Don Ellis - Connection (1972)

 

Artist: Don Ellis
Title: Connection
Year: ℗ 1972 Sony Music Entertainment, Inc
Genre: Big Band / Jazz-Funk
Quality: Hi-Res / 24bit-192KHz

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1. Put It Where You Want It
2. Alone Again (Naturally)
3. Superstar
4. I Feel The Earth Move
5. Theme From "The French Connection"
6. Conquistador
7. Roundabout
8. Chain Reaction
9. Goodbye To Love
10. Lean On Me
11. Train To Get Here

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Alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute, alto flute – Vince Denham; alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute, bass flute, alto flute, piccolo flute – Fred Selden; baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, alto flute, piccolo flute – Gary Herbig; bass – Dave McDaniel; bass trombone – Ken Sawhill; cello [electric] – Pat Kudzia; congas – Lee Pastora; drums – Ralph Humphrey; drums, percussion – Ron Dunn; electric violin – Earle Corry, Tom Buffum; french horn – Sidney Muldrow; guitar – Jay Graydon; piano, organ, clavinet [Hohner], electric piano [Fender Rhodes], organ [Yamaha] – Milcho Leviev; tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute, bass clarinet – Sam Falzone; timbales, percussion – Carmelo Garcia; trombone – Glenn Ferris; trumpet, flugelhorn – Bruce Mackay, Gil Rathel, Glenn Stuart, Paul Bogosian; trumpet, trumpet [electric], flugelhorn – Don Ellis; Tuba – Doug Bixby; viola [electric] – Denyse Buffum >>>>>>> Don Ellis' Connection, issued in 1972, was a brazen attempt at swinging for the chart fences. Most of the tunes selected come right from the pop vernacular of the day. They range from a barnburning read of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's theme for "Jesus Christ Superstar" and a dirty funk approach to Carole King's "I Feel the Earth Move" to a provocative and spacy cover of Procol Harum's "Conquistador" that feels like the horn chart for Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4" wedded to Mason Williams' "Classical Gas" trumped by Stan Kenton in the mid-'50s. While the description may read atrociously, sonically and aesthetically the set comes off far better. Ellis incorporated inventive, in-your-face, swaggering arrangements into his hearing and execution of pop's possibilities in the jazz world of the early '70s. Most of the tracks are short, with only a big-band freakout read of Hank Levy's "Chain Reaction" going over the five-minute mark. This, along with the disc's opener (a fine cover of Joe Sample's "Put It Where You Want It") and Ellis' own "Theme from The French Connection" (a surprise hit for him) work well as modern creative big band offerings. There are some really embarrassing moments here as well. Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again (Naturally)" was utterly unnecessary and is pure schlock; likewise the "jazz on Quaaludes" take on the Carpenters' "Goodbye to Love." "Lean On Me" (the soul classic written by Bill Withers) is simply surreal, as is the cover of Yes' "Roundabout." Ellis devotees will no doubt delight in Connection because of its abundance of sass, humor, and imagination, while jazz purists will shake their heads in disgust and others will greet the album with mix of curious bewilderment, a good-natured (hopefully) chuckle, and a perverse kind of glee. ~ Thom Jurek