Don Ellis - Live In India 1978 (2010) {Sleepy Night Records SNR003CD}

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Don Ellis - Live In India 1978 (2010) {Sleepy Night Records SNR003CD}

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Don Ellis - Live In India 1978 (2010) {Sleepy Night Records SNR003CD}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 466 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 163 Mb
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© 1978, 2010 Sleepy Night Records | SNR003CD
Jazz / Post Bop / Progressive Jazz / Trumpet

Don Ellis traveled to India to perform two concerts in Bombay (now Mumbai), India in Janurary of 1978 with a small group consisting of Emilie Diehl, vocals; Randy Kerber, keyboards; Leon Gaer, bass; and David on drums. The recent unearthing of a tape of those concerts, combined with David's production, restoration, editing and mastering work, along with the efforts of Ellis historian Ken Orton and Gary Gilles of Sleepy Night Records now allows those performances to finally be shared.

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Don Ellis - Live In India 1978 (2010) {Sleepy Night Records SNR003CD}

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It is hard to believe that 32 years after his passing, we would have the opportunity to hear brand new Don Ellis music, but with "Live in India", that's exactly what you get.

Recorded mere months before Don's untimely death from heart ailments, "Live in India" was issued in 2010 by Sleepy Night Records as a limited edition CD of 1000 copies worldwide. Here Amazon gives you the opportunity to download this CD featuring one of the last live performances of the genius of Don Ellis from the Jazz Yatra Festival held in February, 1978.

"Live in India" is an absolute must for any fan of the music and brilliance of Don Ellis. It is hard to believe that this music was lifted from Don's personal cassette recordings of the India concerts. Dave Crigger did an outstanding job mixing and re-mastering a truly amazing CD, especially one that stands up favorably to the rest of the Ellis discography.

The original limited edition CD contained extensive liner notes with interviews of the musicians and people involved with the Festival. Here is the background in a nutshell. The Jazz Yatra Festival was organized by Niranjan Jhavari, a good friend of Don's. Even though the influence of Indian music is quite evident in the Ellis playbook, Don had never visited India and he was eager to do so. However the Festival budget was such that it was impossible to bring over Don's big band. Don arranged to play as a quintet with musicians from his band (the one that recorded "Live at Montreux"), insisting that their food and board be covered for the trip (which it was).

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Don Ellis - Live In India 1978 (2010) {Sleepy Night Records SNR003CD}

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This set cooks. Every musician here is top-notch, backing Don with a tight full sound. Don is on four valve trumpet and flugelhorn, Randy Kerber on keyboards and piano, Dave Crigger on drums, Leon Gaer on bass, accompanied by vocalist Emilie Robertson. From the liner notes, Emilie, explains that she was studying vocal music at Cal State at Northridge, and was originally working with Don on the logistics of the trip. Subsequently Don invited her to add voice to some of the numbers to help fill out the sound. During the trip to India, Don provided rehearsal recordings to Emilie to study, but she never rehearsed with the other four musicians. The first time she performed with them was at the Festival. For this reason Emilie says her approach to the vocalizations might have been different given some rehearsal. But listen to the tracks, it works. In fact, I think this is perhaps the finest recording of Don's music in a small combo setting.

At some places Don's playing might sound a bit thin, but remember he was in the latter stages of the deteriorating heart condition that would take his life in less than a year. But the technique, the tone, the innovation and the brilliance still shines through. Some tunes are from the Ellis discography ("Live at Montreux" and "Soaring"), but the treat, especially for an Ellis fanatic, are five new tunes by Ellis never available in recorded form until now.

The CD opens with one of these, "Fire Line", written especially for the Jazz Yatra Jazz Festival. You will see the Don's unique take on influences of Indian music.

Track 2 is T.R. (Theme) named for Don's youngest son. It is in 4/4, but the phrasing is structured in odd metered combinations.

"Storyville", another new piece, follows. If it sounds familiar, you may notice the tune was structured like "Birdland". The liner notes point out that Don had written this piece as a dedication to Birdland's composer Joe Zawinul and Slide Hampton, both of whom were instrumental to getting Don into Maynard Ferguson's band.

Track 4 is "Open Wide", the tune that opens the "Live at Montreux" album, done here in quintet form.

Some of Don's strongest soloing comes on the next track "Dark Curved Eyebrows". Don's introduction describes the piece as moody, attempting to "evoke a mood of a very pretty young lady".

Track 6 is another new piece called "Desire" which was featured with his final big band although not available in recorded form before now. Drummer Dave Crigger writes, "Probably my favorite of Don's latter pieces - such an unabashed jazz-rock burner! Sadly this was to be one of his last contributions to the genre he was so instrumental in founding ten years earlier, regardless of how unsung those contributions might be today."

The set closes with "Images of Maria", a beautiful track originally done on the "Soaring" album. Don plays with a poignancy fitting of this CD - a final look at the brilliance of Don Ellis.

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Don Ellis - Live In India 1978 (2010) {Sleepy Night Records SNR003CD}

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Don Ellis - Live In India 1978 (2010) {Sleepy Night Records SNR003CD}

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Don Ellis - Live In India 1978 (2010) {Sleepy Night Records SNR003CD}

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