One of the finest piano accompanists in jazz and cabaret, Ellis Larkins was born and raised in Baltimore, where he became the first African-American to attend the prestigious Peabody School Of Music. Later on, he attended the Juilliard School in New York and eventually became part of the lively late-'40s 52nd St. jazz scene then flourishing in the city. Accompanying Ella Fitzgerald among many others, Larkins's self-effacement, harmonic sophistication, and exquisite touch eventually gained him a reputation as the ultimate singer's pianist. During the '50s, he also recorded a series of of well-regarded duets with the melodic trumpeter Ruby Braff.