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Preview track from pianist/composer Yelena Eckemoff’s upcoming album Bird Island, taking things in a decidedly prog/fusion direction

Yelena Eckemoff is a very interesting independent artist who I discovered after she made several records with collaborators like Peter Erskine, Chris Potter, Billy Hart, and Arild Andersen. She plays a very unique form of ‘jazz’ where the modern-classical influence is extensive to a point where her piano parts cover dozens of pages’ worth of notated ideas. In contrast to that approach, she always puts together bands comprised of top-tier jazz players who add incredible texture and energy to the music. Even cooler is that she’s been highly prolific in the past two decades, with around twenty records’ worth of music under her belt, a number of which are 2-CD-length projects.

This newest project and a few other recent ones find her venturing more into electric sounds and prog-rock/fusion vibes. Last year’s Scenes from the Dark Ages featured drummer Trilok Gurtu, more electric guitar leads, and Yelena playing more synths. Bird Island features drummer Manu Katche, who worked with rock artists like Sting and Peter Gabriel and has made a number of fusion-flavored albums for ECM.