The Secret Museum (hatOLOGY 552, November 2000 release)
1. Prelude
2. you'll know when you get there...
3. Vox Organalis
4. Paris Swallowtail
by Eugene Chadbourne
5. We See
by Thelonious Monk
6. Sequence/Consequence (1)
7. Nymphaliadae
by Eugene Chadbourne
8. Sequence/Consequence (2)
9. Mediation
10. Ephemera
Ellery Eskelin - tenor saxophone
Andrea Parkins- accordion and sampler
Jim Black - drums and percussion
All compositions by Ellery Eskelin published by Tuhtah Publishing/Suisa, except as indicated. Recorded by Peter Pfister at Kulak, Berikon, Switzerland on November 23rd and 24th 1999. CD Master by Peter Pfister. Liner notes by Ellery Eskelin. Produced by Werner X. Uehlinger.
This release has been made possible by generous finacial assisitance of UBS. Additional sponsorship by Rolf Fehlbaum/Vitra enables us to initiate a series of recordings with Ellery Eskelin from 1998 to the year 2000. This release is part of a development program which allows the musician to present his musical concepts in a variety of settings. www.hathut.com
Thanks to Andrea, Jim, Gunnar Pfabe, WXU, Vitra, Big Ernst & the Kulakers, Peter & Fanny, Nick Purnell, all of the tour promoters, Dr. Chadbourne, WFMU and Pearl Van Natta.
liner notes:
Notes From the Road, Fall 1999...
November 10th, NYC
During the flight I reminisce about past tour adventures. Like the time an airport
service vehicle rammed a hole into the fuselage of our plane, or the time five tech
guys fried Andrea's sampler (and the entire house PA system) to a cinder in Austria.
Hoping this tour goes smoothly.
November 11th & 12th, Nevers, France
We're really overdue here. Even the journalists have been asking "when will this band
play in France?" Shifting gears from father of a one year old to international festival
scenester feels really strange. Shouldn't I be changing someone's diaper? Doesn't
anyone need to be burped?
This being a festival gig there's the temptation on my part to rely on our more "hitting"
tunes but we're recording soon and need to break in new material. I do my best to
resist temptation and simply play the music I've written and all goes well. Lester
Bowie's Brass Fantasy finished the evening albeit without Lester. Lester passed on
only a day or so ago. It was far too early for him to go.
November 13th, Paris, France
There's a line of people out on the street waiting to get in to the "Instant Chevires".
I'm really feeling the jet lag so I'm trying to conserve energy in the midst of
the craziness. And oh yes, the smoke. Well, that's the deal in Europe and they don't
always take kindly to a bunch of Americans telling them what a drag it is but I make
my most diplomatic pre-gig appeal to the audience and cooperation and good vibes
ensue. Great gig.
November 16th, Metz, France
We arrive at the club "Trinitair", our third time here. Our promoter, Pierre, is a
very interesting man but over the years we've noticed that he doesn't smile a lot.
Just an observation. We're rather amused to see that Pierre now wears a big yellow
smiley-face watch, given to him by his wife, to remind him to smile more often. Nice gig.
November 17th & 18th, Bordeaux, France
We set up our own small buffet of Lebanese food in our compartment of the TGV train.
It certainly beats cheese sandwiches, which we encounter each and every day in each
and every country, morning noon and night. Jim is writing music on the trains with
his guitar. Andrea spends her time breaking up her investigation of Proust with the occasional
psychological journal. We workshop a few tunes before the gig and we do a very good
concert. Great meal afterwards, amazing escargot.
Andrea and Jim go on a wine tasting expedition at a castle in the country side. I
have a solo concert to perform this evening a small gallery for contemporary African
Art and gearing up mentally is turning out to be not so easy. Small but appreciative
audience and they seemed to really enjoy it.
During dinner I hear one of the promoters say something about flooding in the south
and that we may not be able to make the trip to Barcelona by train. We must go north
back to Paris and reroute to Barcelona. If all goes as planned we will arrive just
hours before our concert having had no sleep and little food.
November 19th, Barcelona, Spain
Sergio (our promoter) meets us at the station and it's straight to the club for soundcheck.
Sergio does his best to make sure everything runs smoothly, having picked up some
cheese sandwiches for dinner. The set feels short although the audience response
is good. It occurs to me that there is really no one, two or even three tunes that
sum up our sound or what we do.
November 20th, San Sebastian, Spain
All day ride on the train today. Jim asked me how I can stand just sitting there for
hours with no diversions. I tend to enjoy the open ended, no agenda head space while
traveling. Still, I must anticipate upcoming maneuvers but every time I look at a
train schedule my stomach ties itself in knots.
