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Performers
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Ellery Eskelin
: saxophone
Gary Versace
: Hammond Organ
Gerald Cleaver
: drums
On Friday, June 15th, Firehouse 12 closes the Spring 2012 concert series with saxophonist Ellery Eskelin making his Firehouse 12 debut. His new group, Trio New York, features Gary Versace (organ) and Gerald Cleaver (drums). The group is an homage to the classic organ trio format and uses it as a springboard to open interpretations of classic organ trio repertoire.
Eskelin plays "soulfully, [taking] the opportunity to acknowledge his fondness for tenor forebears like Gene Ammons, without losing his own sense of phrase" (Nate Chinen, The New York Times). Ed Hazell of Point of Departure wrote Eskelin "has a mile-wide subversive streak and a habit of finding clever ways to warp or undermine cliche and convention . . . [Trio New York] takes organ combo chestnuts . . . and loosens their joints, stretching them into vehicles for lusty free jazz improvisation." Francis Davis wrote "these interpretations are as moving as they are thought-provoking" (Village Voice).
Eskelin's recordings as a leader and co-leader have been named in Best of the Year critics' polls in the New York Times, The Village Voice , and major jazz magazines in the US and abroad. He also appears on over fifty recordings as a side person. DownBeat Magazine named Eskelin as one of the 25 Rising Stars for the Future in its January 2000 issue as well as including him in the "Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition" category of their Annual Critics Poll in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Eskelin was a nominee for the prestigious Danish Jazzpar award in 2003 and was the recipient of a Chamber Music America French-American Exchange grant in 2007 as well as a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works grant in 2009.
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