Search - John Ellis :: roots,branches & leaves

Farm boy with a sax

mark weiss | Palo Alto | 08/11/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This cd is the debut of John Ellis, best-known as a sideman with Charlie Hunter Trio. John plays tenor, soprano, bass clarinet and flute. This cd features his New Orleans friends Jason Marsalis, Roland Guerin and Nicholas Payton, plus Brooklyn buddies Aaron Goldberg and Bilal Oliver (who's actually from Philly and sings like a girl). The standout on this fine set is "John Brown's Gun" which features Bilal on vocals (although in concert John sometimes gets Dean Bowman to do the part) and is based on a folk song his Grammy taught him, growing up in rural North Carolina. Maybe someday Ellis will have a Grammy -tm to go along with his memories of his Grammy.

Downbeat gave it a rare 4.5 stars and it's hard to find in bricks-and-mortar world (Fresh Sounds New Talent is known for discovering new talent -- Ellis, Bad Plus, Robert Glasper -- but not getting their cds out there much).

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