Ellis, who died only two years ago, aged 88, is best remembered for his effective stint with the Oscar Peterson trio, where his principal role, as with Oscar Moore in the Nat King Cole trio, was rhythm-guitarist. But as these original vinyl album titles make clear, Ellis was also a fully converted Charlie Christian disciple, as so many guitarists of a certain age were. It was a powerful concept, but one which in later years tended to make his jaunty phrasing sound uncomfortable alongside post-bop pianists like Strazzeri and especially Feldman, the exiled Londoner profiled fully on page 34. In solo mode, Ellis was a riff-minded player for whom the blues element was never very far away, but his technique was a little basic by modern standards. His best moments on these sessions therefore come in numbers like ‘Gravy Waltz’ and ‘Alexander's Ragtime Band’ and on the occasional ballad like ‘Detour Ahead’, where the warmth of his tone comes over to advantage.