Ellis Larkins
Famous for his subtle chord voicings and ability to accompany singers, Ellis Larkins has been in great demand throughout his long career. His parents were musicians (his mother played piano while his father was a violinist) and Larkins was hailed as a prodigy early on, appearing with an orchestra when he was 11. After graduating from the Peabody Conservatory and Juilliard, Larkins was part of Edmond Hall's group in the mid-'40s; recorded with Mildred Bailey, Coleman Hawkins, and Dicky Wells; and then worked regularly at the Village Vanguard and the Blue Angel in New York over a 20-year period. His duet records with Ella Fitzgerald and Ruby Braff in the 1950s are masterpieces in subtlety, and he was also a busy studio player. During the 1960s, Larkins worked with singers Joe Williams, Jane Harvey, Georgia Gibbs, and even Eartha Kitt and Harry Belafonte; since then, Larkins has continued playing in New York clubs with a wide variety of singers. He recorded as a leader for Storyville and Decca in the 1950s, for Halcyon and Black & Blue in the 1970s, had additional duets with Braff for Chiaroscuro, and was featured on a couple of dates for Concord, including a 1992 recital at Maybeck Recital Hall.
© Scott Yanow /TiVo
Discography
12 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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The Maybeck Recital Series, Vol. 22 (Live At Maybeck Recital Hall, Berkeley, CA / March 29, 1992)
Jazz - Released by Concord Jazz on 29 Mar 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Duologue (Lee Wiley & Ellis Larkins)
Jazz - Released by 1201 MUSIC on 31 Dec 1984
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Manhattan At Midnight
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by GRP on 1 Jan 1956
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Smooth One (1977) (The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions)
Jazz - Released by Disques Black & Blue on 21 Jul 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blue and Sentimental
Pop - Released by Master Classics on 11 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Holiday 4 Pianos
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Artwork Media, Inc. on 17 Jul 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Manhattan at Midnight and More
Jazz - Released by Ascension Records on 28 May 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blue and Sentimental Medley: Am I Blue / Interlude # / Blue Prelude / Loose Ends / Blue and Sentimental / Ode to Marie / Blue Moon / Interlude / Time / Blue Again / Four Bar Intro with Tag / A Blues Serenade
Jazz - Released by JB Production CH on 26 Mar 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo