Ellis Hall Jr. (born May 10, 1951, in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

) known professionally as Ellis Hall is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actor and composer. He was described as "The Ambassador of Soul" by conductor, Jeff Tyzik. Hall has been blind since the age of 18. Citing

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

as his inspiration, Hall has written over 4000

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

and pop songs, and has performed with

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-sell ...

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961), known professionally as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He released his first four studio albums—1993's '' Toby Keith'', 1994's ''Boomtown'', 19 ...

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...

Bobby Womack Robert Dwayne Womack (; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing gui ...

Sheila E Sheila Cecilia Escovedo (born December 12, 1957) better known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American percussionist and singer. She began her career in the mid-1970s as a percussionist and singer for The George Duke Band. After leaving t ...

Maurice White Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter, and producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, and served as the ...

of Earth, Wind and Fire,

Tower of Power Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. There have been a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted th ...

and Ray Charles. Charles signed Hall to his record label Crossover Records, and mentored him until Charles' death in 2004.

Early life and education

Hall was born on May 10, 1951, in

, the son of Ellis Hall Sr. and Arvanna Harris. He and his brothers and sisters were raised in his parents'

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptists, Baptist denomination, and the Protestantism in the United States, largest Protestantism, Protestant and Christia ...

household in

Claxton, Georgia Claxton is a city in Evans County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,746 at the 2010 census, up from 2,276 in 2000. It is the county seat of Evans County. History The town had its visionary, W.R. Hendricks. In May 1890 there were only ...

. Hall was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma at an early age. With only partial and deteriorating vision in his left eye, he was declared

legally blind Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

and the family moved to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts to allow him to attend The

Perkins School for the Blind Perkins School for the Blind, in Watertown, Massachusetts, was founded in 1829 and is the oldest school for the blind in the United States. It has also been known as the Perkins Institution for the Blind. Perkins manufactures its own Perkins Br ...

in Watertown. He began piano lessons in the third grade and caught the performing bug singing doo-wop by the corner store where he would take the money he earned singing and buy chips and soda. He really got serious about having a career in music at the age of 14 when he caught a performance of the B3 organ quartet Quint Harris & the Preachers at Jim Nance's Lounge in Boston and witnessed how they whipped the audience into a frenzy. After that show, Hall built his own drum kit so he could start playing drums and he added the bass to his instrument practice lineup. Ever mindful of his fate, he would practice all of his instruments in the dark so he would always be able to play them, with or without his vision. While in high school, he played football and competed in wrestling with his left eye remaining strong enough to manage, however, a wrestling injury to that left eye would take away his sight completely in 1969, at the age of 18.

Music career

Due to his extensive musical education while in school, Hall eventually mastered the drums, piano, keyboards, guitar, upright and electric bass. He was able to develop and define himself as a vocalist as well, possessing a 5-octave range. Hall's first professional recording was for rocker Paul Pena on Capitol Records in 1971, playing bass and singing background vocals on his single "The River", "Adorable One" and "Woke Up This Morning." His first release as a solo artist was a version of the Motown song from the 60's "Every Little Bit Hurts." In 1973, he formed the Ellis Hall Group. The Ellis Hall Group was managed by Don Rosenberg and featured a rotating roster of members including: Ellis Hall (founder), Stanley Benders (percussion), David Fuller (drums), Michael Thompson (guitar), Freddie Mueller (bass/sound), Tony Vaughn (bass), Jeffrey Lockhart (guitar), Patti Unitas (vocals), Pat Thomason (vocals), Buddy Baptista (drums), Richie Marshall (drums) and Jackie Baird III (guitar). Their first gig was opening for Earth, Wind and Fire on the Boston stop of their 1974 tour. They would go on to perform for

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A p ...

at the Kennedy Compound, and for

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

in Johannesburg, South Africa,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

as well as open for

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

, The Spinners,

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, ...

and Tower of Power, whose band leader, Emilio Castillo asked him on four separate occasions to join Tower of Power. After relocating to California in the early 1980s, Hall took Castillo up on the offer to join Tower of Power. He sang lead vocals and composed music for their 1987 album

Power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

(known as T.O.P. in Europe), on which he released the ballad "Some Days Were Meant For Rain" which was previously written while he was with the Ellis Hall Group and dedicated to his former manager who was having marital problems at the time. After leaving Tower of Power, Hall worked as a session musician and featured artist on records with artists including the

California Raisins The California Raisins were a fictional rhythm and blues animated musical group as well as advertising and merchandising characters composed of anthropomorphized raisins. Lead vocals were sung by musician Buddy Miles. The California Raisins ...