It's a very nice theater, the audience is smallish (due to snow) and none too effusive
but I've learned not to let that affect my assessment of the performance. Dinner
comes afterwards. We are completely exhausted and almost hallucinating.
November 21st, Oviedo, Spain
Early bus departure to Oviedo. This bus sucks. No toilet. I was told that all of tonight's
concert posters were still in the club owner's car today. Seems there was a general
lack of publicity and as a result attendance is poor. But we forget about that for the time being and the gig feels exceptionally good.
November 22nd, 23rd & 24th, Berikon, Switzerland
It's a late start and as we pull into the bus station I notice that we're in the wrong
place. We find our way with just moments to spare. This bus is better than the last.
It has a toilet. At the train station we're informed that due to the flooding we
must again reroute. Zürich via Paris. The train is leaving in two minutes. My stomach
hurts.
Our home away from home on the road. This is my seventh time in Bremgarten, a very
old medieval town that looks like a scene from a storybook. Our recording session
begins this evening at 6 pm. We record in the school where our friend "Big Ernst"
(the head of KULAK and the man responsible for bringing us here) teaches biology. I'm a little
disoriented from the travel but things go well.
Concert at 8:15 pm. Another great evening with the "Kulakers". It's so clean and brightly
lit that I sometimes feel a little self conscious, especially after having played
the kinds of places where they simply hose out the beer, urine and blood at the end
of the evening.
November 26th, Hofheim, Germany
The promoter here, Esther, says she saw me at the Saalfelden festival a couple of
years ago. It's great to run across folks like this in Europe who really care about
the music and devote some part of their lives to making these tours and concerts
happen. A very nice gig with very good energy.
November 27th, Utrech, Holland
Our second time here and it's a very good gig although we encounter some difficulties
with a couple of the new pieces. I have to remember that even though we may not have
achieved exactly what we were going after, what we did achieve was not bad.
November 28th, Marburg, Germany
Another storybook town. A responsive audience, they laugh easily, almost too easily,
a little too loudly and in all the wrong places. "You guys must not get out out much,
do ya?" says Jim. They continue with their strange snickering and tittering. I don't think they're making fun of us but I guess I should never take for granted the fact
that this band is something less than traditional.
November 29th, Cologne, Germany
Arrived at the Chelsea hotel, frequented by lots of painters and visual artists as
well as musicians. There's a Steinway Grand piano on stage tonight. It's a nice change
of pace and Andrea really sounds great on it. It brings another dimension to her
playing and these pieces.
November 30th, Gent, Belgium
Vooruit. The site of one of our very first European gigs, the one where I first got
the "what's your music about?" question (which I wrote about in the liner notes to
"One Great Day..."). The venue has a great energy with theater, dance as well as
music in it's many rooms.
December 1st, Leeds, UK
Road warp. We load into the van and Jim says "I feel like I'm in the Partridge Family!"
In spite of the fact that we've had some of the best meals of our lives while on
this tour his next comment, "Why does it always boil down to a cheese sandwich, every
fucking day?" takes on special poignancy at this moment.
At the gig a student asks Jim " Do drugs make you play like that?" Andrea gets, "You
seem to be in a much better mood now". Directed to me, "I like you better with longer
hair. It looks less severe than last time you were here, and the humor in your music
comes out more."
December 2nd, London, UK
Our second time here at the Vortex, a great club. We are becoming even more relaxed
with each other on stage and it's really getting fun to play. Having the recording
under our belt also helps.
December 3rd, Bristol, UK
A long drive today, only enough time for cheese sandwiches. Even though I've got the
horn in my face every night I notice that my playing can still deteriorate if I don't
practice while on the road. I've been playing without a microphone which sometimes
that makes me play harder but in this room (a beautiful theater) there's no need to
push.
December 4th, Birmingham, UK
Tony-Dudly Evans is our host. The catering (including cheese sandwiches) arrives late
and turns out to be far more than we can eat. Tony says it won't go to waste, which
makes me feel better. It's our final concert of the tour and we play pretty great
I think. The audience turnout is twice what it was last time we were here. Tony takes
us to his favorite Balti (Indian) restaurant. A fine finish to the tour.
During the flight home I think about what it means to play music. It's been very rewarding
to present the strange and sometimes conflicting elements of my musical psyche to
paying listeners. It's like opening the door to a secret museum of the past, present and future...
Ellery Eskelin
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