Guitarists as talented as Mike Elliott are very rare, and guitarists of that caliber who are as versatile as Mike Elliott are rarer than endangered species. 

Mike was born in Chicago and reared in Colorado where he studied guitar with the legendary Johnny Smith, whose namesake Gibson guitar is a classic itself.  His versatility has given him many types of musical credits, and today Mike is considered by many critics to be one of the finest jazz guitarists in the world. Downbeat magazine gave one of his trio recordings its coveted four-star rating, and Guitar Player magazine said; "Mike Elliott is fantastic! His playing is enough to make other guitarists throw their hands and guitars in the air and take up shoe repair." Guitar Player also did a feature article on Mike in their June 1979 issue. Renowned Jazz critic Leonard Feather proclaimed Mike as one of the world’s best.

Mike’s playing experiences are very diverse, and include performing with some country music’s best known artists, thousands of sessions in many of the country’s major recording studios, “Broadway” musicals, symphony orchestras, extensive club work, clinics/seminars as well as private instruction, and his own concert jazz groups.

Mike has performed with artists from jazz trumpeter Clark Terry to Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw. A partial and incredibly diverse list of other performers Mike has recorded and/or performed with includes:

Les Paul, Howard Roberts, Ramsey Lewis, Don Menza, Jimmy Dean, Chet Atkins, Helen Ready, Debbie (Deborah) Gibson, Ray Charles, Emmy Lou Harris, Jeff Berlin, Mark O’Connor, Edgar Meyer, Bobby Whitlock, Earl Klugh, Vic Damone, Joe Diffie, Johnny Cash, Steve Earle, Crystal Gale, Kathy Mattea, Chubby Checker, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Mickey Newbury, Stefan Anderson, Jimmy Rodgers, Frank Ifield, Roger Cook, John D. Loudermilk, Jim Reeves, Tompall Glazier, Jay Patton, Dee Murray, Bob Hope, Victor Borge, Brenda Lee, George Gobel, John Hartford, Azar Lawrence, Gordon Johnson, Jim Nabors, Dorothy Lamour, Ferrante & Teicher, Wayne Andre, Bobby Vinton, The Andrews Sisters, Ed Shaughnessy, John Davidson, Ken Melons, and the list goes on and on! 

Mike’s credits literally range from the Newport Jazz Festival, to the Grand Ole Opry. One of Mike’s jazz groups, NATURAL LIFE, shared the concert stage with Charles Mingus, McCoy Tyner, Deodato, and Larry Carlton. His 1996 recording of "Trains a'comin'" by Steve Earle received a Grammy nomination and the prestigious NAIRD award.

As a songwriter Mike has had many cuts including one on John Anderson’s triple platinum selling album “Seminole Wind”. He has written a series of instructional guitar books for Hal Leonard, four years as a clinician for Gibson Guitars and later served as manager of Gibson's Professional Musical Services Division, functioned as the president of Celebration Records, and was music director for the legendary Nashville producer Jack Clement.

In the twelve years before returning to Minnesota from Nashville in 1998, Mike owned and operated a full service recording studio "Magic Tracks", who's client list included many of Nashville's most successful artists and labels.

To date, Mike has recorded seven of his own albums with another in the works, and he currently teaches advanced jazz guitar, and recording studio performance at Musictech college in St. Paul Minnesota. 

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