John Klemmer John T. Klemmer (born July 3, 1946) is an American saxophonist, composer, songwriter, and arranger. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and began playing guitar at the age of five and alto saxophone at the age of 11. His other ear ...

, Carl Anderson,

Larry Dunn Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment *Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boone ...

George Duke George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...

and

Kenny G Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956), known professionally as Kenny G, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and producer. His 1986 album ''Duotones'' brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the best-selling artis ...

, the latter with whom he scored an R&B hit singing a

Preston Glass Preston Glass (born January 9, 1960) is an American musician, songwriter and producer. Glass is the winner of six BMI Awards. He has also worked several famous artists such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Kenny G, Natalie Cole and ...

-produced remake of Junior Walker and The All-Stars' "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" from the multi-platinum album,

Duotones ''Duotones'' is the fourth studio album by American saxophonist Kenny G, released on September 29, 1986 by Arista Records. It features one of Kenny G's best-known songs, " Songbird", which reached number four on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ...

(Arista – 1986). Hall both wrote and performed on the soundtracks of multiple television movies and films including '' The Lion King 2'', ''

Shrek 2 ''Shrek 2'' is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 picture book '' Shrek!'' by William Steig, produced by DreamWorks Animation and released by DreamWorks Pictures. The sequel to ''Shrek'' (2001) and the ...

'', ''

Chicken Run ''Chicken Run'' is a 2000 stop-motion animated comedy film produced by Pathé and Aardman Animations in partnership with DreamWorks Animation. Aardman’s first feature-length film and DreamWorks Animation's fourth film, it was directed by ...

'', ''

Invincible Invincible may refer to: Film and television * ''Invincible'' (2001 drama film), a drama by Werner Herzog about Jewish cabaret during the rise of Nazism * ''Invincible'' (2001 TV film), a fantasy / martial arts TV movie starring Billy Zane ...

'', and ''

Bruce Almighty ''Bruce Almighty'' is a 2003 American fantasy comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. The film stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck television reporter who complains to God ...

'', sang gospel tunes in the comedy film, ''

Big Momma's House ''Big Momma's House'' is a 2000 American buddy cop comedy film, directed by Raja Gosnell, and written by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer. The film stars Martin Lawrence as an FBI agent who is tasked with tracking down an escaped convict and his ...

'' with Martin Lawrence, and sang a

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and Singing, vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and se ...

tune in the crime drama film ''

Catch Me If You Can ''Catch Me If You Can'' is a 2002 American Biographical film, biographical crime film, crime Comedy drama, comedy-drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks with Christopher Walken, Martin ...

'' with Leonardo DiCaprio. Ray_Charles_signs_Ellis_Hall_to_Crossover_Records

In 2001, Hall met Ray Charles at a Christmas party where he was performing. As he was playing "

I Can See Clearly Now "I Can See Clearly Now" is a song written and recorded by American singer Johnny Nash. It was the lead single from his album ''I Can See Clearly Now'' and achieved success in the United States and the United Kingdom when it was released in 1972 ...

," Charles sent for him to come to his table. After saying hello, Charles stayed for the entire performance and got in touch with Hall the next day. Their association lasted until Charles' death in 2004. Hall is called a protege of Charles, but he was already a mature artist when their friendship began. Charles signed Hall to his Crossover Records label in 2002. Hall was the only artist Charles signed to his label as well as co-produced his first album. In October 2003, Hall played the Kennedy Center at Charles' request. Unfortunately, Ray died just prior to Hall's release of ''Straight Ahead'' In 2004. During the filming of the

Taylor Hackford Taylor Edwin Hackford (born December 31, 1944) is an American film director and former president of the Directors Guild of America. He won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for '' Teenage Father'' (1979). Hackford went on to direct ...

's Oscar-winning film RAY starring

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film ''Ray'', for which he won the A ...

, Hall was an onset advisor. Hall continues to be extremely prolific. In 2015, he was nominated for an Ovation Theater Award "Best Male Lead in a Musical" on his first major play " The Gospel at Colonus" as well as a cast nomination for The NAACP Theater Awards. Mr. Hall is currently featured on three songs on the new

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading ...

release "The Power of The One," one of which, "Wishing Well," was originally written by Ellis and

Michael Sembello Michael Andrew Sembello (born April 17, 1954) is an American singer, guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, composer and producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sembello was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his 1983 song "M ...

. He is featured on the remake of the

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

hit "Roll With It" from Jermaine Lockhart, which was released on

's new label venture. At the end of 2020, Mr. Hall was honored with th
Lifetime Achievement
for his work with music in film and television at the 15th Anniversary of the PVIFF-Peachtree Village International Film Festival (Atlanta GA) On the Friday before Valentine's Day 2021, Ellis released a re-make of "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" featuring Tata Vega. It was announced in August 2021 that Ellis would be will be releasing his next studio album, " Doc Kupka Presents: Let’s Make an Arrangement," on Strokeland Records (via Regime Music Group) on September 10, 2021. "Let’s Make an Arrangement" was co-written by Stephen “Doc” Kupka of funk and soul pioneers,

, which Ellis also fronted.

