Ellyn Rucker

Inducted: October 29, 2024

In many ways, Ellyn Rucker’s career is a what-if story

Rucker, who died in 2022 at age 84, was a prodigiously talented pianist and vocalist, as well as a rare beauty – although her daughter, Kristin Rucker, notes that she grew uncomfortable whenever aficionados described her as sexy. But because she didn’t devote herself to music full-time until after she’d raised her family and preferred sticking around Denver, her adopted hometown, over chasing fame in a more predictable music mecca, she became a cult favorite rather than a major celebrity.

Still, superstardom’s loss was a big win for Colorado – and for the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, which Rucker brightens with her induction.

ER Telluride Jazz Mid to late 1990 s

ER & Laura Newman (not sure of year)

“I am beyond thrilled for my mom,” Kristin says of the honor. “I just wish she was alive to witness it. But I’m sure she’s up there, smiling down and loving every minute.”

Rucker (née Cornelison) was born in Des Moines, Iowa…

…to a father who drove trucks and a mother whose musical skills and progressive outlook proved to be formative influences on her daughter. Her mom worked at a department store, but she also played organ at her church and hosted get-togethers/singalongs for a diverse group of fellow female parishioners. These gatherings exposed young Ellyn to what she would refer to in later years as “Black-created music,” including jazz, which would supplant the classical music styles she focused on in lessons beginning at age eight as her true musical love.

The push-and-pull between the two genres continued after she enrolled at Drake University. She majored in classical piano, but when her future husband, fellow student David Rucker, first encountered her in the music-program office, she was playing jazz. The couple married in 1957 and moved to Colorado after David accepted an offer to teach in Golden. Over the next couple of decades, Ellyn made occasional appearances at Denver-area clubs, where she sang and played jazz and blues standards with David accompanying her on standup bass, and handled organ duties at First United Methodist Church of Golden for more than a dozen years. But until her two children, Kurt and Kristin, were grown, music was a side hustle rather than a priority.

ER Gig at Esquire Early 1960 s

ER with Stanley Turrentine North Sea Jazz 1988

Her divorce in the late 1970s, after the kids had reached young adulthood, changed all that. Rucker needed a way to make a living, and jazz provided a lifeline. She soon became a fixture at clubs such as El Chapultepec, another Colorado Music Hall of Fame inductee along with its late owner, Jerry Krantz, who became one of Rucker’s greatest champions. And while she specialized in solo performances, she also gigged with folks such as fellow Hall of Famers Ken Walker, Eric Gunnison and Greg Gisbert, as well as touring jazz icons Red Holloway, Roy Eldridge, James Moody and many more.

Before long, Rucker’s talents began to be recognized beyond Colorado’s borders…

…She made her musical mark as far away as China and embarked on numerous tours of Europe either on her own or in the company of saxophonist Spike Robinson, a sonic soulmate. She received invitations to perform at the renowned North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands three consecutive years, a barrier-breaking accomplishment for a female jazz musician, and became such a favorite in Germany that one aficionado launched a fan club in her name.

Other accomplishments include the release of six treasured albums, most on Colorado’s Capri imprint, from her effervescent 1987 debut, Ellyn, to Now, issued in 2003. She also appeared on the nationally syndicated NPR staple Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz.

True, Rucker’s jazz journey started slowly. But she more than made up for lost time.

By Michael Roberts

ER Residency at Ritz Carlton Shanghai China 2004

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