Don Ellis

Trumpeter Don Ellis' initial recording as a leader (and first of four small group dates from the 1960-1962 period) found him stretching the boundaries of bop-based jazz and experimenting a bit with time and tempo. Teamed up with Jaki Byard (who doubles on piano and alto), bassist Ron Carter and drummer Charlie Persip, Ellis (whose sound was already pretty distinctive) performs four of his unusual originals (including the 22-minute "Improvisational Suite #1") plus Byard's "Waste." Although these musical experiments failed to be influential (Ellis himself went in a different direction a few years later), the unpredictable music is still quite interesting to hear. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide