Harmony of the Spheres

by Neil Ardley

Harmony of the Spheres cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: February 1979
  • Label: Decca
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Length: 46:47
  • Community rating: 3.56/5 from 2 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Blurring the lines between big band orchestration and synthesized electronic exploration, 'Harmony of the Spheres' is a vast, cosmic conceptual suite. Neil Ardley heavily incorporates polyphonic synthesizers and vocoders alongside traditional jazz instrumentation, creating a dense, futuristic soundscape. The ambitious project is widely regarded as a triumph of late-seventies British progressive jazz.

Genres

Descriptors: Fusion

Tracklist

  1. Upstarts All (3:38)
  2. Leap In The Dark (5:58)
  3. Glittering Circles (6:29)
  4. Fair Mirage (7:21)
  5. Soft Stillness And The Night (7:26)
  6. Headstrong, Headlong (7:10)
  7. Toward Tranquility (8:43)

Credits

  • Richard Manning - artwork
  • Bill Kristian - bass guitar
  • Tony Coe - clarinet, soprano saxophone, clarinet soprano saxophone
  • Richard James Burgess - drums, percussion, membranophone
  • Geoff Castle - electric piano, piano [acoustic], synthesizer [minimoog], piano synthesizer
  • Barbara Thompson - flute, soprano saxophone, flute soprano saxophone
  • Trevor Tomkins - percussion
  • John Martyn - rhythm guitar [electric], lead guitar [electric], guitar

More from Neil Ardley: full discography