Transmissions :: DM Hotep (Sun Ra Arkestra)

This week on the show, we sit down with Sun Ra Arkestra guitarist DM Hotep, who, under the leadership of 101-year-old saxophonist Marshall Allen, continues the work of Ra. When the Arkestra was called overseas in 2022, Allen was advised by doctors not to accompany the group. But music is a way of life and though he was required to stay stateside, Allen still wanted to play. So DM Hotep, aka David Middleton, reached out to the Philadelphia-based arts org Ars Nova Workshop to stage a series of concerts in Philadelphia. In May of 2025, a collection of these live performances from Solar Myth was released under the title⁠ Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons,⁠ which finds the saxophonist joined by Hotep and guests like Wolf Eyes, James Brandon Lewis, Yo La Tengo’s James McNew, and others. Including both Ra classics and new material, Ghost Horizons demonstrates how the currents of Ra’s philosophy and artistic ethic continue to the present day, pointing toward uncertain futures. 

Sun Ra :: Lights On A Satellite: Live At The Left Bank

In late July of 1978, the Sun Ra Arkestra rolled into Baltimore’s Famous Ballroom in a concert put on by Left Bank Jazz Society. A long running institution, the Left Bank normally hired acoustic bop musicians like Sonny Stitt, Freddie Hubbard, and Joe Henderson. So bringing on Sun Ra was something of a risky move: not only was he electric, he was a bit of an outside musician too. Would the bluebloods of Baltimore enjoy it?

Knoel Scott (feat Marshall Allen) :: Celestial

Celestial finds the Sun Ra Arkestra’s Knoel Scott and Marshall Allen joined by Arkestra alum Chris Henderson on drums, and Scott collaborators Mikele Montolli and Charlie Stacey on bass and piano, respectively. Recorded live in a sweltering heatwave in the Netherlands in the summer of 2022, in just two days, the results are magical.

Sun Ra Arkestra :: Swirling

“Music is not material. Music is spiritual.” Swirling, the first studio effort from the Sun Ra Arkestra since 1999, is about more than just music. It’s part of a vast cosmic legacy of Sun Ra. Guest reviewer Brad Farberman joins us for a listen.