Ellery Eskelin's
Tenor Sax Swings
From Whisper To
Scream
Adventurous player surprisingly
tender on new CD.
Correspondent Bill Shoemaker
reports:
Ellery Eskelin is renowned for
his postmodern tough tenor sax and
his genre-bending compositions.
His reputation as one of the
important under-40 artists in jazz
is definitely not built upon
lullabies.
But the title piece of his latest
Hatology CD, Ramifications
(RealAudio excerpt), is exactly
that -- a melody that soothes and
lulls. Sure, the performance is
peppered with Eskelin's signature
squalls and screams, but on balance
it is perhaps the most tender piece
of music he has ever recorded. And
it's a beautiful showcase for the
rich timbres of Eskelin's quintet of
cello, accordion, tuba and
percussion.
The title
Ramifications
is also a play
on the name of
Eskelin's
newborn son,
Rami Wade.
Eskelin, 40,
wrote much of
the music for
his fifth CD with the prestigious
Swiss label in the late evenings in
his New York apartment, often
while his son was being rocked to
sleep. But he didn't connect the dots
until after the piece was composed.
"I didn't start out with the idea that
a lullaby was going to be my model
for the piece," Eskelin said. "It only
dawned on me afterward. Of course,
my son's presence was strongly felt
during the entire process so maybe
it was a more subconscious thing."
Regardless of how much sleep he's
losing with the new addition to the
family, Eskelin's subconscious is as
productive as ever on
Ramifications. Pieces such as
"Penalty Phase," "Museum Piece"
and "Resident Alien" (RealAudio
excerpt) are among Eskelin's most
vivid episodic works to date. In
large measure, the pure sonic jolt
of the program is thanks to what is
-- for an Eskelin date -- a crowded
studio. The quintet here is the
largest he has assembled for a CD.
In addition to longtime trio mates
Andrea Parkins, who spikes her
accordion with sampled sounds, and
drummer Jim Black, Eskelin
tapped the talents of cellist Erik
Friedlander and tuba player Joe
Daley for the album.
"With the cello and tuba, there's a
nice, warm low end," Eskelin said
of Ramifications. This is
particularly true of the opening
ensemble of "Resident Alien," which
is built on low-end unison lines,
around which Parkins' accordion
and sampler provide otherworldly
textures.
Lush Life
"I suppose this might be a more
'lush' sound, compared to the more
stripped down sound I get with
Andrea and Jim," Eskelin said.
Given the trio's high profile after
five critically acclaimed CDs on
both Hatology and the Vancouver,
British Columbia-based Song Lines,
Eskelin is quick to point out the
ensemble on Ramifications is not
"an extension of the group with
Andrea and Jim." He said the
ensemble "could be seen as
something of a consolidation of what
I've done since Figure of Speech," a
1991 trio outing for Soul Note,
which featured Daley. As on the
earlier album, Daley -- who has
played with artists ranging from
saxophonist Sam Rivers to blues
man Taj Mahal -- shifts easily
from anchoring funky vamps to
pushing the improvisational
envelope.
However, Eskelin is wary of making
close comparisons. "I really think
of it as its own entity," he said of
Ramifications. Certainly,
Friedlander's presence accounts for
much of the album's unique flavor.
He contributes some stunning solos,
particularly the poignant
unaccompanied statement that opens
"Museum Piece."
Eskelin first was noticed in the New
York scene in the early '80s, hiring
his full-bodied tenor sound out to a
wide variety of musicians,
including legendary organist Jack
McDuff. Soon after, Eskelin hit his
jazz stride with the cooperative
group Joint Venture, featuring
trumpeter Paul Smoker, bassist
Drew Gress and drummer Phil
Haynes. Their first Enja disc was
released in 1987.
Eskelin began the first of many
projects as a leader with a trio
consisting of Gress and Haynes on
Setting the Standard (Cadence
Jazz) in 1988 and Forms (Open
Minds) in 1990. Throughout the
'90s Eskelin alternated between
leading his own groups and playing
in others, including drummer Joey
Baron's Baron Down trio; Open
Loose, a trio with bassist Mark
Helias and drummer Tom
Rainey; and drummer Gerry
Hemingway's quartet. Eskelin also
occasionally performs with
guitarist Marc Ribotand drummer
Kenny Wollesen in a group that
recorded the 1996 Soul Note CD
The Sun Died, featuring music
written by and associated with the
great tenor saxophonist Gene
Ammons.
Creative Structuring
Ramifications suggests that
Eskelin's compelling voice as a
tenor saxophonist and his bold
compositional sensibility -- which
he aptly likens to filmmaking,
given his penchant for a jump-cut
approach to structure -- have
reached a new level of integrated
creativity.
"I think Ellery's thought process
seems to be coming more from a
compositional perspective these
days, rather than a 'pure'
improviser," said Art Lange, who
produced the album. "He's not just
looking for new environments in
which to set off his soloing --
though that is still part of the mix
-- but he's engaged in creating
ensemble colors and textures, too.
So he's more responsible for what
the others play -- they're no longer
sketchy improvisational pieces that
the others flesh out."
Underwritten by Rolf
Fehlbaum/Vitra, Ramifications is
the fourth album in a three-year
project for Hatology that allows
Eskelin to present his work in a
number of settings. In addition to
his trio and the quintet featured on
Ramifications, Hatology has
released Dissonant Characters, a
no-holds-barred encounter
between Eskelin and the renowned
Dutch drummer Han Bennink.
In the hit-and-run game of
recording for small labels, Eskelin
said the series affords him "the
opportunity to think about an
overall plan or strategy."
Still, Eskelin hasn't devised a
unified field theory for the series.
"I think that Ramifications may
actually be the first recording that
was conceived of as being a new
project for the ongoing series,"
Eskelin said. "The next one will take
place later this year. It will be
violin, cello, bass and vibraphone
along with saxophone in an
all-improvised program.
"I feel that I'm now beginning to
really optimize the series in as
much as I feel very free to come up
with ideas that I might not have had
the opportunity to realize
otherwise. I have no idea what will
be the next choice. I need to finish
what's in front of me before I get to
that point."
Thurs., June 22, 2000 8:49 AM EDT
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