Ellery Eskelin

Ellery Eskelin
Ellery Eskelin on stage at "Le Triton" (Paris) 24 January 2007. Photo by Christophe Alary.
Background information
Born	(1959-08-16) August 16, 1959
Genres	Jazz
Instruments	tenor saxophone
Website	http://home.earthlink.net/~eskelin/

Ellery Eskelin (born August 16, 1959) is an American tenor saxophonist. Born in Wichita, Kansas, raised in Baltimore, Maryland from the age of two. His parents, Rodd Keith and Bobbie Lee, were also musicians. Rodd Keith died in 1974 in Los Angeles, California and became a cult figure after his death in the little known field of "song-poem" music. Organist Bobbie Lee performed in local nightclubs in Baltimore, Maryland in the early 1960s and provided Eskelin an introduction to standards from the Great American Songbook as well as inspiring an early interest in jazz music.

Eskelin has resided in New York City since 1983 and has led numerous international touring ensembles while participating as a side-person with many of today's most forward thinking composers and improvisors. He has released more than twenty recordings as a leader since the late 1980s, primarily for the Swiss hatOLOGY label. His most important work continues to be with the group he formed in 1994 featuring keyboardist Andrea Parkins and drummer Jim Black although he has maintained lasting musical associations with Joey Baron, Mark Helias, Gerry Hemingway, Marc Ribot, David Liebman, Han Bennink, Sylvie Courvoisier, Bobby Previte and Daniel Humair among others.

Eskelin's style has its roots in the jazz realm yet his unique phrasing (which is compared to Arnold Schoenberg's technique of "klangfarbenmelodie" in The Wire, December 1996) and the unorthodox techniques utilized in his compositions (in which composed and improvised elements often collide unpredictably) make for a music that defies easy categorization. Over the years, Eskelin has garnered significant critical praise in the international jazz press. Down Beat Magazine has recognized him as "a major player in today's creative music" (September 1995) and described his compositional approach as "a startlingly new concept" (January 1997).

Early Years

Ellery Eskelin began playing tenor saxophone in 1969 at age ten. In interviews Eskelin claims his early influences as Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Lee Konitz, Stan Getz and John Coltrane. The influence of his mother, organist Bobbie Lee, provided a lasting musical orientation based upon her playing, characterized by a strong rhythmic feel and a commanding delivery of American songs. Lee had learned to play music in the Pentecostal church as a teenager, the influence of which carried over into her playing of secular music. Her father (Eskelin's grandfather) was an accomplished professional guitarist in Baltimore in the late '40s and into 1950s.

Baltimore had a rich musical legacy sustained by musicians such as saxophonists Mickey Fields and Gary Bartz. Musicians from New York would often pass through Baltimore to perform on the weekly Sunday afternoon Left Bank Jazz Society concert series presented at the Famous Ballroom. Eskelin had opportunities to sit in with locals such as Fields as well as internationally renowned artists such as Bartz, Pepper Adams and Woody Shaw. Early performances as a leader took place at various jazz clubs such as "The Bandstand" and "The Closet" run by saxophonist and entrepreneur Henry Baker, who had a long history in the Baltimore music scene having known Lester Young, Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis, Red Garland, John Coltrane, Clifford Brown and many others. Baker predicted that the young saxophonist would one day become "a great tenor saxophone player". At around this same time Eskelin met drummer Harold White (formerly with Horace Silver) and began performing regularly in White's quintet along with trumpeter Tom Williams.

