Review of "The Sun Died"
from "Cups- The Cafe Culture Magazine", No. 79
by Evan Spring....
Eskelin's fifth trio recording is devoted to tunes written by or associated with Gene
"Jug" Ammons (1925-1974), son of boggie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons and epitome
of the brawny-toned, laid back, bluesy Chicago tenor sound. Ammon's records mixed
bebop sophistication with enough amiable R&B honking to become jukebox and barbecue staples
-- prototypes of all those once-again-marketable 60's "soul jazz" records
whose titles string together words like "heavy", "gravy" and "velvet". Since Eskelin's
one line tag is "downtown, white, experimental jazz improviser who plays at the Knitting
Factory", you might anticipate a roguish, jump-cutting, ironic commentary on "soul-Jazz" cliches while reveling in them ("velvet gravy", perhaps). Eskelin doesn't
forsake such textual readings, but he's so musical that all dangers associated with
the term "tribute record" melt away. A shared Coleman Hawkins-Ben Webster tenor heritage
shines through, even as Eskelin's shifting, multi-directional, bass- and piano-less
format undermines the traditional jazz functionalism that Ammon's took for granted: the hierarchy of soloist and accompaniment, the orderly succession of
theme-solos-theme, the negotiation of a clear boundary constructed between the "inside"
and "outside" of harmony and compositional form. Marc Ribot's wry, fuzz-toned guitar
ranges from bebop line to mock organ grooves, though he's sometimes a bit taken with his own cleverness, insinuating rather than playing. Drummer Kenny Wollesen is swinging
and sensitive despite (or is it because of?) his goofy, anti-virtuosic
execution. And who among today's tenors can match Eskelin's exquisite command of timbre,
overtone and decay? To my mind, this is one of the very best (if not the best) jazz
releases of '96, and Eskelin should now go by the jazz writer's ultimate honorific: "master".
Evan Spring
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