Teasing the Korean

Do we know what Gil Mellé was up to between roughly 1958 and 1966? Was he studying composition and orchestration? His jazz/graphic design era runs roughly from 1953 to 1957. His film/TV career, along with the release of Tome VI, begins in 1967. Do we know what he was doing in the interim?

STARSHIP INVASIONS - Original Score From The Motion Picture by Gil Mellé https://buysoundtrax.myshopify.com/products/starship-invasions-original-score-from-the-motion-picture-by-gil-melle CD Includes Digital Booklet and Presentation Pack Dragon’s Domain Records presents STARSHIP INVASIONS, featuring the premiere release of the score on compact disc, composed by Gil Mellé (NIGHT GALLERY, THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, THE DELIBERATE STRANGER) for the 1977 science fiction film written and directed by Ed Hunt, starring Robert Vaughn (THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, BULLITT, HUSTLE), Christopher Lee (THE WICKER MAN, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, HORROR OF DRACULA), Daniel Pilon, Tiiu Leek, Helen Shaver, Henry Ramer and Victoria Johnson. STARSHIP INVASIONS is a Canadian science-fiction film written, directed and produced by Ed Hunt, it was originally titled WAR OF THE ALIENS, then ALIEN ENCOUNTER to avoid confusion with other similar-themed movies released that same year (and eventually again retitled as PROJECT GENOCIDE for home video). Hunt based many of the spacecraft and costume designs on actual alien encounter cases. Released in 1977, the plot revolves around The Legion Of The Winged Serpent, a rogue alien group lead by Captain Rameses (Lee). The Legion must colonize the Earth before their home planet, Alpha, is destroyed by a supernova. Rameses plans to use a device that broadcasts a signal causing humans to commit mass suicide. Opposing them is The Intergalactic League Of Races, an alliance of advanced aliens from Zeta Reticuli who have been observing humans from a secret underwater base. Pretending to be fellow members upholding The Galactic Treaty, which prohibits human contact, Rameses and his crew attack their base and sabotage most of the League’s Earthbound saucers. One surviving League ship contacts Professor Allan Duncan (Vaughn) for help. Duncan is a world-renowned ufologist. The score composed by Gil Mellé stands out for its innovative use of synthesizers combined with jazz elements, creating a unique sound for a genre movie. Notably, many sequences have minimal dialogue, as the alien characters communicate telepathically, which benefited Mellé in his composition. For nearly five decades, composer Gil Mellé innovated in mixing electronic and orchestral music when he wasn’t playing the nuances of modern jazz or enjoying his collection of unique microscopes at home. Mellé had made a mark in the world of jazz as an outstanding baritone saxophonist and composer who was also noted as a painter. In film and television, his music has been extraordinarily notable, if not well preserved, on records and CDs. His TV-movie music in the early ’70s included a trio of high-profile films for television: MY SWEET CHARLIE, THAT CERTAIN SUMMER, and FRANKENSTEIN: THE TRUE STORY. His most well-known film score was THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, but as an innovator in the use of electronic music in movies of the 1970s and ’80s, Mellé contributed to a many science fiction, fantasy, and horror television and feature film scores, including NIGHT GALLERY (theme and episodes), THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN (original TV-movie), A COLD NIGHT’S DEATH, THE QUESTOR TAPES, KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER, WORLD WAR III, and many others. Mellé’s efforts preceded almost everyone else’s experiments in electronic film music and resulted in the first true electronic film score for the TV movie PERILOUS VOYAGE. Dragon’s Domain Records presents STARSHIP INVASIONS, featuring the premiere release of music composed by Gil Mellé for this project on compact disc. The music has been newly mastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland and the liner notes have been written by author G.B. Kemner. STARSHIP INVASIONS is a limited edition release of 500 units. STARSHIP INVASIONS is expected to begin shipping the week of March 24th, 2025. 01. Main Title (2:25) 02. Abduction Of The Farmer (3:46) 03. Abduction Of The Family (3:27) 04. Suicides / Underwater Alien Base (5:08) 05. Rameses Seizes Control (8:01) 06. Allan’s Close Encounter (3:45) 07. Data Control Center (2:47) 08. New Allies Pursued Past The Moon (5:37) 09. Suicide Epidemic (2:46) 10. Outer Space War (4:24) 11. Betty’s Suicide Attempt (2:58) 12. Android Durbel Destroys Rameses’ Fleet (5:21) 13. Resolution and End Titles (4:59) 14. Alternate Cue Suite (2:22) Time: 58:21

We saw them at Birdland this past June. They played The Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite.

https://www.stereogum.com/2293122/100-year-old-sun-ra-arkestra-leader-marshall-allen-announces-debut-solo-album/music/

Freedom Now-We Insist, accompanied by live TV coverage on mute.

I think the entire first season and the second season through the solving of the Laura Palmer murder are fantastic, the best thing he ever did, along with Blue Velvet. The post-Laura Palmer episodes of season two had little David Lynch involvement.

The angriest - or Sangreyest - dog in the world!

😿 https://variety.com/2025/film/news/david-lynch-dead-director-blue-velvet-twin-peaks-1236276106/

If '70s U.S. TV scoring meets your criteria for "good," then yes.

This morning, I bought this and received the download link via e-mail instantly. Based on what I'm hearing thus far, I would describe this as a combination lush orchestral exotica with TV cop show funk beds, seasoned with synths, electric piano, and Latin percussion. Lots of moody dramatic passages along the way. It is stereo, but there is distortion on some tracks. It may have been mastered from Gil's personal copy. A few tracks with that dated, high-pitched synth "ping" sound that was in vogue on funk records circa 1980.

Late to the party. I only recently learned that California Soul by Tamba 4 was finally released. If you missed on the LP, you can waddle over to Qobuz and buy a lossless download. Also: I have the Tamba 4 version of "California Soul" on a bossa comp, and the first time I heard it, with the vocals, I thought it was from the Gabor Szabo/Gary McFarland album!

https://buysoundtrax.myshopify.com/collections/dragons-domain-records-1/products/gold-of-the-amazon-women-original-soundtrack-by-gil-melle Just listened to the audio samples. This is right up my alley.

Not jazz per se, but possibly jazz-adjacent, depending on your politics: Dionne Warwick complete 1960s Scepter singles, a 3-CD set. Every A- & B-side. Nearly all Bacharach/David (until you get to the final tracks) and nearly all mono (until you get to the final tracks). Lots of titles I don't recognize, generally the B-sides.

This album has eluded me, though I know the cover art. I will check it out. I generally like Russ Garcia's arrangements. In what way would you say the results are variable?