The beauty of pianist/composer Eckemoff’s ambitious work here is that the carefully-crafted, multi-leveled concept never impinges upon the flow of the musicianship. ..A near-perfect clarity and balance of recorded sound pervades the ninety-some minutes on two CDs, a logical reflection of this artist’s overall creative lucidity.
What makes Ms Eckemoff so special is that she has a history of creating partnerships with her ensembles elevating them to new levels. This, of course, extends to individual musicians [and the ensembles] whose performances are elevated to a new level. Ms Eckemoff remains the principal character [in all her narratives] who – in turn – galvanises her musicians to create the intensity of a live concert…
Overall, Lonely Man and His Fish is yet another splendid illustrative work of art that Eckemoff and company have brought to life via their masterful musicality. The tone, the moods, emotions, and personal ideas about the subject matter keep this music interesting and worthy of addition to your collection of concept recordings. Check it out.
This is an ambitious two CD set that musically tells a fanciful and engaging story. Beyond the music, the disc comes with a 32-page booklet offering photos, artwork and the complete text of the story.
A multifaceted, exciting Contemporary Jazz CD with imaginative storytelling.
Pianist, composer and producer Yelena Eckemoff is a virtuoso of emotional expression in music. In the world of contemporary jazz, few artists have managed to capture the hearts of listeners and critics like Yelena Eckemoff. ..Eckemoff brilliantly showed that she still knows how to look for new means of expression for her compositions and original sound, while not having to go into any exaggerated experiments. She is able to respect the jazz tradition and move it into other contexts and shades. Pronounced melodicity, thoughtful compositions, brilliant improvisations, inspiration in classical music and swing feeling make this album an excellent, original modern jazz album.
Mainstream jazz is not reinvented here, but everyone plays really big – with empathy, power, skill and audible fun. In some way exhilarating.
There is something playful, observant, but also sad (“Song for Spark”) about the realization of the story on this double album. After Tim’s accident and the loss of his fish, it’s the sound of the trumpet that ultimately brings them back together. ..The music on its own would not be enough, the full effect is achieved only after dealing with what is behind it. Only then does one immerse oneself and find the connections. That is exactly what is special about so-called concept albums – the images develop with the story as you listen.
Yelena Eckemoff’s latest work is a gorgeous 2-disc set. Yelena Eckemoff is a pianist from Russia who continues to release top-notch works. The sound of Yelena Ekemoff’s piano and Fender Rhodes is also wonderful.
…And so music was created that seems “new” because the narrative character is quite understandable and – for those who don’t know the story yet – a new one is told through the music, which carries and also expresses quite a lot of different emotions, so these are two very entertaining albums of the highest quality.
The songs all of rich moods and harmonies, ranging from a Eastern European chamber to bodhi tree gardens. Unassuming beauty.
The music is relatively slow, but Harland’s endless ideas and technique, along with his organic drumming with a lot of notes, made it possible to enjoy the whole performance without being bored at all. In addition to such performances, the recording of this work is, as usual, so well recorded that each instrument sounds so good that I fell in love with it, and the balance is so perfect that I felt it was superb from an audio standpoint.
No recordings, it seems, are more informed by their creator’s personality than pianist Yelena Eckemoff’s. While every album is very much part of a continuum, each also stands apart when the concept and personnel change from one to the next. Common to all, however, are compositions written by the pianist, the paintings she creates for each project, and the texts, be they poems or stories, she writes that function as creative impetuses for her and her guests. Add to that her distinctive approach to the piano and the directing hand she brings to the recording sessions and the result can’t help but be an Eckemoff product in the fullest sense. ….Lonely Man and His Fish is, as Eckemoff’s releases consistently are, wholly endearing and original. Stamped through and through with her signature, the ever-evolving music offers a striking complement to the story. At the same time, the performances hold up perfectly well separate from the narrative when the interactions between the five are so inspired. As she’s done before, Eckemoff shows herself to be a great recruiter of talent and keen to the chemistry that emerges when exceptional musicians are assembled.
Yelena Eckemoff has, yet again, presented us with a new style of musical composition, and, as always has bettered herself once again. “Lonely Man and His Fish” is, very simply, a musical journey that you’ll want to take over and over again. …is truly a must-have for any jazz fan’s collection.
Sounds like a fairy tale. And it is. Almost every time Yelena Eckemoff presents one of her fascinating concept albums – there are now 18 of them – she loses herself in musical stories that are always connected by a common thread, playfully interweaving European classical music with American jazz hardly creating any friction. ..Pleasantly beautiful.
View on web 5.0 out of 5 stars Title: Yelena Eckemoff Pushes the Bar Even Higher! Yelena Eckemoff, with her brand-new release, “Lonely Man and His Fish,” pushes the bar even higher, in terms of artistic accomplishment. How is that even possible? With each successive album, over the last two decades, Yelena has been the […]
Euphonious harmonies, inspired improvisations, especially by Kirk Knuffke the cornetist as the character of the man and the shakuhachi and other flute playing Masaru Koga as the fish, illustrate this story in the mind’s eye.
The plot can be read in the booklet and can also be easily understood with the help of the colorful jazz music. An audio-literary delight.
This is a truly beautiful record. The players are completely empathetic and the whole piece resonates. Imagine an elegy which is not really about sadness. There is compassion here.
The title sounds more like a short story than a jazz album and it is indeed a narrative put to music. Russian-born, North Carolina-based composer and pianist Yelena Eckemoff has built her reputation on concept albums, whether it’s stages of life, colors, smells, seasons, or about such things as the ocean. …Getting musicians of this caliber together for this inspired 2-CD project was essentially a can’t miss proposition but as one follows along with the story in the liners, it’s fair to say that all performed well beyond the call of duty. Bravo!
Russian jazz-classical piano-composer Yelena Eckemoff thinks in multi-dimensional, multi-media hues: a blossoming, night-sky Van Gogh set to Beethoven, Bach, and all the post-modern jazz masters looking for a new high.
In her latest two-disc concept album, Lonely Man and His Fish, she and her five-piece band imagine everyday life with intimate clarity, fantastic vision, and the additions of a Miles Davis kinda-blue with a patterned haiku narrative in a Salvador Dali and Roald Dahl setting, where the smallest detail takes on significant meaning.
Lonely Man and His Fish is yet another splendid illustrative work of art that Eckemoff and company have brought to life via their masterful musicality. The tone, the moods, emotions, and personal ideas about the subject matter keep this music interesting and worthy of addition to your collection of concept recordings.
“Lonely Man And His Fish” is a colorful and varied album. The rich sound of the instruments used, the improvisational ingenuity, the kaleidoscope of moods and emotions make it a tireless listening pleasure.
Russian pianist, usual classical training, came to US in 1991 and switched to jazz. Original compositions, trio with Ben Street and Eric Harland plus major help from Kirk Knuffke (cornet) and Masaru Koga (Japanese flutes).
Yelena Eckemoff, with her brand-new release, “Lonely Man and His Fish,” pushes the bar even higher, in terms of artistic accomplishment. How is that even possible? With each successive album, over the last two decades, Yelena has been the very definition of tasteful and creative jazz explorations. She has rallied the absolute finest musicians anywhere on every single one of her welcome contributions, the current one surely no exception.
Rarely does one experience such an album as if from a single mold. Yelena is an all-rounded talent – poet, painter, composer, instrumentalist. She follows her own path with consummate attention to detail, bringing the parable to life in many ways. The double album lasts 87 minutes and is never boring in its instrumental diversity. If you sit down with the booklet and follow the song titles, you can experience the story in your imagination. Wonderfully implemented – in every respect!
The 2 CDs worth of music on Lonely Man And His Fish brims with joy and the exhilaration of creation. Eckemoff’s theme-based offerings take another step forward in complexity and positivity. What might be next for the pianist-composer? It is impossible to say; she follows her muse from pride of lions to nocturnal animals, from colors to wildflowers, from the desert to blooming tall phloxes—inspirations from unlikely places transformed into marvellous works of art.
…seemingly simple stories that reveal both the numinous brilliance of everyday life and our spiritual connections to the natural world. One could almost speak of Opera Jazz, as the dialogue of the cornetist sets the tone of this story and takes us from scenery to scenery, unless it is the other way around… But it is impossible to ignore the romanticism and the poetry of Yelena Eckemoff’s compositions, who, with her style, manages to renew herself with each album…So, if you, too, love the beauty of art, music that speaks to your heart and soul, you will understand why the editors of Paris-Move and Bayou Blue Radio have classified this album in the “Indispensable” category.
This is music rooted in the contemporary mainstream, at the same time very original, to be listened to for what it manages to convey as ideas and atmosphere, out of the usual box, sometimes performed as a quartet, sometimes as a quintet, with the two woodwinds finding a perfect balance within a story whose plot is woven very gracefully by the pianist. Between the solos of the leads and a subtle and elegant rhythmic pattern, without any smearing, we are enveloped in the atmospheres of one who surprisingly can be counted among the leading lights of the contemporary mainstream.
Knuffke is tonally varied and conversational, finding fascinating melodic pathways through the songs, and Koga is astonishing. The Japanese flute is akin to a recorder and produces a complex tone that is rarely heard in jazz. ..My favorite tracks are “Empty House”, on which both horns interact and Eckemoff layers a Rhodes or “Ampli-celeste” and piano together to create a web of tones. …What is mostly sublime can lean toward being indulgent after a while, but having too much of a good thing isn’t all that bad.
This is a jazz album filled with great performances and interesting musical ideas that you cannot find in any other jazz works.