![]() ![]() Consequently, he attended Riverside Community College and majored in music. Getting back to his story, after graduating high school, the young musician knew he needed to learn more about music academically. Who could have guessed that his love of that famous jazz standard, “All the Things You Are” would inspire him to compose the opening tune for his new CD, titled “U-R.” It becomes a tasty and up-tempo way to open his debut CD release. But I knew after high school that I wanted to pursue music.” ![]() and I played a lot of wrong notes during that time. ![]() It was a long process for me to learn scales, chords, how to read, etc. … I had no idea what the symbols meant on the page. I remember the first tune we had to play was a Mark Taylor arrangement of ‘All the Things You Are’ and we had to play that in the 2nd week of school. My first week at community college they made me play lead alto because I had a good sound, but I could not read. I did not know my major scales or how to read music. You have to understand that when I came out of high school, I was awful. “ In some ways, I have regrets that I never had lessons in high school, but in some ways, I don’t have regrets because it forced me to figure things out and explore playing differently. He explained it in an interview on The Best Saxophone Website Ever with Zach Sollitto. At that point, he had absolutely no knowledge of music theory, but he knew he wanted to be a musician. Jeff Ellwood found himself intoxicated with music and he also discovered that girls were hypnotically attracted to musicians. He taught himself to play and by age fifteen he had joined a rock band and they were playing at Hollywood’s famous Whisky a Go Go. So, the boy began toying with the saxophone. The family doctor suggested he take up a woodwind instrument to strengthen his lungs. At ten-years-old, young Jeff was diagnosed with severe asthma. But it was a long journey to that moment in time. And then, after it was over, he said: Oh, by the way, we have our first gig in two weeks,” Jeff chuckled remembering his surprise and good fortune.įor the next seven years Ellwood was an integral part of the Alan Pasqual band. “He did end up calling and I went to his house for an audition. At that point, I just didn’t think he would really call,” Jeff Ellwood was full of disbelief that someone he greatly admired, a master pianist like Alan Pasqua, would actually call him. And of course, I was thinking to myself, oh sure, you’re going to call me. After I played, he said to me, where are you from? I said, I’m living at my mom’s house in Riverside and he was like, you live here? I’m going to call you. ![]() He lectured and then he’d have people play. Alan came into the Mancini Institute to teach a master class. I was back home, in Southern California, after attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. “ So, I was accepted to the Henry Mancini Institute in 2002 and they asked me to come back in 2003. Pasqua is also co-producer of Jeff Ellwood’s new album entitled, “The Sounds Around the House.” Ellwood explained: It wasn’t long before the blossoming saxophonist became part of Pasqua’s band and performed with them for the next seven years. Alan Pasqua was there to teach an improvisational clinic in 2003 and was completely captivated by Ellwood’s rendition of ‘Giant Steps’ on his tenor saxophone. Jeff and Alan Pasqua met at the prestigious Henry Mancini Institute when Ellwood joined the very few instrumentalists who were carefully selected, from all over the world, to participate in a month-long musical seminar at UCLA. He invited the last drummer to play with the great Bill Evans, Joe LaBarbera and his longtime friend, Alan Pasqua on piano, who also was the person who introduced Jeff to the Southern California jazz community. Ellwood carefully picked the crème-de-la-crème of Southern California’s wealth of jazz musicians. After much prodding by his contemporaries, he decided to take a solo journey into becoming a recording artist and bandleader. San Antonio Community College in Walnut, California. Jeff Ellwood is the current Director of Instrumental Jazz Studies at Mt. ![]()
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