Mystique
Dave Eshelman, trombone
John Abercrombie, guitar
John Patitucci, bass
Peter Erskine, drums
1. Mystique -
5:59
Dave Eshelman * Jazz Garden Pub. ASCAP
2. Time Ahead - 5:18
Dave Eshelman * Jazz Garden Pub. ASCAP
3. Catch Me Up - 5:18
Dave Eshelman * Jazz Garden Pub. ASCAP
4. We'll Never Say Goodbye - 5:57
Dave Eshelman * Jazz Garden Pub. ASCAP
5. Lament -7:17
J.J. Johnson * Screen Gems-EMI BMI
6. Bye Ya - 4:41
Thelonious Monk * Thelonious Music Corp.
BMI
7. I Hear A Rhapsody - 6:48
Fragos, Baker, Gasparre * Gower Music BMI
8. Nuit D'Etoiles - 6:17
(Night of Stars)
Claude Debussy * International Music Company
9. I Will Take You There -
7:22
Dave Eshelman * Jazz Garden Pub. ASCAP
10. Parker's Mood - 6:20
Charlie Parker * Atlantic Music Corp. BMI
11. Kaleidoscope - 6:10
Dave Eshelman * Jazz Garden Pub. ASCAP
jazzgarden.com cdjg 2001
© 1999 Dave Eshelman
The Music
| Two of Dave's originals on this project started as commissioned works for California jazz bands. Mystique was originally written for the well known Martin Murphy Middle School band from San Jose, CA. We'll Never Say Goodbye was created as a farewell to Stan Getz for the Stanford University big band. It has the long soaring melodic ideas like the lines Getz played so beautifully. Catch Me Up is a phrase used by Chick Corea- wanting an update on Dave's activities the last time they spoke. The tune is a reflection of many of Chick's compositional techniques. Time Ahead was written in anticiptation of the sessions that produced this recording and Kaleidoscope was created just before the session as a group improvisation based on a series of three note chords. Each player uses one of the three notes as a starting point. After listening to the result Eshelman heard seven other layers he could add using multi tracking. The result is a sonic kaleidoscope. Thelonious Monk's Bye Ya is a catchy, springy compact tune with characteristic Monkisms such as ascending parallel dominant chords. Charlie Parker's Parker's Mood was originally an improvisation but it's so perfect it stands today as an original blues melody. Eshelman issued the band specific tonal centers and gave cues to the band to move from one to the next. The result is a very elongated blues chorus with extended improvised sections. J.J. Johnson's classic Lament serves as exactly that, with Eshelman's interpretation. "It's a tune that every trombonist feels strongly connected to," says Eshelman but it's so widely recorded that I felt a need to give it a special twist. The first two solos are played over the changes (chord progression) which are performed twice as slow as they are in the original melody. The standard tune I Hear A Rhapsody is a great vehicle for this group of musicians. Nuit D'Etoiles (Night of Stars) is a beautiful composition by the French composer Claude Debussy. It's a popular voice and piano piece. "My daughter, Dawn, was studying it and she asked me to record the piano accompaniment. While I was slowly going through it I realized this would make a beautiful ballad. The song is traditionally much faster, but my limited piano skills led me to look at is this way." said Eshelman . |
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Patitucci . Eshelman . Erskine
. Abercrombie
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Thanks to Aber,
John and Peter for your immediate understanding of the music and
your incredible musicial performances. Thanks to Robbie & Dawn
Eshelman, Russ & Veronica Tincher, Ron Moss, Tim Volpicella,
Seward McCAin & Paul Contos, Hugh Upton and George Whiting.
Thanks also to Phillipe Kahn whose enthusiasm for jazz helped to
bring about this project. -Dave Eshelman
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The Artists |
| About Eshelman ...... A .smooth bop and beyond 'bone man, a substantive composer, and an even better arranger... downbeat A. spectacular display of technique and wit. his virtuosity immediately brings J. J. Johnson to mind ... San Jose Mercury News. An accomplished trombonist who is also a composer/arranger with special abilities ... Herb Wong ... effective ... versatile ... worth seeking out. Cadence Magazine Eshelman on Abercrombie: "He's the perfect poetic melodic voice. His improvisations are filled with beautifully shaped melodic lines, one spun off another until the entire architecture of the solo is revealed. He can layer a bass line, a light chordal background and a punchy forceful accompaniment all at the same time or create the perfect complimentary single melodic line. He can turn the texture of the music in an instant, and his "ears" are enormous." Eshelman on Patitucci: "John Patitucci is the ideal bassist, a solid contributor and team player with a solo voice that's so strong and distinctive it's like having another horn soloist in the group. Also, his sense of time and his sense of timing are incredible." Eshelman on Erskine: "Peter Erskine controls the texture of the music like a master photographer manipulates light and shadow to create different moods and feelings. He has impeccable time and generates an ebb and flow in the music with his control of dynamics. His independence (the ability to move all four limbs separately) is ridiculous. He plays some great solos on this cd." |