LLOYD ELLIS
Genres: Swing, Hard Bop • United States

Lloyd Hastings Ellis was a native of Pensacola, Florida. He started his musical career in the 1930s, continued even during his service in the U.S. Navy. His guitar playing style was admired by fans and musicians alike. As a youngster, he was fascinated by the music by Django Reinhardt that he discovered on the 78rpm records. According to the DVD documentary of his life, "I Just Wanted to Play", Lloyd first started entertaining audiences over radio station WCOA in his native Pensacola. He started off on the acoustic guitar and took up the electric guitar in 1940 or so. The documentary notes that he was partial to the Gibson guitar models throughout his career. One was a Johnny Smith model that he purchased from Johnny Smith in 1 He played with a variety of groups during his career's journey. In the late 1930s, Lloyd had a trio that was entertaining audiences in Mobile, read more...