Articles

Dave Ellis: Of Jams and Jazz

By Forrest Dylan Bryant

Tenor saxophonist Dave Ellis has been a stalwart of the Bay Area jazz scene for years. An East Bay native, he honed his craft in the famed Berkeley High School jazz program and, appropriately enough, the Berklee school of Music in Boston. After returning to the Bay Area, he spent time in the original version Charlie Hunter Trio as well as several other groups, and began recording a series of critically acclaimed albums. The most recent of these, 2003's State ...

Dave Ellis: Talented Tenor on the March

By R.J. DeLuke

Why Not?

So many jazz musicians have been heralded as the next “big thing” since the 80s it’s hard to keep track. It can cause one, after a while, to cast a sideways glance at the next pronouncement. But when a saxophonist creeps up on you with a lively, burnished tone and a swagger begat from the likes of Dexter... maybe it’s time not to ask why, but to say why not.

Dave Ellis isn’t a ...

Dave Ellis: State of Mind

By Franz A. Matzner

A severe gap exists between technical facility and profound expression. The jazz world has become flooded with technically adept performers, and whether they’ve come up from within the rigorous university system or the art institutes, they all display a studied command of their instruments, harmony, sight-reading, and composition. They’ve all been tested, certified, and approved; they’re all fully saturated with the historical development of their instruments. Unfortunately, the majority fails to translate this scholastic excellence into the kind of personally ...

Dave Ellis: Talented Tenor on the March

By R.J. DeLuke

Why Not? So many jazz musicians have been heralded as the next “big thing" since the 80s it's hard to keep track. It can cause one, after a while, to cast a sideways glance at the next pronouncement. But when a saxophonist creeps up on you with a lively, burnished tone and a swagger begat from the likes of Dexter' maybe it's time not to ask why, but to say why not.

Dave Ellis isn't a ...

Dave Ellis: In The Long Run

By Jim Santella

The biography at http://www.monarchrecords.com/bio-ellis.html refers to saxophonist Dave Ellis as a “30-year-old rising-star saxophonist" who offers a variety of styles and preferences. The Monarch web site also includes samples from each of the tracks on In The Long Run. His early experience and few recordings only show the surface of what Ellis can do. His two Monarch recordings have proven that Dave Ellis is a “talent deserving wider recognition."

“The Waterbearer," written by Mingus Amungus pianist Muziki Roberson, is one ...

Dave Ellis: In the Long Run

By Joel Roberts

Tenor saxophonist Dave Ellis's resume includes a number of diverse, high-profile jobs both inside and outside the jazz world: a tour with the post-Grateful Dead touring band, the Other Ones; a spot in Dead guitarist Bob Weir's Ratdog; and membership in the popular groove-jazz group, the Charlie Hunter Trio. But In the Long Run, his second album for San Francisco's Monarch label, is a straight-ahead jazz effort that shows his jazz sensibilities untainted by pop, rock, or hippie jam band ...