Herb Ellis Live

An excellent bop-based guitarist with a slight country twang to his sound, Herb Ellis became famous playing with The Oscar Peterson Trio during 1953-1958. Prior to that, he had played with The Casa Loma Orchestra, Jimmy Dorsey (1945-1947) and the sadly under-recorded trio Soft Winds.

After leaving Peterson, Ellis has recorded and toured with some of the biggest names in jazz including Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Howkins, Roy Eldridge, Della Reese, Steve Allen, Red Skelton and Danny Kaye, and as a member of The Great Guitars with Charlie Byrd and Barney Kessel. He additionally has over 30 solo recordings on the Justice, Concord, Pablo, Verve and Columbia labels, as well as various group recordings with such illuminaries as The Dukes of Dixieland, Stuff Smith and Joe Pass.

This DVD captures Ellis in a 1981 performance, accompanied by Dave Maslow on bass, running through some classic jazz material including "Days of Wine & Roses," "Here's That Rainy Day," "Wave," "Might As Well Be Spring," "Things Ain't What They Used To Be," "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "America."

Bop-based guitarist Herb Ellis performs live in 1981. This release also contains interviews and a biography of the artist.