Biography
The jazz clarinetist born Ernest Smith acquired the nickname Sticky, a moniker shared by quite a few musicians of the period, possibly on account of earlier theft, although any automatic association with criminality would slight the Detroit jazz community where he first surfaced in 1919 as a member of Hank Duncan’s ensemble. He soon relocated to New York City and began working alongside Johnny Dunn, Mamie Smith, and Clara Smith. That string of Smith collaborations culminated in 1927 and 1928 recording dates with blues queen Bessie Smith. On those sides and the other blues dates, Elliot’s instantly recognizable approach emerges: he drifts into reverie even within the tight six- and eight-bar breaks allotted to him, a feat later echoed by Gunter Hampel on “Haunted House.” Pianist Ernest Matson assembled many of the small groups for these sessions, among them the curiously named Matson’s Lucky Seven, which in practice numbered only four players. Discographers frequently listed the clarinetist as Ernest Elliot rather than Sticky, a practice that continued through late-’20s dates with King Oliver even though soprano saxophonist Stump Evans was present and nicknames were presumably welcome. The same credit variation occurred in Mamie Smith’s Jazz Hounds, where trombonist Dope Andrews made “Sticky” seem redundant. Elliot also performed with the Gulf Coast Seven, an ensemble that featured Barney Bigard from the Duke Ellington ranks and the sturdy stride pianist James P. Johnson. Despite an extensive recording schedule throughout the ’20s, including notable early tracks with Alberta Hunter, he vanished from the scene during the following decade. He resurfaced in the early ’40s, playing in a trio led by Cliff Jackson at the Astoria Hotel, and remained active through the rest of the decade, notably alongside Willie “the Lion” Smith in performances that revisited his earliest musical roots. He withdrew from music in the late ’40s.