Live at Monterey Don Ellis Orchestra Live at Monterey
Okay so I know that this isn't a real interview, but for now its the closest I'm gonna get. Until I can channel him or meet players from his orchestra, the liner notes will have to do. Check out what this visionary rhythmasist has to say about writing and playing in "oddness". -B
Don Ellis Orchestra “live at Monterey” liner notes
With the birth of jazz in this country less than 100 years ago, the music of the whole Western culture was rhythmically revitalized. And since the beginnings of Jazz, jazz musicians have been refining and expanding their rhythms. Sometimes in the refining, the element of swing has been all but lost (as in the “cool school” associated with the West Coast), and then in reaction to this, sometimes the swing has been put back, but most of the rhythmic subtlety and complexity lost (as in the “funk” music period). However, the overall pattern from beginning has been to expand rhythmic horizons.
Recently the jazz mainstream’s rhythmic vocabulary has been enriched to include 3/4 (or 6/4). And now almost every organ-tenor group plays a number of things in 3. This may not seem so starling at the present time, but just a few years ago debate was raging as to whether it was possible to swing in anything but 4/4. In fact, in the early ‘60’s one of jazz’ leading educations, John Mehegan, made the statement that anything that was not in 4/4 could not possibly be considered jazz!
Another more recent breakthrough was made with Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” showing that it is possible to play jazz in 5/4 and that a large segment of the population is interested in hearing music in other than 4/4 and 3/4.
Rhythm was the main thing that attracted me to jazz: both in their excitement of swing and the complexity of the cross rhythms. Fro many years now I have been trying to conceive of new ways to expand jazz rhythms. Alternation of 4’s and 3’s was on of the first thing that occurred to me and the I tried experiment of “stretching “ the time by means of accelerandos and ritardandos. “Free” rubato time (so common to the avant-garde today) also proved interesting as did the possibility of having several tempos going on at once. The next step was to attempt to play things in 7/4 and 9/4. Arif Mardin, the Turkish jazz composer, gave me a chart in 9 divided 2 2 2 3 that was based on a Turkish folk rhythm, and made me more aware o
ft the fact that the odd numbered meters which at first seem so exotic and difficult to u, are really very natural and a part of the folk culture of much of the world. As a matter of fact, friends have told me of playing Greek club dates where all the main dances were in 7 and 9, and even little kids could dance to these rhythms – and would get annoyed at the musicians if they missed a beat!
I reasoned that since it was possible to play in a meter such as a 9 divided 2 2 2 3, it should then be possible to play in meters of even longer length, and this lead to the development of such meters as 3 3 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 (19). To arrive at this particular division of 19, I tried many different patterns, but this was the one that swung the most. The longest meter I have attempted to date is a piece in 85. But this isn’t so far fetched as one might think at first, because at the Department of Ethnomusicology at UCLA I learned of on fold song with a 108 beat cycle!
In the beginning there used to be two arguments against playing jazz in these new rhythms and meters: 1/ They are not “natural”. And my answer was: not natural to whom? They are natural to a great portion of the world’s people. 2/ You can do the same thing in 4/4. This is ridiculous, if one can’t play comfortably in 5 and 7 for example, haw can one hope to superimpose these correctly over 4/4? Also, superimposing any other meter over 4/4 is NOT the same the as playing in that meter exclusively.
But make no mistake about it, learning to play in these new meters and rhythms is difficult for a jazz musician, and it has not been easy to find 20 musicians with the talent and ability who have the necessary determination to stick with it until they have mastered these new ideas. You would be surprised at the number of well known studio musicians who have tried to read the book of the big band and given up, finding that, much to their chagrin, they sounded like rank amateurs because they couldn’t even find the first beat of a bar to begin playing!
In the midst of all my thinking and experimenting with these rhythmic ideas, a very fortunate event happened: I met the Indian musician, Hari Har Rao, and began studying with him, both at the Department of Ethnomusicology at UCLA and privately. He opened up undreamed of new worlds of rhythm that he and his teacher, Ravi Shankar, had worked out. I learned exercised for developing the ability to superimpose complicated rhythmic patterns, on the other, ways of counting to be able to always keep my place in a given cycle, no matter how long or involved. He showed me how to arrive at new rhythmic ideas, the proper ways of working these out and practicing them. It was a tremendously exciting and rewarding experience. I have written a book explaining much of what I learned and hope to have it published some day so that others can learn this also.
