Customer Reviews

Tears of Joy

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tears of Joy is considered by many to be the finest product of the Don Ellis ensemble. It was recorded live in 1971 and was the first Ellis Orchestra recording that features a string section and the Bulgarian-born rhtymic-genuis pianist Milcho Leviev. The double-CD (originally double-LP) contains Ellis's masterpiece "Strawberry Soup." Performed by countless college jazz ensembles - and even several drum and bugle corps - "Strawberry Soup" is perhaps Don Ellis's most famous composition, and is considered by many to be one of his finest compositional efforts. According to Ellis pianist Milcho Leviev, "Strawberry Soup is one of the richest (musically and technically) compositions of Don's creativity and of the Band's as well." "Strawberry Soup" is a virtual clinic in Ellis's concepts of rhythm, including exotic meters and rhythmic superimpositions.

This is one of Don's finest recordings. Leonard Feather referred to the Ellis band as "the Stan Kenton of the 70's". His explorations encompassed some of the following:

1.Odd meters that explored Bulgarian rhythms. Not just 5/4 or 7/4, but time signatures such as 25/16 ("How's This for Openers") or 33/16 ("Bulgarian Bulge") or 3 and 2/3's over 4 ("Blues in Elf").

2.Electronic sound experimentation. Ellis hooked his trumpet up to a ring modulator, echo-plex and waa-waa pedal to create a whole new sound texture. Listen to the opening bars of the title track.

3.Quarter-tone scales played on a custom built four valve trumpet. Listen to Don's opening solo line on How's This for Openers!

4.Expanded instrumentation (Electric string quartet, a sax section that doubled on every instrument, two drum set players - sometimes three when he played, tuba, french horn, auxiliary percussion and keyboard synthesizers.

5.The fusion of Latin, Rock and Jazz music. Modern treatment of pop music of the day.

6.Fantastic drum routines that included Ellis himself.

This band had it all and you can hear it all on this recording. I was lucky enough to see this band live on three occasions and live was the best way to hear them. Their performance had energy and edge. "Tears of Joy" is a perfect title for this CD because the joyous sounds of this band will come through your speakers.

I also want to say BRAVO to Wounded Bird Records for getting this recording reissued. Please don't stop with this one!! Don Ellis needs to be heard by today's generation. The rest of his recordings should also be released: "Live at the Fillmore" / "Soaring" / "The New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground" and others.

This is arguably Don Ellis's best album. It's certainly my favourite. The playing is a bit raw around the edges, but there is an honest passion here that is infectious and exciting.

The album covers the gamut of big band emotions. The track "Loss" is achingly beautiful. "Strawberry Soup", one of Don's finest compositions, is episodic, never repeating, and rollicking good fun as Don shows off how many ways 9 can be divided. "Blues in Elf", my fav DE composition, gets down and dirty as Milcho Leviev teases us with his Beethoven in a weird time signature, and Don's quarter-tone playing zeros in on the heart of the blues between the notes. Every track is a rich musical experience worthy of your listening.

I should point out the string section on this album. Rather than simply background filler, the string quartet here acts as a full fledged component of the band along with the saxes, trumpets, trombones, and rhythm section. The result is a unique big band sound.

This is simply one of the best big band albums of all time.

Well that was an unexpected emotional reaction to the release of a CD! I literally had a tear in my eye seeing this favorite of Don Ellis' music finally released ... one I played (and played drums along with) so many times in the 70's ... my second, long since worn out copy still sits in my LP collection. I was introduced to Ellis' music seeing the band on TV live from Monterey playing Bulgarian Bulge and immediately went searching and found Tears of Joy. Highlights, besides that cut, are Blues in Elf's Moonlight Sonata in 11 ... the many textures of Strawberry Soup ... the way the sax ensemble section swings on 5/4 ... crisp recording of the strings (for the day) and the interplay of three drum sets and congas. YES PLEASE! Fillmore and Soaring next?

We are all fortunate that this has been reissued. The post-war era was rough on big bands. Ellis was one of a handful of innovators who dragged the format into the next epoch, with spectacular success. Known for time signatures which require complex algorithms to decipher, there is much more here to enjoy than mere cleverness. This music takes you through the entire emotional spectrum, weaving smoothly from point to point. It is smart, complex, and dense - truly extraordinary music. And those drummers!

