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 Scenes
from a
Voyage to
Arcturus
2001,
Vectordisc
Ron Thomas: album concept,
musical direction, composer, keyboardist, and sound designer.
Richard Burton: producer, executive
producer, composer, keyboardist, sound designer.
Glenn Ferracone: percussionist,
recording and mixing engineer, sound designer.
Bob Meashey: trumpet
Bob Howell: soprano saxophone
Click
here to see a review.
Click
here to see text of the novel that inspired this work.
Click here
to learn about a movie based on the novel.
Ron's
most recent recordings, The House of Counted Days and
Scenes from a Voyage to Arcturus, are available from Tarnius Music and CDBaby.com and Amazon.com.
Individual tracks and the album are also available from iTunes. Search for "Ron Thomas Arcturus."
Unreleased
and out-of-print recordings available by contacting
TRACK
LIST
- Chrystalman's
Country: Tormance 2:25
- The Starkness
Observatory and the Night of Departure 5:26
- Joiwind 2:31
- Backhouse the
Medium at Prolands, The Hempstead
8:16
- The Apparition
3:34
- Muspel 3:04
- Gazing Over
Towards Barey
2:18
- The Music of
Swaylone's Island 3:52
- The Murder
of Spadevil and Tydomin 5:17
- The Lusion
Plain 5:52
- Tydomin
2:05
- Panawe the
Husband of Joiwind 4:46
- The Muspel
Stream. Chrystalman's Food
2:37
- Arcturus
9:24
NOTES
. . . “I always thought that
music had no boundaries, no limits to where it could grow and
go, no restrictions on its creativity. Good music is good music
no matter what kind of music it is. And I always hated categories.
Always. Never thought it had any place in music.”- Miles
Davis, in his Autobiography
. . . Miles Davis would like this
disc. I have no idea what category this music falls into, for
it successfully bridges the gaps between Toru Takemitsu, Weather
Report, James Joyce and Pablo Picasso. Many different and contrasting
worlds are alluded to, while the voice of Ron Thomas is always
present. This music sounds very fresh—it’s real, unfettered
creativity and imagination in an age where everything else seems
pre-cut to fit neatly in a category. The element of surprise
is always at work, and the next move is never predictable.
. . . A highlight for me is track
4, three loosely connected improvised 2-part inventions. This
is Bach for the 21st century, and it is quite a fascinating
tightrope walk. We witness a very high level balancing act at
work, and it sounds like Ron is using everything he knows and
loves about musical shape, in a very restrained, unforced and
unsuperficial way.
. . . Track 9 is the ultimate perpetual motion scherzo.
It is a very bizarre adventure, with the tension building insanely.
I don’t think you hear anything like this on any other
disc released anytime soon. What can I say about track 14? It
has an unbelievably gorgeous mood, with some absolutely heart-wrenching
playing by Bob Meashey and Bob Howell. Ron couldn’t have
picked a better farewell for this imaginative outing. The contrasting
worlds on this disc hang together miraculously, like the movements
of a great symphony. This thread holding them all together is
the imagination and voice of Ron Thomas.
. . . Miles Davis would like this
disc simply because it’s good music. That’s all.
. . . --David B. Thomas, February
17, 2000
All Compositions
Copyright 2001, Ron Thomas Music (ASCAP)
Click
here to see other recordings by Ron Thomas.
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