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Friday August 4th, 2000

Happy birthday Gibson jazz guitar great Herb Ellis

     Best wishes for a happy seventy-ninth birthday to guitar legend and Gibson signature artist Herb Ellis. He was born Mitchell Herbert Ellis August 4, 1921, in Farmersville, TX, and studied music at North Texas State University.

Ellis' celebrated career spans more that fifty years including early stints with Jimmy Dorsey's big band (1945-47), the Oscar Peterson Trio (1953-58), and jazz diva Ella Fitzgerald. After moving to the West Coast in the early '60s, he landed steady TV gigs on the Steve Allen, Regis Philbin, Joey Bishop, and Merv Griffin shows along with numerous studio sessions. In the '70's Ellis embarked on more than 30 jazz recordings for the Concord label. He was also part of the Great Guitars with Barney Kessel and Charlie Byrd. In the '90s he began touring again with Oscar Peterson.

As downbeat.com critic Will Smith notes, "His bluesy sound marks him as a disciple of Charlie Christian, yet his playing holds a distinctive edge all its own....In addition to his albums with Peterson, Ellis' best recorded work is found on Nothing But The Blues (Verve, 1958), his personel favorite."

The Gibson ES-165 Herb Ellis is a classic jazz guitar based on Herb's own Gibson ES-175. A single 490R Alnico magnet humbucker produces a warm jazz tone, and gold-plated metal parts impart a classy look.

To hear tracks from his latest release Blues Variations (1999), go here.

The Gibson ES-165 Herb Ellis is one of numerous signature Gibson guitars played by jazz greats including the Wes Montgomery L-5 CES, a the Byrdland, the Howard Roberts Fusion and the Pat Martino Signature model. In years past, Gibson also produced the Johnny Smith model (1961-89) and the double cutaway, hollowbody Barney Kessell model (1961-74).

For more information about Gibson's Classic Series of hollowbody and semi-hollowbody guitars look here. Send Gibson Customer Support an email with any questions or call 1-800-4GIBSON anytime.

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