Ellery Eskelin
Encyclopedia
Ellery Eskelin American
tenor
saxophonist
. Born in Wichita, Kansas
, raised in Baltimore, Maryland from the age of two. His parents, Rodd Keith
and Bobbie Lee, were also musicians. Rodd Keith died in 1974 in Los Angeles, California and became a cult figure after his death in the little known field of "song-poem" music. Organist Bobbie Lee performed in local nightclubs in Baltimore, Maryland in the early 1960s and provided Eskelin an introduction to standards from the Great American Songbook as well as inspiring an early interest in jazz music.
Eskelin has resided in New York City since 1983 and has led numerous international touring ensembles while participating as a side-person with many of today's most forward thinking composers and improvisors. He has released more than twenty recordings as a leader since the late 1980s, primarily for the Swiss hatOLOGY label. His most important work continues to be with the group he formed in 1994 featuring keyboardist Andrea Parkins
and drummer Jim Black
although he has maintained lasting musical associations with Joey Baron
, Mark Helias
, Gerry Hemingway
, Marc Ribot
, David Liebman, Han Bennink
, Sylvie Courvoisier
, Bobby Previte
and Daniel Humair
among others.
Eskelin's style has its roots in the jazz realm yet his unique phrasing (which is compared to Arnold Schoenberg's technique of "klangfarbenmelodie
" in The Wire
, December 1996) and the unorthodox techniques utilized in his compositions (in which composed and improvised elements often collide unpredictably) make for a music that defies easy categorization. Over the years, Eskelin has garnered significant critical praise in the international jazz press. Down Beat
Magazine has recognized him as "a major player in today's creative music" (September 1995) and described his compositional approach as "a startlingly new concept" (January 1997).
, Sonny Stitt
, Lee Konitz
, Stan Getz
and John Coltrane
. The influence of his mother, organist Bobbie Lee, provided a lasting musical orientation based upon her playing, characterized by a strong rhythmic feel and a commanding delivery of American songs.
Baltimore had a rich musical legacy sustained by musicians such as saxophonists Mickey Fields
and Gary Bartz
. Musicians from New York would often pass through Baltimore to perform on the weekly Sunday afternoon Left Bank Jazz Society
concert series presented at the Famous Ballroom. Eskelin had opportunities to sit in with locals such as Fields as well as internationally renowned artists such as Bartz, Pepper Adams
and Woody Shaw
. Early performances as a leader took place at various jazz clubs such as "The Bandstand" and "The Closet" run by saxophonist and entrepreneur Henry Baker, who had a long history in the Baltimore music scene having known Lester Young
, Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis
, Red Garland
, John Coltrane
, Clifford Brown
and many others. Baker predicted that the young saxophonist would one day become "a great tenor saxophone player".
Eskelin attended Towson University
where he performed in composer Hank Levy
's Jazz Ensemble which played Levy's "odd-meter" big band compositions exclusively. Bassist Drew Gress
was a fellow student with whom Eskelin continues to collaborate and perform with to the present day. In 1979 Eskelin met pianist Marc Copland
and joined Copland's band for engagements in Washington D.C including the Cellar Door
, Blues Alley
and the One Step Down. Copland was a former New York saxophonist who moved to Washington DC and switched to piano in order to more deeply explore the role of harmony in his own music. Eskelin, along with Drew Gress, would reunite with Copland years later in New York City in one of Eskelin's early groups as a leader. Also in 1979 Eskelin encountered bay area saxophonist Mel Ellison who was performing in Baltimore for an extended engagement with trumpeter Ted Curson
's group. Eskelin took an informal lesson with Ellison, who's unique style made a lasting impression. Also in the group was drummer Tom Rainey
. In subsequent years Eskelin would tour and record with Rainey as part of bassist Mark Helias
' ensemble.
