Neon Jazz Interview with Veteran Jazz Pianist Yelena Eckemoff – 2021 CD Adventures of the Wildflower

Joe Dimino: Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Moscow-born jazz pianist and composer Yelena Eckemoff, discussing her 21st CD, ‘Adventures of the Wildflower,’ out on L&H production label March nineteenth, 2021. The double album tells the story of a columbine flower’s life, birth, death, and rebirth, featuring a Finnish ensemble. She’ll also share thoughts on the pandemic and her hopes for the future. Thank you for joining me. To start, let’s talk about the new double album and the unusual times we’re all experiencing.

Yelena Eckemoff: [laughs] As usual, I am happy to talk to you.

Joe Dimino: I always enjoy your music, and ‘Adventures of the Wildflower’ is another standout. With the pandemic making live events impossible, what led you to release this now?

Yelena Eckemoff: Yes. I have been doing the same thing I always do; except I could not record in Italy. That was a session planned for October, which I could not attend because I could not go. We also could not go to Germany for Jazzahead, which was canceled. I postponed my Italian session. Hopefully, I will record it at some point —I don’t know when. It’s postponed to April, but I doubt April will work. Other than that, I have been composing a lot. I always have more projects than I can handle. Since I do more than composing—painting, writing, running the label, even though it’s just my music—there is always a lot to do. I don’t think I’ve been as affected as many other musicians who lost tours. I haven’t planned any tours, so it’s good for me.

Joe Dimino: How did pandemic restrictions affect your schedule in March? What was your last show before things changed?

Yelena Eckemoff: I’ve been focusing on composing and recording. I never wanted to tour constantly, not because it’s a bad idea, but for me, it was never ideal because I had too much going on with other things. In music, I have to focus and choose between being a touring artist and a composer; I cannot do both. There is too much involved in being a composer. That’s why I’ve always played concerts on my terms—when I wanted to. As a classical pianist, I performed when I chose a program, but after playing it once or twice, I wanted to move on. That’s how it is with my jazz ensembles, too. When I want to perform, maybe once or

twice a year, I can’t really have a booking agent or book many venues for myself. I’ve been lucky to perform at good places, but a few are enough for me. So, I have not been affected by COVID as much as other performing musicians.

Joe Dimino: How do you see all of this kind of coming back to life? You know, we’re at a point now where we have a new administration. There are plans. There are things that are starting to move forward. People are talking about shows that will start this year. How do you see all of this kind of coming back together and unfolding?

Yelena Eckemoff: I don’t really know how it’s going to play out because the world has definitely changed, not because we’ve never had viruses before, but because of how the world has treated this situation. I’m not saying it was the wrong treatment. We’ve never shut down anything before just because something was going around like the flu, and now people are very scared. Many have changed their way of life, and I think some will continue to be afraid to attend public performances. Of course, not all people feel this way—some will be glad to return to normal, and some may never get back to normal. I think it will hurt the performing arts industry and venues badly for a long time, if not forever. I might be wrong, and I hope that I am. Many musicians who wanted to earn big money performing and weren’t truly successful will probably change their occupation. The true, great performers will remain, because live performance will never go out of fashion. There is nothing like the live atmosphere. You can’t have that on a recording—the excitement of seeing things happen in front of your eyes, and how musicians feel when they have an audience. So that

will never go out of fashion and will never disappear. I am sure of it.

Joe Dimino: On ‘Adventures of a Wildflower’, it’s the life, death, and rebirth of the columbine flower, backed by a Finnish ensemble. It sounds like quite an epic journey with material that fits on two discs. Talk to me about how this idea came about, this ensemble, and the general aesthetic of this project now that it’s materialized and people are listening to it.

Yelena Eckemoff: I read about that in a scientific magazine; someone brought it to my attention—an article about how plants communicate with each other. That really sparked my interest because I love nature, and it’s always a source of inspiration. However, I had never considered that plants could be more than they appear; they can almost be considered like animals, with a way to communicate. This idea fascinated me, so I wanted to explore what the little flower might feel and what its life might be like if we assume it can feel and communicate with the world outside. That’s my thing—I like to write music based on something concrete, such as a story, specific images, or concepts. So, I was excited to write a story about the flower and then compose music to express everything about it—like how it germinates and the events that unfold around it. For example, I had a lot of fun with songs like Chickens; since I have my own chicken coop, I have a good sense of how chickens behave. Although my flower only indirectly interacts with chickens, I still included a song called Chickens on the CD. Similarly, there are also butterflies, hummingbirds, rain, drought, and all sorts of things I was excited to write music for.

Joe Dimino: What do you ultimately want the listener who buys this or downloads this to get from this experience?

Yelena Eckemoff: My goal is always to bring something positive to the world and to contribute as an artist. I want everyone to feel positive about life and humankind. I see good things everywhere, in everyone and everything, and want people to live in friendship and mutual respect, and enjoy life because it’s precious. I hope my story brings a sense of childlike wonder, peace, love, friendship, and loyalty. It’s all expressed in the story, and I think the music reflects that. It’s a positive message.

Joe Dimino: When we get back to live music—when you get back on stage, and we return as fans—what do you hope we realize about this time away from music?

Yelena Eckemoff: I was not away [laughs] from music per se because, I mean, for me, everything kind of went the way it was. Of course, I feel for a lot of musicians who, who, who actually had to feel that withdrawal from being on a stage in front of audiences and… But for me, in my audience, it hasn’t changed. It’s– It would be nice, of course, to, from time to time, address the live audience, and it’s nothing like that. But I am appealing to the world’s audience. You know, all the people who are now more than ever, everyone pretty much in the world can hear the music, my music, also because it’s everywhere and on all kinds of platforms. And so, and th-that’s, that’s my audience. But sometimes I get messages from people in countries I didn’t even know existed [laughs], who actually access and listen to the music. So that’s what I think unites people now, you know, from all countries, all cultures. Music unites people, and I’m very excited, very happy to deliver that message. It takes so much work and everything, so much dedication, but, you know, it’s all worth it, I think.

Joe Dimino: I agree. Yelena, thank you for taking some time to talk about your new album. Good luck with it. And it actually comes out on March 9, correct?

Yelena Eckemoff: Yes.

Joe Dimino: Which would be ceremoniously just about six days past when the country shut down last year. So, it’s probably a proof that things are getting back on track and, you know, hopefully we’re on the upswing.

Yelena Eckemoff: Yes, yes, yes. We all hope for the best, and there are definitely things that are already improving. You know, I hope my album will cheer up a lot of people.