BIO
Combining jazz sensibilities with several World Music traditions, Ehlis gathers a group of talented and like-minded musicians who share a spirit of adventure and playfulness. Each artist adds a distinctive voice, breadth of talent and experience to create a one-of-a kind performances each and every time.
Drawn to traditional and folk music from around the world, Ehlis blends the sounds of many cultures into his own unique style. As a multi-instrumentalist, he learned the mandolin busking on the streets of Denmark, Germany and Italy and has studied various woodwind instruments and percussion, including the Balinese Gamelan. While in Zimbabwe he met local musicians and performed with Motsi Uruka at the Amakhosi Theatre in Bulawayo. He also performs and studies the music of the Basques.
Ehlis has performed with musicians ranging from the avant-garde of jazz including John Tchicai, Oliver Lake, Joseph Jarman, Karl Berger, Perry Robinson, and Francis Wong, to vocalists Marie Afonso, Loire Cotler, the instrument maker Ken Butler, mandolinist Joe Craven, classical guitarist Philip Hii, world music pioneer Sylvain Leroux, frame drum master Glen Velez, Slovakian poet Gabriel Ariel Levicky, Russian painter Andrey Tamarchenko, dancer Charmaine Warren, tap dancer Jon Luks, singer-songwriters Scott E. Moore, Jessica Owen, Argentine guitarists Juan Falu, Quique Sinesi, Basque musicians Kepa Junkera, Tapia & Leturria, Ghanian musician Zorkie Nelson, Danish drummer Kresten Osgood, Finnish saxophonist Mikko Innanen, and Pakistani singer Fawzia Afzal Khan.
He can also be heard with vocalist Olivia Foschi, pianist/composer Elizabeth Woodbury-Kasius (Heard), in Trio EWM along with saxophonist Tony White and percussionist Ray McNamara, and with the Sense of Values Quartet featuring cellist Amalia Lopez Chueca and pianist Jose Ignacio Hernandez.
It was in San Francisco during the 1990’s where Ehlis fully embraced composing and performing original works contributing to the flourishing and diverse music scene of the time. Percussionist Horacio Altan and guitarist David Lofton were frequent and inspiring collaborators during this period of transition.
Guitarist, mandolinist and multi-instrumentalist John Ehlis is a composer and band leader living in the New York area.
"...especially adept at bright singing guitar solos..." John Sharpe: All About Jazz