Herb Ellis Has Never Strayed From Straight-Ahead Path

Guitarist Herb Ellis, who turned 70 this year, moved to a retirement community in the Arkansas Ozarks four years ago. But he is far from retiring.

“It’s a little strange. Most of people the people here don’t do anything except play golf or tennis,” laughed Ellis, a 15 handicap golfer who shoots around 90 when he’s home--which is not all that often.

Ellis, who plays the Jazz Note (above Diego’s restaurant) in Pacific Beach Friday, Saturday and Sunday, is busier than ever, and his career is riding high.

He toured Japan for three weeks, through mid-December, with pianist Oscar Peterson, his associate on about 15 albums, including last year’s Grammy-winning “Live at the Blue Note.”

This fall, the state of Arkansas awarded Ellis its first Humanitarian Award for his significant contribution to the arts.

And Ellis’ new, bluesy album, “Roll Call,” released in November, last week rested both at number 12 on Billboard’s jazz chart, as well as at the top of radio industry charts for the most-often played new jazz album.

After 18 years and 30 albums with Concord Records, Ellis, an underappreciated master of fluid, straight-ahead improvised lines, has signed with the Texas-based Justice label. “Roll Call,” is his first recording for Justice.

“I’ve had a great relationship with Concord,” said Ellis. “They’ve been very good to me, and I’ve got nothing but good things to say about the label (Concord). But Randall Jamail, who owns Justice, made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. He’s a prince.”

Ellis’ most popular Concord recordings, such as the 10-year-old “Mellow Guitar,” sold modestly--20,000 copies or so--and he hopes the more concentrated promotional push Jamail has promised will generate stronger sales.

The new Justice recording marks a departure from Ellis’ most recent releases. It’s a return to the guitarist’s strong blues roots--he was born in Texas and considers himself a descendant of Big Band guitarist Charlie Christian and saxophonist Lester Young. The presence of Mel Rhyne on organ separates “Roll Call” from the more conventional jazz trio and quartet settings Ellis is best known for.

“It’s been years since I worked with an organist, and I really enjoyed this,” Ellis said. “The organ can lend itself to blues. I play several blues on it, and I guess it was a little bluesier.”

Such a slight change in his usual format--the addition of an organist--is about as far as Ellis will sway from his mission.

“I think I’ve been loyal to what I consider the jazz art form,” he said. “I’ve had opportunities to do a rock ‘n’ roll album, and that could have been good financially, or it could have ended the career. I never have done jazz fusion, which is nothing more than playing jazz over a rock and roll rhythm section, and I think that’s a sell-out myself, a total sell-out. I’ve been true to the art form as I deem it to be, it’s been good to me.”

In San Diego, Ellis will be joined by bassist Chris Conner and drummer Bob Weller.

Slim pickin’s tonight for jazz fans looking to ring in the New Year with live music.

Two of the best jazz blowouts from past years are gone: KIFM’s New Year’s Eve pop-jazz bash at the Catamaran and Bahia hotels on Mission Bay, and Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham at Elario’s.

Instead, the Catamaran has opted for an oldies night featuring Chubby Checker and Jan & Dean, while KIFM will host a zydeco/jazz combination at the Hyatt Regency in La Jolla with Hollis Gentry, Queen Ida and C.J. Chenier. Elario’s is featuring former Chubby Checker keyboard player Wade Preston.

KIFM General Manager Bruce Walton said the Catamaran and the station parted after the hotel’s decision not to increase its KIFM ad budget, as the station had requested to help defray the cost of the party, which last year was headlined by Spyro Gyra, Ronnie Laws and Tim Weisberg.

Papa John Creach, the seemingly immortal, 74-year-old violinist, is the only big jazz name in town. He’ll play shows at the Jazz Note in Pacific Beach (above Diego’s restaurant) at 9 and 11 p.m., backed by guitarist Bernie Pearl’s Blues Band. This’ll be a bluesier setting for Creach than when he last played the Jazz Note in September with a straight-ahead jazz trio.

Creach is getting ready to make a new recording next year--his seventh as a leader--with members of Pearl’s band, and the seasoned violinist is a joy in concert. He moves lightly across the stage, winks to women in the audience and plays with the energy of a man half his age. Creach’s continued vitality may be the result of his ongoing self-improvement campaign.

“A musician never thinks he’s in good form, he just tries harder,” Creach said. “Every time you practice, you find something new, even if it ain’t nothing but a new style of bowing. I seem to lay back more and get a quality tone now. The violin is a fast instrument, and you have a tendency to play too fast, and people call that corny. I take a note and hold it awhile, bend it, twist it, before I release it.”

Any resolutions?

“To try to keep healthy and entertain the people and make a new album and make people happy.”

The $45 admission covers both sets, plus a bottle of Champagne and other New Year’s Eve extras.

OTHER NEW YEAR’S EVE DIVERSIONS: The B Street California Grill & Jazz Bar offers San Diego pop-jazz band Fattburger, whose recording “Come & Get It” made it to No. 1 on Radio & Records’ contemporary jazz chart earlier this year. After a flurry of fall mini-tours, Fattburger has been in town for the last several weeks, working on its sixth album, which is being produced by former San Diegan Marcel East. Fattburger plays from 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. at the B Street. Admission is $12, or $140 for couples for a gourmet dinner package. . . . Mel Goot, Gene Perry and friends supply Latin jazz as part of the festivities at Croce’s in the Gaslamp Quarter.

RIFFS: Due to an accident that resulted in a broken kneecap, Sheila Jordan’s appearances at Elario’s this week have been canceled. She will be replaced by San Diego flutist Holly Hofmann.

CRITIC’S CHOICE

A LITTLE BIT OF RIO AT THE U.S. GRANT

Last year, a Brazilian jazz/dance troupe lured some 1,500 revelers of all ages to the U.S. Grant Hotel in downtown San Diego. This year, the Rio-style revelry returns, with the 15-piece Brazilian percussion ensemble, Sol e Mar, playing in the lobby from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., and Brazilian dancers joining the fray at 10 and 11:30 p.m. If you haven’t experienced the hypnotic power of Brazilian rhythms, you’ll be surprised. You may even find yourself sashaying through the lobby of the staid hotel in a snake-like line dance.