Jazz Times
January/February 2001
page 112

ELLERY ESKELIN
Ramifications
hatOLOGY 551 (60:08)

Tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin's trio, with drummer Jim Black and keyboardist/sampler Andrea Parkins, has displayed remarkable resourcefulness over the course of four scrappy, thrilling albums. Despite it's stripped down instrumentation, the group maximizes Eskelin's tricky zigzagging compositions, giving them an odd density through acute intuition and sensitive interplay. Each member has found a rare balance of flavors and textures. On Ramifications, Eskelin invites a couple of additional cooks to stir his group–cellist Erik Friedlander and tubaist Joe Daley–and for the most part they successfully compete the careful concoction.

Ramifications grew out of a series of improvised concerts Eskelin organized at New York's Internet Cafe a few years ago, and through the workshoplike performances he heard possibilities for Friedlander and Daley in his trio. Friedlander's thick, slowly unfolding lines and Daley's solemn, low brass puffs inject a beautiful gravity to the ensemble's sound; many of these pieces sport mournful melodic patterns and even a few somber dirges. On "Museum Piece' for example, Friedlander, Daley, Eskelin and Parkins, on accordion, play shifting roles in sculpting the gorgeously imperturbable groove; players alternate foreground and background roles while Black remains in constant motion. In fact, all off the tunes here eschew trad structures; they're episodic, with new melodies and unison riffs blooming organically out of one another, which delivers a constant flux of focal points.

Ramifications' bounty of musical information rewards attentive listening.

–Peter Margasak