The Hindustani Jazz Sextet Live at the UCLA

This live record is a charming time capsule, taking us back to the swinging 60s and the first fumblings of the Western love affair with Indian classical music. The album is part of a series rediscovering American trumpeter Don Ellis, who played with diverse jazz legends from Glenn Miller to Charles Mingus, before transitioning into film composition. We find Ellis in 1966 in California, part of the West Coast scene synonymous with Dave Brubeck’s ‘cool jazz.’

Brubeck gave us five and seven-beat grooves, but Ellis and his collaborator Harihar Rao up the ante with pieces based on ten-and-a-half and 19-beat cycles. An inter-song tutorial from Rao about rhythmic subdivisions is a reminder of the mesmeric power of Indian rhythm as well as a handy primer for the uninitiated. Emil Richards’ vibraphone is essential to the group’s hip sound, and he supplies one of the most memorable compositions in ‘Bombay Bossa Nova’. Just when you think it can’t get any groovier, Ellis announces Lalo Schifrin (composer of the iconic Mission: Impossible theme) as a guest on the final track.