Saxophonist John Ellis grew up in the rural south, loving baseball, cobbler and music. He sang in the choir at his dad’s church, played in his school marching band, and eventually left to study serious jazz, first at the North Carolina School of the Arts and then at the University of New Orleans, under Ellis Marsalis. Since then, he has been a jazz ambassador, traveling under the auspices of the US Information Agency and Kennedy Center to such far flung places as South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, and Kenya.
He released his first record, “Language of Love,” in 1996 and became a semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition. Ellis continued studying at New York’s New School/Mannes jazz program, before touring and recording with Charlie Hunter’s various bands, playing tenor sax, melodica, bass clarinet and even the Wurlitzer organ. His most recent CDs include “One Foot in the Swamp,” with Nicholas Payton, John Scofield, Jason Marsalis, and others, “By A Thread” and his newest, “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow” which features Jason Marsalis, Gary Versace, and Matt Perrine.
Ellis is one of the most popular teachers at Lafayette’s premiere jazz camp, and known for helping young musicians reach new levels of not just expertise, but inspiration. Want to hear his music? Click here to download tunes from his live performance at Yoshi’s.
2 Comments
December 30, 2008 at 5:10 AM
[...] Jump to Comments We’re thrilled to announce the 2009 camp faculty! Woodwinds: John Ellis, Mary Fettig, Melecio Magdaluyo, Matt Morrish, Dan Pratt, Colin Wenhardt, Douglas [...]
April 15, 2009 at 3:56 PM
[...] and jazz educators. (We’re adding more bios every week.) Woodwinds: <a href=”http://lafayettejazz.wordpress.com/2008/12/30/john-ellis-bio/“>John Ellis, Mary Fettig, Melecio Magdaluyo, Matt Morrish, Dan Pratt, Colin Wenhardt, [...]