Don Elliott
American jazz trumpeter, vibraphonist, vocalist, and mellophone player

Don Elliott

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American jazz trumpeter, vibraphonist, vocalist, and mellophone player
Gender:
Male
Places:
United States of America
Is:
Jazz musicianSingerMusicianPercussionist
Work field:
Music
Birth:
21 October 1926(Somerville, Somerset County, New Jersey, USA)
Death:
5 July 1984(Weston, Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, USA)
Star sign:
Libra
Genres:
Jazz
Instruments:
TrumpetVoice
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Biography

Introduction

Don Elliott Helfman (October 21, 1926 – July 5, 1984) was an American jazz trumpeter, vibraphonist, vocalist, and mellophone player. Elliott recorded over 60 albums and 5,000 advertising jingles throughout his career.

Career

Elliott played mellophone in his high school band and played trumpet for an army band. After studying at the University of Miami he added vibraphone to his instruments. He recorded with Terry Gibbs and Buddy Rich before forming his own band. From 1953 to 1960, he won the DownBeat Readers' Poll several times for "miscellaneous instrument-mellophone."

Known as the "Human Instrument",Elliott performed jazz as a vocalist, trombonist, flugelhornist, and percussionist. He pioneered the art of multitrack recording, composed prize-winning advertising jingles, prepared film scores, and built a thriving production company. He scored several Broadway productions, including James Thurber's The Beast in Me and A Thurber Carnival, as well as Frank D. Gilroy's The Only Game in Town. He also provided one of the voices for the novelty jazz duo the Nutty Squirrels.

Elliott was a longtime associate of Quincy Jones, contributing vocals to Jones's scores for the films The Pawnbroker (1962), Walk, Don't Run (1966), In the Heat of the Night (1967), $ (1971), The Hot Rock (1972) and The Getaway (1972). Elliot also composed the score to The Happy Hooker starring Lynn Redgrave.

Elliott owned and operated one of the first multitrack recording studios in New York City and in Weston, Connecticut, where he died of cancer in 1984.

Discography

As leader or co-leader

  • Vibrations (Savoy, 1956) – with Cal Tjader
  • Doubles in Brass (Vanguard, 1954)
  • The Don Elliott Quintet (RCA Victor, 1954)
  • Mellophone (Bethlehem, 1955)
  • Don Elliott Sings (Bethlehem, 1955)
  • Counterpoint for Six Valves (Riverside, 1955) – with Rusty Dedrick (also released as Double Trumpet Doings)
  • The Voice of Marty Bell - The Quartet of Don Elliott (Riverside, 1956)
  • The Bob Corwin Quartet featuring the Trumpet of Don Elliott (Riverside, 1956)
  • A Musical Offering (ABC, 1956)
  • Don Elliott at the Modern Jazz Room (ABC, 1956)
  • Eddie Costa, Mat Mathews & Don Elliott at Newport (Verve, 1957)
  • The Voices of Don Elliott (ABC, 1957)
  • Music for the Sensational Sixties (Design, 1957)
  • Jamaica Jazz (ABC-Paramount, 1958)
  • The Mello Sound (Decca, 1958)
  • The Nutty Squirrels (Hanover, 1959) with Alexander "Sascha" Burland
  • Mr. Versatile
  • Love is a Necessary Evil (Columbia, 1962)
  • Rejuvenation ([Columbia, 1975)

As sideman