This is the first video or film of Don Ellis I ever saw. Before it, I had only photographs and records.
It is not a good copy. The picture is poor and the sound is thin, and “New Horizons” is not my favorite Ellis composition. None of that mattered. What stunned me was Ellis himself: his presence on the stage, and the intensity of the band around him. No photograph and no record had told me that. I had known the sound for years and had not known the man.
I was so struck that I sent the link straight to Stein Kretsinger of SteinInHawaii.com. The email went out at 9:53 PM on July 23, 2008.
If you only know Don Ellis from the albums, watch this once. Then go back to the recordings and listen again.
The film was posted to YouTube by the user “degennes”. Its date and venue are not documented here. Rights belong to the film’s owners. More on the Watch page.