Jazz Articles about Ellery Eskelin

Ellery Eskelin/Christian Weber/Michael Griener: The Pearls

by Mark Corroto
November 29, 2019

It's Interesting that Ellery Eskelin chose time as the subject of his liner notes essay for this release, because his music has always had a feeling of timelessness about it. His discourse ranges from concrete sundials to wrist watches and atomic clocks to the abstraction of music's swing and stop-time improvisations. Without diving too deep into a philosophical argument about whether time moves only irreversibly forward, the saxophonist, Swiss bassist Christian Weber, and German drummer Michael Griener, proceed to time ...

Ellery Eskelin Trio Willisau: Live

by Mark Corroto
May 31, 2016

I considered writing just this sentence as my review of Ellery Eskelin's trio recording Live, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever." Taken from poet John Keats' 1818 poem “Endymion," the line just about says it all. Ok, to appease those that need a bit more information, Keats continues, “its loveliness increases / it will never pass into nothingness / but still will keep a bower quiet for us." The bower being a shady place to rest ...

Ellery Eskelin / Gerry Hemingway: Inbetween Spaces

by Glenn Astarita
September 6, 2011

The formidable duo of drummer Gerry Hemingway and tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin leans heavily on the artistic spectrum by enacting lucid imagery when navigating through dimly lit corridors and wide-open spaces. The stereo separation enhances the capacious aspects of this impressive outing. The duo leaves a bit of room in-between, while eliciting responses from its listening audience. At times aggressive, ominous and pensive, the musicians propagate a set of intriguing storylines throughout the variable sound designs.

Ellery Eskelin with Andrea Parkins and Jim Black: One Great Night...Live

by Glenn Astarita
July 7, 2009

As of 2009, Ellery Eskelin and his band mates have been playing together for fifteen years with no let up in sight--good news for advocates of cutting-edge, progressive jazz and improvisation. Recorded live at Towson University in saxophonist Eskelin's home town of Baltimore, Maryland, the trio's multitasking ways come to fruition during this near flawlessly recorded live date.

It's a very special band, indeed. Whether executing impressionistic sub-themes, or going for the proverbial jugular, the unit always transmits ...

Ellery Eskelin/ Sylvie Courvoisier: Every So Often

by Mark Corroto
May 1, 2009

The improvisational intersection of American and European music exemplified in the recording Every So Often finds common ground without much trouble when the improvisers are Ellery Eskelin and Sylvie Courvoisier.

This hour of sonically stellar studio recordings never lacks for innovation nor repeats ideas. Saxophonist Eskelin, a jazz maverick is probably best known for his trio work with drummer Jim Black and accordion player Andrea Parkins, with their 'rock the Sun Ra casbah' music. His jazz roots are ...

Ellery Eskelin: Quiet Music

by Kurt Gottschalk
May 7, 2007

Saxophonist Ellery Eskelin's trio with Andrea Parkins and Jim Black is so tight, so dense, that it's hard to imagine another musician in the mix. But on this double-disc set he adds vocalist Jessica Constable and on three tracks augments the group up to a quintet with Phillippe Gelda on keyboards and vocals. The results are every bit as satisfying as the work of the trio he's led for a dozen years and every bit as dense and musical as ...

Ellery Eskelin: Quiet Music

by Glenn Astarita
April 12, 2007

Years on the road and numerous recording for Swiss-based Hatology Records have generated a distinguished musical persona for tenor sax titan Ellery Eskelin and his band. Here, drummer Jim Black and accordionist/sampler Andrea Parkins assist with moving the torch forward. But the addition of vocalist Jessica Constable and French vocalist/keyboardist Philippe Gelda rein in a new stylistic vamp on this two-CD set produced for Eskelin's Prime Source label.

Intact are Parkins' quirky accordion passages and Black's offbeat rhythmic ...