in a big band setting performing one-nighters across the country and culminating in a tour of South America in early 1983. In March 1983 he left the road tour and moved to New York City. In an effort to solidify his understanding of be-bop Eskelin attended nightly informal jam sessions for several years at a local club called the "Star Cafe" on 23rd Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. These sessions were run by saxophonist Junior Cook
and drummer Harold White (who Eskelin had first met and performed with in Baltimore). In addition Eskelin pursued private studies with saxophonist George Coleman
. During the summer of 1984 Eskelin performed with organist Jack McDuff
's band (which featured guitarist Dave Stryker
and legendary drummer Joe Dukes) at a regular engagement at Dudes Lounge in Harlem. While reinforcing these foundations Eskelin slowly began to develop his own approach to improvisation, combining traditional elements with free improvisation. Laying the groundwork for these explorations were studies with saxophonist David Liebman which led to informal jam sessions and eventually a working professional relationship. In 1987 Eskelin began developing original music with drummer Phil Haynes which led to the formation of the cooperative group "Joint Venture" (with trumpeter Paul Smoker
and bassist Drew Gress) as well as numerous other projects centered around Haynes' Brooklyn loft and rehearsal space. Along with a group of like minded musicians they presented a number of annual self-produced festivals in Manhattan at the Knitting Factory
which ran into the early 1990s. These performances and subsequent recordings by these groups led to Eskelin's initial exposure on the European touring circuit.
's group "Baron Down", a trio including Baron, Eskelin and trombonist Steve Swell
(and later trombonist Josh Roseman
). "Baron Down" released three recordings, "Tongue in Groove" (1991), "Raised Pleasure Dot" (1993) and "Crack Shot" (1996). It was during this time that Eskelin abandoned any type of commercially oriented work in order to concentrate fully on his own projects and the music of like minded colleagues. Taking advantage of a three month period with no concert performances in the early 1990s Eskelin developed a solo saxophone concert program in complete musical isolation, opting not to perform or interact with any other musicians during this time. In addition to entirely revamping his approach to the saxophone the process proved to be a catalyst for musical ideas that Eskelin further developed and applied to his compositions for the group "Ellery Eskelin with Andrea Parkins and Jim Black". The group, featuring Parkins on accordion and electronics and Black on percussion released "Jazz Trash" in 1995 and followed up with a dozen recordings over the ensuing decade and into the 2000s primarily for the Swiss based Hat Hut label. In the liner notes to "One Great Day…" (the band's second release) Eskelin explains that the fractured and sometimes incongruent nature of his experiences as a musician coming up in the 1970s and 1980s finally came together in a manner that made sense and could be expressed in a unified musical language with this ensemble. The group toured regularly in Europe, the U.S. and Canada and continues, having performed in Europe as recently as 2010.
(recordings include "Open Loose", "Fictionary", "Loopin' the Cool"), drummer Gerry Hemingway
("Johnny's Corner Song", "Devil's Paradise", "Songs", "The Whimbler", "Riptide"), drummer Han Bennink
("Dissonant Characters"), drummer Bobby Previte
("Set the Alarm for Monday") and drummer Daniel Humair
(Liberté Surveilé). Eskelin also forged new ties with musicians from around the globe such as oud player Rabih Abou-Khalil
, pianist Satoko Fujii
, trumpeter Dennis González
, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, bassist Lisle Ellis
, pianist Erik Deutsch, and drummer John Hollenbeck
. Eskelin also made a guest artist appearance on the BBC Electric Proms Festival in London with the Basquiat Strings
in 2007. In 2009 Eskelin was the recipient of a Chamber Music America "New Jazz Works" grant which commissioned an extended work for the group "Different But the Same", a quartet with fellow saxophonist David Liebman.
During this time Eskelin also continued launching new projects of his own (leaning towards complete improvisation) such as "Vanishing Point" a group-improvised recording from 2000 with Mat Maneri
(viola), Erik Friedlander
(cello), Mark Dresser
(bass) and Matt Moran
(vibraphone). An improvising trio of cellist Vincent Courtois, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier
and Eskelin was formed in 2002 and recorded "As Soon as Possible" in 2008. Eskelin continued working with his group featuring Andrea Parkins and Jim Black on a number of touring and recording productions which were sometimes augmented with additional musicians such as vocalist Jessica Constable, keyboardist Philippe Gelda, cellist Erik Friedlander
, tubist Joseph Daley, guitarist Marc Ribot
and bassist Melvin Gibbs
.