Eskelin attended Towson University where he performed in composer Hank Levy's Jazz Ensemble which played Levy's "odd-meter" big band compositions exclusively. Bassist Drew Gress was a fellow student with whom Eskelin continues to collaborate and perform with to the present day. In 1979 Eskelin met pianist Marc Copland and joined Copland's band for engagements in Washington D.C including the Cellar Door, Blues Alley and the One Step Down. Copland was a former New York saxophonist who moved to Washington DC and switched to piano in order to more deeply explore the role of harmony in his own music. Eskelin, along with Drew Gress, would reunite with Copland years later in New York City in one of Eskelin's early groups as a leader. Also in 1979 Eskelin encountered bay area saxophonist Mel Ellison who was performing in Baltimore for an extended engagement with trumpeter Ted Curson's group. Eskelin took an informal lesson with Ellison, who's unique style made a lasting impression. Also in this group was drummer Tom Rainey who in subsequent years Eskelin would tour and record with as part of bassist Mark Helias' ensemble.

1980s

From late 1981 until early 1983 Eskelin toured with swing era trombonist Buddy Morrow in a big band setting performing one-nighters across the country and culminating in a tour of South America in early 1983. In March 1983 he left the road tour and moved to New York City. In an effort to solidify his understanding of be-bop Eskelin attended nightly informal jam sessions for several years at a local club called the "Star Cafe" on 23rd Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. These sessions were run by saxophonist Junior Cook and drummer Harold White (who Eskelin had first met and performed with in Baltimore). In addition Eskelin pursued private studies with saxophonist George Coleman. During the summer of 1984 Eskelin performed with organist Jack McDuff's band (which featured guitarist Dave Stryker and legendary drummer Joe Dukes) at a regular engagement at Dudes Lounge in Harlem. While reinforcing these foundations Eskelin slowly began to develop his own approach to improvisation, combining traditional elements with free improvisation. Laying the groundwork for these explorations were studies with saxophonist David Liebman which led to informal jam sessions and eventually a working professional relationship. In 1987 Eskelin began developing original music with drummer Phil Haynes which led to the formation of the cooperative group "Joint Venture" (with trumpeter Paul Smoker and bassist Drew Gress) as well as numerous other projects centered around Haynes' Brooklyn loft and rehearsal space. Along with a group of like minded musicians they presented a number of annual self-produced festivals in Manhattan at the Knitting Factory which ran into the early 1990s. These performances and subsequent recordings by these groups led to Eskelin's initial exposure on the European touring circuit.

1990s

Eskelin began touring Europe regularly with drummer Joey Baron's group "Baron Down", a trio including Baron, Eskelin and trombonist Steve Swell (and later trombonist Josh Roseman). "Baron Down" released three recordings, "Tongue in Groove" (1991), "Raised Pleasure Dot" (1993) and "Crack Shot" (1996). It was during this time that Eskelin abandoned any type of commercially oriented work in order to concentrate fully on his own projects and the music of like minded colleagues. Taking advantage of a three month period with no concert performances in the early 1990s Eskelin developed a solo saxophone concert program in complete musical isolation, opting not to perform or interact with any other musicians during this time. In addition to entirely revamping his approach to the saxophone the process proved to be a catalyst for musical ideas that Eskelin further developed and applied to his compositions for the group "Ellery Eskelin with Andrea Parkins and Jim Black". The group, featuring Parkins on accordion and electronics and Black on percussion released "Jazz Trash" in 1995 and followed up with a dozen recordings over the ensuing decade and into the 2000s primarily for the Swiss based Hat Hut label. In the liner notes to "One Great Day..." (the band's second release) Eskelin explains that the fractured and sometimes incongruent nature of his experiences as a musician coming up in the 1970s and 1980s finally came together in a manner that made sense and could be expressed in a unified musical language with this ensemble. The group toured regularly in Europe, the U.S. and Canada and continues, having performed in Europe as recently as 2010.

One of Eskelin's most acclaimed recordings in the '90s was "The Sun Died" a project based upon music by (and associated with) saxophonist Gene Ammons. The format was unusual, utilizing saxophone, guitar (Marc Ribot) and drums (Kenny Wolleson). The New York Times characterized "The Sun Died" as "a remarkable record" and chose it as one of the Top 10 Recordings of 1996.

