Bobby Ellis OD (2 July 1932 – 18 October 2016) was a Jamaican trumpet player. He worked with many reggae artists including

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963� ...

Burning Spear Winston Rodney OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential and long-standing roots ...

and

The Revolutionaries The Revolutionaries (sometimes known as "Revolutionaires") was a Jamaican reggae band. Career Set up in 1975 as the house band of the Channel One Studios owned by Joseph Hoo Kim, The Revolutionaries with Sly Dunbar on drums and Bertram "Ranc ...

Biography

Born in Kingston on 2 October 1932, Bobby Ellis attended the

Alpha Boys School Alpha Cottage School (often referred to as Alpha Boys School, Convent of Mercy "Alpha" Academy and now called Alpha Institute) was the name of the vocational residential school on South Camp Road in Kingston, Jamaica, still run by Roman Catholic ...

which is famous for its musical alumni.Campbell, Howard (2014)
Trumpet Honours: Hornsman Bobby Ellis to receive national award
, ''

Jamaica Observer ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The publication is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, ''The Gleaner''. Its founding editor i ...

'', 24 August 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014 While at this school Ellis received tuition on the trumpet and flugelhorn. The school's music curriculum consisted of marches, waltzes and classical pieces which gave Ellis an extensive knowledge of timing, harmony and form. These factors have contributed to his work as a horn arranger for the Studio One. He also acted as arranger for producer Jack Ruby and was part of Ruby's studio band the Black Disciples, playing on

's ''

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...

'' album and going on to tour as part of Spear's band for twelve years. He also played and co-arranged (with

Tommy McCook Tommy McCook (3 March 1927 – 5 May 1998) was a Jamaican saxophonist. A founding member of The Skatalites, he also directed The Supersonics for Duke Reid, and backed many sessions for Bunny Lee or with The Revolutionaries at Channel One ...

) the horns on

Bunny Wailer Neville O'Riley Livingston (10 April 1947 – 2 March 2021), known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. ...

's 1976 album ''

Blackheart Man ''Blackheart Man'' is the debut album by Bunny Wailer, originally released on 8 September 1976, in Jamaica on Solomonic Records and internationally on Island Records. Overview The songs on the album are regarded as the finest written by Bunny Wa ...

''. In August 2014 it was announced that he would receive the

Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Act'') i ...

in October that year. Ellis died at the University Hospital of the West Indies on 18 October 2016, aged 84, from a pneumonia-related illness.

Solo discography

*''Rent a Tile'' (2014) ;with

: *''Green Mango'' (1974), Attack - Tommy & Bobby *''Blazing Horns'' (1977), Grove Music - Tommy McCook and Bobby Ellis *''Tommy McCook Featuring Bobby Ellis'' (2004), Attack ;other collaborations: *''Bobby Ellis & the Professionals Meet the Revolutionaries'' (1977), Third World With

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet (incl ...

*''

Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

'' (Atlantic, 1973) *''

Reggae II ''Reggae II'' is an album by flautist Herbie Mann recorded in 1973 and released on the Atlantic label in 1976 in New Zealand and Europe.976 Year 976 ( CMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * January 10 – Emperor John I Tzimiskes dies at Constantinople, after re ...

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20090628085915/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/throb/html/20030404t210000-0500_42070_obs_bobby_ellis_was_born_to_blow.asp 1932 births 2016 deaths Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican reggae musicians Recipients of the Order of Distinction {{brass-musician-stub