Don Ellis – “Lost Tapes Vol.3”
The last in the series of Lost Tapes
Comprising entirely of previously unreleased material, the fascinating ‘Lost Tapes Vol. 3’ from Jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer and bandleader Don Ellis is released on 27 August 2021 on CD and digital through Sleepy Night Records. The company that brought you the Number One jazz album ‘Miles Davis: The Lost Quintet’ is delighted to release this, the last in the series of ‘Lost Tapes’.
Don Ellis cut his teeth with the Glenn Miller band, then joined the US Army’s Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra before striking out on his own and plunging into the NYC Avant Garde scene; his love of experimentation and indeed research would inform most of his work. As well as working on his own material, and with many of the greats, he also scored movies such as The French Connection. Don Ellis was the first Western musician to bring Indian music to the west, well before The Beatles (he was good friends with George Harrison). He also helped pioneer unusual time signatures; fascinatingly he had a health problem that meant that his heart beat in a irregular way; ultimately it was the cause of his death in 1978.
The collection is based upon a treasure trove of recordings, photos, letters, video, scores and music supplied to Sleepy Night Records by the late Ken Orton. The musician sadly died three years ago, but he had the biggest worldwide collection of Don’s material and worked with Don’s family to preserve his memory. ‘Lost Tapes Vol. 3’ features never before heard tracks from Don’s own personal collection, both in the form of studio material and other music recorded at various clubs on reel to reel and cassette tapes.
The album closes, fittingly, with Don Ellis’ last ever recording.Laid down in 1978, Vulcan was recorded in a club but on this collection Sleepy Night Records have enhanced this track, by adding in new keyboard parts, bass, drums, strings and a new guitar solo. By not deviating from the original spirit, and keeping the track honest, this has breathed new life into this cassette recording. In fact, the process has worked so well, that it is an approach that Sleepy NightRecords are likely to revisit in the future.
An influential and important artist, though in some ways a forgotten genius, Don Ellis has cast a long shadow. ‘Lost Tapes Vol. 3’ provides an affectionate and fascinating tribute.
TRACKLISTING
1 / Climbin’ That Mountain
(Music – Don Ellis / Lyrics – Allen Lannom) May, 1974
* Soloists: Donna Kime – soprano, Don Ellis – trumpet
2 / My!
(Don Ellis) 1966
Soloists: Don Ellis – trumpet
3 / Bombay Bossa Nova
(Emil Richards) October 1965
Soloists: Harihar Rao – sitar, Don Ellis – trumpet
4 / It’s Time Again
(Hank Levy) March 1975
Soloists: Don Ellis – trumpet, Milcho Leviev – electric piano
5 / Fire Dance
(Milcho Leviev) April 1973
Soloists: Sam Falzone – clarinet, Milcho Leviev – bass drum
6 / Let’s Do It This Way For Awhile
(Don Ellis) August 1976
Soloists: Art Pepper – alto sax, David Crigger – drums
7 / T.R.
(Don Ellis) April 1978
Soloists: Stu Goldberg – keyboards, Mike Carnahan – alto sax
8 / Desire!
(Don Ellis) September 1977
Soloists: Don Ellis – trumpet
9 / Vulcan
(Don Ellis) April 1978.
Enhanced version
Soloists: Don Ellis – Superbone, William Logan – guitar
10 / Climbin’ That Mountain[Reprise]
