Don Ellis
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Don Ellis (25 July 1934 - 17 December 1978) was an American jazz composer, trumpeter, drummer and bandleader.
Ellis played in Glenn Miller's band, then led by Ray McKinley, and played with Maynard Ferguson as well. By the turn of the 1960s he started his own band and became active in the experimental free jazz scene. Among the musicians who once played in his band were Emil Richards and Ralph Humphrey.
He wrote the soundtrack to films such as The French Connection (1971) and The Seven-Ups (1973). In 1978 he died from a heart attack.
Zappa and Don Ellis
Don Ellis provided trumpet for Absolutely Free (1967), specifically during Brown Shoes Don't Make It. He can also be heard on Frank Zappa For President (2016).