From that time on, I have had two main goals in the realm of rhythm: a)to develop my playing and writing to the highest possible level rhythmically and b) to set the wheel in motion that will send these new rhythms permeating through our whole musical culture.
The big band was started three summers ago in Hollywood, but temporarily disbanded when I went back to New York for a year. Hollywood was the only place a band like this could have been started, because of the excellent free rehearsal studio facilities of the musician’s union, the high caliber of musicians, and the fact that the musicians here are not so transient as in New Your. In a project such as this, having a relatively stable personnel is an absolute essential. In the beginning one new person coming in a little wrong could throw the whole band off, however now the nucleus of the band is so strong that nothing can upset them.
The original idea for the expanded rhythm section (3 basses and 3 percussionists) was both musical and practical. I had been doing a lot of playing in Latin bands and became very fond of the sound of having 3 and 4 percussionists, each doing something different. The rhythmic polyphony excited me. On the practical side I realized that if only one drummer and bass player knew my book and if they had to leave for some reason, I would be stuck. So I tried the big rhythm section, fell in love with the sound, and have used it ever since!
In teaching the band these new rhythms, I have found that the hardest thing is to learn to tap one’s foot unevenly. Usually the 5’s come most easily (patting a subdivision of 2 3 or 3 2), then the 7’s and 9’s follow – each one usually being progressively more difficult. Once one is used to patting one’s fee unevenly, the longer, more complex patterns are relatively easy.
The band has been working steadily ever Monday evening (currently at “Bonesville” in Hollywood) for almost a year, and I remember our delight when about 6 month ago, after struggling like mad to feel comfortable in a fast 7 (divided 3 2 2), I brought in a chart in 3 2/3 /4 time (11),, ant the band played it at sight! That was a big turning point because they realized that now they could count almost any rhythmic pattern at sight. The time barrier had been broken.
Along with the new rhythms, I have been experiment with new itches and harmonic-melodic patterns. The new pitches have been made possible by my new ¼ tone trumpet made by the Frank Holton Company at my special request, and this has opened up another fascinating world. The new harmonic-melodic patterns have come about by using the Indian Raga, or scale patterns in new (westernized) ways, in addition to experiment along the “traditional” classical avant-garde techniques of pitch organization.
In summation, let me quote the noted percussionist and composer, Willian Kriaft, who said: “these rhythms are the first real challenge to come along in jazz since Bebop.” I know I have found that working with these rhythms over the last tow year has been the most exciting and fruitful period of my entire career in jazz, and I hope that some of the excitement I feel communicates to you , the listener.
16 August 1966 - Don Ellis
Side One:
33 222 1 222
The title signifies the subdivisions of the 19/4 pattern. I originally worked out this pattern in the Spring of 1963 after trying many other combinations. This was the one that swang the most. It is now considered the “traditional” 19. The tenor soloist is Ira Schulman.
Concerto for Trumpet
Concerto for Trumpet is based on a “ragtime” patter in 5/4 (with accents on 2, 3 ½, and 5) Soon after writing it I found that almost simultaneously a new dance from Brazil was coming into popularity with the same accents within the 5/4.
Side Two:
Passacaglia and Fugue
Written by Hank Levy, and extremely talented writer from Baltimore, Maryland. It is in the strict passacaglia and fugue forms and yet retains the swing and feeling of jazz. It is far and way the best of all of this type of contrapuntal writing which as been done for a large jazz band. Tom Scott is heard on alto.
New Nine
This 2223 subdivision of 9 is common to many countries (among them Turkey, Greece and India). Harmonically it is based both on Indian Raga and the Blues. At one time or another, the following subdivisions of 9 are heard:
2223
2232
2322
3222
333
and 222222222 (over 2 bars). At the very end a 333 and 122122233 (over two bars) subdivision of the basic 2223 is heard.
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