DON ELLIS -The New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground / Don Ellis at Fillmore
BGO Records 2 CD set BGOCD1143
The Don Ellis Band with soloists and singers recorded 1969 and 1970
For sheer musical audacity you don’t need to look further than Don Ellis and his various big bands and orchestras which flourished from 1966 to 1977 when he succumbed to ill health and an untimely death a year later. There is of course more to his fascinating music than mere flamboyance even though showmanship was an important element in his performance artistry. Starting out as a big band journeyman in the trumpet section of the fifties Glen Miller orchestra he moved into more challenging environments via Maynard Ferguson, George Russell and ultimately Charles Mingus, appearing on the famous `Mingus Dynasty` album. He kept the company of avant-garde musicians like Paul Bley and Eric Dolphy and maintained a scholarly interest in various musical genres being particularly fascinated by the complex time signatures of eastern music. It would have been easy for his career, like that of Jimmy Giuffre, to have taken a turn into the relative obscurity of the avant-garde but it was his ambition to entertain and communicate with a popular audience whilst at the same time extending the boundaries of the music. On top of this he was a virtuoso trumpet player, an innovative composer and energetic bandleader –oh, and he played drums too. Consequently he needed a big stage on which to parade his talent which brings us to that fabled venue known as Bill Graham’s Fillmore West and this re-issue of a famous concert that originally appeared on Columbia Records.
In this remarkable music Ellis adds rock band aesthetics to the ethnic and electronic elements that permeate his Columbia studio debut `Electric Bath` employing `wha –wha` trumpet effects, echoplex distortions, pile driving brass, lusty sax solos and wild multi layered rhythms. As well as power and grandeur there is also a great deal of humour with false endings, jokey horn effects and incongruous intrusions. His version of The Beatles nursery song `Hey Jude` becomes a terrifying shape shifting monster opening with a long electronically modified white noise trumpet cadenza before launching into a surreal brass band ride out on the familiar theme. There are subtleties of course and at times Ellis uses his vast resources sparingly allowing textures to emerge as in the insinuating `Rock Odyssey` where every moving part is clearly discerned. The set ends with a barnstorming version of the band’s `greatest hit`, `Pussy Wiggle Stomp` which has more Ellis humour and a braggadocio demonstration of his prowess as a drummer making a fitting climax to a tumultuous concert.
The Fillmore music appeared a couple of years ago on Wounded Bird records as a double CD set but BGO have managed to squeeze into the same format another of Ellis’s Columbia albums, `The New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground`. This is an even more overtly commercial affair featuring soul vocals on some tracks and covers of hit parade material. It didn’t achieve critical acclaim at the time and is generally regarded as one of the weaker items in the Ellis discography. It does however have its moments including a wild Klezmer style tune by Milcho Leviev entitled `Bulgarian Bulge` but the overall pop music orientation has limited jazz appeal.
Sadly and undeservedly Ellis has become something of a forgotten figure but hopefully through excellently re-mastered re-issues like this a new generation of listeners will be encouraged to discover the brilliance of his musical vision which remains undiminished by the passage of time and changes in taste. The discs are accompanied by an excellent booklet containing a comprehensive appraisal of Ellis’ career.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
BGO Records 2 CD set BGOCD1143
The Don Ellis Band with soloists and singers recorded 1969 and 1970
For sheer musical audacity you don’t need to look further than Don Ellis and his various big bands and orchestras which flourished from 1966 to 1977 when he succumbed to ill health and an untimely death a year later. There is of course more to his fascinating music than mere flamboyance even though showmanship was an important element in his performance artistry. Starting out as a big band journeyman in the trumpet section of the fifties Glen Miller orchestra he moved into more challenging environments via Maynard Ferguson, George Russell and ultimately Charles Mingus, appearing on the famous `Mingus Dynasty` album. He kept the company of avant-garde musicians like Paul Bley and Eric Dolphy and maintained a scholarly interest in various musical genres being particularly fascinated by the complex time signatures of eastern music. It would have been easy for his career, like that of Jimmy Giuffre, to have taken a turn into the relative obscurity of the avant-garde but it was his ambition to entertain and communicate with a popular audience whilst at the same time extending the boundaries of the music. On top of this he was a virtuoso trumpet player, an innovative composer and energetic bandleader –oh, and he played drums too. Consequently he needed a big stage on which to parade his talent which brings us to that fabled venue known as Bill Graham’s Fillmore West and this re-issue of a famous concert that originally appeared on Columbia Records.
In this remarkable music Ellis adds rock band aesthetics to the ethnic and electronic elements that permeate his Columbia studio debut `Electric Bath` employing `wha –wha` trumpet effects, echoplex distortions, pile driving brass, lusty sax solos and wild multi layered rhythms. As well as power and grandeur there is also a great deal of humour with false endings, jokey horn effects and incongruous intrusions. His version of The Beatles nursery song `Hey Jude` becomes a terrifying shape shifting monster opening with a long electronically modified white noise trumpet cadenza before launching into a surreal brass band ride out on the familiar theme. There are subtleties of course and at times Ellis uses his vast resources sparingly allowing textures to emerge as in the insinuating `Rock Odyssey` where every moving part is clearly discerned. The set ends with a barnstorming version of the band’s `greatest hit`, `Pussy Wiggle Stomp` which has more Ellis humour and a braggadocio demonstration of his prowess as a drummer making a fitting climax to a tumultuous concert.
The Fillmore music appeared a couple of years ago on Wounded Bird records as a double CD set but BGO have managed to squeeze into the same format another of Ellis’s Columbia albums, `The New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground`. This is an even more overtly commercial affair featuring soul vocals on some tracks and covers of hit parade material. It didn’t achieve critical acclaim at the time and is generally regarded as one of the weaker items in the Ellis discography. It does however have its moments including a wild Klezmer style tune by Milcho Leviev entitled `Bulgarian Bulge` but the overall pop music orientation has limited jazz appeal.
Sadly and undeservedly Ellis has become something of a forgotten figure but hopefully through excellently re-mastered re-issues like this a new generation of listeners will be encouraged to discover the brilliance of his musical vision which remains undiminished by the passage of time and changes in taste. The discs are accompanied by an excellent booklet containing a comprehensive appraisal of Ellis’ career.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
