Monday, December 27, 2021

More from the Archives

I’ve just added eleven more live recordings to the archival series at Band Camp.  It’s been rewarding to listen back to these and renew my appreciation of the many musicians, audience members and club owners who sustain the artistic life of New York City, seemingly against all odds.  

In the previous post I mentioned what a “hustle” it is to gig in NYC and how I once had to rattle the audience at the 55 Bar to get them ready for action.  While that is true there is also another side, of which I encountered a reminder in my parting comments to the audience at the Cornelia Street Cafe finishing the weekend with Kris Davis and Billy Mintz in 2012.  At the time, in saying of the club “we’ve really come to love it”, I may not have realized how true that was given that the cafe (which opened in 1977) was to close on new year’s day 2019.  That’s almost exactly three years ago and it is certainly missed.  The cafe was home to many musicians, artists, poets and writers.  I’m happy to have been a part of that tradition and was very grateful for the license to do whatever we wanted musically.  

Most of these recordings are from NYC improv gigs and required a bit more work on the sound as they were recorded more casually at the time, hence their later addition.  While imperfect they do seem to capture that elusive quality of “live”.  I have worked to enhance the sound yet they remain the sonic artifacts that they are, fittingly.  As such they have a very wide dynamic range.  You may find the need to adjust the volume accordingly at times.  

These are the new additions.  I hope you enjoy listening.

Ellery Eskelin w/Andrea Parkins & Jim Black - Live in Reims, 2010
Trio New York (Eskelin, Versace, Waits) - Live in NYC at the Cornelia Street Cafe, 2010
Ellery Eskelin, Mary Halvorson, Mark Helias, Tyshawn Sorey - Live in NYC at The Stone, 2010
Ellery Eskelin, John Hébert,  Tyshawn Sorey - Live in NYC at the 55 Bar, 2010
Ellery Eskelin, Kris Davis, Billy Mintz - Live in NYC, Cornelia Street Cafe, 2012
Ellery Eskelin, Jacob Sacks, John Hébert, Tyshawn Sorey - Live in NYC at the Cornelia Street Cafe, 2012
Ellery Eskelin, Chris Lightcap, Billy Mintz - Live in NYC at the Cornelia Street Cafe, 2012
Ellery Eskelin, Jacob Sacks, Brad Jones, Tyshawn Sorey - Live in NYC at the Cornelia Street Cafe, 2013
Trio New York (Eskelin, Versace, Cleaver) - Live in Antwerp, 2013
Ellery Eskelin, John Hébert, Billy Mintz - Live in NYC at the Cornelia Street Cafe, 2014
Ellery Eskelin, Drew Gress, Billy Mintz - Live in NYC at Jack, 2014

In order to keep abreast of future additions please consider following the Band Camp Archive by clicking this icon.  I have a list of potential recordings to be included but it will take time to get these organized and sonically polished up.  Do stay tuned...

 

 

 

 

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