Ellery Eskelin - Ten

Ellery Eskelin Ten	eRikm & Fennesz Complementary Contrasts

Hatology

From the opening moments of Complementary Contrasts’ initial track, a seemingly random array of static bursts, high-frequency whines and blips and aborted and gated drones, a polyrhythmic interplay emerges in which the improvisers’ individual identities become blurred and then meld. The first of this disc’s many intensely beautiful moments, this brief passage combines stuttering rhythm, expansive harmony and an internally generated melodic sensibility to create a texture simultaneously transparent and opaque, akin to the impact of rapidly moving water. The tension then dissolves, leading to a series of tinkerings and metallic meanderings until the next cathartic moment is reached. (While Fennesz forsakes the adventurous sonorities of his Erstwhile collaboration with Keith Rowe in favor of more familiar territory, his timbre choices work well in this context.) The disc as a whole moves in similar cycles; the gelling of ideas, when it occurs, is overpowering in sonic scope and rhythmic intensity, especially at high volume or with headphones. On first listen, the “in-between” bits seemed superfluous, failed searches for synchronicity and scrappy of non-sequiturs posing as dialog. But repeated exposure impressed on me that the journey, the first for this duo on record, is as important a part of this document as is the resultant music—seemingly why both the Donaueschingen concert and its studio rehearsals are included. The structural build-up to each climax is laid bare, demonstrating a musical partnership from workshop to stage, so that when the final monumental soundscape rises, threatens to envelop and then fades rapidly, I now have the admittedly subjective but palpable sense of having traveled rather than merely being a spectator in front of a well-carved monument. The disc’s very brief intertrack pauses enhance this effect, rendering it an experience rather than a collection.

If eRikm and Fennesz bond at crucial moments, Ellery Eskelin demonstrates how telepathic communication functions as a constant. His long-term association with Andrea Parkins and Jim Black, the band whose tenth anniversary this disc commemorates, undoubtedly benefits these totally improvised sessions. According to Eskelin’s liner notes, the original plan -- a rather fluid conception -- was to feature several pieces by the trio and others with various duo and trio configurations of the three guests on this disc: Marc Ribot, electric guitar; Jessica Constable, voice; and Melvin Gibbs, electric bass. On a whim, Eskelin decided to attempt a sextet improvisation in some spare studio time and was impressed enough with the results to alter his objective.. I can see why! Far from being, as Eskelin feared, “a recipe for disaster”” the results are sophisticated and beautiful, often resembling contemporary chamber music as much as jazz. “I Couldn’t Say” creeps into life with Ribot’s clean guitar tremolo and what sounds like a celesta from either Parkins or Black. “When” displays all the interplay of an early Igor Wakhevitch composition, the duo of Eskelin’s saxophone and Constable’s shimmering vocalizings matching timbres perfectly. “Say it Again” opens with Eskelin swapping motives with Gibbs’ acoustic bass and some pointalistic brushwork from Black. Which is not to say there isn’t some fractious free-blowing here, “Anyone’s Guess”, for example, featuring the frantic clatterings of Black over Parkins’ beautifully placed keyboard sonorities; Eskelin’s playing is always a bit understated as he floats above the din. Overall, however, lucidity, born of intense and sensitive listening, reigns, and Eskelin is able to preserve his trio's characteristic sound in the full group setting.

As usual for the Hat label, these two new releases demonstrate remarkable diversity and the highest quality of execution and communication.

~ Marc Medwin