Down Beat Magazine - June 1999
25 for the Future...
Down Beat Magazine chooses 25 "under-forty" musicians as the focus of it's June, 1999 issue.
Ellery Eskelin traces his jazz foundation directly to his mother, a bandleader and
Hammond B-3 player in Baltimore with the stage name Bobbie Lee. "My earliest musical
memories are of listening to her play," says the tenor saxophonist, perching his
newborn son, Rami, on his knee.
In fact, while still an infant, Eskelin's mom and
multi-instrumentalist/composer/arranger dad hosted a TV show sponsored by a music
store in Kansas. His folks split when he was very young, but Eskelin says he feels
the influence of his father, who made a series of esoteric, downright strange "send-us-your-lyrics" records in the '60s and 70s, compiled by Eskelin on I Died Today
(Tzadik). "I don't have any functioning recollection of him," says the 39 year-old,
"but he's had a profound impact on my life that I'm now trying to figure out. Listening
to my father's music has given me a license to make music with even less concern for convention. As a musician who works in improvised music or jazz, you can sometimes
be the victim of constraints you're not even aware of."
In 1983, Eskelin set settled in New York. Bored with the narrowing scope of the straightahead,
he started charting his own path around 1987, playing original music with a core
group of like-minded outcats such as trumpeter Paul Smoker, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Phil Haynes, making self produced recordings. "In retrospect, I've been
able to bring a strong jazz feeling to my music," Eskelin suggests, "even though
I'm operating in circles that don't always have that much to do with jazz per se."
For a good taste of this balancing act, check out his new duo with Dutch drum master Han Bennink,
Dissonant Characters hatOLOGY).
Over the last five years, Eskelin has focused much of his creative attention on his
working band with Andrea Parkins on accordion and sampler and Jim Black on drums.
"We have a unique view that combines my love of the jazz tradition with my love for
all things non-jazz." He says he likes the fact that his accomplices don't necessarily function
as a traditional rhythm section; their roles remain fluid and allow Eskelin to dip
into a wide range of stylistic bags without seeming like he's channel surfing. The
band has released three records, two on the hatOLOGY label, with whom Eskelin has
an exclusive deal to release six projects supported by a private patron. Plans are
afoot to augment the group with cello and tuba, and their upcoming CD includes tunes
by Lennie Tristano, Gershwin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
A swath like that requires big vision and big ears: both testament to a good upbringing.
DB
By John Corbett
Home * News & Updates... * Appearances
Biography/Press * Interviews/Articles/Reviews * Discography
In My Own Words... * Distribution * Mail Order * Bibliography * Bookings * Sites
Email Address
eskelin@earthlink.net