. A renewed interest in early techniques of sound production on the saxophone (sparked by his switch to a vintage instrument) has invigorated Eskelin's musical aesthetic. This group incorporates standard material from the Great American Songbook but in a freely improvised setting. In comparing the group's eponymous recording to an earlier project by Eskelin devoted to the music of saxophonist Gene Ammons
("The Sun Died", 1996), reviewer Ed Hazel wrote "If anything, Trio New York is both subtler and more adventurous, more at home with the music and less self conscious about taking liberties with it."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
saxophonist
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
. Born in Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
, raised in Baltimore, Maryland from the age of two. His parents, Rodd Keith
Rodd Keith
Rodd Keith was an American multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He is perhaps the best known figure in the obscure musical sub-genre known as song poem music.-Life and career:...
and Bobbie Lee, were also musicians. Rodd Keith died in 1974 in Los Angeles, California and became a cult figure after his death in the little known field of "song-poem" music. Organist Bobbie Lee performed in local nightclubs in Baltimore, Maryland in the early 1960s and provided Eskelin an introduction to standards from the Great American Songbook as well as inspiring an early interest in jazz music.
Eskelin has resided in New York City since 1983 and has led numerous international touring ensembles while participating as a side-person with many of today's most forward thinking composers and improvisors. He has released more than twenty recordings as a leader since the late 1980s, primarily for the Swiss hatOLOGY label. His most important work continues to be with the group he formed in 1994 featuring keyboardist Andrea Parkins
Andrea Parkins
Andrea Parkins is an American composer, sound artist, performer and improviser.Andrea Parkins has improvised with musicians such as Nels Cline, Jim Black, Ellery Eskelin, Guenter Muller, David Watson, David Fenech, etc.- External links :* *...
and drummer Jim Black
Jim Black
Jim Black is a jazz drummer who has performed with Tim Berne and Dave Douglas, among others. He attended Berklee College of Music....
although he has maintained lasting musical associations with Joey Baron
Joey Baron
Joey Baron is an American avant-garde jazz drummer probably best known for his work with Bill Frisell, Stan Getz, Steve Kuhn, and John Zorn...
, Mark Helias
Mark Helias
Mark Helias is an American jazz double bass player and composer born in New Brunswick, New Jersey.He did not begin playing the double bass until the age of 20, graduating from Yale University's School of Music with a Masters degree in 1976. He has also studied at Rutgers University...
, Gerry Hemingway
Gerry Hemingway
Gerry Hemingway is an American jazz composer and percussionist.He has performed with Ernst Reijseger, Anthony Davis, Earl Howard, Leo Smith, George Lewis, Anthony Braxton, Ray Anderson, Mark Helias, Reggie Workman, Michael Moore, Oliver Lake, Marilyn Crispell, Christy Doran, John Wolf Brennan, Don...
, Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer.His own work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and composer John Zorn.-Biography:Ribot was...
, David Liebman, Han Bennink
Han Bennink
Han Bennink is a Dutch jazz drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured his playing on clarinet, violin, banjo and piano....
, Sylvie Courvoisier
Sylvie Courvoisier
Sylvie Courvoisier is a Swiss composer and pianist.Courvoisier was born and raised in Switzerland. In 1998, she moved to Brooklyn, New York, where she currently resides. She co-leads the Sylvie Courvoisier/Mark Feldman Quartet and leads her own quintet, Lonelyville, and the Trio Abaton...
, Bobby Previte
Bobby Previte
Robert "Bobby" Previte is a drummer, composer and bandleader. Previte earned a B.A. in Economics at the University at Buffalo, where he also studied percussion. He moved to New York City in 1979, and became active in the city's thriving jazz and experimental music scenes...
and Daniel Humair
Daniel Humair
Daniel Humair is a drummer, jazz composer and painter.He is widely renowned and became Chevalier des Arts et Lettres in 1986.He has played with many jazz performers notably Martial Solal, Gerry Mulligan and Eric Dolphy....
among others.
