Alfred James Ellis (April 21, 1941 – September 23, 2021), known as Pee Wee Ellis due to his diminutive stature, was an American saxophonist, composer, and arranger. With a background in jazz, he was a member of James Brown‘s band in the 1960s, appearing on many of Brown’s recordings and co-writing hits like “Cold Sweat” and “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud“. He also worked with Van Morrison.

In the 2014 biographical movie Get on Up about James Brown, Ellis is played by Tariq Trotter. Ellis resided in England for the last 30 years of his life.

Ellis was born on April 21, 1941 in Bradenton, Florida to his mother Elizabeth and his father Garfield Devoe Rogers, Jr. His father left when he was a young boy, and In 1949, his mother married Ezell Ellis, an organizer of musicians for local dance bands.^[2] The family settled in Lubbock, Texas, “a highly segregated town”, according to Ellis who gained his nickname “Pee Wee” from musicians staying at the family home. In 1955, a white woman insisted on dancing with his step-father, but interracial mixing enraged a man watching who stabbed him. Ezell Ellis, an African American, died because a hospital refused to treat him based on the colour of his skin.