MellophoniusMajorus Posted April 30, 2003 Share Posted April 30, 2003 Hey, I've been lookin' all over then net and at my college's music library and I can't find the charts, but I KNOW THEY'RE THERE!!!!!! I'm looking for charts which have a mellophone part to them. I can't remember the composer or the pieces, but I know someone has told me about 'em before. I think Don Elliott (that's his name, right?) used to play mellophone for a jazz ensemble (along with a few other instruments)... ANY HELP???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randomnoise Posted May 1, 2003 Share Posted May 1, 2003 Stan Kenton used mellophones in the fifties. Malaguena is the best example. Check out Kenton's West Side Story as well. He also did a Xmas album with Mellos. And of course, theirs always Kenton Plays Wagner... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt M. Weber Posted May 1, 2003 Share Posted May 1, 2003 "Kenton Plays Wagner" Now that's an album I have to find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWEuph04 Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Kenton had an orchestra named the "mellophonium orchestra" i believe, check it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffernbus3 Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 (edited) On LaserLight Disc No. 15-725 "The Jazz Collector Editon: Stan Kenton" is Kenton's "Mellophobia", a Ray Starling chart I have always wondered why drum corps hadn't covered. I'd have to go down in the vault to dig up some other examples of mellophones in Kenton's work: "Fanfare For The New" comes to mind: Anaheim Kingsmen learned the whole chart but I can't remember if they played the whole thing in 1969 or just excerpts. Kenton charts used to be available through Gene Norman's "Creative" series, I think it was called. I'l go check this out for you. RON HOUSLEY Edited May 2, 2003 by ffernbus3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffernbus3 Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 (edited) MSN's search engine gives some good Kenton mellophonium pages. Type in Stan Kenton Mellophone and a good one comes up at www.52ndstreet.com/Kenton/mellophonium.htm Don't link off this post as it is an old link and 52nd street is apparently reconstructing its page. I tried to link off this post and it does not go through to the Kenton Mellophonium page, however the link on MSN search does get you there. It's well worth the read if you can get there. Enjoy! RON HOUSLEY PS: I think the Don Elliot album mentioned is out of print at least only available on vinyl, but might be incorrect. Edited May 2, 2003 by ffernbus3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffernbus3 Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 (edited) Two more mellophonium links: http://www.anchormen.org.uk/features/mello.html This contains much of the material from the 52nd site and there is a link to the 52nd st. site at the bottom, and another one which is: http://www.jazzprofessional.com/report/mellophonium And how could I forget "Artemis and Apollo" and "Adventures In Time?" Those great old Johnny Richards (and others) charts I used to dig back in the late 60s and 70s. RON HOUSLEY Edited May 2, 2003 by ffernbus3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffernbus3 Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 (edited) More mellophonium stuff: Amazon.com has listed the following: "Mellophomium Magic (1961)" - Kenton "Mellophonium Moods (1962)" - Kenton There is some duplication as to tracks, whether they're the same performance, I couldn't tell you, but some of these sides are on the aforementioned LaserLight CD as well. And Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs issued a re-release of the 1964 "Kenton Plays Wagner" on vinyl in 1982: MFSL-1-019 Chris Nalls forgot to include the 'Stan Kenton Plays Tex Ritter' album in his list. It's long out of print....I used to own it years ago but sadly it got lost in a move from my farm in Wisconsin back home to California along with a prettly large stack of vintage vinyl. Sorry, can't seem to locate the Don Elliott mellophonium album but there are many citations about him on the web. Check Gene Norman's "The Creative World" site for Kenton charts, I think I saw them on there a while back or the citations were sent to me in catalog form sometime in the 80s. Short story: The early mellophone bugles had the same problem as the early Conn (I think) mellophoniums Kenton first used, namely playing in tune. The old joke definition of "perfect pitch" was '...throwing a mellophonium in the toilet without hitting the rim....' As I recall, Billy McGaffy was a mellophone player for the Anaheim Kingsmen in 1966. He entered All-American Nationals in Anaheim that year in the Individual Mellophone category. During his solo he pretty much lost control of the partials on the instrument and the results sounded not unlike a Theramin. Cool, but flying saucer music was not in vogue with the judges. Anything else you need re: mellphones or mellophoniums? RON HOUSLEY Edited May 2, 2003 by ffernbus3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffernbus3 Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 (edited) Also, since this thread was about charts as opposed to recordings, check out Sierra Music......they have listed 136 Stan Kenton charts for sale as well as some other heavy hitters in the field of jazz arranging......go check em out....and tell 'em Ron sent you: they'll charge you double! http://www.sierramusic.com RON HOUSLEY A Gentleman And A Scholar.....when I'm not surfing the Central California Coast, that is! Edited May 2, 2003 by ffernbus3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MellophoniusMajorus Posted May 3, 2003 Author Share Posted May 3, 2003 (edited) jeez Ron! You're just on a roll with this mellophonium stuff, aren't ya!!! That's awesome...thanks for the links and the info...it's all extremely helpful!!!!!!!! b**bs Edited May 3, 2003 by MellophoniusMajorus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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