Big Pacific

This CD (a straight reissue of the original LP) features a rather notable pianoless combo: vibraphonist Milt Jackson, guitarist Joe Pass, and bassist Ray Brown. These three masterful players recorded together in many settings during the Pablo years, but only this once as a trio. The colorful repertoire (which ranges from "The Pink Panther" and "Blue Bossa" to "Nuages" and "Come Sunday") acts as a device for the musicians to construct some brilliant bop-based solos.

The Don Ellis Orchestra really came into its own during the period covered by this CD (1966-1967), playing perfectly coherent solos in ridiculous time signatures. At the time, the band consisted of five trumpets, three trombones, five reeds, piano, three basses, two drummers, and three percussionists. "Barnum's Revenge" has the ensemble playing a satirical brand of Dixieland in 5/4, "Orientation" goes back and forth between 7/8 and 9/8, and "Upstart" is in 11/8 (three and two-thirds beats to the measure!). Somehow everything swings with Ellis, Ira Schulman (on tenor and clarinet), Dave Mackay (on piano), and Tom Scott (on saxello) being the main soloists. In addition to the original six selections (recorded at the Pacific Jazz Festival in 1966 and at Shelly's Manne-Hole in 1967), there are five additional cuts, including an alternate version of "Freedom Jazz Dance." Fun music.