June 5, 2010 - Ron Allen (a.k.a. Ashtar Ron Allen)

Where to begin...I've got to go back to where I first encountered Ron Allen...as a precocious 9th grade student playing in the Senior Stage Band at Applewood Heights Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario. Carbon dating of DJ Doc (or jumping into Mr. Peabody's Wayback Machine) puts us back in 1973. By the way, that's Ron, not Doc in the Senior Stage Band as a 9th grade student...Doc had to wait until grade 11 for that.

Ron was ahead of the curve, even back then. By the time he left AHSS in 1977 for a short stint in the jazz program at Humber College, Ron was playing solos and music that your humble correspondent is only now beginning to understand. He recorded his first album "Leftovers" in 1980, with such notable musicians as Claude Ranger, Buff Allen, and David Piltch. Later he moved into fusion with "Strangeness Beauty", his own solo project "Saxart Sees the World", and more of a new age bent with many of his flute-based recordings with the Avalon label. His musical journey has been long and varied, with a number of reinventions along the way.

If you get a chance go to YouTube and do a search on Ron Allen...there you will find a number of recordings of Ron on flute, tenor and soprano sax that will simply astound you with their musicality and technique. Thanks Ron, for sharing your encouragement and immense talent over the years...

Bright moments!


CHARLES MINGUS - MINGUS AH UM - BETTER GET IT IN YOUR SOUL
HUGH O'CONNOR - FOR THE FIRST TIME - IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS
STEVE KALDESTAD - BLOW-UP - A FLOWER IS A LOVESOME THING
RON ALLEN - TEMPTATION - BODY AND SOUL
TYLER HORNBY - ROCKY MOUNTAIN JAZZ COMPILATION - SIX MONTHS 'TIL FOREVER
MODERN JAZZ QUARTET - THE VERY BEST OF PRESTIGE RECORDS - DJANGO
DAVE TURNER - EARTH TONES - SKIP
OSCAR PETERSON - NIGHT TRAIN - HAPPY-GO-LUCKY LOCAL (AKA NIGHT TRAIN)
CASSANDRA WILSON AND JACKY TERRASSON - CBC'S AFTER HOURS 3 - COME RAIN OR COME SHINE
CHARLES MINGUS SEXTET WITH ERIC DOLPHY - CORNELL 1964 - FABLES OF FAUBUS