John Ellard

My attraction to Jazz was based on multiple factors: 1. Having grown up singing traditional hymns and Handel's Messiah in church choir, I quickly got bored playing 3-chord Rock `n' Roll; 2. The melodies in Jazz were like nothing else I'd ever heard; 3. The harmonies and chords were so rich in intervals, on an intellectual and spiritual level; it's a lifelong study and challenge; 4. The clever lyrics are the most sophisticated of any genre of music I've ever heard; the writers expressed emotion without wearing their hearts on their sleeves; 5. Lastly, I saw Joe Pass in the early 70's playing alone on a small outdoor stage in a field next to UCSD. Mr. Pass blew my mind with his virtuosity. Watching him play Stevie Wonder's, 'You Are the Sunshine of My Life,' with no accompaniment, yet I heard bass lines, chords, and the melody, I was awe struck. In those days, we all thought Jimi Hendrix was 'the bomb', but I knew I was witnessing something that even the great Jimi Hendrix couldn't do. My life as a musician was changed that afternoon, while sitting on the grass in a field watching an incredible 1-man band demonstrate his mastery of the guitar.