Symphony

On Charles' advice, Hall began to focus on the symphony show circuit after completing his album. Hall performed his first symphony at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

in 2005 in a commemoration for the 75th birthday of Ray Charles "A Night With Concord Records" presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association's Jazz at the Bowl series and has since been playing with 81-piece orchestras internationally, including the

Boston Pops The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Sym ...

and the Pittsburgh Symphony with

Marvin Hamlisch Marvin Frederick Hamlisch (June 2, 1944 – August 6, 2012) was an American composer and conductor. Hamlisch was one of only seventeen people to win Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. This collection of all four is referred to as an " E ...

conducting. Hall's first concept show was "Ellis Hall Presents: Ray, Motown and Beyond." In September 2016, he debuted his most recent concept show "Beyond Ellis Hall: Soul Unlimited" (conducted by Jeff Tyzik) where he adapted songs from

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

’s "Let's Dance" to "Something" by

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

(which Hall recorded on his album Straight Ahead featuring

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...

on organ). Both "Ray, Motown and Beyond" and "Soul Unlimited" Hall co-produced with his wife and manager, Leighala Jimenez-Hall.

Personal life

Ellis Hall married his artist manager Leighala Jimenez-Hall in May 2013 two years after they met on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise in 2011. This makes him the stepfather of Jimenez-Hall's daughter Krystina Arielle.

Philanthropy

Hall is involved with Gary Miller (producer for

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her musi ...

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recor ...

and others) in Rock Against Trafficking and Artists UNited Against Human Trafficking, a partnership between

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC; French: ''Office des Nations unies contre la drogue et le crime'') is a United Nations office that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the ...

and artists committed to working against the crime of trafficking in persons. He recorded his own version of

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-earth ...

’s "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot" for Rock Against Trafficking's compilation album as well as did the backend track for the classic "Set Them Free" from which comes the name of the album. On the 3-disc compilation Music To Inspire – Artists UNited Against Human Trafficking he provided the song "Be the Change." He regularly returns to Boston for the Perkins School's annual gala event and has performed twice as the headliner with the Chorus in 2015 and 2018. In 2020, Hall was one of the featured "Voices 4 One World" on the charity single "One World." The song reunited songwriters 30 years after they met in Moscow during the 1989 Glasnost event "Music Speaks Louder Than Words." Academy Award-winning songwriter Franke Previte ("(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life" from ''Dirty Dancing'') and Pamela Phillips Oland (Frank Sinatra, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin) along with Estonian songwriters Sergei Manoukyan and Mikk Targo, created an entirely new recording of their collaboration with updated lyrics, retooled for the sole purpose of giving 100% of all proceeds to five major charity partners hit particularly hard by the pandemic (Musicians Foundation, The Actors Fund, First Responders Children's Foundation and the

NAACP Legal Defense Fund The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF, the Legal Defense Fund, or LDF) is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City. LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP. Alth ...

). Hall returned to the project 30 years after singing the original demo recording of "One World," later recorded by

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million reco ...

. The song reached #27 on the ''Billboard'' Top 30 Mainstream Adult Contemporary chart.

Discography

* ''The Spirit Lingers On...and On'' – ESP-Disk (2005) * ''Straight Ahead'' – Crossover Records (2004) * ''Love Can Make It Better'' – Crossover Records (2004) * ''The Spirit Lingers On'' – ESP-Disk (1999) * ''From Where I Stand (with Carl Anderson)'' – Chameleon Records (1989)

Vocal credits

Filmography

Television

References

External links

Official website
* * * *
Ellis Hall Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2019) __FORCETOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Ellis (musician) 1951 births African-American jazz composers 20th-century African-American male singers African-American pianists African-American male singer-songwriters American baritones American tenors American blues pianists American male pianists American blues singers American country pianists American country singer-songwriters American gospel singers American jazz pianists American jazz organists American male organists American pop keyboardists American pop pianists American pop rock singers American rhythm and blues keyboardists American rhythm and blues singers American rock pianists American soul keyboardists American soul singers Rhythm and blues pianists Blind musicians American blind people Singers from Los Angeles 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American pianists Living people Jazz musicians from California Country musicians from California Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century organists American male jazz composers American jazz composers 21st-century American keyboardists 20th-century American keyboardists 21st-century jazz composers 21st-century African-American male singers Singer-songwriters from California Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)