Ellis Larkins

Ellis Larkins (May 15, 1923 – September 29, 2002) was an American jazz pianist and Broadway performer born in Baltimore, Maryland. He made history at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore as the institution's first African American student, before relocating to New York City to attend the Juilliard School.

While still enrolled at Juilliard, Larkins began his professional career performing jazz piano alongside guitarist Billy Moore at Café Society Uptown. Over the following decade he worked in his own groups and as an accompanist to clarinetist Edmond Hall and singers Helen Humes and Mildred Bailey. During the 1940s he recorded with Coleman Hawkins and Dicky Wells.

Larkins is perhaps best remembered for his collaborative recordings with Ella Fitzgerald. He served as pianist on her album Ella Sings Gershwin in 1950 and again on Songs in a Mellow Mood in 1954. That same year he played piano on the first solo recordings by singer Chris Connor, which appeared on her album Chris. The 1950s also brought recordings with Ruby Braff and Beverly Kenney, as well as several solo albums that demonstrated his range beyond the accompanist role for which he was most widely recognized.

His work in the 1960s included recordings and performances with Eartha Kitt, Joe Williams, Georgia Gibbs, and Harry Belafonte. It was during this period that Larkins also appeared on Broadway, with a credit in the 1966 production of Pousse-Café. In the 1970s he performed regularly at New York venues including Gregory's, a small bar on the Upper East Side.