Eskelin's style has its roots in the jazz realm yet his unique phrasing (which is compared to Arnold Schoenberg's technique of "klangfarbenmelodie
Klangfarbenmelodie
Klangfarbenmelodie is a musical technique that involves distributing a musical line or melody to several instruments, rather than assigning it to just one instrument, thereby adding color and texture to the melodic line...
" in The Wire
The Wire (magazine)
The Wire is a British avant garde music magazine, founded in 1982 by jazz promoter Anthony Wood and journalist Chrissie Murray. The magazine initially concentrated on contemporary jazz and improvised music, but branched out in the early 1990s to various types of experimental music...
, December 1996) and the unorthodox techniques utilized in his compositions (in which composed and improvised elements often collide unpredictably) make for a music that defies easy categorization. Over the years, Eskelin has garnered significant critical praise in the international jazz press. Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
Magazine has recognized him as "a major player in today's creative music" (September 1995) and described his compositional approach as "a startlingly new concept" (January 1997).
Early Years
Ellery Eskelin began playing tenor saxophone in 1969 at age ten. In interviews Eskelin claims his early influences as Gene AmmonsGene Ammons
Eugene "Jug" Ammons also known as "The Boss," was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons.-Biography:...
, Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt
Edward "Sonny" Stitt was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was also one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime...
, Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...
, Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
and John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
. The influence of his mother, organist Bobbie Lee, provided a lasting musical orientation based upon her playing, characterized by a strong rhythmic feel and a commanding delivery of American songs.
Baltimore had a rich musical legacy sustained by musicians such as saxophonists Mickey Fields
Mickey Fields
Wilfred "Mickey" Fields was a Baltimore-area jazz saxophonist, a local legend who refused to play outside the Baltimore area. He was perhaps the most well-known of Baltimore's many saxophonists within the field of jazz....
and Gary Bartz
Gary Bartz
Gary Bartz is an American alto and soprano saxophonist and clarinetist.Bartz graduated from the Baltimore City College high school and The Juilliard School...
. Musicians from New York would often pass through Baltimore to perform on the weekly Sunday afternoon Left Bank Jazz Society
Left Bank Jazz Society
The Left Bank Jazz Society is a Baltimore, Maryland-based organization that promotes jazz in Baltimore. It formed in 1964, hosting a series of concerts featuring nationally acclaimed performers like John Coltrane and Duke Ellington. Tapes from these recordings were tied up in legal disputes and not...
concert series presented at the Famous Ballroom. Eskelin had opportunities to sit in with locals such as Fields as well as internationally renowned artists such as Bartz, Pepper Adams
Pepper Adams
Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III was a jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 43 pieces, was the leader on twenty albums, and participated in 600 sessions as a sideman.-Biography:...
and Woody Shaw
Woody Shaw
Woody Shaw was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer and band leader, often referred to as the "last innovator" in the jazz trumpet lineage...
. Early performances as a leader took place at various jazz clubs such as "The Bandstand" and "The Closet" run by saxophonist and entrepreneur Henry Baker, who had a long history in the Baltimore music scene having known Lester Young
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....
, Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, Red Garland
Red Garland
William "Red" Garland was an American hard bop jazz pianist whose block chord style, in part originated by Milt Buckner, influenced many forthcoming pianists in the jazz idiom.-Beginnings:...
, John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
, Clifford Brown
Clifford Brown
Clifford Brown , aka "Brownie," was an influential and highly rated American jazz trumpeter. He died aged 25, leaving behind only four years' worth of recordings...
and many others. Baker predicted that the young saxophonist would one day become "a great tenor saxophone player".
Eskelin attended Towson University
Towson University
Towson University, often referred to as TU or simply Towson for short, is a public university located in Towson in Baltimore County, Maryland, U.S...
where he performed in composer Hank Levy
Hank Levy
Hank Levy was an American jazz composer and saxophonist whose works often employed unusual time signatures...
