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Share # 7

“The Last Drop” by John Ellis

I made up a game for this session to try to write tunes with only chord changes, so in other words – no written melodies. I sketched out three of these the morning of the recording before I left for the studio. This one was originally just called, “Number One”. The idea was to try and figure out the right arrangement on the spot and also to improvise a melody. I’ve always loved these kinds of tunes with passing diminished chords. My old friend and frequent collaborator, Jason Marsalis, happened to be in town and just called to check in. Of course I had to ask him to be involved in this ongoing recording project I’ve been doing. I also called the great Yasushi Nakamura to play bass with us. Yasushi played in my trio when I toured in Japan in June of 2016, and we had a blast. As always, thanks for listening.

John Ellis – tenor saxophone
Jason Marsalis – drums
Yasushi Nakamura- bass

Recorded and mixed by Michael Perez-Cisneros at The Big Orange Sheep. As of yet, unmastered