This album has been in the works for quite some time. I’ve been wanting to combine many of my musical interests into one free-flowing adventure; kinda like “genres” be damned – straight ahead with whatever I really enjoy playing. A listen to the brief “taster” will explain everything. I’m honored to be in some pretty exceptional company here, and musical dialogues abound…

We playfully give a “tip of the hat” to such seminal artists as Miles Davis, Jimi, Sly & The Family Stone, Otis Spann & Robert Lockwood Jr., and a few more surprises. Three of the pieces were begun in the 1980s, and the others are fresh and new.  This is one record I’m really proud of.

Inspiration: It all began on a chilly January afternoon. Having just completed a recording in my studio of “DeeDee’s Song”, a two part acoustic invention, and feeling really proud of the result, I asked Jane to pop in and offer an opinion. Unlike Jiminy Cricket, rather than whispering from the perch of my shoulder, she looked me square in the eye, and said: “You’ve been talking about doing a solo album for a lot of years now. Don’t you think that this is the perfect beginning to that project?”

“Um”, said I; “we’ve only just begun.” And now I take great pride in presenting to you the finished CD of said project. It’s just me, just guitars – acoustic and electric in various configurations.

Here’s how I view my latest recorded project… picture this: “HeartStrings” is like a little art gallery, maybe in NYC’s SoHo district. The 17 pieces of music are paintings, drawings, sketches, hanging on the audio wall. They each have colors, rhythms and textures unique unto themselves, and yet they’ve got that thread running through them that is a big piece of who I envisage myself to be.  Ready to embark on this journey with me?

My special thanks to: Wes Maebe for engineering par excellence, to Marc Rubinstein of the legendary Pig Lights for his  amazing imagery, to Darrell Nutt for graphic high taste & skills, and to Adam Bonson at The PMM Group for a superb job of manufacture.

Here it is – the 1970 classic, on CD for the first time! We get more email requests for this collector’s item than you can shake a Fender Stratocaster at! Available ONLY from this website. This is a limited signed edition.

What a strange and interesting crew this was! Paul Fleisher and I played together beginning in the early-mid 60’s in NYC niteclubs including Trude Heller’s, The Peppermint Lounge, and The Metropole. He and I co-authored the entire record. I’d known Allen Herman & Bob Piazza for quite a while too – before they joined The Island, they were members of Genya Ravan’s R&B supergroup Ten Wheel Drive. Phillip Namanworth had been playing with Dave Van Ronk & The Hudson Dusters, and brought with him a boogie-thing that was just too contagious! Terry Adams of NRBQ guested on Hammond B-3. George Andrews handled the string arrangements; he used to lead a big-band in NYC, which was well… quite an education. Through the ranks of this band came Steve Gadd, The Brecker Brothers, David Sanborn, Lou Soloff, Chuck Rainey, and most of the Island crew. (Like I said – an education.) Andy Muson also guested on 2 tracks; killer jazzer, also played with Albert King for a spell before moving on to a hugely successful studio career in LA. Finally, the legendary Eddie Kramer, engineer/producer extraordinaire – for most of the Jimi Hendrix records, as well as Led Zeppelin, Traffic, and a host of others. Respect, Eddie!

The making of this EP CD has been a musical journey lasting a half dozen years […and what a long strange trip it’s been] – I started the ‘roadmap’ for my new interpretation of REELIN’ before the turn of the century. I’ve always heard a ‘different spin’ on this great tune – from the moment Donald and Walter played me the unfinished track, I heard the 2 harmony guitars in the interludes, knowing that one day I’d interpret those phrases using the Celtic instruments they were meant for. My quest took me to Bill Whelan (composer of Riverdance), who introduced some of Ireland’s finest trad players to the mix. And finally, here it is.

I recruited my bandmates Bernard Purdie and Chuck Rainey from the ‘Royal Scam’ LP – I grew up with them in the studios, and just knew that they were the perfect players for this track. I traveled a lot in the process of putting all these fine musicians together – New York for Purdie and Marc Quiñones, Texas for Rainey, Ireland for some of the wonderful Celtic playing, London for the brilliantly subtle piano of Wayne Brown and the dulcet tones of Hamish Stuart… and finally to the great North of England for the topping – Tasmin Archer singing lead.

I finally feel that my ‘painting’ of an already great song is complete, and it gives me great pleasure to share it with you.

MANHATTAN ATTITUDE and WINDOW are 2 very differing instrumental visions of mine, very different moods, and some lovely musical interactions.

We end this mini-trip paying tribute to Bill Withers’ tune, which was written to leave a smile of the face of the listener. LOVELY DAY gets a fresh vocal makeover courtesy of JAG (not to mention loads of subtle ER ol’ school synthesis as the piece builds.)

This CD is currently only available as a digital download – of the highest quality via Bandcamp.

CONCEPT: This collection of archive recordings offers a glimpse into the development of Elliott’s playing styles. In his words: “Playing the clubs in my teens and early twenties was a fantastic experience; in those days it was common to play six nights a week, five or six sets a night. Basic training at its best!

“My interest in the blues (and its simplicity) grew naturally out of the ‘pop’ radio tunes I played night after night. Bill Haley and The Comets, Elvis, Ritchie Valens, The Isley Brothers, Ray Charles – virtually all their material led back to blues roots.

“By 1967, I joined my first psychedelic band, and found myself in the midst of New York’s ‘in’ music circle – a small cellar club on West 46th street called ‘The Scene’. Between ’67 and ’70 it truly was the scene, with late-night-to-early-morning jams with an endless list of luminaries including Jimi Hendrix, Johnny & Edgar Winter, Buddy Miles, Spirit, Led Zeppole… Blues and psychedelia mixed to a perfect blend; experimentation and innovation were encouraged and applauded.

“It was in this atmosphere that my ‘styles’ developed. The music on this CD goes from rural blues recorded in a garage in Mississippi, to live performance at New York’s Fillmore East, ‘after-midnite’ studio time in funky four and eight track studios above the old RKO Palace theater on Broadway…”

This CD is currently only available as a digital download – of the highest quality via Bandcamp.

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These magical noises were recorded in the beautiful hill country outside of Richmond, Virginia. While producing another CD, I was introduced to violinist Cecil Hooker, and this is the result of our first musical encounter. I find it very soothing, and many have commented on it’s being an aid to meditation & focus.

ORK is currently only available as a digital download (of the highest quality) via Bandcamp.

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