's Jazz Ensemble which played Levy's "odd-meter" big band compositions exclusively. Bassist Drew Gress
Drew Gress
Drew Gress is an American jazz double-bassist and composer born in Trenton, New Jersey, raised in the Philadelphia area, and currently based in New York City.-Biography:...
was a fellow student with whom Eskelin continues to collaborate and perform with to the present day. In 1979 Eskelin met pianist Marc Copland
Marc Copland
Marc Copland is an American jazz pianist and composer.Copland became part of the jazz scene in Philadelphia in the early 1960s as a saxophonist, and later moved to New York where he experimented with electric alto saxophone...
and joined Copland's band for engagements in Washington D.C including the Cellar Door
Cellar door
The English compound noun cellar door is commonly used as an example of a word or phrase which is beautiful in terms of phonaesthetics with no regard for semantics...
, Blues Alley
Blues Alley
Blues Alley, founded in 1965, is a jazz dinner-and-nightclub in an alley off Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood.As of 2008, exclusively jazz musicians are booked into Blues Alley for approximately 360 nights out of the year....
and the One Step Down. Copland was a former New York saxophonist who moved to Washington DC and switched to piano in order to more deeply explore the role of harmony in his own music. Eskelin, along with Drew Gress, would reunite with Copland years later in New York City in one of Eskelin's early groups as a leader. Also in 1979 Eskelin encountered bay area saxophonist Mel Ellison who was performing in Baltimore for an extended engagement with trumpeter Ted Curson
Ted Curson
Theodore "Ted" Curson is a jazz trumpeter. He is perhaps best-known for recording and performing with Charles Mingus....
's group. Eskelin took an informal lesson with Ellison, who's unique style made a lasting impression. Also in the group was drummer Tom Rainey
Tom Rainey
Thomas "Tom" Rainey is an American drummer.After attending Berklee College of Music he moved to New York in 1979. He has played with American jazz saxophonist and composer Tim Berne, and also with Nels Cline, Fred Hersch, Tony Malaby, Tom Varner, Drew Gress, Kenny Werner, Mark Helias, and Simon...
. In subsequent years Eskelin would tour and record with Rainey as part of bassist Mark Helias
Mark Helias
Mark Helias is an American jazz double bass player and composer born in New Brunswick, New Jersey.He did not begin playing the double bass until the age of 20, graduating from Yale University's School of Music with a Masters degree in 1976. He has also studied at Rutgers University...
' ensemble.
1980's
From late 1981 until early 1983 Eskelin toured with swing era trombonist Buddy MorrowBuddy Morrow
Buddy Morrow was an American trombonist and bandleader. He is known for his mastery of the upper range which is evident on records such as "The Golden Trombone," as well as his ballad playing.- His life :Morrow was once a member of The Tonight Show Band...
in a big band setting performing one-nighters across the country and culminating in a tour of South America in early 1983. In March 1983 he left the road tour and moved to New York City. In an effort to solidify his understanding of be-bop Eskelin attended nightly informal jam sessions for several years at a local club called the "Star Cafe" on 23rd Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. These sessions were run by saxophonist Junior Cook
Junior Cook
Herman "Junior" Cook was a hard bop tenor saxophone player.-Biography:Cook was born in Pensacola, Florida. After playing with Dizzy Gillespie in 1958, Cook gained some fame for his longtime membership in the Horace Silver Quintet ; when he and Blue Mitchell left that band, Cook played in...
and drummer Harold White (who Eskelin had first met and performed with in Baltimore). In addition Eskelin pursued private studies with saxophonist George Coleman
George Coleman
George Edward Coleman is an American hard bop saxophonist, bandleader, and composer, known chiefly for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s.-Biography:...
. During the summer of 1984 Eskelin performed with organist Jack McDuff
Jack McDuff
"Brother" Jack McDuff was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio.-Career:...
