ROULETTE presents
20 Greene St (between Canal and Grand St)
8:30 PM Admission $15 Students $10 MEMBERS FREE
TICKETS/RSVP: 212.219.8242
Roulette 228 West Broadway New York, NY 10013
contact: press@roulette.org http://www.roulette.org/


Saturday, September 15th
Vincent Courtois, Sylvie Courvoisier & Ellery Eskelin

Parisian cellist Vincent Courtois and New York saxophonist Ellery Eskelin met in Europe in 2000 while performing in a large ensemble project led by Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou-Khalil. Sensing an immediate musical rapport they began discussing the possibility of a collaboration. Both musicians admired the playing of Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier (now living in Brooklyn) and with her formed their trio in 2002, performing original compositions as well as completely improvised concerts. The ensemble was invited to debut at the prestigious Banlieues Bleues Festival in Paris and has since toured Europe in 2003, 2005 and 2007. This current tour in the U.S. is made possible in part with support from Chamber Music America and French American Cultural Exchange's CMA/FACE French-American Jazz Exchange Program, funded through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, Cultural France and FMEO - Le Bureau de la Musique Francaise and will culminate with a studio recording for release in 2008.

Vincent Courtois was born in Paris in 1968 and began playing the cello at age six. He studied classical cello at the conservatory in Aubervillier with E. Faure, R. Pidoux and F. Lodeon, while discovering jazz and improvisation with Didier Levallet and Dominique Pifarely. In 1988, Vincent began playing in various Parisian groups (with Christian Escoude and Michel Petrucianni) and his first CD as a leader, titled "Cello News", was released in 1990. Since then Vincent has recorded eight CDs as a leader, among them: "Translucide" (with Michel Godard and Noel Akchote) and "The Fitting Room" with (Dominique Pifarely and Marc Ducret) both for Enja Records. Vincent played in several of Rabih Abou Khalil's bands ("Yara" and "The Cactus of Knowledge") and plays frequently with clarinetist Louis Sclavis ("L'affrontement des pretendants" and "Napoli's walls" on ECM Records). Vincent also plays regularly with trombonist Yves Robert ("In Touch", ECM) and has played or recorded with Pierre Favre, James Newton, Laurent de Wilde, Jim Black, Tomas Stanko, Dave Douglas, Tom Rainey, Mark Nauseef, Joachim Kuhn, and Francois Corneloup, among others. More info at: http://vcourtoi.club.fr/index.html

Composer/pianist Sylvie Courvoisier was born and raised in Lausanne, Switzerland. She started playing piano at age six. In 1998, she moved to Brooklyn, where she currently resides. She has played and recorded with John Zorn, Tony Oxley, Yusef Lateef, Dave Douglas, Joelle Leandre, Butch Morris, Fred Frith, Michel Godard and Mark Nauseef, among others. She has been commissioned to write music for concerts, radio, dance and theater. Commissions include the Vidy Theater of Lausanne, Pro Helvetia and Germany's Donaueschingen Musiktage Festival. Her debut recording "Sauvagerie Courtoise" on Unit Records was released in 1994. Her second recording, ''Ocre", on Enja Records, led to appearances on concert stages all over Europe. In the following years, Courvoisier released six CDs as a leader, ten CDs as a co-leader, and more than twenty recordings as a side-person or as a guest. Since 1995, she has been touring widely with her own groups and as a side-person in the USA, Canada and Europe. She currently leads her quintet, Lonelyville, and the Trio Abaton. She is a member of Mephista, an improvising trio with Ikue Mori and Susie Ibarra, the Herb Robertson Quintet with Tim Berne, Tom Rainey and Mark Dresser and John Zorn’s Cobra. She also performs regularly in duos with violinist Mark Feldman. Awards include Switzerland's 1996 Prix des jeunes createurs and Zonta Club's 2000 Prix de la Creation. More info at: http://www.sylviecourvoisier.com/

Ellery Eskelin moved to New York in 1983 after a year and a half on the road with swing era trombonist Buddy Morrow and began studies with saxophonists George Coleman and David Liebman while performing with a wide variety of musicians from the jazz world. Eskelin's recorded output begins in 1987 with the first of three recordings by the cooperative group Joint Venture for the German record label Enja which began his exposure on the European international touring circuit. In 1994 he formed his current working band including accordionist Andrea Parkins and drummer Jim Black. Eskelin's compositions for this group introduce a fundamental shift in the relationship between written and improvised material ranging from seamless flow to high contrast and juxtaposition in an effort to give each piece a unique form. To date Eskelin has written over 50 compositions for this group, each of which has been documented on a series of releases on the Swiss hatHUT record label. The band tours regularly and has performed hundreds of concerts in worldwide. Other side projects include a group featuring guitarist Marc Ribot and drummer Kenny Wollesen. Eskelin also tours and has recorded with Dutch drummer Han Bennink. In 2000 Eskelin formed a special ensemble consisting of strings, vibraphone and saxophone performing completely improvised music documented on "Vanishing Point" (hatOLOGY). Over the years Eskelin has played with Joey Baron, Gerry Hemingway, Mark Helias, among others. As a side-person Eskelin has worked with a broad cross section of jazz, avant-pop and new-music figures such as organist Brother Jack McDuff, composer Mikel Rouse, guitarist Eugene Chadbourne, oud player and composer Rabih Abou-Khalil, drummer Daniel Humair and the pseudo-group "The Grassy Knoll". Eskelin's recordings as a leader and co-leader (there are twenty) have been named in Best of the Year critics' polls in the New York Times, The Village Voice, and major jazz magazines in the US and abroad. DownBeat Magazine named Eskelin as one of the “25!
Rising
Stars for the Future” in its January 2000 issue as well as including him in the "Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition" category of their Annual Critics Polls in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Eskelin was also a nominee for the prestigious Jazzpar award in 2003. More info at: http://home.earthlink.net/~eskelin/