Trumpeter, drummer, composer and band leader Don Ellis was born July 25, 1934 in Los Angeles. Ellis became interested in jazz after hearing a concert by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and developed into what one critic has called “a free thinker” in the world of jazz.

Ellis graduated from Boston University with a composition degree in 1956 and his first gig after graduation was playing with the Glenn Miller ghost band, led by Ray McKinley. After spending two years in Germany as a member of the U.S. 7th Army Symphony Orchestra, Ellis returned to America where he played with both the Charlie Barnet and Maynard Ferguson bands.

In the late 1950s Ellis became part of the growing avant-garde movement in New York playing on records with Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus and George Russell. He also was interested in the intersection between classical music and jazz, performing pieces with the New York Philharmonic. In the early 1960s Ellis moved back to California and entered the graduate program in ethnomusicology at UCLA.

In the mid-1960s the Don Ellis Orchestra came into being and performed a memorable set at the 1966 Monterey Jazz Festival. The ensemble experimented with unique instrumentation and unusual time signatures as well as employing techniques from non-Western musical influences. Ellis also began performing on a quarter-tone trumpet and often would employ electronic enhancement to his playing.

The band initially recorded with the Pacific Jazz label but was signed by John Hammond for Columbia Records in 1967. Their first album for Columbia, “Electric Bath,” was nominated for a Grammy and won DownBeat magazine’s Album of the Year award for 1968. It reached #8 on the Billboard jazz charts. The record produced what is perhaps the band’s best known piece Indian Lady.

In the 1970s Ellis’ band continued to play in various configurations, but Ellis himself was beginning to develop a serious heart condition which eventually limited his ability to perform. He spent more time composing and created the movie scores for The French Connection, The French Connection II and The Seven-Ups. Ellis passed away from a heart attack at his home on December 17, 1978 at the age 44.

Here is a link to the Don Ellis Orchestra playing Indian Lady:

"INDIAN LADY"