All About Jazz

Mark Sullivan for All About Jazz

,

Composer and pianist Yelena Eckemoff’s Colors (L&H Production, 2019) was a duet with drummer Manu Katche, a unique instrumentation in her ever-growing list of works. His contributions were so singular that when she had an opportunity to celebrate the album release by playing the music live at KITO in Bremen, Germany in 2019, and he could not make the gig, she opted to play solo rather than hire another drummer. It was the first time in about 15 years that she took the stage as a piano soloist, because she stopped performing as a classical concert pianist after starting her jazz journey.

For this live performance, she kept the track order of the original album, because the story behind the album represented colors as stages of life, from birth (white) to death (black). Not having a drummer keeping time, she played more freely, focusing on nuances of the phrasing. The chosen tempos were quite different (often faster) to when playing with Katché. Despite this, the lengths of the pieces were close to the recordings for the most part, which probably illustrates the strength of the compositional structures.

The opener “White” is an exception to this rule, running a little over half the length of the recording. Much of the time difference can be explained by the pacing. The duet version featured call-and-response, with the theme introduced after some preparation. The solo version launches into the theme almost immediately, and Eckemoff’s playing is loose and rhapsodic. While recognizable as the same composition, the solo treatment casts a new light on it.

“Orange” maintains its blues feeling from the original, as does “Green.” “Blue” is another track which is rendered in a more compact form as a piano solo, but here the form defines the music, producing a version close to the original. So it continues through the finale, “Black,” in which Eckemoff concludes the spectrum in a reflective mood, although thankfully not as gloomy as the color theme implies. The original duet performance spotlighted Eckemoff as both pianist and composer; this solo version does so even more strongly. It is a worthy addition to her discography, sure to interest any fans of her work.

view on web

Dan McClenaghan for All About Jazz

,

The seeds of pianist-composer Yelena Eckemoff’s Adventures Of The Wildflower were planted in 2013, when she traveled to Hollola, Finland, to record Blooming Tall Phlox (L&H Productions, 2017) with a group of young Finnish musicians. Several Eckemoff albums came about after that recording, but the experience with her Finnish friends must have exerted a sort of gravitational pull, and in 2019 she made a return trip to the country to team with vibraphonist Panu Savolainen, bassist Antti Lotjonen and drummer Olavi Louhivuori —who had all participated in Blooming Tall Phlox—and newcomers to her world, multi-instrumentalist Jarmo Saari (guitars, theremin, glass harp) and saxophonist Jukka Perko, who took trumpeter Verneri Pohjola‘s ‘horn” spot in the ensemble.

Eckemoff does concept albums: Lions (2015), Colors (2017), Desert (2018), all on L&H Productions. It is more of the same with The Adventures Of The Wildflower, a deep exploration of the journey of a Columbine flower from babyhood to maturity, as she (note the anthropomorphization) observes the natural world surrounding her. A fanciful idea, perhaps, but not without artistic forerunners—the concept of the potential for plant sentience has been artistically explored on Stevie Wonder‘s soundtrack album Journey Through “The Secret Life Of Plants” (Tamla, 1979), and with science fiction novelist Gregory Bendford’s speculative Marsmat, an algae-like growth on the planet Mars that could communicate, planet-wide, with its fellow “Mats.” This in his novels Martian Race (1999) and The Sunborn (2005).

The two disc set begins distinctively, with the eerie wavering of a theremin rising above the ensemble sound. To those hanging out at the shore and grooving to the Beach Boys in 1966—or for anyone else in that timeframe with access to a radio—the theremin was instrumental (hah!) in the success of the Beach Boys’ song “Good Vibrations,” the group’s third number one hit single. Its eerie, space-age warble sounds like cosmic rays, or a death beam from an attacking UFO, 1950s sci-fi B movie style. Something of a gimmick then, but not so for Eckemoff, or from Jarmo Saari, who incorporates that sound to the mix with a deft hand. And, in part, this new sound, used texturally and sparingly inside Eckemoff’s well-shaped arrangements, is a part of what sets Adventures Of The Wildflower above the pianist’s earlier work, as does Saari’s guitar and glass harp, Panu Savolainen‘s luminous vibraphone, Jukka Perko‘s understated but always tasty soprano and tenor sax contributions, combined with the subtle ensemble acumen of drummer Olavi Louhivuori and bassist Antti Lotjonen. Add to this Eckemoff’s growth and freedom as a composer/arranger.