Coming on the heels of his often over-the-top (but frequently exciting) "Live at The Fillmore" album, "Tears of Joy" marks a likely highpoint in Ellis's multifaceted career as a bandleader. With the possible exception of his final band (well-caught on the Koch Records re-issue of "Live at Montreux") this particular lineup is one of most beloved by Ellis's fans, as it marks the US debut of Bulagarian pianist extraordinaire Milcho Leviev (whose "Bulgarian Bulge" in a nearly uncountable 33 and 36/16 meter is nonetheless played with devil take the hindmost enthusiasm by the band). The charts, particularly the epic "Strawberry Soup" show Ellis's most sophisticated pallette to date, as he augments the band with a string section and frequently uses mini-concertante groupings against big unisons. Besides the leader's pyrotechnical trumpeting, there's plenty of solo space given to the rest of the band, especially Leviev, trombonist Jim Sawyer and sax player Fred Seldon and the rhythm section of Ralph Humphrey, Ron Dunn and Lee Pastora always propel the charts with a surprisingly subtle swing (given that almost nothing on the two CDs is in 4/4).

I saw Ellis live many times between 1972 and 1975; it's still a shame that this most unique of American big band leaders still has not recieved the acclaim which he deserved for making music as heard on this CD.

This live recording of Don Ellis and his big band is one of the best live jazz recordings ever!

Don Ellis, besides switching off between a set of drums, a quarter-tone trumpet & fluegelhorn, leads a 22-piece band, consisting of a string quartet, brass, woodwinds, piano, bass guiarist, percussionist and two full-kit drummers. He also composes his music in odd-meters (5/4, 7/4, 9/4, etc.), and his arrangements are top-notch.

Each track is good in it's own right, but my personal favorites are 5/4 Getaway, Get It Together (similar to "mission impossible" theme), Blues in Elf, and the 17-minute magnum opus of the 2-CD set, "Strawberry Soup".

After not hearing this recording for over 30 years, I knew it was quite good, but when I listened to it again, I was utterly blown away and quite literally, had "Tears of Joy" streaming down my face while listening to this absolute gem of a jazz recording.

Everybody else has told you how great the album is, and they are absolutely right. It's a shame there are only 5 stars available! I just wanted to comment that the CD mastering is very faithful to the original album. Bravo to Wounded Bird, and it's great to see that Fillmore is next!

Don Ellis was a jazz musician who was never satisfied with making just another album. He was originally a typical "modern" jazz trumpter in several big bands, but got involved in the "Third Stream" movement in the early 60's. The later 60's introduced Ellis to "Eastern" music and from there, he created the most interesting and complicated big band ever. Tears of Joy is the high point of this band.

Ellis experimented with everything! In this band, he introduces the amplified string quartet. The sax section doubles on clarinet and oboe, and with the French horn that the band featured, sounds like a woodwind quintet. The band had three drummers and a percussionist. The trumpet section had 4-valve, quarter tone trumpets. And to top it all off, Ellis had the crazy Bulgarian pianist, Milcho Leviev to whom playing in 33/16 was natural!

There are several high points to this album. In "Tears of Joy" Ellis plays his trumpet through a ring modulator so that he played chords, all in 5/4, of course. In "Blues in Elf" (elf is German for 11), Leviev starts by playing Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" with the last triplet in each measure taken off, playing it in 11/8. This morphs into a slow blues featuring the string quartet and Ellis playing in quarter tones!

The best piece is "Strawberry Soup" which is in 9/8. Ellis subdivides the 9 beats per measure in several different ways, which is a gas. This is an extended piece (18 minutes) which gives everybody in the band a chance to solo.

This album incorporates so many different ideas about time, harmony and instrumentation, and yet it's not just a collection of gimmicks - it is great music and really swings. It's a lot of fun, and yet very interesting to listen to at the same time. I really recommend this album to anyone with open ears and an open mind.

My opinion: this is the bands best...don goes from trumpet to drums and joins in fours with 2 other drummers, it's awesome!

If your in to odd time signatures, every tune is different. Highly recommend this one!