Tears of Joy (album)
1971 live album by Don Ellis
Tears of Joy is a live double album by trumpeter/bandleader Don Ellis recorded in 1971 and released on the Columbia label.
Reception
Thom Jurek of Allmusic said "Tears of Joy is a Don Ellis classic. The sheer musical strength of this ensemble is pretty much unparalleled in his career. The trumpeter/leader had backed off—a bit—from some of his outlandish and beautifully excessive use of strange and unconventional time signatures, though there is no lack of pioneering experimentalism in tone, color, arrangement, or style. ...Ultimately, Tears of Joy stands as a singular achievement in a career full of them by a musical auteur whose creativity seemingly knew few if any bounds". On All About Jazz, Jim Santella observed "Tears of Joy marked a subtle change in the Don Ellis big band. The trumpeter was gradually drifting toward popular music, and he was beginning to use the new electronic technology to its best advantage. However, he continued to load each arrangement with the kinds of musical features that have always left their unique stamp on his undertakings. Ellis and his other soloists stretch out with virtuosity while complex rhythms and dense counterpoint fill the air, and the band's sections taunt each other with adventurous forays. ...Highly recommended, Tears of Joy represents vintage Don Ellis big band excitement at its best" The Penguin Guide to Jazz said "Tears of Joy is regarded by some as the best Don Ellis album.
“Tears of Joy (album)” enters the record as 1971 live album by Don Ellis. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Tears, album and live can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Tears of Joy (album)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Tears, album and live provides the most credible route into that argument.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 20, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q19897914. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1971.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Tears of Joy (album)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.