Don Ellis at Fillmore [Live]

Disc: 1

1. Final Analysis

2. Excursion II

3. Magic Bus Ate My Doughnut

4. Blues

5. Salvatore Sam

6. Rock Odyssey

Disc: 2

1. Hey Jude

2. Antea

3. Old Man's Tear

4. Great Divide

5. Pussy Wiggle Stomp

Tracks:

Final Analysis
Excursion II
Magic Bus Ate My Doughnut
Blues
Salvatore Sam
Rock Odyssey

Tracks:

Hey Jude
Antea
Old Man's Tear
Great Divide
Pussy Wiggle Stomp

Customer Reviews:

One of my favorites! I bought two!.......2007-03-27

I originally owned this live album set on vinyl and now have two copies of the CD set as well. Some of the best performances of the band (outside of "Tears of Joy") are on these CDs. If you are a fan of Ellis' work, you need it. If you are into contemporary big bands and haven't heard the Don Ellis Band, this is a good place to start. Some typically crazy Sixties stuff melded with Don's odd meter tunes makes for an interesting, yet accessible mix.

The 70's sure started out on a high note!.......2007-03-20

Too bad the seventies ended with disco; which crushed pioneering music types...and rising from the ashes comes Spyrogyra and Mannheim Steamroller (what are they on, their 57th Christmas album?). I apologize for the bleek beginnings of this review. But what else can I add? It is an absolutely unique moment in musical history that has been gifted onto CD. So ya wanna big band that knows Timothy Leary...here ya go! It has its avant-garde moments but retains musicality throughout. This should appeal to fans of Terry Kath stylings of guitar. Does anyone remember The Flock? Okay, anywho...just buy it before it goes out of print again; you shall not regret this purchase. (Why the thin-sounding mastering job? Does the mastering engineer use Behringer and Alesis products? The LP is much, much fuller.)

One of my favorite big band albums.......2006-07-15

This album and Live at Montreux are my two favorite Don Ellis albums, and two of my favorite big band albums. Actually, I guess they're two of my favorite albums, period. The band is terrific, the charts are great, the recording is great.
When I first heard this album, I was floored by the band's ability to play in odd meters, and yet still swing hard. I also loved how the band expanded the styles and sounds of a big band. Don integrates rock, funk, and electronic sounds seamlessly into the traditional big band setup.
Favorite tunes include Final Analysis, Extreme Divide (nothin' like swingin' in 13/4!), and Pussy Wiggle Stomp (swing in 7/4, and it really does swing!).
The soloists are all tremendous; the rhythm section swings and cooks furiously; the horns blow full (kudos to lead trumpet Glenn Stuart, who sounds terrific on all of Ellis' albums).
If you want to hear a big band on the cutting edge of big band music (an edge which no one else has yet approached), then get this album, and get Don Ellis Live at Montreux. Two landmark recordings.

How exciting is this?!.......2006-03-06

VERY!!! I've owned the album since 1971 and it's always been one of my favorites, so when I saw it finally come out on CD I just had to get it. I definitely have my favorites: Final Analysis, Rock Odyssey and Great Divide, but all the tunes are solid and great to listen to.

All my other thoughts have already been said by others, so, if you're a Don Ellis fan, BUY THIS CD!

Whoa, The Colors..........2006-02-15

This album (back when that's all we had) was my first real exposure to the music of Don Ellis, and I'm fairly sure I've never been the same since...
A gorgeously unique souvenier of jazz at a crucial moment in its history (as post-bop and free jazz were challenged by the emergence of rock/pop oriented sounds) "Fillmore" runs hot and heavy: big band charts turned up to eleven (thanks Nigel!) overlaid with Ellis's signature quarter-tone trumpet work further modified with WAY pre-digital effects. Guitar fans might want to take notice of later super-producer Jay Graydon's solo on "Final Analysis": 6 years before Peter Frampton stuck a tube in his mouth on "Do You Feel Like We Do" Graydon was there first...
Along the way the band engages in some flat-out stompers ("Final Analysis" "Rock Odyssey" "Great Divide"--a real burner in 13/8 that the band treats like a mere 4/4 walk in the park and features a thrilling solo from saxist Lonnie Shetter--) but if there's one track that truly exemplfies the spirit of this CD, it's Ellis's around-the-bend-down-the-road-and-into-the-next- county version of "Hey Jude." There's no middle-ground about this one. You either flee after the first 30 seconds of Ellis's ring-modulated, echoplexed trumpet solo or you sty and relish the frequently near-pomo deconstructionist take on the tune. (Hint: listen for the little flute/tuba duet in the middle section and prepare yourself for the answering statement of several clarinets tuned a quarter-tone apart: it's like Oktober Fest on mescaline!)
Wounded Bird has done us all a favor by restoring this album to general circulation. Along with "Tears of Joy" and "Soaring" this represents a heady sampling of Ellis at his most exuberant (if not always tasteful) best.

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