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Bassist
Lisle Ellis first came to light via his late-'80s and early-'90s collaborations with fellow Canadian, pianist
Paul Plimley.
Ellis went on to collaborate with a variety of free jazz artists on the West Coast, including clarinetist
François Houle, drummer
Donald Robinson, and violinist
India Cooke. Other partners have included such Northern California-based musicians as saxophonist
Glenn Spearman, pianist
Matthew Goodheart, and saxophonist
Larry Ochs. With
Ochs and
Robinson,
Ellis formed the trio
What We Live in the mid-'90s; the group has recorded for both the Black Saint and New World labels.
Ellis now lives in the U.S. and is an active participant on the San Francisco Bay Area free jazz scene. A well-rounded musician,
Ellis' work draws heavily on art music outside the jazz domain, as evidenced by his work with such players as the classically oriented percussionist
William Winant and the members of
the ROVA Saxophone Quartet. ~ Chris Kelsey