Ellery Eskelin - 2000s

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.