Ellis Hall

Ellis Hall Jr. (born May 10, 1951, in Savannah, Georgia) known professionally as Ellis Hall is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer.

He was described as "The Ambassador of Soul" by conductor, Jeff Tyzik.

Hall has been blind since the age of 18.

Citing Ray Charles as his inspiration, Hall has written over 4000 soul, gospel, blues and pop songs, and has performed with Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Natalie Cole, Patti LaBelle, Toby Keith, Herbie Hancock, George Benson, Bobby Womack, Sheila E., Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire, Tower of Power and Ray Charles.

Hall was born on May 10, 1951, in Savannah, Georgia, the son of Ellis Hall Sr. and Arvanna Harris.

He and his brothers and sisters were raised in his parents' Southern Baptist household in Claxton, Georgia.

Hall was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma at an early age.

With only partial and deteriorating vision in his left eye, he was declared legally blind and the family moved to Boston, Massachusetts to allow him to attend The Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown.

He began piano lessons in the third grade and caught the performing bug singing doo-wop by the corner store where he would take the money he earned singing and buy chips and soda.

He really got serious about having a career in music at the age of 14 when he caught a performance of the B3 organ quartet Quint Harris & the Preachers at Jim Nance's Lounge in Boston and witnessed how they whipped the audience into a frenzy.

After that show, Hall built his own drum kit so he could start playing drums and he added the bass to his instrument practice lineup.

Ever mindful of his fate, he would practice all of his instruments in the dark so he would always be able to play them, with or without his vision.

While in high school, he played football and competed in wrestling with his left eye remaining strong enough to manage, however, a wrestling injury to that left eye would take away his sight completely in 1969, at the age of 18.

Due to his extensive musical education while in school, Hall eventually mastered the drums, piano, keyboards, guitar, upright and electric bass.

He was able to develop and define himself as a vocalist as well, possessing a 5-octave range.

Hall's first professional recording was for rocker Paul Pena on Capitol Records in 1971, playing bass and singing background vocals on his single "The River", "Adorable One" and "Woke Up This Morning."

His first release as a solo artist was a version of the Motown song from the 60's "Every Little Bit Hurts."

In 1973, he formed the Ellis Hall Group.

The Ellis Hall Group was managed by Don Rosenberg and featured a rotating roster of members including: Ellis Hall (founder), Stanley Benders (percussion), David Fuller (drums), Michael Thompson (guitar), Freddie Mueller (bass/sound), Tony Vaughn (bass), Jeffrey Lockhart (guitar), Patti Unitas (vocals), Pat Thomason (vocals), Buddy Baptista (drums), Richie Marshall (drums) and Jackie Baird III (guitar).

Their first gig was opening for Earth, Wind and Fire on the Boston stop of their 1974 tour.

They would go on to perform for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis at the Kennedy Compound, and for Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa, Harvard University as well as open for The Temptations, The Spinners, Taj Mahal and Tower of Power, whose band leader, Emilio Castillo asked him on four separate occasions to join Tower of Power.

After relocating to California in the early 1980s, Hall took Castillo up on the offer to join Tower of Power.

After leaving Tower of Power, Hall worked as a session musician and featured artist on records with artists including the California Raisins, John Klemmer, Carl Anderson, Larry Dunn, George Duke and Kenny G, the latter with whom he scored an R&B hit singing a Preston Glass-produced remake of Junior Walker and The All-Stars' "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" from the multi-platinum album, Duotones (Arista – 1986).

Hall both wrote and performed on the soundtracks of multiple television movies and films including The Lion King 2, Shrek 2, Chicken Run, Invincible, and Bruce Almighty, sang gospel tunes in the comedy film, Big Momma's House with Martin Lawrence, and sang a Louis Armstrong tune in the crime drama film Catch Me If You Can with Leonardo DiCaprio.

He sang lead vocals and composed music for their 1987 album Power (known as T.O.P. in Europe), on which he released the ballad "Some Days Were Meant For Rain" which was previously written while he was with the Ellis Hall Group and dedicated to his former manager who was having marital problems at the time.

In 2001, Hall met Ray Charles at a Christmas party where he was performing.

As he was playing "I Can See Clearly Now," Charles sent for him to come to his table.

After saying hello, Charles stayed for the entire performance and got in touch with Hall the next day.

Charles signed Hall to his Crossover Records label in 2002.

Hall was the only artist Charles signed to his label as well as co-produced his first album.

In October 2003, Hall played the Kennedy Center at Charles' request.

Charles signed Hall to his record label Crossover Records, and mentored him until Charles' death in 2004.

Their association lasted until Charles' death in 2004.

Hall is called a protege of Charles, but he was already a mature artist when their friendship began.

Unfortunately, Ray died just prior to Hall's release of Straight Ahead In 2004.

During the filming of the Taylor Hackford's Oscar-winning film RAY starring Jamie Foxx, Hall was an onset advisor.

Hall continues to be extremely prolific.

In 2015, he was nominated for an Ovation Theater Award "Best Male Lead in a Musical" on his first major play "The Gospel at Colonus" as well as a cast nomination for The NAACP Theater Awards.

Mr. Hall is currently featured on three songs on the new Bootsy Collins release "The Power of The One," one of which, "Wishing Well," was originally written by Ellis and Michael Sembello.

He is featured on the remake of the Steve Winwood hit "Roll With It" from Jermaine Lockhart, which was released on George Benson's new label venture.