Search - Don Ellis :: Live at Monterey

The World Meets the Don Ellis Orchestra

Sean Fenlon | Baltimore, MD | 02/04/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Don Ellis Orchestra burst onto the national scene at the Monterey Jazz Festival on August 16, 1966. Ellis and his band captivated the Monterey audience by performing compositions in meters with 5, 9, 11, 19, and 27 beats to the bar. The performance is documented on this live recording, which includes the impromptu verbal introductions Ellis delivered before each selection. Ellis addresses the audience as though he was speaking to a gathering of devoted supporters. His descriptions combine technical explanations of the music with off-the-wall humor.



In describing a composition composed with a 19/4 time signature, Ellis says, "The first number we have is one that is based in what we call the 'traditional 19,' nineteen beats to the bar. Let me give you the subdivision here, it is 3-3-2-2-2-1-2-2-2. Of course, that's just the area code."



The performance at the Monterey Jazz Festival was a triumph for Ellis and his new ensemble. Live at Monterey recording ultimately went on to earn a Grammy award nomination."

Classic

William R. Nicholas | Mahwah, NJ USA | 08/15/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Who can take a time signature like 18/9 32/16 and make it swinging ear candy. Don can. That's Mister Ellis to you. `=



This is actually not nearly implausible as I faciously made it sound. Let me back up just a second.



People who know a little about music may know meters like 7/8 or 11/4. You usually encounter these in 70s art rock like King Crimson. The signitures sound bumpy, because phrases end where we are not used to. Clap your hands seven times and you want to clap once more. Eight is a nice round number becuase most music we here works like this. Right? I mean, listen to any basic rock chorus and your counting to eight.



Alright, so Don the madman comes along with these extended time messures. But notice, 18 can be three, it is just three six times. So his meters don't sound as odd as they may look on paper.



These are what Indian musicans used to play ragas. They work well in Ellis' music, because he likes to play long statements at fast tempos. My guess, they were probably a lot harder for him and his band to play then for you and me to hear. The phrases may be long, but Ellis makes them sound natural. Each bar and solo has a neat ending, and does not have the jerkiness of the art rock stunts mentioned before.





You can catch this sound throughout this album, in numbers like the opening track, or Crete idea, or Beat Me Daddy, ten to the bar. Listen, and you would never know how weird these subdivisions are. Ellis's execution is smooth as silk. The popping bongos and flashing brass bursts let you know right away, this is living, swinging music, not some time signature lab rat.



For years, Frank Zappa has always come up when I write about Ellis. I never could put my finger on the reason. Finally, listening to this album, I understand why. Listen to Ellis' horn charts, especially around this period, and those punchy brass bursts could be from Batman, The Mod Squad, or even Carson's Tonight show. His advanced work has the coloqialisms of 1960s pop culture. He is just putting these into a more advanced context.



Like Zappa, Ellis made the alien everyday, and the everyday far out. With albums like this, you'll want to go far out everyday, too.





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