in 1993,

Mr. Allen has led the Arkestra and helped to maintain its status as an elite jazz performing group,

and helped them to record two albums as their bandleader; and

     WHEREAS, To the great good fortune of all Rhode Islanders and especially Rhode

Island music and jazz enthusiasts, Mr. Allen is expected to perform on May 21st at the Met in

Pawtucket in honor of his 99th birthday on May 25, 2023, giving all Rhode Islanders a chance to

see this wonderfully talented musician and to thank him for his service to our nation and for his

decades of performing and creating beautiful music; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby honors Maestro

Marshall Allen for his decades of musical brilliance as a jazz artist and welcomes him to Rhode

Island in joyous celebration of his 99th birthday on May 25, 2023; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Maestro Marshall Allen.

========

LC002966

========

LC002966 - Page 2 of 2