Reevaluating the Pioneering Don Ellis

It’s hard to understand why Don Ellis has become such a neglected jazz name.

There is, to be sure, a dedicated cadre of fans who actively support the music and the memory of the trumpeter-composer-bandleader who was one of the most adventurous jazz artists of the post-bop era. But in the 22 years that have passed since his tragically early death in 1978 at age 43, most of his groundbreaking efforts have largely disappeared from the mind-set of the jazz public.

For many who have been around long enough to have firsthand recollections, Ellis is simply a colorfully garbed figure out of the ‘70s, a neo-Stan Kenton leading a big band in an era far more fascinated with rock, singer-songwriters and disco.

But Ellis, despite his occasional over-the-top self-promotion, despite his commercial efforts, was always a musical maverick at heart, always eager to stretch the boundaries of his imagination. His questing musical odyssey reaches back well before his big band years, to performances with Charles Mingus and George Russell, to his own probing, sometimes quixotic small group work, to the collective improvisational ensemble he led in New York in the early ‘60s, to his pioneering combinations of Indian rhythms and jazz with the Hindustani Jazz Sextet. And even in the months before his death, a conversation with him was filled with references to new, cutting-edge projects he had in mind.

Surprisingly, given his relatively low visibility, much of Ellis’ work has been reissued on CDs. And Blue Note adds another this week with the release of “Live in 3 2/3/4 Time.” (It’s a title that has tested the typesetting abilities of every publication that has ever written about it. But Ellis, always willing to create some critical uproar, insisted upon it, rather than the more prosaic, but equally accurate 11/8.)

Recorded at the Pacific Jazz Festival in Costa Mesa and at Shelly’s Manne Hole in 1967 with a 20-piece band, the album is a relatively early view of the metric offbeat writing for big band that occupied most of Ellis’ later years.

It also reveals how he managed to combine his envelope-stretching rhythmic ideas into remarkably accessible musical packages. Numbers such as “Freedom Jazz Dance” (Ellis’ 7/4 take on the Eddie Harris hit tune), “Barnum’s Revenge” (a New Orleans-style rendering of “Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey,” also in 7/4, written by saxophonist Ruben Leon) and “Upstart” (in the rhythmic meter of the title) are foot-tapping examples of a dynamic big band in action, eminently enjoyable for listeners who don’t have the foggiest notion of what’s happening rhythmically.

It’s the rare artist, in almost any genre, whose work doesn’t eventually experience some sort of revival. And Ellis, who left a body of work that still awaits thoughtful, knowledgeable musical analysis and evaluation, is long overdue.

Jazz in Print: “The Kenton Kronicles: A Biography of Modern America’s Man of Music, Stan Kenton.” Steven D. Harris (Dynaflow Publications, produced as a first edition of 1,000 copies. $65 plus $6.95 for shipping and handling from Dynaflow Publications, 148 N. Catalina Ave., No. 4, Pasadena, CA 91106). Everything you ever wanted to know about the life and times of an American original, and one of Ellis’ admitted musical models. The book contains reminiscent commentary from members of virtually every installment of the Kenton orchestras, from Howard Rumsey and Buddy Childers to Maynard Ferguson to Bill Holman, Dee Barton and Peter Erskine. There are, as well, conversations with Kenton encompassing the various eras of his career. And, for the truly dedicated Kentonite, Harris has included a video-filmography of Kenton appearances and a date-by-date itinerary of the orchestra’s appearances from June 1, 1940, when the first “workshop band was formed,” to the final appearance at Stern Grove in San Francisco on Aug. 20, 1978.

“Blutopia: Visions of the Future and Revisions of the Past in the Work of Sun Ra, Duke Ellington and Anthony Braxton.” Graham Lock (Duke University Press, $54.95 hardcover; $18.95 paperback). Lock uses the lives and careers of these three seemingly unrelated jazz artists to explore several premises: music as “an alternative form of history”; music as the gateway to “another reality”; and the “self-representation of African American musicians in relation to . . . racial stereotyping.” (The title traces to a Duke Ellington work first performed at a Carnegie Hall concert in 1944.)

Festival Track: Blues fans need go no further than the campus of Cal State Los Angeles to celebrate the Fourth of July in highly spirited fashion. “L.A. Blues 4U Festival 2000”--featuring Joe Louis Walker, the Shuggie Otis Blues Band, the Curtis Salgado Group and others--takes place July 2 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the university’s All-Purpose Field at 5151 State University Drive, L.A. Tickets are $25 in advance, $28 at the gate. Info: (562) 590-9500.

The 2000 AT&T; San Jose Jazz Festival, which runs Aug. 9-13, bills itself as the “largest free jazz festival in the country.” (And that’s “free” in terms of admission, not necessarily the style of music that will be played.) The lineup is first rate, easily rivaling festivals with high ticket prices. Among the featured artists: pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, alto saxophonist Richie Cole, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, an ensemble co-led by singer Kevin Mahogany and guitarist Larry Coryell, the Jazz Times Superband (with trumpeter Randy Brecker and saxophonist Bob Berg), singer Karrin Allyson, the Pete Escovedo Orchestra, the Bronx Horns New York salsa band, and the fusion ensemble Hiroshima. But that’s just the lineup on one of the main stages. Dozens of other groups will appear (115 bands in all) on more than 10 other stages in indoor and outdoor settings around the downtown San Jose area. To say the least, it’s a bargain that’s hard to beat. Info: (888) SanJose or https://www.sanjosejazz.org.

The venerable Montreux Jazz Festival, now in its 34th year, goes on the road this summer with concerts in 20 U.S. cities. Montreux Festival on Tour is scheduled to make its Los Angeles stop on Sept. 1 at the Universal Amphitheater. Featured artists will include Al Jarreau, Roberta Flack, David Sanborn, Joe Sample and George Duke. Info: https://www.montreuxtourusa.com.

Jazz Ed: Boston’s highly regarded Berklee College of Music once again--for the 11th year--offers Berklee in L.A., a weeklong program of music education on the campus of Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, July 23-29. Students can choose between Guitar Sessions, Instrumental Workshops, Vocal Tracks and Latin Jazz via classes taught by the Berklee faculty. Berklee in L.A. climaxes with a “carnival” of events on July 28 and a concert-awards ceremony on July 29. The deadline for participating in the program is rapidly approaching, but applications will be accepted until July 1. Applicants must be at least 15 years old by July 23, 2000, and have a minimum of six months of musical training. Information at https://www.berklee.edu or by phone at (617) 747-2507.

*

Don Heckman can be reached at [email protected].