Ellery Eskelin - Topic

Ellery Eskelin is an American tenor saxophonist raised in Baltimore, Maryland and residing in New York City. His parents, Rodd Keith and Bobbie Lee, were both professional musicians. Rodd Keith died in 1974 in Los Angeles, California, and became a cult figure after his death in the little-known field of "song-poem" music. Organist Bobbie Lee performed in local nightclubs in Baltimore in the early 1960s and provided Eskelin an introduction to standards from the Great American Songbook as well as inspiring an early interest in jazz music.
Eskelin has resided in New York City since 1983 and has led numerous international touring ensembles while participating as a sideman or collaborator with many of today's most forward-thinking composers and improvisers. He has released more than twenty-five recordings as a leader since the late 1980s, primarily for the Swiss hatOLOGY label. His most important work has been with the group he formed in 1994 featuring keyboardist Andrea Parkins and drummer Jim Black as well as a later group called "Trio New York" with organist Gary Versace and drummer Gerald Cleaver.