Seger Ellis
b. 4 July 1906, Houston, Texas, USA. A popular radio and recording entertainer of the early '30s as a pianist/vocalist, Ellis later made a laudable but doomed attempt to ring a few changes on the regimented sound of many swing era big bands. His Choirs Of Brass orchestra had the unusual instrumentation of eight brass, one clarinet, plus rhythm. Using ingenious arrangements by Stan Wrightsman and Spud Murphy and with Nate Kazebier and Irving Fazola among his personnel, he achieved a distinctive and attractive sound. The band's vocals were handled by himself and his wife, Irene Taylor, a much-underrated singer. Interesting though this approach was, it wasn't what the public wanted and the band folded in 1937, after which Ellis worked mostly with small groups and rarely strayed far from his home state.