Dissonant Characters
Ellery Eskelin & Han Bennink (hatOLOGY)
By Robert Spencer
"And Han, to his audible pleasure, discovers a rare, fully
equipped improviser he can't scare off, wear out, bury or give
the slip."
So says Kevin Whitehead in the liner notes to this little gem,
which consists of ten tracks - ranging in time from twenty-four
seconds to almost ten minutes - and all featuring an incredibly
agile Ellery Eskelin, plus Han Bennink, as puckish and brilliant
a drummer as ever.
Take the first track, with Bennink's dramatically spare and
heart-stopping opening. Take the second track, which is the title
track. Although it's the first track, not the second, that's
called "Flutter," it's the second where Eskelin pours out
flurries of notes, building to tremendous tension, rising and
falling in closely related melodic bursts as dissonant as Evan
Parker's tenor growlings but somewhat sweeter, while Bennink
keeps up Max Roach flutters behind him, or punctuates phrases
with single crashing notes. It "sounds like chasing and being
chased," says Whitehead, and he's right again.
The third track, "Incontrario," features Eskelin more exposed,
with Bennink leaving these querulous phrases unanswered for
longer periods - although he always knows when to underline, or
italicize, or tack on an exclamation point, a question mark, or
even a comma. And the drummer is never far from his humor, as
when Eskelin hangs on a long multiphonic screech, only to be
answered by bells a-ringing as cheerily as Santa rings them in
front of Macy's.
Then it's off to the races again. "Oloraz = (Barolo)" is a
slippery melodic figure articulated by Eskelin, strolling this
way and that. This track and the briefest of brief tracks,
"Alias," show how much improvising drummers like Paul Lytton and
Paul Lovens owe to Bennink. "Bud + Shake" resumes the chase, but
more furiously, and ends in a draw. "Sight Unseen/Brilliant
Corners" picks up around the same hard-fought and loquacious
place but ends, surprise, in Monkville, where Eskelin plays it
sure-handedly straight around the trickiest of themes, using it
as a springboard for some artfully chosen "inside"
improvisations, while Bennink keeps joyful time. Later, on Monk's
"Let's Cool One," the duo slides out as straight-faced as on
"Brilliant Corners."
"No Pyrrhula, Pyrrhula (=Bullfinch)" picks up another steady
beat, this one Caribbean-tinged and serpentine; but Eskelin
cannot be shaken! Nor can he on the closing railroad pastiche
"Pro Tanto." The music ranges from tranquil to frenzied, and
steadily rhythmic to utterly arhythmic, but these two are
together at every point. Highly recommended.
Hatology discs can be obtained from North Country distributors,
Cadence Bldg., Redwood, NY 13679. Phone/fax: (315) 287-2852 and
(315) 287-2860. Email: orders@cadencebuilding.com. Website:
http://www.cadencebuilding.com.
Personnel: Ellery Eskelin, ts; Han Bennink, d.
Track listing: Flutter / Dissonant Characters / Incontrario /
Oloraz = (Barolo) / Alias / Bud + Shake / Sight Unseen/Brilliant
Corners / No Pyrrhula, Pyrrhula (= Bullfinch) / Let's Cool One /
Pro Tanto.
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