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
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Click here to see text of the novel that inspired this work.
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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)
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