Herb Ellis, a jazz guitarist perhaps best known for his work with the influential Oscar Peterson Trio, has died. He was 88.
Ellis, who had Alzheimer's disease, died Sunday morning at his home in Los Angeles, said his son, Mitch.
During his long and varied career, Ellis played with Jimmy Dorsey and Ella Fitzgerald. He also worked as a studio musician and played in the bands of several television shows, including Steve Allen's and Merv Griffin's.
“There have been changes in jazz and new styles come along. I play straight ahead, what you might call mainstream, jazz," Ellis told the Columbus Dispatch of Ohio in 1996. “That's what I played when I started and that's what I still play. I wish everyone else good luck and God bless, but I've found mine and I'm going to stick with it."
He was playing with two other former members of Dorsey's band, pianist Lou Carter and bassist John Frigo, in the drummer-less trio Soft Winds in 1952 when Peterson saw the group in concert in Buffalo, N.Y.
“He liked it. So he and I went out later that night and jammed at some place in Buffalo," Ellis told The Times in 1993. “I didn't see him again until 1953 when [guitarist] Barney Kessel left his group. That's when he called me for the job."
The combination of pianist Peterson, bassist Ray Brown and Ellis created “one of the most celebrated trios in jazz history," according to “The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz" (1999) by Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler.
Mitchell Herbert Ellis was born Aug. 4, 1921, in Farmersville, Texas. He attended North Texas State for two years, but had to drop out for financial reasons, his son said.
He joined the Casa Loma Orchestra in 1944, then toured with Dorsey from 1945 to 1948 before forming Soft Winds with Carter and Frigo.
“We didn't hear things in terms of having a drummer," Ellis explained in a 1993 Times article, “but it worked well."
He played with Peterson and Brown from 1953 to 1958 and reunited years later.
“That time was very special to all of them," Mitch Ellis said. “He and Ray roomed together; they were really best friends."
Ellis, who had Alzheimer's disease, died Sunday morning at his home in Los Angeles, said his son, Mitch.
During his long and varied career, Ellis played with Jimmy Dorsey and Ella Fitzgerald. He also worked as a studio musician and played in the bands of several television shows, including Steve Allen's and Merv Griffin's.
“There have been changes in jazz and new styles come along. I play straight ahead, what you might call mainstream, jazz," Ellis told the Columbus Dispatch of Ohio in 1996. “That's what I played when I started and that's what I still play. I wish everyone else good luck and God bless, but I've found mine and I'm going to stick with it."
He was playing with two other former members of Dorsey's band, pianist Lou Carter and bassist John Frigo, in the drummer-less trio Soft Winds in 1952 when Peterson saw the group in concert in Buffalo, N.Y.
“He liked it. So he and I went out later that night and jammed at some place in Buffalo," Ellis told The Times in 1993. “I didn't see him again until 1953 when [guitarist] Barney Kessel left his group. That's when he called me for the job."
The combination of pianist Peterson, bassist Ray Brown and Ellis created “one of the most celebrated trios in jazz history," according to “The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz" (1999) by Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler.
Mitchell Herbert Ellis was born Aug. 4, 1921, in Farmersville, Texas. He attended North Texas State for two years, but had to drop out for financial reasons, his son said.
He joined the Casa Loma Orchestra in 1944, then toured with Dorsey from 1945 to 1948 before forming Soft Winds with Carter and Frigo.
“We didn't hear things in terms of having a drummer," Ellis explained in a 1993 Times article, “but it worked well."
He played with Peterson and Brown from 1953 to 1958 and reunited years later.
“That time was very special to all of them," Mitch Ellis said. “He and Ray roomed together; they were really best friends."
