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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZELLIS, Herb(b Mitchell Herbert Ellis, 4 August 1921, near Farmersville TX; d 28 March 2010) Guitar. He began self-taught on banjo as a small child; played with With Russ Morgan, then the Casa Loma band '44, then J. Dorsey; left Dorsey with pianist Lou Carter, bassist John Frigo (3/4 of the rhythm section leaving at once) to form trio Soft Winds '47-52, all three singing original arrangements in hip harmony, like the mid-'50s groups Four Freshman or Hi-Los but ahead of their time: songs included 'I Told You I Love You, Now Get Out' (covered by Woody Herman and Stan Kenton), 'Detour Ahead', 'Ninety-Nine Guys', and Edgar Allan Poe's 'Annabel Lee'. Ellis joined Ray Brown in the Oscar Peterson trio '53-8, some say the greatest jazz piano trio of all time; he also accompanied Ella Fitzgerald and Julie London. He played in the Steve Allen TV show band early '60s, did more TV work with Della Reese, Merv Griffin, others; worked with with Terry Gibbs; toured '70s in guitar duos with Joe Pass, then Barney Kessel. A tasteful, swinging, modern guitarist with many devoted fans, Ellis made many albums with Pass, Peterson, Brown, Kessel, Charlie Byrd, etc, and many of his own included Ellis In Wonderland '56, Nothing But The Blues '57, Meets Jimmy Giuffre '59, Thank You Charlie Christian '60, Softly, But With That Feeling '61, all on Verve with all-star sidemen; The Midnight Roll, Three Guitars In Bossa Nova Time, Herb Ellis And Stuff Smith, And Charlie Byrd all '62-3 on CBS labels; Man With A Guitar '65 on Dot; Hello Herbie '69 on MPS; Jazz/Concord, Seven Come Eleven and Soft Shoe all on Concord Jazz '73-4; Two For The Road '74 with Pass was on Pablo; then After You've Gone '74, Hot Tracks '75, Rhythm Willie '75 (quintet with Freddie Green), A Pair To Draw To '76 (duet with Ross Tomkins on piano), Wildflower '77, Soft And Mellow '78, Herb Ellis At Montreux '79, Herb Mix '81 were all on Concord. Also Sweet And Lovely (trio with Shelly Manne), quartet set When You're Smiling, both '83 on Japanese label Atlas. Doggin' Around on Concord featured Red Mitchell; Roll Call on Justice included Frigo. Stuck in Vienna for a few days '94-5 Ellis made Meets T. C. Pfeiler on Tonewheel with the Austrian jazz organist, whose Dynaflow (with Christian Havel on guitar) was made at about the same time, both with Herb Berger on tenor sax. |