The eighteen Eckemoff compositions here are some of her most abstract and sometimes asymmetrical (but beautiful) offerings—consider the Columbine flower that boasts a delicate and lovely symmetry; the wild plant from which it blossoms that does not. Taken as a whole, the two disc, two hour set creates intricately placid, mysterious and modernistically spiritual feeling—a chamber jazz from a mid-twenty first century church. It is sometimes playful, and could, at times, fit into the “exotica” category of sounds—an exotica influenced, Henry David Thoreau-like, by the everyday goings on in the confines of the church of Yelena Eckemoff’s backyard, in tunes entitled “Germination,” “Dog Chasing A Squirrel,” “Chickens,” (yes, her chickens get some glory here, says Eckemoff, with a twinkling eye and a merry laugh), “Butterflies” and “Children Playing With Seed Pods.” Things that could be considered mundane, if the artist in Eckemoff hadn’t revealed though her complex and unconventionally beautiful music, her sounds full of joy and wonder, that they are not.

Eckemoff includes in the album packaging her poems and her paintings, following the Columbine plant’s life journey—an effort worthy of a children’s (or an adult’s) book.

view on web

Mark Sullivan for All About Jazz

,

Pianist-composer Yelena Eckemoff is predictably unpredictable. After an early series of piano trio albums she worked with larger ensembles, culminating in the sextet (plus vocalists) of Better Than Gold And Silver (L&H, 2018). After cutting back to a duet with drummer Manu Katche on Colors (L&H, 2019) she returns with a larger band, but with a difference; this is a quartet with double bassist Arild Andersen (her longest collaborator), and drummer/percussionists Jon Christensen and Thomas Strønen.

It may look like a piano trio plus a second drummer but, in practice, it is more like a piano & double-bass duet plus a drum duet. Andersen is often found as a lead instrument or playing counter-melodies, in addition to traditional bass duties. As usual Eckemoff has a unifying theme—reflected in her paintings and the poems which accompany each track—in this case nocturnal animals. The animals active at night are a varied lot, ranging from the fox depicted in Eckemoff’s cover painting to cicadas, owls, bats…even scorpions and fireflies.

“Cicada” opens the set with a calm evening vibe, including a lyrical double bass solo. “Fox” has a swing feel which is rare in Eckemoff’s music, extending to Thelonious Monk-like blues flavor. “Rattlesnake” is played rubato, with especially free percussion. This is the closest the percussionists come to a solo, distinguishing themselves instead by their empathetic interaction as accompanists. “Toad” opens with a rubato double bass solo, then the piano introduces a sprawling theme, gradually morphing into piano and double bass solos. The bass plays the theme again to close, the entire track demonstrating how central Andersen is to the group sound.

“Lynx” returns to a more direct rhythm, in contrast to the frequently rubato feel of the album. “Sea Turtle” closes the program, placing the recurring theme between bass and piano, while also demonstrating Eckemoff’s sectional compositional style. It includes a spotlighted bass solo with only percussion at first, and concludes with a rhapsodic restatement of the theme, Eckemoff’s piano echoing the Romantic composing style of Liszt or Rachmaninoff.

Given the all-star ensembles frequently found on Eckemoff’s albums, a listener could be forgiven for wondering “who’s the pianist?” This album and the previous duet recording both place Eckemoff the pianist on the same plane as Eckemoff the composer, proof that the two sides of her musical life are closer together than they appear. Nocturnal Animals presents a unique perspective on both.

view on web

Dan McClenaghan for All About Jazz

,

“You’re busy appearing or you’re busy disappearing.” Drummer-bandleader Art Blakey may have said that; if he didn’t, he should have. Somebody had to express the importance of presenting your work, for getting it out there to an audience. This goes for virtually any artist in any medium. Double down on that for people who create jazz.

