[1][4] Ellis remained with Dorsey through 1947, traveling and recording extensively, and playing in dance halls and movie palaces.

Lou Carter told journalist Robert Dupuis in a 1996 interview, "The Dorsey band had a six-week hole in the schedule.

In addition to their live and recorded work as the Oscar Peterson Trio, this unit usually with the addition of a drummer, served as the virtual "house rhythm section" for Norman Granz's Verve Records, supporting the likes of tenormen Ben Webster and Stan Getz, as well as trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, and Sweets Edison and other jazz stalwarts.

With drummer Buddy Rich, they were also the backing band for popular "comeback" albums by the duet of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.

Ellis left the Peterson Trio in November 1958, to be replaced not by a guitarist, but by drummer Ed Thigpen.

[6] With fellow jazz guitarists Barney Kessel, Charlie Byrd and later, Tal Farlow, he created another ensemble, the Great Guitars.

Ellis died of Alzheimer's disease at his Los Angeles home on the morning of March 28, 2010, at the age of 88.

[7] With Monty Alexander and Ray Brown As a member of the Oscar Peterson Trio Reunion with Oscar Peterson With Benny Carter With Roy Eldridge With Stan Getz With Dizzy Gillespie With Vince Guaraldi With Johnny Hartman With Peggy Lee With Bud Shank With Lester Young With others