''Essence'' is an album by trumpeter

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 1962 and released on the

Pacific Jazz Pacific Jazz Records was a Los Angeles-based record company and label best known for cool jazz or West coast jazz. It was founded in 1952 by producer Richard Bock (1927–1988) and drummer Roy Harte (1924–2003). Harte, in 1954, also co-founded ...

label.Don Ellis discography
accessed May 27, 2013

Reception

Reviewed in the January 3, 1963 issue of ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine, jazz critic Richard B. Hadlock said that "Over and over throughout the 44 remarkable minutes of this recording the force of Ellis' extraordinary musicianship makes itself felt. Indeed, at times his complete mastery of the horn almost seems to get in the way. But this is a brilliant young musician with original ideas to offer..." The

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 ...

site awarded the album 4 stars stating "Ellis, who sought during this period to transfer ideas and concepts from modern classical music into adventurous jazz, often experimented with time, tempos and the use of space while still swinging... This is thought-provoking music that was certainly way overdue to be reissued."Yanow, S
Allmusic Review
accessed May 27, 2013 ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

'' said "The group is a fine one; even the little-known drummers play with authority and seem equal to Ellis's developing rhythmic obsessions. ...Bley is fascinating and Peacock his usual authoritative self."

Track listing

''All compositions by Don Ellis except as indicated'' # "Johnny Come Lately" ( Billy Strayhorn) - 4:57 # "Slow Space" - 4:36 # "Ostinato" - 7:35 # "Donkey" ( Carla Bley) - 4:39 # "Form" - 10:15 # " Angel Eyes" (Earl Brent, Matt Dennis) - 4:26 # "Irony" - 5:16 # " Lover" ( Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) - 3:23

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 ...

Paul Bley Paul Bley, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a jazz pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live performance on the Moog and ...

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 ...

* Gary Peacock - bass *Nick Martinis, Gene Stone - drums

References

{{Authority control Don Ellis albums 1962 albums Pacific Jazz Records albums