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Ellery Eskelin New CD


Gary

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I heard a new track from the new Ellery Eskelin CD - "arcanium moderne" on the BBCs Jazz on 3 Friday night. The track was called 'For no good reasons ' .

The trouble is I cant seem to find anything about else about it anywhere (except its on Hatology ) .

Does any body know a release date ??

does anybody have any Ellery Eskellin recommendations?

Edited by Gary
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pretty sure it has already been released, but I have yet to hear it.

One Great Day and Kulak 29 & 30 are both favorites of mine. Both are great discs with the same trio (Andrea Parkins and Jim Black) as Arcanum. I also like The Sun Died, which is his tribute to artists such as Gene Ammons. It is a trio with Marc Ribot and Kenny Wollison released on Soul Note. Some people have issues with it due to the lack of bass, but I really dig the session.

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Gary, you can check hat's site for other Eskelin cd's, as well as (general) release dates. Eskelin is developing quite a repertoire on that label, and I think he's one of the most forward looking tenor players recording today.

That said, I still haven't personally gotten my ears around Andrea Parkins' playing, and this often inhibits my pleasure of Eskelin's albums. Here are two recommendations without Parkins as a result:

Figure of Speech (Soul Note)

This album demonstrates how solid Eskelin's chops really are. It's earlier on in his career ('91, I believe), and I think this provides an opportunity to notice Eskelin's (at least seeming) attraction to Sonny Rollins — both this master's playing, and his common preference for a trio setting. Eskelin uses tuba instead of bass here (as well as percussion instead of drums), and the results are often very interactive, what with Joe Daley going between "walking" and soloing at ease. The opener — "#107" — sounds to me an extension of what Rollins was doing around 1963, and, well, I'm a sucker for that.

Vanishing Point (hatOLOGY)

Nine years down the road, and totally different. Tenor with viola, cello, bass, and vibes. Almost all improvised. Beautiful, and beautifully recorded. I haven't heard an album quite like this one — as soon as any one instrumentalist here creates anything close to a melody, that melody is shattered, or at least disintegrated, as if there's a conscious objective to remove any traditional method of head-solo-head performance. Whether this was actually conscious or not, I guess I don't care. This an album to get lost in. Eerie and unusual.

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"arcanum moderne" is the name of the new one. and it's currently available (on hatology as you mentioned). i haven't heard it yet. though pretty much everything the eskelin/black/parkins trio has released so far is great. heck, just about everything released on hat is great. hopefully others can provide comments on this one.

as for other recommendations, "12 (+1) imaginary views" is probably my favorite followed by "one great day" and "kulak 29 & 30". you really can't go wrong with any of his releases on hat. however, some of the them have recently gone oop and may not be readily available.

check out his website for all things eskelin - ellery eskelin

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I have recently become a fan of Eskelin's playing. To those of you who shy away from the avant garde I would say give him a listen. He has a very good comman of his horn and he has great ideas. I too am not a big fan of Andrea Parkins, but I would recommend a couple of his other recordings.

Forms - trio date with Drew Gress and Phil Haynes

Open Loose - Come Back Ahead - with Mark Helias and Tom Rainey

Daniel Humair - Liberté Surveillée - Daniel Humair (d), Eskelin (ts), Marc Ducret (g), Bruno Chevillon (bass)

Joint Venture - Mirrors - Eskelin (ts), Paul Smoker (tp), Drew Gress (bass), Phil Haynes (d)

Edited by relyles
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Guest Mnytime

This is an excellent recording and I can easily recommend it. Though I would suggest picking up One Great Day and Kulak, 29 & 30 if you haven't already since they are close to being OOP. They are also his two best recordings. IMHO

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I only have ONE GREAT DAY and KULAK so far. They're both OOP! ONE GREAT DAY is a great record. Took some time to get used to Parkins, too.

Daniel Humair's current band with Bruno Chevillon on bass and Marc Ducret on guitar featuring Eskelin is great, too. Don't know their record, but have a broadcast from their Willisau 2002 concert, which is very good!

And Eskelins Ammons-Tribute (have the Willisau broadcast, too, and don't have the album, either, Soul Note, by the way) was great fun, too!

ubu

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Guest Chaney

I listened to "Arcanum Moderne" for the first time yesterday and, sad to say, I can't say that I liked what I heard. IMO, the band seems to be too content on this one to do the power trio thing -- unlike on "Kulak, 29 & 30", where they're willing to play with much more subtlety. Andrea Parkins seems to be at her best on the slower numbers of "Kuluk" rather than the speedier and more angular compositions of "Arcanum".

I'll certainly listen to "Arcanum Moderne" again and my opinion might change. If you like the impress-the-crowd-power-trio sound, you have nothing to fear. This one is meant for you. If you like a more intricate texture, go with "Kulak, 29 & 30". Like both? Buy both.

(I believe Eskelin can still supply "Kuluk" directly from his site... if I'm reading his order page correctly.)

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Guest Chaney

And a question to others who have "Arcanum Moderne": What's the deal with the sound of the drums on this one? Especially the bass drum which dominates EVERYTHING.

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks for all your recommendations - I finally received 2 of the 3 CDs i ordered last week .

Aranum Moderne & Kulak 29 & 30.

I couldnt get One Great Day .

They are certainly 2 fine CDs . I particularly enjoy Andrea Parkins playing especially on the track i mentioned originally - 'For no good reason'.

I have another one on the way 'Dissonent of Character ' from Germany (a bargain 4.99 euros) .

Thanks again

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Guest Chaney

Gary: The only place I've seen "One Great Day" available is Amazon. Be prepared to spend big bucks, though.

One Great Day [iMPORT]

A better idea might be to revisit Zweitausendeins and snatch up a bunch of Hat titles as you're not likely to ever again see them selling for so little money.

Great choice in picking up "Dissonant Characters". Both Eskelin and Bennink have plenty of room to shine on this one. (I prefer "Dissonant Characters" to "One Great Day".)

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Thanks for the link Chaney , i think i might hold off buying it that price just yet.

I did order 'Dissonant Characters' from Zweitausendeins, it was 1 of 10 Hat CDs i ordered . I went through the list of titles using the AMG sit & the Penguin guide to point in in the right direction (hopefully) & bought mostly titles from artists i havent heard.

Edited by Gary
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Another recording featuring Eskelin that I highly recommend is Gerry Hemingway's latest, Devils Paradise. It is a great quartet date with Hemingway, Eskelin, Ray Anderson and Mark Dresser. Very good compositions and fantastic playing by all.

Edited by relyles
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Another recording featuring Eskelin that I highly recommend is Gerry Hemingway's latest, Devils Paradise. It is a great quartet date with Hemingway, Eskelin, Ray Anderson and Mark Dresser. Very good compositions and fantastic playing by all.

Just ordered this one. Can't wait...

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  • 3 months later...

This news from Eskelin's site:

SPECIAL TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY RECORDING

ELLERY ESKELIN

w/ Andrea Parkins

& Jim Black

plus special guests:

Jessica Constable - voice (<--- HANS!)

Marc Ribot - guitar

Melvin Gibbs - bass

On hatOLOGY recordings

release date prior to fall tour, 04

:party:

Check out the video samples... :blink:

CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF MUSIC IN 2004

spock.jpg Fascinating...

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  • 4 months later...

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