ESKELIN GIVES AMMONS HIS DUE
(5/13/97)
For a jazz giant, Chicago tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons has received precious little
recognition in this tribute-happy era. More than 20 years after his death, ``Jug''
is haunted by his commercial success as a soul-jazz hitmaker--too popular an artist
in some quarters for serious consideration.
But for Ellery Eskelin, one of the leading new voices on tenor, Ammons has only grown
in stature. On his superb recent album ``The Sun Died'' (Soul Note), the New Yorker
brilliantly transforms songs written by and associated with ``Jug'' by applying as
personal a touch as the legend's.
``He was one of my first big heroes on saxophone when I started playing at age 10,
and he has remained important to me,'' said Eskelin, 37, who on Friday will perform
solo at the Empty Bottle's Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music.
``I've always wanted to perform his pieces. It's just taken me this long to get to
the point where I could filter them through my own personality the way I wanted.
I never wanted to just re-create them.''
On tunes including ``Twistin' the Jug,'' ``Seed Shack'' and the memorable title cut
of ``The Sun Died,'' Eskelin is equally comfortable getting down with the bruising
Ammons sound and cutting oblique slices in the soul-jazz firmament.
He receives inspired support from drummer Kenny Wollesen and the wickedly inventive
guitarist Marc Ribot, who excites the proceedings with choked strings one moment
and then provides warmth by simulating a South Side organ.
Ammons' influence surely will figure in Eskelin's set at the Empty Bottle, 1035 N.
Western. But the tenor great first thought of in this context is Sonny Rollins, who,
even as all-powerful as he is as an improviser, struggled to achieve satisfaction
on unaccompanied tenor. No setting is more difficult or daunting.
``I threw it at myself as a challenge,'' said Eskelin, who did so by booking himself
to do a solo set at New York's Knitting Factory a few years back. ``I found myself
in a do-or-die situation, but it was received pretty well. I found that I made a
lot of progress just in preparation for the performance.
``When you play solo, you have to competely demolish all the assumptions you have
as a soloist playing with a rhythm section and all your methods. You have to create
your own context from the ground up.
``It's tough, but it's really fun to have all that control. There's no one to negotiate
with, no compromises to make. Everything comes from you.''
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