Don Ellis

[brew1138]

OK,, the count is 2-3-2-3-2-2-3 even if they say it is 3-2-3-2-2-2-3

But it is THE Swingingest 17 EVER! (Can you dig?)

"It don't mean a thing if it don't got that..." Well, babes, it does!

[farwest72]

Where the hell can i find the first part? It misses it...

[SuperJerryrice80]

actually I think its 3 3 2 2 2 1 2 2

[cien1975]

Wolverine on trumpet. Big Band on acid.

Highly underrated but recommended.

[MegaBanne]

One of the few band that i would cut my hand off to be playing with.

[DonPMitchell]

I think it's in 17 beats (2 3 2 3 2 2 3).

[MegaBanne]

@DonPMitchell 17/16 divided in (5,5,7) more likely.

[dinnerpianist]

Wonderfully giving music. It took concentration and dedication to write as he did yet the result seems to be devoid of self aggrandizing ego. He tapped into something positive about existence. His engagement with sound, harmony, rhythm and melodic line was so joyful hearing the results of his work is humbling and deeply enriching.

[ignatzmouses]

17/4

[imthebrother]

What footage of this was taken from what program or documentary including year?

[ghostofzappa]

excellent!

[trumpet90909]

Before I embark on trying to transcribe this gem, anyone know whether it's already been done aka is the sheet music available anywhere? cheers

[mynamisdan]

@trumpet90909

UNC jazz press might have it.

[trumpet90909]

@mynamisdan Hmm I tried, but no luck, I think I'll have to transcribe... Thanks anyway!

[tvfats]

I was in my teens in LA and got my first Don Ellis album at the radio station and put in on the turntable...Damn! I had never heard anything like that ever before..."Electric Bath" is a must have for all jazz lovers...The creativity and lighter than air melodies carry you away to another place...A place you always like to visit...

[brew1138]

2-3-2-3-2-2-3 for swinging 17!

One of my very fave rave Don Ellis tunes!

[trark]

Tears of Joy was not his last album. Star Wars, Haiku, Live at Montreau, and a couple others came after that. I saw him live in concert a couple times. It was a fabulous experience.

[TonyS246]

This, of course, is nothing compared to live - Don E jumps behind the drums - I think he already has 2 drummers and percussion - what a finale! Tears of Joy was his 'last album' all great stuff - he writes for the movies (French Connection) - get anything you can before it goes out of print.

[andydrummmer]

very very impressive, unbeliebable good

[andydrummmer]

this is very very good!!!

[lucancherby]

Frank Zappa pales in comparison to this guy. Zappa was good at marketing himself to the market but Ellis was a true musician totally dedicated to his art.

[Jamman1214]

@lucancherby An interesting and relevant comparison...  an ill-advised analysis. They have more in common than they have in difference, and they were both trying to achieve similar ends from two different musical directions.

[NahMahShuShuGee]

Free jazz + big band = don ellis. What a wizard.

[TonyS246]

This is for orchestra on Electric Bath - in 22/11 time but it swings - Don got the Emmy for the music from French Connection - (remember, under the El trains) - would have been a dumb cop movie with his music! The better of this is on Electric Bath!

[dandrbizatsbcglobaln]

@TonyS246 He got the freaking OSCAR for the French Connection.

[proMetal91]

debussy

[mindcontrolsalsa]

Time is starting to catch up to a Don Ellis time signature/meter...

wow! what fantastic players he has w/ him

He wails ,they wail! so inspiring..

thanks 4 posting

[drgabrielsoileau]

Are there three bass players!!?-Awsome!

[chempanillo]

Imaginas una batalla entre esta orquesta y la de Pérez Prado, cada una a un lado del salón y los dos jefes dirigiendo en el medio?

Can you imagine a battle between this orchest? and Pérez Prado's, with the two bosses in the middle?

I bet Don Ellis' win in the 7th round thanks to an incredibly powerful refrain.

Saludos desde España, melómanos.

[farwest72]

17/8 divided 5-5-7

Try this...

It will absolutely work. and it's written on the album...

Good luck

[Agnarian]

127/4?

[Flextones]

Looks like Rufus Reid on upright bass. There is a lot of noise on the recording. Drums and latin percussion. it is not clear enough for me to figure out the meter(s)

[SeanFenlon]

double-u double-u double-u dott Don Ellis Music dott comm. ;-) SPF

[tompeth]

I love his usage of quartertones. There's not many that could find relevant, tasteful use of them, but he does it so effortlessly. For a bonus point, who can tell us what time this piece is in? :P

[snoman2204]

It's weird because its almost like a combo of two 5/4 bars with one 7/4 right? So would that make it 17/4?