's band (which featured guitarist Dave Stryker
Dave Stryker
Dave Stryker is an American jazz guitarist. He has 21 CD’s as a leader to date, and has been a featured sideman with Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, and Kevin Mahogany, among others...
and legendary drummer Joe Dukes) at a regular engagement at Dudes Lounge in Harlem. While reinforcing these foundations Eskelin slowly began to develop his own approach to improvisation, combining traditional elements with free improvisation. Laying the groundwork for these explorations were studies with saxophonist David Liebman which led to informal jam sessions and eventually a working professional relationship. In 1987 Eskelin began developing original music with drummer Phil Haynes which led to the formation of the cooperative group "Joint Venture" (with trumpeter Paul Smoker
Paul Smoker
Paul Alva Smoker is an American jazz trumpeter.Smoker grew up in Davenport, Iowa, and moved to Chicago to play professionally. He worked there in the 1960s, playing with Bobby Christian among others...
and bassist Drew Gress) as well as numerous other projects centered around Haynes' Brooklyn loft and rehearsal space. Along with a group of like minded musicians they presented a number of annual self-produced festivals in Manhattan at the Knitting Factory
Knitting Factory
The Knitting Factory is a music venue and concert house with locations in Brooklyn, Boise, Reno, and Spokane. The club originally specialized in jazz and experimental music and has expanded to showcasing all genres of music, performing arts and comedy....
which ran into the early 1990s. These performances and subsequent recordings by these groups led to Eskelin's initial exposure on the European touring circuit.
1990's
Eskelin began touring Europe regularly with drummer Joey BaronJoey Baron
Joey Baron is an American avant-garde jazz drummer probably best known for his work with Bill Frisell, Stan Getz, Steve Kuhn, and John Zorn...
's group "Baron Down", a trio including Baron, Eskelin and trombonist Steve Swell
Steve Swell
Steve Swell is an American free jazz trombonist and composer.Swell studied at Jersey City State College before moving to New York City in 1975 where he began his musical life, playing in top 40 bands, salsa bands, big bands and performed on Broadway in Bob Fosse's "Dancin""...
(and later trombonist Josh Roseman
Josh Roseman
Josh Roseman is an American jazz trombonist.Roseman was born in Boston, and studied at the New England Conservatory of Music. Roseman toured Jamaica with The Skatalites and in Australia with the Christopher Hale Ensemble...
). "Baron Down" released three recordings, "Tongue in Groove" (1991), "Raised Pleasure Dot" (1993) and "Crack Shot" (1996). It was during this time that Eskelin abandoned any type of commercially oriented work in order to concentrate fully on his own projects and the music of like minded colleagues. Taking advantage of a three month period with no concert performances in the early 1990s Eskelin developed a solo saxophone concert program in complete musical isolation, opting not to perform or interact with any other musicians during this time. In addition to entirely revamping his approach to the saxophone the process proved to be a catalyst for musical ideas that Eskelin further developed and applied to his compositions for the group "Ellery Eskelin with Andrea Parkins and Jim Black". The group, featuring Parkins on accordion and electronics and Black on percussion released "Jazz Trash" in 1995 and followed up with a dozen recordings over the ensuing decade and into the 2000s primarily for the Swiss based Hat Hut label. In the liner notes to "One Great Day…" (the band's second release) Eskelin explains that the fractured and sometimes incongruent nature of his experiences as a musician coming up in the 1970s and 1980s finally came together in a manner that made sense and could be expressed in a unified musical language with this ensemble. The group toured regularly in Europe, the U.S. and Canada and continues, having performed in Europe as recently as 2010.
2000's
Throughout the first decade of the 2000s Eskelin maintained long time musical relationships established in the 1990s, touring and recording with bassist Mark HeliasMark Helias
Mark Helias is an American jazz double bass player and composer born in New Brunswick, New Jersey.He did not begin playing the double bass until the age of 20, graduating from Yale University's School of Music with a Masters degree in 1976. He has also studied at Rutgers University...
