Jazz Articles about John Ellis

About John Ellis

Album Review

Anne Mette Iversen: Racing a Butterfly

Read "Racing a Butterfly" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
May 15, 2020

Many can surely recall the sunny, childlike fervor and bounce chasing a butterfly. Whether it was the park behind the projects or a rolling, rural vista, a feeling of wonder and wander settled into our core memory, only to be summoned in up from the subconscious to displace the current. Even if but for a moment. Even if but for the forty-eight or so minutes of Racing a Butterfly's capering wit. No one is afraid to follow a ...

Radio & Podcasts

The COVID Chronicles, Vol. 1

by Leo Sidran
March 16, 2020

How is Coronavirus impacting the creative class? What happens when musicians lose their primary income overnight? What opportunities are there for creativity in this moment of social distancing? What is the conversation for performing musicians, online creators, and artists? How is it different in countries with a social safety net? Victoria Canal, Jack Conte, Joe Dart, Joy Dragland, John Ellis, Ari Herstand, Ryan Keberle, Andrew Leib, Adam Levy, Lage Lund, and Gegè Telesforo all weigh in. Original Music ...

Album Review

Peter Slavov: Little Stories

Read "Little Stories" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
March 7, 2020

While these ten tracks recorded by bassist Peter Slavov's variable-sized outfit were all fleshed out in the studio between 2017 and 2019, this debut album actually covers a wider span of time. Collecting music penned over the past 20 years, and attaching attendant stories for background and bridging purposes, Slavov essentially looks back over his entire professional career and beyond. Fantasy, family, literature and life as we know it all play a part in the telling of these ...

Album Review

John Ellis: Evolution - Seeds and Streams

Read "Evolution - Seeds and Streams" reviewed by Phil Barnes

by Phil Barnes
December 19, 2016

There's a temptation to assume with evolution that all of history has been leading to this point, that today's dominant species or situation will continue as such forever. Nonsense of course, think of the changes in the lifetimes of current generations and it's clear that evolution is not a defined end point but a dynamic, continuing process. If nothing else our planet has finite resources, so continuing on a fixed path is unlikely to work forever. Musically the risks are ...

Album Review

John Ellis: Charm

by Doug Collette
September 27, 2015

Through the course of more than a half dozen albums under his own name, increasingly less traditional with each successive release including Dance Like there's No Tomorrow (Hyena, 2008) Puppet Mischief (Oblique Sound, 2010), saxophonist/composer John Ellis has developed and refined his own sound, particularly through his continued work with his band Double Wide. Charm further distinguishes the unit and it isn't just the unusual instrumental alignment of five-piece ensemble, operating without a bassist that sets these musicians apart: their ...

Album Review

Ben Sidran: Don't Cry for No Hipster

Read "Don't Cry for No Hipster" reviewed by Luca Muchetti

by Luca Muchetti
March 14, 2014

'Stile' è il primo sostantivo che viene facile utilizzare per descrivere la musica di Ben Sidran. Nome notissimo nella scena americana, cantante, pianista, compositore e fine conoscitore della musica in toto (evitiamo di utilizzare l'etichetta 'jazz' memori anche del non troppo lontano album in tributo a Bob Dylan), con Don't Cry for no Hipster Sidran torna alle atmosfere fumose a lui più care: quattordici canzoni, tante, trovano spazio in un'opera che guarda alla tradizione, intimismi da jazz club e puntate ...

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Album Review

John Ellis & Double Wide: Puppet Mischief

Read "Puppet Mischief" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
April 29, 2010

Saxophonist John Ellis is slowly but surely distinguishing himself as a notably singular figure in contemporary jazz. Establishing a firm foundation for himself as a tenured accompanist to 7-string guitarist Charlie Hunter, the North Carolina native and current resident of Brooklyn embarked on his solo career in authoritative style with One Foot in the Swamp (Hyena, 2005), and then conceived the ingenious Double Wide ensemble, the unusual lineup of which may not have wholly defined itself on its debut, but ...