[drugguy12]

@snoman2204 its in 7/4 not 17/4....

[rodolfowilcock]

Where's the rest of the video?!

We want more!

At least the rest of "Open Beauty" beginning at the end of this video!

[p.s. thanks a lot for this, anyway :-) ]

[harrysmallenburg]

There's Dave Mackay on piano--he's still playing regularly at the New York Grill just off the 15 in Caiifornia (outside LA).

[pap4456]

I think that's Mike Lang on piano.

[salt1951]

salt1951

Those Sunday afternoon concerts at Bonesville were great. The next series of performances were Monday nights at Shelley's Manne Hole. The first hour was music that was new to the band and the talented musicians in the band usually nailed it, weird time signatures and all. Great memories! The next venue was in the Valley at Ellis Island where they usually had a packed house. Who could forget Pussy Wiggle Stomp? I think I have every LP the Don Ellis big band released.

[rektide]

I thought I'd lost this video, & would be forever unable to find it again. Mercies great and small have brought it back into the fold.

[phoenixeye88]

His conducting has to be one of the most passionate displays of love of and devotion to music I have ever seen in Jazz, or anywhere for that matter.

[mynamisdan]

amen

[aboutdafunk]

Don and his band are just killing it!!! Check Ellis Live at the Filmore...

[anonymusum]

Totally agree, stunning and unique big band. I love Live At Montreux.

[KidsTalkRadio]

I saw Don on Melrose Ave. in Hollywood at a club called Bonesville. He inspired to write o composition in 17/8 that I will finish this year. Don and his band was a great inspiration to all of us young composition students at Los Angeles City College. We sure do miss Don and his style of jazz creativity.

[coolcat555555]

haha, he really likes that whole-tone scale

[reddwarf1980]

Don liked the quarter tone scale

If you listen close you will hear him using quarter tones all over the place. That's what the 4th valve on his trumpet was for

We are not tuned into that here in the west

[tmmyboy124]

Ha...speak for yourself!

good point though

[reddwarf1980]

I was introduced to Don Ellis years ago by a great man named Ray Shahin.

This video inspired me to take up the horn again after 7 years. Thanks Ray and thanks Don

[zooniedog]

Was lucky enough to keep a copy of "Soaring".. my LP was so worn out. Thank-you John Vizzusi and the "Ellis Film Team" Sights and Sounds Films, Apopka, Florida. Getting to see Don play Soaring live in the 70's is still the best concert I have ever experienced in my life. We were dancing on our chairs. See John Vizzusi's movie about Don!

[tsreyb]

MORE COWBELL!!!!

[redrosetuba]

Wow - I saw this band as a high school senior in 1971, and I've been a big band bass trombonist ever since. Few band leaders have been so innovative.

[halcyonuke]

I was in high school, on the football team AND jazz band, out of loyalty to the "team", stayed to play a game, while the band went to a festival where Don Ellis was the featured clinician. We lost the game. The band returned, everyone excited about how Don Ellis hitched a ride on the bus to the motel, how great he was to be with and guess what, boys and girls.......that was probably the single biggest musical mistake I ever made in my life. I am a musician now, not a football player....

[toothbrush5190]

Don was brilliant. I was brought up listening to his incredible brand of jazz. I got to see him twice. I wish I could see those shows again. One was in a high school.

You can find Electric Bath on iTunes.

[telabooby]

Check out his album, TEARS OF JOY, that album was beautiful

[babbagebowels]

dude holy shit, my uncle just told me about this guy last night, he is bad as fuck, he got that hot fire!

[suicidaldonut]

dood WHERE did you get this?

[phxhvac]

Don Ellis took us into the future. He had an unparalleled vision of Jazz time signatures and melody's that no earthly musician could achieve even in their most creative dream. He was a mad man on the conductors stand. And even an accomplished drummer. He was one of the earliest in the new stream movement of Jazz. There will never be another visionary like Don Ellis. His untimely death is one of Jazz musics tragedy's. He is greatly missed today.

[lakejw]

creative genius aside, dude is playing some serious trumpet.

[toadswildride]

I'd like another helping of the cacophonous genius please.

[Trudeau790]

Great timbre. When you hear Ellis, it seems to me, you know it's him. Like Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong or Clifford Brown.

