B. Clugston

Thanks for pointing this out - this is extremely rare stuff and indispensable for an Ellis nut like me. Dave MacKay is a pianist, BTW. Er... make that Dave Wells. Should also mention that Don brings out the echoplex for one track and there are neat covers of "Milestones" and Arif Mardin's "Turk's Works."

Sort of a reissue, but Wounded Bird has just released the Don Ellis Octet’s Pieces of Eight. It’s a one-shot date by an octet from a 1967 concert at UCLA. Parts of this date were sold by Ellis as tapes and 8-tracks (as Don Ellis LIVE!) at concerts. The octet is pretty rhythm section heavy--Ellis, Tom Scott and Dave Mackay are the only horns. The sound isn’t great. Interesting gig, but I much prefer the big band music from this period. http://www.woundedbird.com/ellis/6000.htm

Depends who you ask. A lot of the song titles from this period didn't have names. On Disc 2, Track 1 is "Theme from Jack Johnson" or "Right Off" if you prefer. Towards the end, it becomes "Ife," which continues onto Track 2 until "'For Dave" comes along. On Disc 1, the track timings for the Preludes aren't correct. The first prelude is often called "Funk" while the second tends to go by "Agharta Prelude." For Pangaea, Disc 1 is "Turnaroundphrase/Tune in 5/Turnaroundphrase", followed by "Zimbabwe," which is Track 2. Disc 2 is "Ife" and "For Dave." Some discographers name some of the songs after the titles on Dark Magus, which are Swahili for 1-4, but to me that's like calling a song "Side One." I don't have the original albums, or the Japanese issues, which apparently have more music (about 10 minutes so in the case of Agharta), so I can't comment on the sound of the Legacies, other than to say it's time these were remastered.

Actually, the sound is not bad at all for this sort of music. Leo even boasts about the quality. As for the music, I like it, but not a priority purchase, unless you are a fanatic. It's a big band, about 25 pieces, with trombones, which you don't always get.

Speaking of "What Planet is This?", a CD of that name of a 1973 Sun Ra concert in New York is now out on Leo.

Only for the first two minutes or so. The wild stuff comes courtesy of Gaumont.

A question about one of my favourite bands is a good place for my first post... Lucas solos once per concert on the Agharta and Pangaea discs. On Agharta, he solos on the second track of disc 2 around the start of the tune most people call “For Dave.” He also solos on disc 1 of Pangaea around the 30:29 mark following Fortune’s solo. On Dark Magus, that’s Lucas playing initially on “Tatu“, with Gaumont taking over afterwards around the 2:30 mark. Cosey is likely playing percussion throughout.