Seger Pillot Ellis (July 4, 1904 – September 29, 1995) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

. He also made a few brief film appearances, most notably in collaboration with director

Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...

Life and career

He was born in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, United States. Ellis began his career as pianist playing live for a local Houston radio station (later known as KPRC) in the early 1920s. In 1925, he was added to the orchestra of Lloyd Finlay for a "field trip" recording session for

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...

, and was also allowed to cut two piano solos. Although unissued for technical reasons, these solo efforts led to Ellis being invited to Victor's regular recording studio in Camden, New Jersey, to cut a number of piano solos, all or most of them compositions of his own. These were among the earliest records Victor made using the new electric

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publ ...

and recording equipment; a technique that was yet not perfected, which probably explains why only four of the titles were eventually issued. Of these the coupling "Prairie Blues" and "Sentimental Blues" became a minor hit. After his first recording experiences, Ellis returned to Houston and radio work as well as playing in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

theaters. During this period Ellis, mainly on request of his employers at the radio station, began adding singing to his piano playing. His pleasant voice went well with the audiences and, in 1927, he was invited to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to make vocal test recordings. His first issued vocal record was "Sunday" on the Columbia label. This was followed by a string of records for Okeh Records, where Ellis was usually backed by small studio groups, that he was allowed to pick himself. Ellis used the opportunity to select many of the best jazz musicians of the time, including

Tommy Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

and

Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards " I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary Peop ...

, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Andy Sannella and - on two occasions - Louis Armstrong. On these records, Ellis sang in a bittersweet alto, with which he was uncomfortable early in his career, believing his voice to be too high. Ellis was popular enough during the time he was on OKeh for them to create a special silver colored custom label for his records. Ellis's first recording career ended in 1931. In the late 1930s however, he returned with a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

of his own, known as his "Choirs of Brass Orchestra" with himself conducting and taking occasional vocals. The band also featured his wife, Irene Taylor, as a vocalist. Later in his career, Ellis focused more on song writing, although he continued to record sporadically as well as playing the piano. In 1939, Ellis reorganized and his new band featured the conventional four-man reed section. He disbanded in 1941, and was enlisted in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

in 1942. After moving back to Texas, he began to be less active as a performer and more involved in songwriting. Among his many compositions were "My Beloved Is Rugged" and "11:60PM" (both recorded by Harry James), "Gene's Boogie" (recorded by Gene Krupa), and "Little Jack Frost, Get Lost" and "You're All I Want for Christmas" (both recorded by Bing Crosby). "December" was recorded by Count Basie with a Mills Brothers vocal. The Seger Ellis songwriting catalog also includes "No Baby, Nobody But You" and "You Be You But Let Me Be Me". Seger Ellis gradually retired and took up residence in Houston, where he died in a retirement home, on September 29, 1995.

Popular recordings

* "Freight Yard Blues" * "Prairie Blues" * "Sentimental Blues" * "No Baby, Nobody But You" * "Sweet Sue, Just You" * "You Be You But Let Me Be Me" * " Ain't Misbehavin'" featuring Louis Armstrong * "Cheerful Little Earful" (December 1930) * "The Shivery Stomp"

Popular compositions

* "Prairie Blues" * "Sentimental Blues" * "The Shivery Stomp" * "My Beloved Is Rugged" featuring

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

* "11:60PM" featuring Harry James * "Gene's Boogie" featuring

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973), known as Gene Krupa, was an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer who performed with energy and showmanship. His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of " Sing, Sing, ...

* "Little Jack Frost, Get Lost" featuring Bing Crosby * "You're All I Want for Christmas" featuring Bing Crosby * "December" featuring

The Mills Brothers The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies an ...

and

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

* "What You Don't Know Won't Hurt You" * "No Baby, Nobody But You" June Christy and

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

* "You Be You But Let Me Be Me"

Sources

* Lawrence Brown: liner notes for the CD ''Prairie Blues - The Music of Seger Ellis'' (Azure AZ-CD-22) * Allan Dodge: liner notes for the CD ''Seger Ellis: Jazz in a Sentimental Mood'' (The Old Masters MB 131) *

Brian Rust Brian Arthur Lovell Rust (19 March 1922 – 5 January 2011) was an English jazz discographer. Career Rust was born in 1922 in Golders Green, then part of the Municipal Borough of Hendon in Middlesex. He collected records from the age of fiv ...

: ''Jazz Records 1897-1942'' (Fifth edition, Chigwell, Essex, 1983)

References

External links

Seger Ellis recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings
Seger Pillot EllisSeger Ellis (1904-1995) - Find A Grave Memorial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Seger 1904 births 1995 deaths American jazz pianists American male pianists American jazz singers Swing bandleaders Big band bandleaders 20th-century American singers 20th-century American pianists Musicians from Houston Jazz musicians from Texas 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians