The Don Ellis Orchestra really came into its own during the period covered by this CD (1966-1967), playing perfectly coherent solos in ridiculous time signatures.
At the time, the band consisted of five trumpets, three trombones, five reeds, piano, three basses, two drummers, and three percussionists.
"Barnum's Revenge" has the ensemble playing a satirical brand of Dixieland in 5/4, "Orientation" goes back and forth between 7/8 and 9/8, and "Upstart" is in 11/8 (three and two-thirds beats to the measure!).
Somehow everything swings with Ellis, Ira Schulman (on tenor and clarinet), Dave Mackay (on piano), and Tom Scott (on saxello) being the main soloists.
In addition to the original six selections (recorded at the Pacific Jazz Festival in 1966 and at Shelly's Manne-Hole in 1967), there are five additional cuts, including an alternate version of "Freedom Jazz Dance." Fun music.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OrientationDon Ellis | Don Ellis | Play | 11:20 | 25 MB | 63 MB |
| 2 | Angel EyesEarl Brent, Matt Dennis | Don Ellis | Play | 05:41 | 13 MB | 24 MB |
| 3 | Freedom Jazz DanceEddie Harris | Don Ellis | Play | 05:53 | 13 MB | 32 MB |
| 4 | UpstartDon Ellis | Don Ellis | Play | 09:03 | 20 MB | 59 MB |
| 5 | ThetisHank Levy | Don Ellis | Play | 08:27 | 19 MB | 52 MB |
| 6 | Freedom Jazz DanceEddie Harris | Don Ellis | Play | 05:53 | 13 MB | 32 MB |
| 7 | Bossa Nueva Nova (bonus track) | Don Ellis | Play | 05:30 | 12 MB | 31 MB |
| 8 | Opus Five (bonus track) | Don Ellis | Play | 09:53 | 22 MB | 59 MB |
| 9 | Seven Up (bonus track) | Don Ellis | Play | 04:40 | 10 MB | 27 MB |
| 10 | Johnny One Note (bonus track) | Don Ellis | Play | 02:25 | 5 MB | 15 MB |
| 11 | Freedom Jazz Dance [alternate version] (bonus track) | Don Ellis | Play | 07:38 | 17 MB | 46 MB |
| 76 mins | 175 MB | |||||
| 76 mins | 444 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bob Belden | Liner Notes, Release Production |
| 2 | Richard Bock | Producer |
| 3 | Steve Bohannon | Drums |
| 4 | Earl Brent | Composer |
| 5 | Jaki Byard | Composer |
| 6 | Frank DeLaRosa | Bass |
| 7 | Matt Dennis | Composer |
| 8 | Peter Doell | Remixing |
| 9 | Chuck Domanico | Bass |
| 10 | Don Ellis | Composer, Liner Notes, Primary Artist, Trumpet |
| 11 | Alan Estes | Drums, Timbales |
| 12 | Leonard Feather | Liner Notes |
| 13 | Gabor Halmos | Cover Design |
| 14 | Bill Halverson | Engineer |
| 15 | Bob Harmon | Trumpet |
| 16 | Eddie Harris | Composer |
| 17 | Ruben Leon | Composer, Flute, Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano) |
| 18 | Hank Levy | Composer |
| 19 | Dave MacKay | Piano |
| 20 | David MacKay | Piano |
| 21 | John Magruder | Clarinet, Clarinet (Bass), Flute, Sax (Baritone) |
| 22 | Ron Myers | Trombone |
| 23 | Ray Neapolitan | Bass |
| 24 | Bob Norberg | Mastering |
| 25 | Dave Parlato | Bass |
| 26 | Bob Pasternak | Photography |
| 27 | Joe Roccisano | Clarinet, Flute, Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano) |
| 28 | Richard Rodgers | Composer |
| 29 | David Sanchez | Trombone |
| 30 | David Sanchez | Trombone |
| 31 | Ira Schulman | Clarinet, Flute, Sax (Tenor) |
| 32 | Tom Scott | Flute, Guest Artist, Sax (Alto), Saxophone |
| 33 | Fred Seligo | Cover Photo |
| 34 | Ira Shulman | Clarinet, Flute, Sax (Tenor) |
| 35 | Howlett Peter Smith | Composer |
| 36 | Ron Starr | Clarinet, Flute, Sax (Tenor) |
| 37 | Mark Stevens | Percussion |
| 38 | Sonny Stitt | Composer |
| 39 | Glenn Stuart | Trumpet |
| 40 | Carlos "Patato" Valdes | Bongos, Congas |
| 41 | Chino Valdes | Bongos, Congas |
| 42 | Ed Warren | Trumpet |
| 43 | Edward Warren | Trumpet |
| 44 | Alan Weight | Trumpet |
| 45 | Dave Wells | Trombone |
| 46 | Terry Woodson | Trombone (Bass) |
| 47 | Woody Woodward | Art Direction |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |