This release furthers the saga of one the more interesting units in modern jazz. Pushing nine years and countless tours, the trio's mark of identity is firmly rooted within improvisation. However, tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin's relatively complex compositions provide a forum for individual ingenuity, witnessed countless times during the band's lengthy tenure. On this effort, recorded in a New York City studio, the threesome explores grooves such as samba, on the aptly titled "It's A Samba," where the band reformulates tradition into a distinctive group sound. Eskelin's robust mode of attack serves as a vortex of sorts for Andrea Parkins' accordion/piano/sampler activities, and drummer Jim Black's personalized rhythmic exercises. Hence, the listener should come to expect the unexpected. It's partly about Eskelin's blustery lines intermixed with Parkins' swirling accordion maneuvers and Black's odd-metered backbeats. At times, the trio moves forward with the semblances of a rumbling freight train, via driving pulses and moments of compositional deconstruction. Nevertheless, the musicians seem equally comfortable when either engaging in a bit of controlled mayhem or executing trance-like choruses and soul-searching lyricism. This is yet another superb effort by one of the best groups in the business. - Glenn Astarita
It's hard to look at Arcanum Moderne without reference to the massive heap of recordings this particular trio has piled up over the years, which is both a good and bad thing, of course. There's something about the odd chemistry among Ellery Eskelin, Andrea Parkins, and Jim Black which has fueled endless live performance and ceaseless recorded unrest.
All three players subscribe to the school of purposeful unpredictability, sometimes setting up stark clashes that grab attention and other times falling neatly into uncanny grooves from out of nowhere. But make no mistake: these events, as with most of the rest of what you hear from this group, are not at all random. And when the trio stretches out in between, it's open ground.
Arcanum Moderne juxtaposes tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin's obsession with timbral color alongside a fabric of improvisation that moves from unison/harmonized melodies toward free playing and back. Check out his breathing, fluttering, floating introduction to "Half A Chance," rich with thick overtones and polychromatic hues. Andrea Parkins enters on sampler then piano and accordion, and Jim Black rides the rhythmic tension between stasis and a halting rush. The denouement comes in the form of a stately organ procession toward the end of the piece.
The first track, "It's A Samba" (yes, in its own oblique way) takes advantage of Black's crisp and unpredictable drumming, stretching out over 13 minutes to allow each player to go beyond the appetizers through a full course meal. (Each one of these tunes is expansive, most ten minutes or longer.)
But it's moments like the transition two minutes into "For No Good Reason," where a no-holds-barred improv briefly coalesces into a groove, that you really understand what Eskelin is up to here. It's the contrast between breath and punch, intimacy and distance, past history and modern future, channel and ocean that fuels this excursion into outer sound. Make no mistake, though: Ellery Eskelin is no screamer. As his liner notes point out quite open-mindedly, "there's a lot of ways to improvise and my way is no better than anybody else's." This music is quite active about its expansion and message.
Eskelin's route is most assuredly unlike the rest, which makes it a rare opportunity to glimpse into the spirit of three players who have spent the time and made the effort to join forces for a purpose. Listeners who have followed this group's ongoing course will find that Arcanum Moderne ranks up there with the best of a superlative series of recordings. - AAJ Staff
Tracks
1. It's A Samba
2. 43 RPM
3. Five Walls
4. For No Good Reason
5. Half A Chance
6. Arcanum Moderne
JIM BLACK drums, percussion
ANDREA PARKINS piano, accordion, sampler
ELLERY ESKELIN tenor saxophone
All music composed by Ellery Eskelin
Recorded May 31, 2002 at The Studio, New York City
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