Friday, September 19, 2025

Marshall Allen - The Omniverse Oriki

Beautiful space, wild chaos, fire lotus– we now embark on the future-ever present, the conjuring of the past in non-linear chronospace, we present narratives in African/Afro-Cuban dreamtime! This is The Omniverse Oriki, legendary Sun Ra bandleader Marshall Allen Trio’s collaboration with the Ade Ilu Ensemble, an explosive macrocosmic reach into the residual ethers of the past to birth a new future, right here the now!

Pulled together on Halloween night, 2023, Marshall Allen’s trio and Philly’s Ade Ilu Ensemble channelled and churned indelible musical spirits in extended “oriki”, Yoruba narratives set to explore omniversal wavelengths, to unmoor the patterns of universal control through Afro-Cuban-Futurist diagrams.

Their first confluence was at Marshall’s monthly residency in Philadelphia, then captured here at Rittenhouse Soundworks Studios. The result is a righteous din, a mythological cacophony, a joyful noise. Swirling notes of Afro-cuban entrancing Lucumi, shocked and fragmented Afro rhythms, and vibrant flourishes of rhapsodic free jazz– we are here at the sonic temple! We are the beautiful space! - Alex Smith

Release date XX-XX-XXX. 1st High Two edition of 300 copies pressed on premium audiophile-quality 140 gram vinyl at Smashed Plastic, from Carl Saff audio lacquers and mastering. Recorded by Michael Richelle, Rittenhouse Soundworks, Philadelphia. Digital files available at High Two Bandcamp.


Tracklist:
1. Omniverse Oriki 1
2. Omniverse Oriki 2 
3. Omniverse Oriki 3