(recordings include "Open Loose", "Fictionary", "Loopin' the Cool"), drummer Gerry Hemingway
Gerry Hemingway
Gerry Hemingway is an American jazz composer and percussionist.He has performed with Ernst Reijseger, Anthony Davis, Earl Howard, Leo Smith, George Lewis, Anthony Braxton, Ray Anderson, Mark Helias, Reggie Workman, Michael Moore, Oliver Lake, Marilyn Crispell, Christy Doran, John Wolf Brennan, Don...
("Johnny's Corner Song", "Devil's Paradise", "Songs", "The Whimbler", "Riptide"), drummer Han Bennink
Han Bennink
Han Bennink is a Dutch jazz drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured his playing on clarinet, violin, banjo and piano....
("Dissonant Characters"), drummer Bobby Previte
Bobby Previte
Robert "Bobby" Previte is a drummer, composer and bandleader. Previte earned a B.A. in Economics at the University at Buffalo, where he also studied percussion. He moved to New York City in 1979, and became active in the city's thriving jazz and experimental music scenes...
("Set the Alarm for Monday") and drummer Daniel Humair
Daniel Humair
Daniel Humair is a drummer, jazz composer and painter.He is widely renowned and became Chevalier des Arts et Lettres in 1986.He has played with many jazz performers notably Martial Solal, Gerry Mulligan and Eric Dolphy....
(Liberté Surveilé). Eskelin also forged new ties with musicians from around the globe such as oud player Rabih Abou-Khalil
Rabih Abou-Khalil
-Life:Rabih Abou-Khalil grew up in Beirut and moved to Munich, Germany during the civil war in 1978. He lives part-time in Munich and part-time in the South of France with his wife and two children.-Music:...
, pianist Satoko Fujii
Satoko Fujii
is a Japanese avant-garde jazz pianist and composer. Fujii started playing the piano at age 4, receiving classical training until she was 20, when she became interested in improvisation and jazz....
, trumpeter Dennis González
Dennis González
Dennis González is a jazz musician, poet, visual artist and music educator based in Dallas, Texas....
, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, bassist Lisle Ellis
Lisle Ellis
Lisle Ellis, is a Canadian composer and bassist who is known for his improvisational style and use of electronics.-Biography:...
, pianist Erik Deutsch, and drummer John Hollenbeck
John Hollenbeck
John Hollenbeck is a jazz drummer and composer from New York City, USA.He also has interests in klezmer, classical music, and other musical forms. He is linked to free jazz and avant garde forms of jazz....
. Eskelin also made a guest artist appearance on the BBC Electric Proms Festival in London with the Basquiat Strings
Basquiat Strings
Basquiat Strings is a British jazz quintet led by the cellist Ben Davis, who composes all the music. It features an innovative line-up which hybridises the classical string quartet with the jazz rhythm section .Classically trained but having grown up alongside non-classical musicians, they have...
in 2007. In 2009 Eskelin was the recipient of a Chamber Music America "New Jazz Works" grant which commissioned an extended work for the group "Different But the Same", a quartet with fellow saxophonist David Liebman.
During this time Eskelin also continued launching new projects of his own (leaning towards complete improvisation) such as "Vanishing Point" a group-improvised recording from 2000 with Mat Maneri
Mat Maneri
Mat Maneri, born on October 4, 1969 in Brooklyn, New York is an American composer, improviser and jazz violin and viola player, specifically derivatives such as the five-string viola, the electric six-string violin, and the baritone violin...
(viola), Erik Friedlander
Erik Friedlander
Erik Friedlander is an American cellist and composer based in New York City.A veteran of NYC's experimental downtown scene, Friedlander has worked in many contexts, but is perhaps best known for his frequent collaborations with saxophonist/composer John Zorn...
(cello), Mark Dresser
Mark Dresser
Mark Dresser is an American double bass player and composer.-Biography:He has performed and recorded with many of the luminaries of "new" jazz composition and improvisation. For ten years he performed with the Anthony Braxton Quartet, as well as diverse groups led by Ray Anderson, Tim Berne,...
(bass) and Matt Moran
Matt Moran
Matthew Moran,commonly known as Matt Moran, is an Australian chef also known for being a guest on various TV cooking shows.- Early childhood and education :...
