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Allen's sonic boom shakes the Vortex
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Marshall Allen and the Double Spiral Infinity Quartet
The Vortex, London
AT 93, Marshall Allen is one of the oldest musicians still regularly touring and playing live. A survivor of the Sun Ra Arkestra, who played with the Saturnian maestro for more than four decades, he landed at the Vortex with his Double Spiral Infinity Quartet.
Drummer Avreeal Ra, bassist Kash Killion and pianist Ka are joined on the night by two of London's best and most outrageous free jazzmen, electronics keyboard wizard Pat Thomas and vibraphonist Orphy Robinson, whose roots are in Antigua and Jamaica respectively.
With such a musical amalgam, the sounds are a unique union of US, England and the Caribbean and they begin with Ra's huge volley of drums and Killion's bass plunging earthwards like a great drill as he plucks his strings like an inconsolable giant bee.
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