Herb Ellis
| Herb Ellis | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Mitchell Herbert Ellis |
| Born |
August 4, 1921 Farmersville, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | March 28, 2010 (aged 88) Los Angeles, California |
| Genres | Jazz, swing, cool jazz, West Coast jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1941–2010 |
| Labels | Verve, Concord Jazz, Justice |
| Associated acts | Oscar Peterson |
| Notable instruments | |
| Herb Ellis ES-165 | |
Mitchell Herbert "Herb" Ellis (August 4, 1921 – March 28, 2010) was an American jazz guitarist. Perhaps best known for his 1950s membership in the trio of pianist Oscar Peterson, Ellis was also a staple of west-coast studio recording sessions, and was described by critic Scott Yanow as "an excellent bop-based guitarist with a slight country twang to his sound."
Born in Farmsville, Texas and raised in the suburbs of Dallas, Ellis first heard the electric guitar performed by George Barnes on a radio program. This experience is said to have inspired him to take up the guitar. He became proficient on the instrument by the time he entered North Texas State University. Ellis majored in music, but because they did not yet have a guitar program at that time, he studied the string bass. Unfortunately, due to lack of funds, his college days were short-lived. In 1941, Ellis dropped out of college and toured for six months with a band from the University of Kansas.
In 1943, he joined Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra and it was with Gray's band that he got his first recognition in the jazz magazines. After Gray's band, Ellis joined the Jimmy Dorsey band where he played some of his first recorded solos. Ellis remained with Dorsey through 1947, traveling and recording extensively, and playing in dance halls and movie palaces. Then came a turnabout that would change Ellis's career forever. Then, as pianist Lou Carter told journalist Robert Dupuis in a 1996 interview, "The Dorsey band had a six-week hole in the schedule. The three of us had played together some with the big band. John Frigo, who had already left the band, knew the owner of the Peter Stuyvesant Hotel in Buffalo. We went in there and stayed six months. And that's how the group the Soft Winds were born". Together with Frigo and Lou Carter, Ellis wrote the classic jazz standard "Detour Ahead".
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