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Liberty Ellman

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Liberty Ellman
Guitarist Liberty Ellman
Guitarist Liberty Ellman
Background information
Born (1971-07-17) July 17, 1971 (age 53)
London, England, U.K.
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician, audio engineer, record producer
InstrumentGuitar
LabelsPi
Websitelibertyellman.com

Liberty Ellman (born July 17, 1971) is a jazz guitarist born in London and raised in the United States, beginning in New York City. In the early 1980s, Ellman's family moved to California. Before leaving New York, he attended City and Country School in Greenwich Village.

Biography

In the 1990s, Ellman was associated with the M-Base musical scene in San Francisco, California, where he played with Vijay Iyer, Miya Masaoka, Ledisi, Steve Coleman, Eric Crystal, EW Wainwright's African Roots of Jazz, Omar Sosa, and D'Armous Boone Collective. He worked with hip hop acts the Coup and Midnight Voices,[1] and performed opening spots for Devo, Ice Cube, Pharcyde, and the Stray Cats. During this time Ellman composed for the San Francisco Mime Troupe.[1] He released his debut album on his label, Red Giant Records, in 1997 and moved back to New York City the following year.[1]

Ellman has performed and recorded with Ben Goldberg, Okkyung Lee, Steve Lehman, Joe Lovano, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Barney McAll, Myra Melford, Butch Morris, Greg Osby, Matana Roberts, Josh Roseman, Michele Rosewoman, and Wadada Leo Smith. In 2014 he worked with Jason Moran as part of Luanda Kinshasa, a video installation by filmmaker Stan Douglas. In 2016 he was asked by John Zorn to perform a solo concert of a selection of Zorn's Bagatelles.

He is a member of Henry Threadgill's ensemble, Zooid. Threadgill's album In for a Penny, in for a Pound won a Pulitzer Prize for Music. Ellman is credited as producer and mixing engineer on that album. He mixed and mastered Be Good by Gregory Porter. The album was nominated for Grammy Award.

In 2016, Ellman was voted No. 1 Rising Star guitarist in the DownBeat magazine Critics' Poll. The expanded Critics' Poll at JazzTimes magazine named him one of the top jazz guitarists of 2015 with Bill Frisell, John Scofield, and Julian Lage.

Discography

As leader

As sideman

With Vijay Iyer

  • Memorophilia (Asian Improv 1995)
  • Architextures (Asian Improv 1998)
  • In What Language? (Pi, 2003)
  • Still Life with Commentator (Savoy, 2007)
  • Holding It Down (Pi, 2013)

With Myra Melford

  • Snowy Egret (Yellowbird, 2015)
  • The Other Side of Air (Firehouse 12, 2018)
  • 12 from 25 (Firehouse 12, 2018)

With Jason Robinson

  • Resonant Geographies (pfMENTUM, 2018)
  • The Two Faces of Janus (Cuneiform, 2010)
  • Tiresian Symmetry (Cuneiform, 2012)

With Somi

  • Live at Jazz Standard (Palmetto, 2011)
  • The Lagos Music Salon (Okeh, 2014)
  • Petite Afrique (Okeh, 2017)

With Henry Threadgill

  • Up Popped the Two Lips (Pi, 2001)
  • Pop Start the Tape, Stop (Hardedge, 2004)
  • This Brings Us to Volume I (Pi, 2009)
  • This Brings Us to Volume II (Pi, 2010)
  • Tomorrow Sunny/the Revelry, Spp (Pi, 2012)
  • In for a Penny, In for a Pound (Pi, 2015)
  • Dirt...and More Dirt (Pi, 2018)

With others

References

  1. ^ a b c Adler, David R. "Liberty Ellman". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  2. ^ "Liberty Ellman | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 October 2018.