Music from Other Galaxies and Planets

Description

This was Don's first album in three years because of his heart attack in 1975. He had been back in action for over a year but this is the first album that came together. His new label, Atlantic, agreed to fund the band's tour of the East Coast and Europe in exchange for an album. Don's manager, Sid Garris, and the Atlantic execs had the idea of having Don's band do a cover of the Star Wars theme, so thinking that this may be a big break for the band, Don arranged two John Williams tunes (the main theme from Star Wars, and Princess Leia's Theme) which Atlantic released as a 45 rpm single. But if the single became a hit, Atlantic's demographics probably showed that people would want to buy an accompanying album, which would not exist since the Orchestra was leaving for Europe the next week.

In addition, this new album couldn't have any of the same tunes that were supposed to be on the live one (Don expressed concern at putting the live version of "Pussy Wiggle Stomp" on At Fillmore because they already recorded it for Autumn, so this attitude is not surprising), so Don had to write and arrange an albums' worth of tunes. Luckily, he got help from Tommy Vig and Curt Berg (Hank Levy was out of town doing a workshop so he couldn't do anything for Don).

The album was basically thrown together in six days. The band went on tour, recorded the show at Montreux, and released it as a live album. (Thanks to Dave Crigger for all this information!)

The group was also renamed "Survival" because of Don's recent heart attack. Clever, guys.

Album Information

12" LP: Atlantic SD 18227 (1977)
12" LP: Atlantic 50393 [Europe] (1977)
CD: Wounded Bird WOU-8227 (2006)

(Note: The tunes all have "outer space" names, but some existed under other names before they were recorded here. These alternate titles are provided in brackets.)

1. Star Wars (Main Title Theme) (John Williams, arr. Don Ellis)
2. Arcturas [Get Closer] (Don Ellis)
3. Princess Leia's Theme (John Williams, arr. Don Ellis)
4. Orion's Sword (Don Ellis, arr. Tommy Vig)
5. Pegasus [Off and Running] (Don Ellis, arr. Curt Berg)
6. Crypton (Don Ellis, arr. Curt Berg)
7. Lyra [Awakening] (Don Ellis)
8. Eros [Let's Do It This Way for a While] (Don Ellis)
9. Ursa [Cindy] (Don Ellis, arr. Tommy Vig)
10. Vulcan [Everything is Going to Be All Right] (Don Ellis)

Personnel

Trumpets

Glenn Stuart
Gil Rathel
Jack Coan

Woodwinds

Ann Patterson
Ted Nash
Jim Coile
Jim Snodgrass

Trombones

Alan Kaplan
Richard Bullock (bass)

French Horn

Sidney Muldrow

Tuba

Jim Self

Strings

Pam Tompkins (violin)
Laurie Badessa (violin)
Jimbo Ross (viola)
Paul Hotchhalter (cello)

Rhythm Section

Randy Kerber, keyboards
Darrell Clayborn, bass
Dave Crigger, drums
Mike Englander, drums
Chino Valdez, latin percussion
Ruth Ritchie, percussion

"Additional Personnel"

Israel Baker
Alan Harshman
Dick Nash
George Doering

Recording Information

Recorded June 26th and 27th, 1977.