I'm really saddened to have, somehow, not gotten the message that Herb Ellis passed away on March 28th.

What a crusty old soul! And what a historic player. I knew him when he was playing with Ray Brown and Oscar Peterson.

Ran into him in the early 60's as a 17 year old "wet behind the ears" player. He asked me what I was doing. I told him I was practicing (for a TV show). He looked at me with a disgusted frown and said, "what for"?

Kept in touch a couple of times a year for the next 40 plus years. Last time I heard from him, when I picked up the phone, I heard, "I'll bet you one damn thing. You probably haven't even learned to tune that damn guitar of yours yet". No hello, how are you doing, introduction....nothing.

I'll really miss him.


Russ