I have seldom looked forward to any recording or reissue as much as this recent gem from WOUNDED BIRD. My original cassette was given to me by Don's secretary in the mid seventies. I took care to create a back-up copy, recently I backed that up onto a CDR. Not a recording to be treated lightly!
The reissue includes extra music, in fact the full concert has been re-mastered on a double compact; disc; and it is the sound of surprise; the sound of joy, guaranteed to encourage any doubters that apart from being an innovative arranger, Don Ellis was a superb soloist. He had spent the last few years before this recording in New York, performing Third Stream or Avante Garde music with his own small group and in the company of giants including Charles Mingus and George Russell. I always felt he was casting around for a direction, for inspiration.
With this recording he seems to be giving a hint of what was to come. By this I mean that it is not only exciting, but the form of the new music is accessible; full of humour and swings. While it is hard to isolate the most impressive tracks, one has to talk of the version of MILESTONES. It is in a fast 7/4 and gives the young Tom Scott, the late Steve Bohannon and Dave McKay a chance to stretch. Ellis uses this music to demonstrate his amazing fluency at this testing tempo, Don Ellis the jazz trumpeter setting out his stall!
The time signature seems to be of no consequence to the performers, the listener gets a chance to feel this legendary music in a subtly different setting while tapping out a solid 2,2,3 with his/her feet. For many, the result is such a natural consequence that whistling it (Milestones), in four will be the greater challenge from now on!
Dave McKay places his tongue squarely in his cheek in his tribute to Pete Johnson (Pete's Seven) moving from an accidental reference to Jeff Stacey into an exhilarating, limping evnetually thunderous barrelhouse boogie.
So many things to enjoy on this CD. The arrangements, the soloists, the humour, the 'sort of' straight ahead swinging arrangements; the strong latin element and the beautifully negotiated ballads.
A must for Ellis fans and an exhilarating surprise for the new listeners and the doubters.
I have copies in the UK.
By the way DON ELLIS GOES UNDERGROUND with the big band. This album is reissued on the same label and is available from me in the UK.