Mitchell Herbert "Herb" Ellis was an American Jazz guitarist. He was best known for his 1950's membership in the trio of pianist Oscar Peterson. Ellis was also a staple of west-coast studio recording sessions.
I had the pleasure of interviewing a fellow musician, named Mike, who is one of Herb Ellis's devout fans this week who is also an accomplished jazz guitaritst and recommended that I give this Jazz icon's music a listen. Ellis' guitar style can best be described as bop based with a slight country twang sound. Mike happened to find Herb Ellis when looking up recording sessions of old youtube videos by Oscar Peterson. He landed on a marvelous song, A Gal in Calico, performed by Peterson's famous trio. Mike was impressed that Ellis could actually keep up with the fast paced tempo of Peterson's music, and thus became a new fan of Ellis. Ellis has a unique and extraordinary style as he plays the guitar as if it is a Tabla, beating out the rhythms of A Gal in Calicowith a wonderful percussive style on the the neck of the guitar.
Herb Ellis was born August 4, 1921 in Farmingville Texas and grew up in the suburbs of Dallas. Ellis first heard the electric guitar performed by George Barnes on a radio program and was smitten by the instrument. This experience is said to have inspired him to learn to play guitar. He became proficient on the guitar and enrolled at North Texas State University, where he persued a degree in music. Unfortunately, the college did not have a guitar program, therefore he picked up string bass, but due to lakc of funds, he dropped out. Upon leaving college he began to tour with a band from the University of Kansas, and continued to play professionally for his entire life.
Ellis passed away in March of 2010, but his musical style lives on and he will be remembered as one of the greatest Jazz guitarists of our time.
