''Connection'' is an album by trumpeter/bandleader

Don Ellis Donald Johnson Ellis (July 25, 1934 – December 17, 1978) was an American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer, and bandleader. He is best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of time signatures. Later in his lif ...

recorded in 1972 and released on the Columbia label. The album features big band arrangements of pop hits of the day along with Ellis' "Theme from The French Connection" which won him a

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement (and its subsequent name changes) has been awarded since 1963. The award is presented to the arranger(s) of the music. Only songs or tracks are eligible, no longer works (e.g. albums). The perfor ...

in 1973

Reception

Thom Jurek of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

said "Ellis devotees will no doubt delight in ''Connection'' because of its abundance of sass, humor, and imagination, while jazz purists will shake their heads in disgust and others will greet the album with mix of curious bewilderment, a good-natured (hopefully) chuckle, and a perverse kind of glee". On

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

, Jim Santella observed "the unique character of Ellis' earlier work is missing on this recently reissued recording from 1972. He and the bandmembers solo less often, preferring instead to let the music flow with popular melodies. Vocals are added to several selections. Electric guitar and electric bass take center stage much of the time. Keyboards surround the band with lush scenery. Still, some of Ellis' trademark features are still there. His trumpet rages powerfully on "Superstar" and his flugelhorn floats gently on "Alone Again (Naturally)"."Santella, J.
All About Jazz Review
September 6, 2005

Track listing

# "Put It Where You Want It" (

Joe Sample Joseph Leslie Sample (February 1, 1939 – September 12, 2014) was an American keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, the band which shortened its name to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained ...

) - 4:26 # "

Alone Again (Naturally) "Alone Again (Naturally)" is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan. It was recorded in 1972 at the same time as his album '' Back to Front'' and was a worldwide hit. The single spent six non-consecutive weeks at number one on ''B ...

" (

Gilbert O'Sullivan Raymond Edward "Gilbert" O'Sullivan (born 1 December 1946) is an Irish singer-songwriter who achieved his most significant success during the early 1970s with hits including "Alone Again (Naturally)", " Clair", and "Get Down". O'Sullivan's so ...

) - 2:36 # "

Superstar A superstar is someone who has great popular appeal and is widely known, prominent, or successful in their field. Celebrities referred to as "superstars" may include individuals who work as actors, musicians, athletes, and other media-based profe ...

" (

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...

, Andrew Lloyd Webber) - 4:07 # "

I Feel the Earth Move I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural ...

" ( Carole King) - 3:59 # "Theme from The French Connection" (Don Ellis) - 3:50 # " Conquistador" (

Gary Brooker Gary Brooker (29 May 1945 – 19 February 2022) was an English singer and pianist, and the founder and lead singer of the rock band Procol Harum. Early life Born in Hackney Hospital, East London, on 29 May 1945, Brooker grew up in Hackney ...

Keith Reid Keith Stuart Brian Reid (born 19 October 1946 Allmusic.com biography by Jason Ankeny/ref>) is a lyricist and songwriter who wrote the lyrics of every song released by Procol Harum that was not previously recorded by someone else, with the excep ...

) - 3:36 # " Roundabout" ( Jon Anderson,

Steve Howe Stephen James Howe (born 8 April 1947) is an English musician, best known as the guitarist in the progressive rock band Yes across three stints since 1970. Born in Holloway, North London, Howe developed an interest in the guitar and began to le ...

) - 4:31 # "Chain Reaction" ( Hank Levy) - 9:04 # "

Goodbye to Love "Goodbye to Love" is a song composed by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis. It was released by the Carpenters in 1972. On the '' Close to You: Remembering The Carpenters'' documentary, Tony Peluso stated that this was one of the first power balla ...

" (

John Bettis John Gregory Bettis (born October 24, 1946) is an American lyricist. He was originally part of the band Spectrum, which also featured Richard and Karen Carpenter. He wrote the lyrics for " Top of the World", a hit for both Lynn Anderson and Th ...

, Richard Carpenter) - 3:36 # " Lean on Me" (

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He had several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including " Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), " Grandma's Hands" (1971), " Use Me" (197 ...

) - 3:06 # "Train to Get There" (Richard Halligan) - 3:46

Personnel

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, flugelhorn, arranger *Fred Selden – alto saxophone, flute, soprano saxophone, piccolo, alto flute, arranger *Vince Denham – alto saxophone,

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

, soprano saxophone, flute, piccolo, *Sam Falzone - tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute, arranger *Gary Herbig – baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute,

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

*Paul Bogosian, Bruce Mackay, Gil Rathel, Glenn Stuart – trumpet, flugelhorn *Sidney Muldrow -

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

Glenn Ferris Glenn Arthur Ferris (born June 27, 1950) is an American jazz trombonist who has also worked in other fields. Outside of jazz he has played for Frank Zappa, Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, and Duran Duran. He studied classical music from 1958 to 196 ...

–

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

*Ken Sawhill – bass trombone *Doug Bixby –

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

Jay Graydon Jay Joseph Graydon (born October 8, 1949, Burbank, California) is an American songwriter, recording artist, guitarist, singer, keyboardist, producer, arranger, and recording engineer. He is the winner of two Grammy Awards (in the R&B category) wi ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

Milcho Leviev Milcho Leviev ( bg, Милчо Левиев ; December 19, 1937 – October 12, 2019) was a Bulgarian composer, arranger, and jazz pianist. Career Leviev was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and graduated from the Bulgarian State Academy of Music in 1 ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, electric piano, organ, clavinet, arranger *Dave McDaniel – bass *Ralph Humphrey – drums *Ron Dunn – drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

*Lee Pastora – congas *Earle Corry, Joel Quivey –

electric violin An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fi ...

*Renita Koven –

electric viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

*Pat Kudzia –

electric cello The electric cello is a type of cello that relies on electronic amplification (rather than acoustic resonance) to produce sound. An acoustic cello can be fitted with a bridge or body mounted contact pickup providing an electric signal, or a built- ...

*Earle Corry, Richard Halligan, Hank Levy - arranger

References

{{Authority control Don Ellis albums 1972 albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Teo Macero