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MUSIC FROM OTHER GALAXIES AND PLANETS
(Atlantic SD 18227, © 1977)
TRACK LISTING
Star Wars (Main Title Theme) (John Williams
/ arr. Don Ellis)
Arcturas (aka Get Closer)
Princess Leia's Theme (John Williams / arr.
Don Ellis)
Orion's Sword (Don Ellis / arr. Tommy Vig)
Pegasus (aka Off and Running) (Don Ellis
/ arr. Curt Berg)
Crypton (Don Ellis / arr. Curt Berg)
Lyra (aka Awakening)
Eros (aka Let's Do It This Way For a While)
Ursa (aka Cindy) (Don Ellis / arr. Tommy
Vig)
Vulcan (aka Everything is Going to Be All Right)
| PERSONNEL |
| Don Ellis |
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trumpet, flugelhorn, Superbone, Super-trumpet (Firebird?)
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Saxes & Woodwinds |
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Ann Patterson
Ted Nash
James Coile
James Snodgrass |
Trumpets |
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Glenn Stuart
Gil Rathel
Jack Coan |
French Horn |
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Sidney Muldrow |
Trombones |
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Alan Kaplan
Richard Bullock- bass trombone |
Tuba |
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Jim Self |
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| Strings |
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Pam Tompkins - violin
Laurie Badessa - violin
Jimbo Ross - viola
Paula Hochhalter - cello |
Rhythm |
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Randy Kerber - piano, electric piano, clavinet, synthesizer
Darrell Clayborn - bass
Dave Crigger - drums
Mike Englander - drums
Chino Valdes - latin percussion
Ruth Ritchie - percussion |
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Additional Personnel
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Israel Baker
Alan Harshman
Dick Nash
George Doering |
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REVIEW
Don's first album for Atlantic, and the first one since his heart attack. Apparently
Atlantic wanted to cash in on the Star Wars craze, so not only did the band (now
dubbed Survival for some strange reason) perform two tunes from the movie, Atlantic
made severe edits to Don's tunes, and suggested he alter the songs' titles to
fit the space theme of the album. I like how the subtitle on the cover "Featuring
the Main Title Theme from STAR WARS" is bigger than Don's name. Money talks
and the execs listen.
Truth is, Don's version of the "Star War" theme is pretty questionable,
but the originals are decent. In particular, "Lyra" is a nice feature
for Don's superbone, and I like the melody of the all-too-brief "Ursa."
All of the tracks have a very late 70s sound to them…not that that's a bad
thing, I have an affinity for that type of music having grown up with it. I can
see Ponch and John at the roller rink enjoying these tunes. The ensemble is tight,
but nobody in this large group really seems to solo on these tracks except for
Don, even though some of his sidemen are guys like Ted Nash, Alan Kaplan, Glenn
Stuart, and Jimbo Ross. This version of the band is heard to better effect on
the Live at Montreux album.
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