Orchestra Luna - 1975 - Orchestra Luna

Orchestra Luna

1975

Orchestra Luna

01. Were You Dancin' On Paper 3:34

02. Miss Pamela 3:17

03. Little Sam 3:12

04. Heart 5:54

05. Love Is Not Enough 6:25

06. Boy Scouts 2:24

07. Fay Wray 4:18

08. But One 3:02

09. Doris Dreams 11:53

Bass, Vocals – Scott Chamber

Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Don Mulvaney

Guitar – Randy Roos

Keyboards, Vocals – Rick Kinscherf

Vocals – Liz Gallagher

Vocals, Narrator – Lisa Kinscherf

Vocals, Narrator, Written-By [Narratives] – Peter Barrett

Concertmaster [Section]:

Trumpet, Horn, Flugelhorn - Alan Rubin

Violin - David Nadien

Saxophone- Lou Del Gatto

By all means Orchestra Luna was a unique Rock band, featuring the talents of keyboardist Rick Berlin, then performing under his birth name Richard Kinscherf.The band was formed in 1973 and hailed from Boston, the original core included also female singers Lisa Kinscherf and Liz Gallagher, guitarist Randy Roos, bassist Scott Chambers, drummer Don Mulvaney with Peter Barrett providing vocals and spoken parts in the band's self-titled debut.An album recorded during the summer of 1974, released on Epic.

Stylistically Orchestra Luna combined the values of Musical with Art and Prog Rock arrangements, passing also through orchestral segments and poppy sensibilities.They could be compared to QUEEN and FRANK ZAPPA at some point, but they sounded even more artistic and theatrical.The music though is not easy-listening at all, although the album sounds very pleasant and optimistic.The compositions are carefully structured till the last detail and the vocal harmonies are extremely professional and genuine.The music is basically very symphonic with some GENESIS and STEVE HACKETT overtones in the instrumental lines, albeit with a light American flavor, so expect lots of melodic guitar solos, piano and harsichord preludes and interludes and alternating keyboard and guitar sections, there are even some Mellotron strings added for good measure.These progressive textures are often interrupted by a Cabaret-like atmosphere with multi-vocal sections, fairy-tale tunes and even some horns.The instrumental passages are simply great, the same goes for the original vocal parts, though I expect some people to find them a bit excessive.''Doris dreams'', the 12-min. closer, finds the band at its highest peak.Classical influences meet with jazzy Prog Rock, Theater Music and Opera in a beautiful composition, passing through bombastic horns, complex keyboards and symphonic nuances, supported by a vocal stage show, preparing the ground for a superb long outro, highlighted by Roos' majestic guitar soloing and a background hidden sensibility.

In 1975 a temporary break occured for Orchestra Luna, the band returned the following year with a second, expanded formation with only Richard Kinscherf, Liz Gallagher and Peter Barrett from the original line-up.They were renamed to Luna around 1977, releasing a single for Epic, before disbanding permanently around 1979.