Jazz Articles about Ellery Eskelin

Ellery Eskelin

by AAJ Staff
October 29, 2003

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. ...

Ellery Eskelin/Andrea Parkins/Jim Black: Arcanum Moderne

by AAJ Staff
September 25, 2003

It's hard to look at Arcanum Moderne without reference to the massive heap of recordings this particular trio has piled up over the years, which is both a good and bad thing, of course. There's something about the odd chemistry among Ellery Eskelin, Andrea Parkins, and Jim Black which has fueled endless live performance and ceaseless recorded unrest.

All three players subscribe to the school of purposeful unpredictability, sometimes setting up stark clashes that grab attention and other times falling ...

Ellery Eskelin: Twenty Years in New York City - A Short Reflection

by AAJ Staff
April 5, 2003

This article was submitted on behalf of Ellery Eskelin. The year was 1979 and I was nineteen. It had been my intention to become a jazz musician ever since I was ten. So with New York being the jazz capital of the world and all, I decided it was time to see it for myself. With no plans other than getting on the train in my hometown of Baltimore and heading north, I soon found myself on ...

Ellery Eskelin: Vanishing Point

by Glenn Astarita
November 1, 2001

Tenor saxophonist, Ellery Eskelin is without a doubt one of the most important figures in modern jazz improvisation. Based on several acclaimed recordings with drummer, Jim Black and accordionist/sampler expert, Andrea Parkers amid a few choice session dates, Eskelin's ultramodern visions and marvelous technique, looms rather large these days. However, with this release, featuring notables from what some refer to as being either “New Jazz Music" or in a more granular sense, the “New York City Downtown Scene," Eskelin and ...

Ellery Eskelin, Andrea Parkins, Jim Black: The Secret Museum

by Glenn Astarita
January 1, 2001

According to saxophonist/composer Ellery Eskelin, The Secret Museum “refers to both the individual and collective experiences that all of us carry around in our daily lives”. And while Eskelin’s liners provide credence to the words behind The Secret Museum, the saxophonist along with sampler/accordion performer Andrea Parkins and drummer/percussionist Jim Black continue to amaze via their exquisite melding of sizzling unison choruses and fascinating improv with rock solid undercurrents.

Recorded in Switzerland, the musicians continue to instill a festive sense ...

Ellery Eskelin: Ramifications

by Glenn Astarita
August 1, 2000

Saxophonist/composer Ellery Eskelin continues his unique and rather intriguing plight on modern jazz with this latest offering titled, Ramifications. Here, the saxophonist performs with his long time musical associates, drummer Jim Black and accordionist, sampler expert Andrea Parkins; however, the addition of cellist Erik Friedlander and tuba maestro Joe Daley presents yet another dimension to the group's sound and style.

On “Penalty Phase," Eskelin creates an ominous tone that lurks atop the bouncy rhythms and heavy bottom as accordionist Andrea ...

Ellery Eskelin: Five Other Pieces (+2)

by Robert Spencer
December 1, 1999

Tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin just keeps getting better. On this disc he explores some of the music that has mattered to him over the years, and it's a wide range: from Mahavishnu John McLaughlin's “The Dance of Maya" through Coltrane's “India," Lennie Tristano's “April," and even George Gershwin's “Prelude II." In the liner notes Eskelin says, “I've never been one for genre hopping or jump cutting for its own sake, however. I'm more interested in the effect that various textures ...