Tracklisting:
1. Whiplash
2. Sladka Pitka
3. Devil Made Me Write This Piece
4. Go Back Home
5. Invincible
6. Image Of Maria
7. Sidonie
8. Nicole
Review:
I have waited and waited for this reissue to come out. "Soaring" is one of my favorite Ellis albums competing with "Tears of Joy" as perhaps the best. I can only say that once I received this record, I immediately listened to it three times in a row. I would have gone for a fourth time, but it was getting late.
To me "Soaring" is the studio-recorded book-end to the "Tears of Joy" live album. It mostly has the same personnel, same type of compositions, same excellent musicianship. This album holds, I think, some of the best writing of all the Ellis discography. Not to judge a book by its cover, but the simple, elegant rendering of a seagull image in white, black and blue perfectly compliments the "Tears of Joy" cover. From the liner notes I learned that Maria Eckstein provided the graphic artwork for "Soaring" and, given the similarity in composition, I would think perhaps "Tears of Joy" as well.
"Soaring" opens with "Whiplash", a Hank Levy piece, a bracing opener that quickly finds its groove in the fashion that exhibits Hank Levy to be a master of composition in odd-metered tempos.
"Sladka Pitka" is a contribution from keyboardist Milcho Leviev of "Bulgarian Bulge" fame who again mines Hungarian folk music as an inspiration for a multi-faceted big band. This track, however, is a more straight ahead piece that builds to a stunning climax (think: good ending for a DCI show)
"The Devil Made Me Write This Piece" features Don on drums in (I learned from the liner notes) his last recording as a drummer. You can guess the meter, or read the liner notes and learn what was really going on.
"Go Back Home" is all Sam Falzone. Pounding, hard-hitting, straight ahead 4/4 with a tenor solo and a false ending guaranteed to bring a crowd to its feet in concert.
"Invincible" is, I think, one of the finest pieces written by Don. It starts as a haunting ballad, then builds and builds, and then concludes with a most satisfying statement. A beautiful piece with fine sectional playing among the saxes and an excellent alto solo by Vince Dedham who has a great tone and the ability to create a solo that meshes seamlessly with the orchestration behind him. Vince would later go on to back Loggins & Messina along with another Ellis alumnus, Jon Clarke, on the "Native Sons" album
"Images of Maria", a piece Don wrote for graphic designer Maria Eckstein (mentioned above) is a composition as beautiful as her artwork.
"Sidonie" is one of my all-time favorite Ellis pieces with a myriad of colors, textures, time signatures and some very tasteful soloing by Don again showing his masterful ability to blend soloing with orchestration. This piece is on a par with "Chain Reaction" from the "Connection" album.
"Nicole" is a haunting ballad that concludes the record very nicely.
Excellent liner notes by Nick Di Scala with information about the tracks that I did not know (for instance the inspiration for "Images of Maria" and the fact that "Nicole" is from an unused portion of "The French Connection" score.) I am most grateful to Nick and all who brought "Soaring" back to the light of day in digital format.
Like I said - Buy it, buy it now.
Andy's note:
Another off cassette tape on the BASF/MPS label.Again it sounds just fine (This 200 cassette tapes for $NZ 60 was a real bargain!).The review is from the web and I note that this has been re-released on the Jazz Club series,if you like the sound treat yourself to a copy of a fine album.
By Andy
1. Whiplash
2. Sladka Pitka
3. Devil Made Me Write This Piece
4. Go Back Home
5. Invincible
6. Image Of Maria
7. Sidonie
8. Nicole
Review:
I have waited and waited for this reissue to come out. "Soaring" is one of my favorite Ellis albums competing with "Tears of Joy" as perhaps the best. I can only say that once I received this record, I immediately listened to it three times in a row. I would have gone for a fourth time, but it was getting late.
To me "Soaring" is the studio-recorded book-end to the "Tears of Joy" live album. It mostly has the same personnel, same type of compositions, same excellent musicianship. This album holds, I think, some of the best writing of all the Ellis discography. Not to judge a book by its cover, but the simple, elegant rendering of a seagull image in white, black and blue perfectly compliments the "Tears of Joy" cover. From the liner notes I learned that Maria Eckstein provided the graphic artwork for "Soaring" and, given the similarity in composition, I would think perhaps "Tears of Joy" as well.
"Soaring" opens with "Whiplash", a Hank Levy piece, a bracing opener that quickly finds its groove in the fashion that exhibits Hank Levy to be a master of composition in odd-metered tempos.
"Sladka Pitka" is a contribution from keyboardist Milcho Leviev of "Bulgarian Bulge" fame who again mines Hungarian folk music as an inspiration for a multi-faceted big band. This track, however, is a more straight ahead piece that builds to a stunning climax (think: good ending for a DCI show)
"The Devil Made Me Write This Piece" features Don on drums in (I learned from the liner notes) his last recording as a drummer. You can guess the meter, or read the liner notes and learn what was really going on.
"Go Back Home" is all Sam Falzone. Pounding, hard-hitting, straight ahead 4/4 with a tenor solo and a false ending guaranteed to bring a crowd to its feet in concert.
"Invincible" is, I think, one of the finest pieces written by Don. It starts as a haunting ballad, then builds and builds, and then concludes with a most satisfying statement. A beautiful piece with fine sectional playing among the saxes and an excellent alto solo by Vince Dedham who has a great tone and the ability to create a solo that meshes seamlessly with the orchestration behind him. Vince would later go on to back Loggins & Messina along with another Ellis alumnus, Jon Clarke, on the "Native Sons" album
"Images of Maria", a piece Don wrote for graphic designer Maria Eckstein (mentioned above) is a composition as beautiful as her artwork.
"Sidonie" is one of my all-time favorite Ellis pieces with a myriad of colors, textures, time signatures and some very tasteful soloing by Don again showing his masterful ability to blend soloing with orchestration. This piece is on a par with "Chain Reaction" from the "Connection" album.
"Nicole" is a haunting ballad that concludes the record very nicely.
Excellent liner notes by Nick Di Scala with information about the tracks that I did not know (for instance the inspiration for "Images of Maria" and the fact that "Nicole" is from an unused portion of "The French Connection" score.) I am most grateful to Nick and all who brought "Soaring" back to the light of day in digital format.
Like I said - Buy it, buy it now.
Andy's note:
Another off cassette tape on the BASF/MPS label.Again it sounds just fine (This 200 cassette tapes for $NZ 60 was a real bargain!).The review is from the web and I note that this has been re-released on the Jazz Club series,if you like the sound treat yourself to a copy of a fine album.
By Andy
2 comments:
no pw required
Grazie Mille mi mancava questo di D.Ellis
Grazie Mille Guido/LF
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