Don Ellis Leads His Big Band

Notable Cast

Frank and Elvis Sing

Frank Sinatra sings, “Love Me Tender” and Elvis Presley sings, “Witchcraft,” in a duet! From the 1960 Classic TV Frank Sinatra special on ABC, The show featured Elvis’s first TV appearance after being released from the Army.

A clash of the Titans! What more can you say!

Sammy Davis Junior with other performers Singing and dancing onstage in the Colgate Summer Comedy Hour.

Sammy Davis, Jr. Performs!

Sammy Davis Jr. Davis achieved success on stage, in films, on radio and television and as an author. He sang, danced, acted, told jokes, did impressions and charmed his way into America’s entertainment legacy. In this clip, from 1954, Davis performs to one of his biggest hits, “Birth of the Blues,” on the classic TV show, the Colgate Comedy Hour.

Ella Fitzgerald, Andy Williams and Dinah Shore singing together or the Dinah shore Show, December 11, 1960.

Dinah, Andy, and Ella Sing the Blues

Three great voices joined for an opening medley of blues and swing on the Dinah Shore Show on December 11, 1960. It turned into a live master performance from three very different world-class singers as they joined voices.

Don Ellis.
Internet Archive – https://archive.org/details/calauem_000020

Don Ellis was best known for writing, and winning an academy award for arranging, the theme to The French Connection. Before that, he represented the height of LA jazz sophistication in 1967.

This video presents Don Ellis at Ellis Island (nightclub) on the Sunset Strip, Hollywood, California in 1967. The Don Ellis Band plays “In a Turkish Bath.” Ray Neapolitan is on sitar.

The opening sequence beautifully shows the musical excitement and innovation that was present in L.A. at that time.