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Jazz Articles about Yelena Eckemoff
Yelena Eckemoff: Glass Song
by Dan Bilawsky
Pianist Yelena Eckemoff got a late start as a full-fledged jazz recording artist but she's making up for lost time. Eckemoff entered the artistic world as a young classical pianist in the Soviet Union, but she chose to put her work on hold for a spell while raising her children. Eventually, she returned to the piano with renewed creativity energy, but only after leaving her native land. In order to make the move, Eckemoff and her husband had to temporarily ...
Continue ReadingYelena Eckemoff: Forget-me-not
by Hrayr Attarian
Russian-born pianist Yelena Eckemoff comes from a diverse artistic background. Having studied both classical and jazz, she has performed in concert halls and with experimental jazz/rock ensembles. This versatility is on display on Forget-me-not, a disc comprised of ten original compositions with a unifying theme: a floating, dreamy atmosphere filled with cerebral and stimulating tone poems.Eckemoff weaves her different influences into her improvisations with seamless ease. The title track opens with inimitable percussionist Marilyn Mazur's sparse cymbals followed ...
Continue ReadingYelena Eckemoff: Flying Steps
by Karl Ackermann
A good rule of thumb when exploring new or unfamiliar jazz terrain is to look for either bassist Darek Oleszkiewicz or drummer Peter Erskine among the personnel. Finding both together leads to the very satisfying net results of Yelena Eckemoff 's Flying Steps, reuniting the Russian-born pianist with Erskine for their third collaboration. The addition of Oleszkiewicz is a windfall of almost indefinable value, the bassist contributing his experience and versatility as a sideman on more than ...
Continue ReadingTake Five With Yelena Eckemoff
by AAJ Staff
Meet Yelena Eckemoff: Yelena Eckemoff was born and raised in Moscow, Russia. Her parents noticed that she had great musical potential when she started to play piano by ear at the age of four. Yelena's mother, Olga, a professional pianist, became her first piano teacher. At the age of seven Yelena was accepted into an elite Gnessins 10-year School for musically gifted children where, in addition to common school subjects, she received extensive training in piano, music theory, ...
Continue ReadingYelena Eckemoff: Cold Sun
by Bruce Lindsay
Cold Sun could readily be considered as a concept album, if that term hadn't been so abused over the years. Pianist Yelena Eckemoff has taken her inspiration for these ten original tunes from the winter season--perhaps in her native Russia, perhaps from her adopted homeland of North Carolina--and conjures up many different images of winter in her sparse and delicate trio arrangements. The starkly beautiful photographs on the CD cover give a clear indication of the music within, while the ...
Continue ReadingYelena Eckemoff: Cold Sun
by Warren Allen
Pianist/composer Yelena Eckemoff works in that rarified area between modern classical chamber music and progressive jazz. Born and raised in Russia, Eckemoff attended the Moscow State Conservatory, where she studied concert piano and grew up in a strong classical foundation. She came to the United States before the collapse of the Soviet Union, and continues to compose and perform. While many of her albums have tended towards a classical vein, Cold Sun provides an exploration of improvisation ...
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