These performances are free improvisations. They each involve a sort of meditation on or poetic homage to certain classic 20th century popular and jazz compositions. In this way they function a bit like musical contrafacts, pieces of music historically played by jazz musicians in which the melody of a standard tune is replaced with something new and the existing harmonic form utilized as a vehicle for improvisation. In our case it’s even looser than that. You will hear some quotations and references but each of these long form improvisations might best be thought of as a weather pattern, a mix of conditions in which elements come and go but the overall focus is on the big picture.
1. Improvisation: Happenstance (Just One of Those Things) 25:56
2. Improvisation: Endless (How Deep is the Ocean) 16:11
3. Improvisation: Fortune (Just in Time) 18:55
4. Improvisation: Question (What is this Thing Called Love) & Aspiration (My Ideal) 34:13
5. Improvisation: Monk (We See) 28:32
Ellery Eskelin - tenor saxophone
Chris Lightcap - bass
Billy Mintz - drums
Cornelia Street Cafe, NYC, 2012
Recorded by Jimmy Katz
