Live at Montreux

Recorded

July 8, 1977

Liner notes

Don Ellis (short quote), Nick DiScala (CD Release only)

Releases

Atlantic SD 19178 (1978)

Koch Jazz 51410 (2002) – CD Reissue

Tracks

1. 1. Open Wide (Ellis) - 9:40
2. 2. Loneliness (Ellis) - 5:54
3. 3. Future Feature (Ellis) - 7:18
4. 4. Go-No-Go (Ellis) - 5:10
5. 5. Sporting Dance (Ellis) - 8:45
6. 6. Niner Two (Ellis) - 11:59
7. 7. Lyra (Ellis) - 8:32*
8. 8. Eros (Ellis) - 5:39*
9. 9. Arcturus (Ellis) - 10:49*

Personnel

• Don Ellis - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
• Ted Nash - Clarinet, Flute, Alto Sax
• Laurie Badessa - Violin
• Richard Bullock - Bass Trombone
• Darrell Clayborn - Bass
• Jack Coan - Trumpet
• Jim Coile - Clarinet, Flute, Tenor Sax
• Dave Crigger - Drums
• Mike Englander - Percussion, Drums
• Leon Gaer - Synthesizer
• Paula Hochhalter - Cello
• Alan Kaplan - Trombone
• Randy Kerber - Keyboards
• Sidney Muldrow - French Horn
• Ann Patterson - Flute, Oboe, Piccolo, Alto Sax, Soprano Sax
• Gil Rathel - Trumpet
• Ruth Ritchie - Percussion, Timpani
• Jimbo Ross - Viola
• Jim Self - Tuba
• Jim Snodgrass - Flute, Oboe, Piccolo, Baritone Sax
• Glenn Stuart - Trumpet
• Pam Tompkins - Violin
• Carlos “Patato” Valdes - Bongos, Conga

Notes

Studio-recorded versions of “Arcturus,” “Eros,” and “Lyra” appear on Music from Other Galaxies and Planets.

Live at Montreux (1978) was Ellis’s final recording.

Prior to its release, Atlantic had agreed to commit the funds necessary to send the Ellis Orchestra to the 1978 Montreux Jazz Festival for a new live recording and an ensuing tour.

In anticipation for the festival, Ellis began feverishly preparing and rehearsing new compositions that would ultimately appear on the live recording at Montreux.

However, in the middle of Ellis’s preparation, Atlantic demanded that Ellis record a version of the popular main theme to Star Wars by John Williams in order to capitalize on the commercial success of the film.

Ellis complied and recorded an arrangement of the theme as a single, with “Princess Leia’s Theme” on side B.

Atlantic then expressed concern that the single could potentially receive significant radio airplay, and there would be no associated album to sell in order to capitalize on its popularity.

Thus, prior to Montreux, Ellis was compelled to compose new selections – not duplicating any of those slated for the live recording at the festival.

Ellis completed the compositions and recording of the new album in a matter of days.

The result was Ellis’s most-commercial and least-inspired recording of his career.

This recording offers reflections of the more adventurous Ellis ensemble recordings on selections such as “Future Feature,” “Sporting Dance,” and “Niner Two.” However the disco-influenced “Go-No-Go” indicates Ellis’s continued connection to popular styles.

The selection “Open Wide” enjoyed some degree of popularity with its 4/4 meter and accessible main theme.

Despite the conventional meter, the selection also represents an excellent example of Ellis’s rhythmic superimpositions over the barline.

Live at Montreux demonstrates a more-restrained use of exotic meters, but a more-liberated use of rhythmic superimpositions.

* Included on CD Reissue, not original LP release

Notes on this page are adapted from the discography chapter of The Exotic Rhythms of Don Ellis.