SOARING

Don Ellis

•

Jazz Rock/Fusion

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3.30 | 8 ratings | 1 reviews | 25% 5 stars

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Studio Album, released in 1973

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Whiplash (4:25)
2. Sladka Pitka (6:40)
3. Devil Made Me Write This Piece (6:00)
4. Go Back Home (3:15)
5. Invincible (6:43)
6. Image Of Maria (3:03)
7. Sidonie (6:37)
8. Nicole (5:29)

Total time 42:12

Line-up / Musicians

Don Ellis
trumpet, electric trumpet, flugelhorn, drums

Saxes & Woodwinds
Fred Selden - alto sax, flute, soprano sax, piccolo, alto flute
Vince Denham - alto sax, tenor sax, soprano sax, flute, piccolo
Sam Falzone - tenor sax, clarinet, flute
Gary Herbig - baritone sax, soprano sax, clarinet, flute, oboe

Trumpets & Flugelhorns
Gil Rathel
Bruce MacKay
Jack Caudill

Frnch Horn
Sidney Muldrow

Trombones
Mike Jamieson
Ken Sawhill - bass trombone
Tuba
Doug Bixby

Strings
Joel Quivey - violin
Earle Corry - violin
Renita Koven - viola
Pat Kudzia - cello

Rhythm
Jay Graydon - guitar, bag
Milcho Leviev - piano, Fender Rhodes, organ, clavinet
Dave McDaniel - bass
Ralph Humphrey - drums
Ron Dunn - drums, percussion
Lee Pastora - conga

Releases information

MPS MB25123, Pausa PR-7028, � 1973

Spanish edition has different cover

Thanks to snobb for the addition
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DON ELLIS Soaring ratings distribution

3.30
(8 ratings)

Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(25%)
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(50%)
Good, but non-essential (25%)
Collectors/fans only (0%)
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)

DON ELLIS Soaring reviews

Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Mirakaze
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Eclectic, JRF/Canterbury, Avant/Zeuhl

On Soaring, Don Ellis straddles a line between jazz fusion and more conventional jazz forms. In addition to electric guitar, bass guitar and electric keyboards, the trumpeter is accompanied by full big band with a large wind section and a string quartet, which fans of the typical 70s jazz fusion sound may not be particularly charmed by. I too must admit that on some of the weaker tracks like "Go Back Home" or the ballad "Invincible", the strings and general instrumentation make the music sound rather overblown and cheesy. "Image Of Maria" is the most mystifying track of all: it sounds less like a jazz song and more like a Morricone-esque piece of film music, although that comparison is probably overselling it. The main theme sounds pretty but it just sort of peters out anticlimactically after three minutes.

Still, there's enough to like about the album. The first three tracks show a funk influence but are sure to spice themselves up with uneven rhythms (as on "Whiplash", popularized by the 2014 movie of the same name), a gradual buildup of intensity (as on "Sladka Pitka") or with intricate contrapuntal melodic lines (as on "The Devil Made Me Write This Piece"). The latter two pieces especially showcase the big band at its best, with the orchestral timbre and large array of players helping these tracks come to life beautifully. Ellis himself also plays some great solos throughout, the best being on "Sidonie" near the end of the album. I don't think the album as a whole is consistently interesting enough to warrant more than a three-star rating, but there is in fact good stuff happening here.

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