Pianist Yelena Eckemoff rolls with the “busy appearing” concept. She is prolific; since her debut recording , Cold Sun (L & H, 2010), she has released fourteen more albums, employing some of the finest sidemen the world of jazz has to offer: drummers Peter Erskine and Manu Katche, bassists Arild Andersen and Mads Vinding, saxophonist Tore Brunborg and more. The names of her accomplices suggest an ECM Records aesthetic, accurately. Eckemoff pens complex tunes which reflect her classical training and, at the same time, seem to have a feeling of a folk music direction. In terms of recording studios, she is no stranger to Scandinavia—ECM Records’ oft times stomping ground—Oslo’s Rainbow Studios, and Petrex Studio in Finland, giving credence to the comparison to Manfred Eicher‘s label.

Nocturnal Animals, another in a string of albums built around a thematic concept, is a double disc featuring bassist Arild Andersen once more, and two drummers who have often recorded under the ECM banner: Jon Christensen and Thomas Strønen. The sound they create alongside Eckemoff is subtle, shimmering, translucently gorgeous, featuring Eckemoff displaying her most delicate touch. Bassist Andersen is typically muscular—the backbone of the band—while drummers Christensen and Stronen weave and counter-weave backdrops of diaphanous fabric—a tapestry of spider webs.

Theme wise, Eckemoff searches the souls of the animals of the night: “Lynx,” “Owl,” “Hedgehog,” Grizzly Bear,” “Wolf,” “Rattlesnake.” The album cover features one of her paintings, with a fox backlit to a surreal luminescence by a weak (perhaps mid-winter) setting sun. The included pamphlet features poems she wrote for each composition. She does create a complete and compelling work of art.

Yelena Ecemoff has come a long way from her native Moscow, which she left in 1991. Through her boundless ambition, determination and expansive talent, she has turned herself into a major jazz artist with a consistently outstanding discography which includes Lions (2014), Everblue (2014), Desert (2015)…and Nocturnal Animals, all on her own L & H Records label.

Mark Sullivan for All About Jazz

,

Pianist/composer Yelena Eckemoff has produced a varied discography. But since her piano trio album Lions (L&H Production, 2015) she has tended towards larger ensembles. Leaving Everything Behind (L&H, 2016) and Desert (L&H, 2018) were both quartets; Blooming Tall Phlox(L&H, 2017) and In the Shadow of a Cloud (L&H, 2017) were quintets; and Better Than Gold And Silver (L&H, 2018) was a sextet (plus two vocalists for the vocal versions). So this is a surprising move: a duet with drummer Manu Katche, a new collaborator, and the only one in her discography given co-billing credit. 

As always the album has a theme: in this case it is colors, with each track is assigned a title with a different hue. As the accompanying poems make clear, for Eckemoff colors have associations with specific life events, ranging chronologically from childbirth (white) to childhood (orange) to pregnancy (blue) to adulthood (red) to old age (grey). While composition is her main focus, the sparse instrumentation unavoidably focuses on her piano playing. Recent projects have had such an all-star atmosphere that listeners could be forgiven for checking the credits find out who is playing the piano. If nothing else this album re-establishes Eckemoff’s central role as pianist as well as composer. 

“White” is a gentle opener, impressionistic piano accompanied by brushes and light cymbals. “Orange” heats up with bluesy piano and driving rock drumming, and “Green” continues the up-tempo feel (along with a section of lyrical introspection). The duo achieves a full sound: Eckemoff’s piano writing includes enough bass register to fill that function when necessary, and Katché can sound like a whole percussion section (“Violet” is a good example of this). 

The long track “Blue” (which is about the calmness of blue lake and sky, not the sadness the color might suggest) is a good example of the sectional, through-composed compositions often essayed by her group projects. Here it is just the two players presenting a series of mostly contemplative moods, with a couple of recurring contrasting sprightly sections. “Grey” is a rubato rumination on old age, solo piano for the first third before light percussion joins in. Closer “Black” evokes only the darkness of night and sleep, a gentle meditation that comes full circle to the new day in the accompanying poem. 

Colors is an exceptional addition to Yelena Eckemoff’s discography, and a very clear picture of her compositional and pianistic talents, with everything extraneous stripped away. Manu Katché’s contribution bears the hallmarks of his style: tonal color, invention, and his inimitable groove. It is not surprising that Eckemoff has opted to play live shows supporting the release solo, rather than use another drummer.

View on web

Dan McClenaghan for All About Jazz

,

Pianist Yelena Eckemoff brings the top drummers into her recording sessions, whether it’s Billy Hart on Lions (2014), or Peter Erskine on Glass Song (2012) and Desert (2015), or Jon Christensen for Everblue (2014)—all of these on her own L & H Production label. 

The year 2019 finds the prolific Eckemoff presenting her first duo album, Colors, a piano and drums affair with another topline partner sitting at the kit: Manu Katche, a distinctive drumming stylist and a leader in his own right, with eight releases to his name, five of them on ECM Records. 

Colors could just as well been called Life, a panoramic set of Eckemoff originals that affixes different colors to life’s stages, from “White,” an examination of birth’s blank slate, to “Orange,” a celebration of youthful energy, through “Violet,” a nod to the thrill of first love, to “Black,” a facing, with equanimity, of death’s mysterious void. 

Eckemoff’s music is often complex and cerebral, drawing on her classical studies in her native Russia, and it frequently leans toward the reflective and inward. This is especially true of her early recordings, like Cold Sun (L & H, 2010) and the previously mentioned Glass Song. But with the release of Lions her sound seemed to draw as much from the heart and gut as it did from the head; the energy of life seemed to swim in tandem beside the reveries of the mind. Colors presents that mix to perfection. 

Eckemoff’s piano sound is, as always, crisp and clean of touch, intricate and nuanced and complex. It can sound a bit playful, full of wordless wonder (“White”); and it can portray an expanding consciousness with an inward tilt (“Pink”), and it can ROCK OUT, big time, with Eckemoff and Katche digging-deep into a relentless groove on “Orange.” Is it Eckemoff prodding and exhorting Katche, or is it Katche elbowing Eckemoff; or is it a balanced pairing, a two way call and response bubbling with the electricity of life? Probably the last choice, given a listen to “Indigo,” another animated, jazz-rock, groove-centric sound. 

Not that moments of reflections aren’t present. “Violet,” concerning “the thrill of first love” is a reflective interlude of subtle beauty; and “Blue” begins as a lyrical, inward rumination that shifts, two minutes in, into a playful prance that swells to a tempest that then tapers down to tranquility, rolling then to a re-start of the cycle. And “Red” seems to dance with the vibrancy and sassiness and confidence of an attractive woman in her prime (imagery taken from Eckemoff’s accompanying poem in the cover booklet). 

Colors covers a wide range of moods and styles, a mode of operation that can reveal weaknesses in a thematic cohesion. That Eckemoff and Kache avoid this potential hazard over a fourteen song, near-eighty minute set is remarkable. 

One of Yelena Eckemoff’s finest recordings.

View on web

Mark Sullivan for All About Jazz

,

Russian-born pianist/composer Yelena Eckemoff began setting verses from the Bible’s Book of Psalms shortly after her conversion to Catholicism, even before her emigration to the United States. But she waited until she had considerable experience working with jazz musicians before attempting these jazz arrangements. The first disc in this double disc set presents settings with two vocalists, tenor Tomas Cruzand mezzo-soprano Kim Mayo, accompanied by a remarkable band: trumpeter Ralph Alessi, guitarist Ben Monder, violinist Christian Howes, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Joey Baron (plus the composer on piano). The second disc is devoted to instrumental versions, with soloists taking the vocal lines. 

The album title is a paraphrase of a line in Psalm 119, the longest psalm set here. The full text includes 22 verses, one for each letter in the Hebrew alphabet: the five verses Eckemoff set form half of the album’s ten tracks. But it is Cruz’s sweet tenor singing “Psalm 131” that opens the set with a ballad feel, supported by Howes’ violin obbligato and sensitive guitar, violin and trumpet solos. Mayo’s clear mezzo soprano gets support from Alessi’s trumpet obbligato on “Psalm 119 Teth,” the first of the Psalm 119 settings. 

Eckemoff’s jazz compositions have always been notable for their through-composed qualities. They rarely follow the conventional head-solos-head structure of jazz performance, employing sectional structures that are unique to each piece. That quality is even more pronounced here, as she sets the Psalms word-for-word: the music adapts to the rhythm of the words, not the other way around. Recognizing that there needs to be space for improvisation, sometimes there is a contrasting section devoted to soloists, for example the Latin feel that emerges during the middle of “Psalm 110.” There is still space for swing, as in “Psalm 119 Lamed,” where the same gentle swing groove supports vocals from both Mayo and Cruz, as well as trumpet and piano solos. Closer “Psalm 147” (the longest track by far at over twelve minutes) includes instrumental interludes between the sung verses, music that elaborates upon the accompaniment patterns. 

The instrumental disk presents the same songs in the same order, with instruments carrying the vocal lines, and with different, more open solos. The instrumental versions are not dramatically different—not least because they were recorded in the same sessions as the vocal ones, with the vocals added later—but they do prove that Eckemoff’s compositions can stand up quite well without the words. The first couple of vocal parts fall to Alessi’s trumpet, a warm expressive voice. Then Howes’ violin takes the next two, a comfortable choice for what are essentially art songs. The two alternate the vocal role for most of the set, but bassist Gress expands his introduction to “Psalm 126” on the vocal disk into a full-throated statement of the theme. The end instrumental section of “Psalm 119 Jod” builds into a free section, ranging more widely than the vocal version had. 

Eckemoff rightly considers this music to be modern jazz, not liturgical music. It takes its place alongside Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts (Prestige Records, 1968) and Steve Reich’s Tehillim (ECM New Series, 2000) (which presents his minimalist interpretation of the psalms). It also represents yet another new color in the rainbow of her recording projects, each different from the last.

view on web

C. Michael Bailey for All About Jazz

,

Sacred music comes in many forms and from many inspirations. Historically, it has always been a cornerstone of our shared musical story. Regardless of one’s conviction, this tradition is a part of us and will continue to be. Russian composer and pianist Yelena Eckemoff was an atheist in the former Soviet Union before coming to the United States seeking material, cultural, and spiritual freedom. The latter she found in Christianity, first through the Russian Orthodox text and then the King James Bible, from where she takes her settings of selected Psalms. Eckemoff breaks up the lengthy Psalm 119, dispersing it among Psalms 58, 110, 126, 131, and 147. The composer has divided her project over two CDs, one with vocals, and the second, instrumental only. She employs the tenor voice of Tomas Cruz and mezzo soprano Kim Mayo, who solo and duet throughout. Her band is stellar, including: trumpeter Ralph Alessi, guitarist Ben Monder, violinist Christian Howes, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Joey Baron. The music is sublimely introspective with an angular trajectory and evolution. Quietly contemplative and deeply moving. 

view on web

Mark Sullivan for All About Jazz

,

Pianist/composer Yelena Eckemoff was born in Russia and in 2018 lives in North Carolina—neither location suggests a desert theme. But Eckemoff became fascinated by the Arabian Desert, producing not only music but also prose stories connecting the compositions to each other, as well as poetry and paintings (including the album’s cover image). Her albums are usually organized around a theme. This one is unusual in having a musical style directly associated with it: so much of this program combines Arabic music with jazz, giving it a unique sound in her catalog. 

As always Eckemoff has selected players attuned to her compositional methods and to the theme. Reed player Paul McCandless has long been involved in musical fusion as a member of the group Oregon, and his reeds recall Arabic instruments like the rhaita. Percussionist Peter Erskine provides plenty of hand drumming and other Arabic percussion sounds as needed, as well as drum kit: he proves himself tremendously adaptable. Longtime Eckemoff associate (and ECM Records veteran), Norwegian bassist Arild Andersen completes the rhythm section. Anderson and Erskine have both played on several earlier Eckemoff albums so they are well attuned to her approach. 

“Bedouins” opens the set with the sound of Erskine’s little percussion kit (pictured in the CD booklet) and McCandless’ soprano saxophone. The theme has the Arabic sound implied by the title, and there’s space for everyone in the group to shine. Erskine’s percussion solo sets up a new section for Eckemoff’s piano solo, while Andersen leads back into a reprise of the tune. “Miracles” has a reflective oboe melody, and a recurring driving, serpentine piano bass line—which eventually leads into a wild, almost free sounding solo section (a rare thing in an Eckemoff composition). 

“Dance” glides along on a percussion rhythm, appropriately enough. It is a courtly dance rather than a wild street celebration, and is an especially good showcase for the soprano saxophone. About halfway through there is a dramatic key change leading into a new melody, a hallmark of Eckemoff’s style. Andersen takes one of his many lyrical bass solos. “Condor” is a piano feature (no horn), a meditation on a majestic bird. 

“Dust Storm” opens with a bit of uncredited wood flute, before McCandless switches to bass clarinet. His solo leads smoothly into a new section, and the reappearance of the wood flute. “Desert Remained” is notable for the group interaction (and some lovely English horn). Even in its shorter length there are dramatic compositional flourishes. “Sands” concludes the program with a meditation on the desert landscape, even though it is one of the least Arabic sounding pieces. Led by the bass clarinet, it concludes with a final soaring theme, leading into a lovely, delicate coda. It sounds like the group has taken a journey together—and it’s a pleasure to come along for the ride as a listener.

view on web

Dan McClenaghan for All About Jazz

,

Pianist Yelena Eckemoff’s backstory doesn’t suggest the potential for a rise to the category of top level jazz pianist. But here she is, after emigrating to the U.S. from Russia with her husband—leaving her children (temporarily) and everything else (permanently) behind in 1991 to escape repression and to start a new life. Classically trained in her homeland, Eckemoff came to jazz relatively late. With persistence, talent, ambition, audacity and a seemingly unshakable optimism, she has navigated her way to the top echelon of the jazz world and created a substantial discography of very good to excellent recordings, collaborating with the cream of rhythm section cohorts—bassists Arild Andersen and Jon Christensen, drummers Peter Erskine and Billy Hart.

Eckemoff doesn’t go about her craft by throwing a bunch of disparate tunes or ideas together. What she does is establish themes—such as Lions (L & H Production, 2012), or remembered aromas from her childhood, Blooming Tall Phlox (L & H Production, 2013)—fashioning herself into a master conceptualist.

Eckemoff’s first release of 2018—she is persistently prolific—is Desert, a musical exploration of the magic of vast and seemingly barren lands, of mirages and drifting, whispering sands, of muted pastels of vast, wide-open spaces.

She has chosen to employ for the project the previously mentioned teammates, bassist Arild Anderson and drummer Peter Erskine. New to her ensemble is multiple reedman Paul McCandless, a founding member of the group Oregon.

A Middle-Eastern mood pervades on a set of Eckemoff originals, sounds tinted by the influence of the Arabian peninsula: “Bedouins,” “Mirages,” “Desert Cry” and “Colors Of Nothingness.” The arrangements are succinct and crisply executed. Drummer Erskine gives a masterclass in elevating the music throughout, in the way that Paul Motian always did, with a distinctively different approach.

Eckemoff’s compositions have a characteristic refinement, their accessible complexities woven through by McCandless’ sinewy melodic lines from his oboe, English horn, soprano saxophone and bass clarinet. And a bonus—Eckemoff’s prose and poetry included in the twenty-plus page cover booklet that adds a vocabulary to her musical ideas. Especially compelling is her short story “Bedouins.” She is proving herself as fine a writer as she is a musician on this excellent work of art.

When the coils of time were dissolved, the desert endured.—Yelena Eckemoff, from her poem “Desert Remained.”

view on web
1 2 3
Back to top