Liberty Ellman

Guitarist Liberty Ellman has been performing on the international jazz scene for many years, having with worked with the likes of Joe Lovano, Greg Osby, Jason Moran, Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman, Myra Melford, Wadada Leo Smith, JD Allen, and standout vocalists Somi, and Ledisi among others. Performed faculty concerts with Dave Liebman, Mark Turner and Terri Lyne Carrington. Mr. Ellman is perhaps best known for his 20 year tenure with Henry Threadgill’s groundbreaking ensemble Zooid. Their recording “In For a Penny, In For a Pound” was awarded a Pulitzer prize in 2016. Liberty was voted #1 Rising Star in DownBeat magazine’s 2016 Critics Poll, and he was also honored in the 2015 Jazz Times expanded critics poll, as one of the four guitarists of the year alongside Bill Frisell, John Scofield and Julian Lage. As a composer and bandleader Mr. Ellman has produced five critically acclaimed recordings of original work: Orthodoxy (Red Giant Records), Tactiles, Ophiuchus Butterfly, Radiate, and Last Desert (Pi Recordings). Ellman’s compositional style has been described as “At once highly controlled and recklessly inventive,” and “quite original and subtle.” Ben Ratliff of the New York Times wrote: “Mr. Ellman’s ballads are special, exotic things: their melodies are memorable.” Playing a combination of original music and songs from the classic repertoire, Mr. Ellman will be joined by some of the Bay Area’s best: Matt Clark on piano, Jeff Denson on bass, and Jaimeo Brown on drums.