Don Ellis - Legacy

Legacy

While Ellis's explorations with elements of form and content in jazz were undeniably innovative, he remains an obscure figure in jazz history. But he had a strong influence on those with whom he worked. Former sideman Stu Blumberg credited Ellis for preparing him for the idiosyncrasies of unconventional music in film soundtracks. Tenor saxophonist Jim Snodgrass remarked, "I think in many ways Don was a teacher. One thing his music taught me was that I could play anything I absolutely had to." Sidemen like Tom Scott, John Klemmer, Glenn Ferris, Milcho Leviev and a few others have gone on to prolific solo careers. Others like Ralph Humphrey and Fred Selden have had successful careers as sidemen, session musicians or educators. Ellis was an ardent libertarian, politically, and this aspect was developed from his open-mindedness towards the music of other cultures, according to some of his students.

Most of Ellis' albums have been reissued on CD. Columbia Records, responsible for originally releasing seven of Ellis's albums, only reissued Electric Bath (Ellis's biggest seller) in 1997; the rest have been leased to other companies for reissue. Today, thanks to labels like Koch Jazz, Wounded Bird and Mighty Quinn Productions, almost all of his albums have been reissued on CD and are readily available.

Ellis also wrote numerous articles and several books. The new rhythm book (1972) presents methods of practice and performance in unusual meters and features a companion play-along LP/cassette entitled New Rhythms. His second book, Quarter Tones, published in 1975, is a theoretical guide to using quarter tones. Both books are very thorough, providing a great deal of historical and cultural background to their subjects. Quarter Tones also provides readers with etudes and exercises. Both books are very hard to find, as they have presumably not been printed since their first editions.

The Don Ellis Library and Collection resides in the Ethnomusicology Archives at UCLA. Prior to that, (from 1981 to 2000) it was housed at Eastfield College, part of Dallas County Community College District, DCCCD in Mesquite, Texas. Along with writings, instruments and other items, is his Grammy for best score for the movie The French Connection in 1971.