Originally from Baltimore, Ellery Eskelin has been living and working in New York for over a decade. During that time he has performed and recorded with many of the finest improvisers and composers in the city. Eskelin has eight recordings available as a leader and is also a featured artist on many others. Eskelin came to broad attention with the cooperative group "Joint Venture" (also featuring trumpeter Paul Smoker). That group has three recordings on the Enja label. Since starting the first of many projects as a leader around 1988, Eskelin has traveled and recorded extensively as a leader and as a member of many other prominent groups including Joey Baron's "Baron Down", Mark Helias' "Attack the Future", and has recently joined Gerry Hemingway's new quartet.
Eskelin's current working band includes Andrea Parkins on accordion and sampler and Jim Black on drums. Critic John Corbett calls this group "... one of the most stimulating bands of the decade." This group has just released its second recording One Great Day... (hatOLOGY). In addition Eskelin performs in duo with Andrea Parkins on sampler. Their new release is titled Green Bermudas on Eremite records. Eskelin has also recently debuted a new project based on music written by and associated with the great Gene Ammons. This band features guitarist Marc Ribot and drummer Kenny Wollesen and has just released The Sun Died on Soul Note Records. Eskelin also performs solo saxophone concerts, having done so in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Eskelin's earliest exposure to music was from his mother Bobbie Lee who plays Hammond B3 organ and played professionally with her own group in Baltimore in the early sixties. Ellery began playing standards at an early age. After attending college at Towson State University, where he studied classical woodwind literature as well as jazz, Eskelin traveled on the road for a year and a half of one nighters with the great swing era trombonist Buddy Morrow. Since arriving in New York City in 1983, Eskelin has devoted his energies to furthering the cause of new improvised music, jazz and otherwise. Eskelin's projects and compositions generally incorporate new and unusual instrumentations in an attempt to place the saxophone in new contexts for improvising. Is it always jazz? He doesn't care anymore.
In addition to his own work, Eskelin has also recorded and/or performed with Pheeroan Aklaff, Ray Anderson, Barry Altschul, Epizo Bangoura, Thurman Barker, Joey Baron, Han Bennink, Steve Beresford, Tim Berne, Joanne Brackeen, Delmar Brown, Jaki Byard's Apollo Stompers, Donald Byrd, Regina Carter, Eugene Chadbourne, Dennis Chambers, Anthony Coleman, Marc Copland, Joe Daley, Mark Dresser, Robin Eubanks, Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander, Ben Goldburg, Drew Gress, Tim Hagans, Billy Hart, Phil Haynes, Mark Helias, Gerry Hemingway, the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band (with Elvin Jones), Terumasa Hino, Frank Lacy, Pete Laroca, Andy Laster, David Liebman, Joe Lovano, Tony Martucci, Jack McDuff, Paul Motian, Buddy Morrow, the New York Composers Orchestra, Reggie Nicholson, Tom Rainey, Marc Ribot, Herb Robertson, Mikel Rouse, Paul Smoker, Leni Stern, Mike Stern, David Taylor, Gebhard Ullmann, Tom Varner, Jack Walrath, Carlos Ward, Fred Wesley and Larry Willis among many others.

Biography courtesy of Saudades Tourneen.