Pee Wee Ellis Assembly

The Lincoln Theatre presents Pee Wee Ellis Funk Assembly. After some 55 eventful years as a musician, band leader, arranger and composer Pee Wee Ellis is still touring the world and working on new collaborations, despite his fast-approaching 75th birthday. His remarkable story spans six decades, starting in the 50s when he took himself and his sax off to New York city to find his heroes Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and the great Sonny Rollins (who became his teacher and mentor.) A promising career leading jazz bands in Florida took an unexpected turn in the 1965 when he joined James Brown’s sensational Revue, playing alto. Within six months he was bandleader/musical director and was cowriting with James Brown. ‘Cold Sweat’, widely acknowledged as the first true funk record, and many of JB’s hits for the next four years were the fruit of this collaboration.