Ellery Eskelin

By Sean Patrick Fitzell

The framed promotional posters and paintings on the walls of saxophonist Ellery Eskelin's apartment tell a story. Mementos from European tours with his trio and collaborations with influential drummers Han Bennink and Daniel Humair fit comfortably alongside family photos. While illustrating the diversity of his projects and suggesting their importance to him, they also hint at the ironic reality for a New York City-based improvising musician - the need to constantly tour Europe.

Not that Eskelin's complaining. This October, he sets off on his fourth trip to Europe this year. After playing five shows with Bennink in the Alpine countries, he will join pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and cellist Vincent Courtois for two shows in France, followed by another show in Germany with Courvoisier. Later in the month, Eskelin will be back in the States, leading his trio on a six-night tour along the East Coast that will finish in NYC at the 55Bar on the 19th. At the end of the month, he will join drummer Gerry Hemingway for two dates in California.

The month will be a microcosm of Eskelin's career, featuring his strong melodic sense of tenor saxophone - inspired by the likes of Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt - in projects that are as challenging as they are different. From the improvisatory extremes of Bennink to the chamber-like music with Courvoisier and Courtois to his own band, Eskelin covers a wide range of music, not necessarily "jazz" in the strictest sense.

"I wanted to be a jazz musician since I was ten," Eskelin says. "But that's not what I do anymore." Indeed, since moving to New York from Baltimore in the early '80s, Eskelin has become an important part of the iconoclastic Downtown jazz scene. He performs and records with an array of like-minded musicians, exploring the relationship between composition and improvisation in new ways. "With this scene that we're involved in, in a way it's kind of underground. It's certainly not, you know, really on the mainstream radar - even in the jazz world," Eskelin says.

Although he did not get the traditional jazz gigs he sought when he came to New York, Eskelin believes that forging his own path early was probably for the best. "I was forced to find my own thing and develop it," he says. With the collective Joint Venture, which included trumpeter Paul Smoker, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer Phil Haynes, Eskelin fomented and began documenting his musical ideas. After his first two releases as a leader, Setting the Standard (Cadence) and Forms (Open Minds), he became involved in projects utilizing unconventional instrumentation. His tenor was matched with trombone and drums in drummer Joey Baron's Barondown, and Eskelin led a group comprised of tuba and percussion for his record Figure of Speech (Soul Note).

Eskelin then formed his current trio with accordion and sampler whiz Andrea Parkins and the inimitable Jim Black on drums. It is Eskelin's primary working band and will celebrate its tenth anniversary this March. Its seventh release, Arcanum Moderne (hatOLOGY), was released earlier this year and documents the band in peak form, their years of playing together evident in their fluidity moving from supporting to soloing in any given tune. Eskelin likens the approach of the trio to juggling, "taking three people and making it seem like a whole lot more is going on than really is." He started the band to explore playing with a chordal instrument, while staying away from known entities like guitar or piano. Accordion first filled that role, which later expanded with Parkins' sampler playing, as the idea for the band also expanded.

"I have a very, very clear idea of what I'm after all the time," Eskelin says. "I guess I'm setting the stage for things to happen and I have specific elements involved in that equation." He says he's like a director setting the scene and giving the musicians freedom to explore within the given parameters of a song. "I like to write because it gives me a chance to really ensure that each piece has its own concept, its own idea, its own sound and is fairly distinct from every other piece," Eskelin says. He writes simply and clearly to provoke rhythmic or harmonic ideas that would not ordinarily occur in a truly "free" improvisation. But Eskelin admits that he is writing less for this band and moving towards complete improvisation, which he feels the band could do convincingly.

These days it is rare for an experimental jazz band to stay together as long as Eskelin's trio has. Their success is due to their enthusiasm for the music and for playing with each other, and in part because of the relationship that Eskelin formed with the hatOLOGY label, which has released all but their first recording. The label has also supported his other musical ideas, such as a duo record with Bennink and the improvised recording Vanishing Point, in which Eskelin was joined by strings and vibraphone. He also augmented the trio with cellist Erik Friedlander and tuba player Joe Daley for Ramifications.

The label backing has allowed Eskelin to develop his music without worrying about how he will release it, something that is all too common these days. With record sales, particularly for jazz, receding during the last few years, major record labels have become increasingly reluctant to develop artists over time. "This music can survive if you're willing to be content with a modest profit," says Eskelin. Although record companies have the resources to do this, Eskelin thinks their instability, and dedication to the bottom line, has made them shy away from new, instrumental jazz artists.

Eskelin feels the independent labels that have stepped in to fill this void are doing a great job of serving their niche market. But they lack the resources to reach wider audiences. "I really feel that there's a lot of stuff going on that just doesn't really get a whole lot of attention," he says. If more people found out about this music, he thinks they would respond positively, especially if they saw it live. And Eskelin contends that the audience is out there, as he has noticed a range of younger people coming to his shows - not just jazz fans. This change has allowed Eskelin to build an audience and tour more frequently in the States the last several years. "This is also a period of great eclecticism I think. Underneath the mainstream, of course," says Eskelin, who finds the possibilities exciting.

Eskelin feeds his excitement by being involved in multiple projects. "I think I'd even get bored with my own stuff, if I just played my own stuff all the time," he says. Playing in different bands ensures that one group does not have to fulfill all of his musical ideas. It is also somewhat necessary to make a living, because few musicians can survive leading only their own band. The time away from the trio also keeps the music fresh and exciting when they do play.

As successful as Eskelin has become in the experimental jazz scene, he is still interested in trying different situations. "I would like to one day be able to do something more outside of just my own niche of musicians and stuff that I work with and what I'm known for," he says. "I would like to apply what I do on the horn to something else, part of some completely different scene - I would love that."

For now, Eskelin is gearing up for his October gigs and planning a recording project around the idea of the trio's tenth anniversary. "It's a much more intuitive process than it is a logical one for me," says Eskelin about composing. He would like to write something that traces where the group has been and maybe add some guest performers to augment the trio, which has become like family after ten years. They have spent a lot of time together, not only in gigs and recordings, but also in countless train rides, restaurants, and hotels.

In talking about the state of the jazz scene and the possibilities for its future, it is clear that Eskelin is proud of the trio and its accomplishments. He muses, "Every year that goes by, I'm grateful that I'm still in the game."

Visit Ellery Eskelin on the web.

Comments