Elliott played mellophone in his high school band and played trumpet for an army band. After studying at the
University of Miami he added vibraphone to his instruments. He recorded with
Terry Gibbs and
Buddy Rich before forming his own band. From 1953 to 1960, he won the
DownBeat Readers' Poll several times for "miscellaneous instrument-mellophone." Known as the "Human Instrument", Elliott performed jazz as a vocalist, trombonist,
flugelhornist, and percussionist. He pioneered the art of
multitrack recording, composed prize-winning advertising jingles, prepared film scores, and built a thriving
production company. He scored several
Broadway productions, including
James Thurber's
The Beast in Me and
A Thurber Carnival, as well as
Frank D. Gilroy's
The Only Game in Town. He also provided one of the voices for the novelty jazz duo the
Nutty Squirrels. Elliott was a longtime associate of
Quincy Jones, contributing vocals to Jones's scores for the films
The Pawnbroker (1962), ''
Walk, Don't Run (1966), In the Heat of the Night (1967), $ (1971), The Hot Rock (1972) and The Getaway (1972). Elliot also composed the score to the short film Que Puerto Rico
(1963) directedby Tibor Hirsch and The Happy Hooker'' starring
Lynn Redgrave. Elliott owned and operated one of the first multitrack
recording studios in New York City and in Weston, Connecticut, where he died of cancer in 1984. He was married to actress Doris Wiss (1929-2015). ==Discography==