![]() ![]() I found out why the moment they walked on stage. He was in pretty heavy company and yet no one objected or thought twice about it. We arrived at Tanglewood and I was surprised to see that Don was closing the show. I learned about Don's fierce dedication to his music, his concepts and his plans for a forthcoming album. During the five-hour bus trip we talked of many things. The day after I met Don, I journeyed with him in the band bus to Tanglewood where the band was sharing the bill with the Modern Jazz Quartet and Judy Collins. "A lot of people relate to the 'sense of life' in our music. ![]() "Music, like any art, hits you on an emotional level before you dissect it analytically," says Don. Not only has the orchestra succeeded on its own terms, but it has been embraced by the modern music scene (for example, recently Don played on "rock-group" recording dates for both the United States of America and the Mothers of Invention). Now the experimentalism and individualism has paid off. It seems strange to recall that just a few years ago, Don was considered some kind of a Third Stream weirdo, playing crazy tempos no one could comprehend with his Hindustani Jazz Sextet. Nat Hentoff once said the same thing when he commented that "Don Ellis is beyond category". While Simon and Garfunkel were in listening to the recording session for SHOCK TREATMENT, Paul Simon remarked that one reason the Don Ellis band is gaining popularity with the young audiences is that, like the best rock groups, the Ellis band is speaking out with a musically individual voice. ![]()
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