[tigerjussuf]

Is anyone able to upload "turkish bath" from his album "electric bath"?..haven´t found its way to "y.t." yet..what a shame!.:-)

[MonteverdiChor]

found it:

watch?v=PEBQFEQ0Rno

[Egbert1957]

Ein Genius auf der 4-Ventil-Trompete.

Besitze leider nur 5 Venül-Scheiben

aus der Zeit von 68-70ern.

[spudone]

*amazed* =D

Time to buy some Don Ellis CDs.

[raretrick]

anyone know where to find a live performance video of 33 222 1 222? that would let me die happy.

[rdangelo]

The most underappreciate jazz artist of all time, perhaps?

[padleynj]

Commercially Eliis did't make it, but that's because he exhibited a stream of musical ideas that the public wasn't prepared to appreciate. I believe that Electric Bath was the albumn-of-the-year with Downbeat Magazine (I could be wrong, but then again that was 40 years ago). Try another challenge, Tim Buckley's "Tribal Healing".

[jazzfi]

like Frank Zappa

[TEP251]

The best band- with a direction that was it's own.

DON WAS A BRILLIANT MAN.A real genius!!

[negrito76014]

i think don ellis is a great musician,our marching band played one of his arrngement's this past year

[CesaRockena]

Don Ellis es increíble, simplemente un graaaan compositor.

[putamarrana]

si juan... diamanda es mejooooor! jaja!

[kliudrsfhlih]

que alguien clame a la putamarrana.

[nixjag1]

Man, Don Ellis was something else. I'd love to hear

"K.C. Blues" from "Autumn". Does anyone know if that

was ever released on cd? Does anyone have it?

[ndweiler]

Yes -- "Autumn" is available on CD. You can get it from Amazon any time, but I always look on eBay first. There's one available now... search for item# 140137855275.

Best regards,

Norm in NJ

[nixjag1]

Norm, thanks for the info, it's appreciated!

[kliudrsfhlih]

all of Don Ellis is descontinued, but in all the big cd stores you can buy almost all his oscografy.

[imthebrother]

THE NEW REVIVAL!!!

Another thing, was year was this and what this came off on? I know this song it's featured on the "Electric Bath" album by the way.

[anonymusum]

one of the greatest! the first trumpet tones are a reminiscence to Stravinsky´s `Sacre´.

[MarineBugler]

"Strawberry Soup" - anyone have it?

[mynamisdan]

on video I can't find it. I have the "Tears of Joy" album however. It's an incredible chart.

[jazztenor71]

Cool. I was at the "live recording" in San Francisco. My friend bought me a ticket for my birthday. Don Ellis was really cool to talk with. He even signed my table napkin.

[docburton]

The new documentary looks interesting. Does anyone know of any old Bonesville footage?

[Phlash14]

Haha, I know! It's awesome...I actually got it free as a library was getting rid of its record collection so they donated a bunch to my music department. I was lucky :)

[czzham]

Man, I'll never forget the first time I heard "Blues In Elf" or "Samba Bajada"... those were the days, indeed. This vid roolz!!!

[erod1944]

Thanks to Don Ellis I can coherently listen to music played in 4's, 5's, 7's, 9's, mixed - whatever! His stuff is just amazing. Thanks for the clip.

[stpd1957]

Great music, it's timeless.

[Waggler]

"New Horizons" is one of my favorites of his. Thank for posting this.

[dirthound25]

don ellis is the greatest

[tubaman123]

First I ever heard of Don Ellis was at a 1968 Reno High School Jazz competition - a Santa Barbara band did a version of "33 222 1 222" and I was hooked forever!

[francois71]

You guys should all go out and by the remaining copies of The French Connection Soundtrack at FilmScoreMonthly. Essential Ellis.

[spacepatrolman]

There is a clip of Don Ellis on the Ed Sullivan Show playing electric trumpet who has it?

[fusion07mp3]

The next tune that starts..."Open Beauty" is the most beautiful thing he ever wrote...I think...would love to see that...

[HorstQueck]

I'd just love to see anything from "Tears of Joy" or Live at Fillmore.

BTW, TOJ recently released on CD.

[Phlash14]

That's only recently? Dang...no wonder I could never find anything...I've got cd and recently got the original record of Electric Bath.

[funkaflex]

great! we need more don ellis!

[mendali]

I think this this is from their performance at the San Francisco art museum

[mendali]

yes it is, this is from a longer video called "Don Ellis: Music, Art" probably from '67 or '68

[Nyzio]

I wonder what is a title of this ?

[degennes]

They played a tune called "New Horizons".

[Nyzio]

Thanks, I've missed the title in search results. That's a pity it's the only video of Don Ellis here.