Don Elliott

Bill Evans/Don Elliott: Tenderly

Read "Tenderly" reviewed by David Rickert

by David Rickert
September 1, 2001

It is commonplace today for a reissued CD to feature a handful of alternate takes culled from the master tapes of the original session. Frequently filled with false starts, clumsy solos, and interjections from the control room, these tracks provide insight into the recording process and valuable knowledge about the musician's craft. Tenderly is, for all intents and purposes, an entire album of unpolished takes that offer a glimpse into the processes of a soon-to-be a jazz legend ...

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Album Review

Bill Evans & Don Elliott: Tenderly

Read "Tenderly" reviewed by Derek Taylor

by Derek Taylor
August 1, 2001

Subtitled ‘An Informal Session’ this mid-1950s meeting between Evans and Elliott transpired in the latter’s home studio. Never intended for release, listeners expecting a tightly cropped and polished studio date are likely to be disappointed. Fortunately Fantasy producer Eric Miller opted to leave those extraneous noises that did not directly compromise the music in the mix. The result is voyeuristic snapshot of two musicians playing purely for their own enjoyment, working out tunes on the spot and tinkering expressively with ...

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Album Review

Don Elliott: Double Trumpet Doings

by Derek Taylor
January 1, 2000

Originally issued under the slightly more esoteric title “New Counterpoint for Six Valves” this is a disc dominated mainly by the frequent dialogues between its two principle soloists. Elliott and Dedrick make a disparate pair and their contrasting sounds are prime reason for the program’s more interesting outcomes. Elliott was a follower of bebop and renowned more for his talents as a vibraphonist than as a brassman. A collaborator at various times with the likes of George Shearing, Benny Goodman ...

TV / Film

Jazz on TV: Don Elliott and Hal McKusick

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 21, 2022

Yesterday, Jim Eigo sent along a terrific video that Evan Spring posted on the Jazz Research List. The video had been up at YouTube since 2014 and features an episode from a WCBS-TV series in New York called American Musical Theatre. The hour-long show aired from 1959 to 1965—a period considered by many to be the golden age of arts coverage on TV by the CBS network and individual CBS stations. Each week, AMT pulled back the curtain on a ...
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Recording

Bob Corwin and Don Elliott

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 12, 2017

The closest pairing on the East Coast to the West Coast's Chet Baker and Russ Freeman was Don Elliott and Bob Corwin. Playing together, Elliott and Corwin were breezy, delicate and highly melodic. They could swing wwith ease, and both had an extraordinary ear for harmony. If you're familiar with Elliott, then you know he was a master of many instruments. On The Bob Corwin Quartet: Featuring the Trumpet of Don Elliott (1956) for Riverside, Elliott was on trumpet and ...
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Recording

Don Elliott: A Musical Offering

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 6, 2015

There weren't too many instruments Don Elliott couldn't play. Starting in the early 1950s, Elliott recorded on vibes, mellophone, trumpet, bongos, marimba, xylophone, flugelhorn and a variety of percussion instruments. Whats' more, he was a superb vocalist. Like many multi-instrumentalists, Elliott had a multitrack recording studio in New York and at his home in Connecticut. Most of all, Elliott knew what sounded great. He had a producer's sensibility, which let him detach and think through what he wanted to record ...
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