(vibraphone). An improvising trio of cellist Vincent Courtois, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier
Sylvie Courvoisier
Sylvie Courvoisier is a Swiss composer and pianist.Courvoisier was born and raised in Switzerland. In 1998, she moved to Brooklyn, New York, where she currently resides. She co-leads the Sylvie Courvoisier/Mark Feldman Quartet and leads her own quintet, Lonelyville, and the Trio Abaton...
and Eskelin was formed in 2002 and recorded "As Soon as Possible" in 2008. Eskelin continued working with his group featuring Andrea Parkins and Jim Black on a number of touring and recording productions which were sometimes augmented with additional musicians such as vocalist Jessica Constable, keyboardist Philippe Gelda, cellist Erik Friedlander
Erik Friedlander
Erik Friedlander is an American cellist and composer based in New York City.A veteran of NYC's experimental downtown scene, Friedlander has worked in many contexts, but is perhaps best known for his frequent collaborations with saxophonist/composer John Zorn...
, tubist Joseph Daley, guitarist Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer.His own work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and composer John Zorn.-Biography:Ribot was...
and bassist Melvin Gibbs
Melvin Gibbs
Melvin Gibbs is an American bass guitarist, composer, and producer who has appeared on close to 200 albums in diverse genres of music. Gibbs has been called "the best bassist in the world" by Time Out New York magazine....
.
Present
In 2011 Eskelin formed his latest ensemble, "Trio New York", with Hammond B3 organist Gary Versace and drummer Gerald CleaverGerald Cleaver
Gerald Cleaver may refer to:*Gerald Cleaver , American jazz drummer*Gerald B. Cleaver, American physicist...
. A renewed interest in early techniques of sound production on the saxophone (sparked by his switch to a vintage instrument) has invigorated Eskelin's musical aesthetic. This group incorporates standard material from the Great American Songbook but in a freely improvised setting. In comparing the group's eponymous recording to an earlier project by Eskelin devoted to the music of saxophonist Gene Ammons
Gene Ammons
Eugene "Jug" Ammons also known as "The Boss," was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons.-Biography:...
("The Sun Died", 1996), reviewer Ed Hazel wrote "If anything, Trio New York is both subtler and more adventurous, more at home with the music and less self conscious about taking liberties with it."
As leader
- Trio New York (prime source 2011)
- One Great Night...Live (hatOLOGY 2009)
- Every So Often (prime source 2008)
- Quiet Music (prime source 2006)
- Ten (hatOLOGY 2004)
- Arcanum Moderne (hatOLOGY 2002)
- 12 (+1) Imaginary Views (hatOLOGY 2001)
- Vanishing Point (hatOLOGY 2000)
- The Secret Museum (hatOLOGY 1999)
- Ramifications (hatOLOGY 1999)
- Dissonant Characters (hatOLOGY 1998)
- Five Other Pieces (+2) (hatOLOGY 1998)
- Kulak 29 & 30 (hatOLOGY 1997)
- One Great Day (hatOLOGY 1996)
- The Sun Died (Soul Note 1996)
- Green Bermudas (Eremite 1996)
- Jazz Trash (Song Lines 1994)
- Premonition - solo tenor saxophone (prime source 1992)
- Figure of Speech (Soul Note 1991)
- Forms (Open Minds 1990)
- Setting the Standard (Cadence Jazz RecordsCadence Jazz RecordsCadence Jazz is an American record label specializing in noncommercial jazz music. It is associated with Cadence Magazine.Cadence Jazz was founded by Bob Rusch in Redwood, New York in 1980...
1988)
Filmography
- On the Road with Ellery Eskelin w/Andrea Parkins & Jim Black (prime source DVD release 2004)
- Off the Charts - The Song Poem Story (PBS Television Broadcast 2003, Shout Factory DVD)
External links
- Official web site
- "This American Life", an NPR radio program, broadcast an interview with Ellery Eskelin, who spoke about his discovery of his father's works. Originally aired August 15, 1997. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=73