2000s

Throughout the first decade of the 2000s Eskelin maintained long time musical relationships established in the 1990s, touring and recording with bassist Mark Helias (recordings include "Open Loose", "Fictionary", "Loopin' the Cool"), drummer Gerry Hemingway ("Johnny's Corner Song", "Devil's Paradise", "Songs", "The Whimbler", "Riptide"), drummer Han Bennink ("Dissonant Characters"), drummer Bobby Previte ("Set the Alarm for Monday") and drummer Daniel Humair (Liberté Surveilé). Eskelin also forged new ties with musicians from around the globe such as oud player Rabih Abou-Khalil, pianist Satoko Fujii, trumpeter Dennis González, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, bassist Lisle Ellis, pianist Erik Deutsch, and drummer John Hollenbeck. Eskelin also made a guest artist appearance on the BBC Electric Proms Festival in London with the Basquiat Strings in 2007. In 2009 Eskelin was the recipient of a Chamber Music America "New Jazz Works" grant which commissioned an extended work for the group "Different But the Same", a quartet with fellow saxophonist David Liebman.

During this time Eskelin also continued launching new projects of his own (leaning towards complete improvisation) such as "Vanishing Point" a group-improvised recording from 2000 with Mat Maneri (viola), Erik Friedlander (cello), Mark Dresser (bass) and Matt Moran (vibraphone). An improvising trio of cellist Vincent Courtois, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and Eskelin was formed in 2002 and recorded "As Soon as Possible" in 2008. Eskelin continued working with his group featuring Andrea Parkins and Jim Black on a number of touring and recording productions which were sometimes augmented with additional musicians such as vocalist Jessica Constable, keyboardist Philippe Gelda, cellist Erik Friedlander, tubist Joseph Daley, guitarist Marc Ribot and bassist Melvin Gibbs.

Present

In 2011 Eskelin formed his latest ensemble, "Trio New York", with Hammond B3 organist Gary Versace and drummer Gerald Cleaver. A renewed interest in early techniques of sound production on the saxophone (sparked by his switch to a vintage instrument) has invigorated Eskelin's musical aesthetic. This group incorporates standard material from the Great American Songbook but in a freely improvised setting. In comparing the group's eponymous recording to an earlier project by Eskelin devoted to the music of saxophonist Gene Ammons ("The Sun Died", 1996), reviewer Ed Hazel wrote "If anything, Trio New York is both subtler and more adventurous, more at home with the music and less self conscious about taking liberties with it."

Discography

As leader

• Trio New York II (prime source 2013)
• Trio New York (prime source 2011)
• One Great Night...Live (hatOLOGY 2009)
• Every So Often (prime source 2008)
• Quiet Music (prime source 2006)
• Ten (hatOLOGY 2004)
• Arcanum Moderne (hatOLOGY 2002)
• 12 (+1) Imaginary Views (hatOLOGY 2001)
• Vanishing Point (hatOLOGY 2000)
• The Secret Museum (hatOLOGY 1999)
• Ramifications (hatOLOGY 1999)
• Dissonant Characters (hatOLOGY 1998)
• Five Other Pieces (+2) (hatOLOGY 1998)
• Kulak 29 & 30 (hatOLOGY 1997)
• One Great Day (hatOLOGY 1996)
• The Sun Died (Soul Note 1996)
• Green Bermudas (Eremite 1996)
• Jazz Trash (Song Lines 1994)
• Premonition - solo tenor saxophone (prime source 1992)
• Figure of Speech (Soul Note 1991)
• Forms (Open Minds 1990)
• Setting the Standard (Cadence Jazz Records 1988)

Filmography

• On the Road with Ellery Eskelin w/Andrea Parkins & Jim Black (prime source DVD release 2004)
• Off the Charts - The Song Poem Story (PBS Television Broadcast 2003, Shout Factory DVD)

External links

• Official web site
• "This American Life", an NPR radio program, broadcast an interview with Ellery Eskelin, who spoke about his discovery of his father's works. Originally aired August 15, 1997. [4]

Gallery

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  Photo by Christophe Alary