Ellis' early career had a not unusual trajectory, from his sideman work with Maynard Ferguson to experimental small-group work under his own name and with George Russell, to exotic rhythmic explorations with his Hindustani Jazz Sextet and his big band. The fact that the latter unit signed a major-label contract and became less exploratory and more overblown is perhaps what led to him writing film music (The French Connection), before his early demise at the age of 44. Either way, he deserves not to be forgotten, since he was a fine trumpeter and thinker, as well as a successful self-publicist. The bulk of this issue consists of his second released effort, the 1961 New Ideas, its predecessor How Time Passes having perhaps failed to be perceived by the public-domain reissue label as a Poll Winner. That was done half a year earlier, with the equally interesting Byard plus versatile sidemen Carter and Persip, while the addition here of Al Francis adds a slightly eccentric counterweight to the trumpeter on several relatively straightahead numbers such as ‘Natural H.’ (based on ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’) and the blues ‘Uh-Huh’.

There are also some freely improvised tracks, including ‘Solo’ (by Ellis alone), the Ellis-Francis duet ‘Despair To Hope’ and the semi-atonal ‘Tragedy.’ As these titles indicate, the emotional territory is mapped out beforehand but not the musical trajectory, and this leads to interesting ideas that might have come out rather stilted, were it not for the energy and technique exhibited by the trumpet, vibes and piano. Certainly the results seem less daunting than they might have at the time, especially compared to the more expressionist avant-garde of the 1960s. One long 1958 bonus track finds Ellis, less well recorded, jamming with Zoot Sims and a drummer who deserves to remain anonymous.