Jazz Musician. Born Mitchell Herbert Ellis, he was a guitarist whose innovative horn-like electric guitar solos changed the sound of jazz. He began his career in the 1940s, playing with big bands such as Glen Gray's Caso Loma Orchestra, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and on NBC Radio shows. After starting his own trio "Soft Winds" in the late 1940s, he toured with the Oscar Peterson Trio, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. In the 1950s he settled in southern California, where he worked as a film and TV studio musician before launching his own small jazz groups. One of his most memorable ventures was creating the "Great Guitars Show" with fellow jazz guitarists Barney Kessel and Charlie Byrd, which at every show was a musical display of guitar dexterity. From the 1960s to the 1990s he recorded with such artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Sweet Edison, Buddy Rich, Louie Armstrong, Stan Getz, Joe Pass, Melvin Rhyne and many more. In his honor the Gibson Guitar Company issued a Herb Ellis ES-165 signature tribute guitar, which after four decades is still in production. Cause of death: Alzheimer's disease.
Jazz Musician. Born Mitchell Herbert Ellis, he was a guitarist whose innovative horn-like electric guitar solos changed the sound of jazz. He began his career in the 1940s, playing with big bands such as Glen Gray's Caso Loma Orchestra, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and on NBC Radio shows. After starting his own trio "Soft Winds" in the late 1940s, he toured with the Oscar Peterson Trio, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. In the 1950s he settled in southern California, where he worked as a film and TV studio musician before launching his own small jazz groups. One of his most memorable ventures was creating the "Great Guitars Show" with fellow jazz guitarists Barney Kessel and Charlie Byrd, which at every show was a musical display of guitar dexterity. From the 1960s to the 1990s he recorded with such artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Sweet Edison, Buddy Rich, Louie Armstrong, Stan Getz, Joe Pass, Melvin Rhyne and many more. In his honor the Gibson Guitar Company issued a Herb Ellis ES-165 signature tribute guitar, which after four decades is still in production. Cause of death: Alzheimer's disease.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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