Lisle Ellis

Bio:

A visual artist by nature, Lisle Ellis's musical persona is a product of the influence of some conservatory training in Canada, the now legendary Creative Music Studio, and the 1970’s New York City Loft Jazz scene. After leaving his native Vancouver, Ellis, an improvising bassist whose 3 decades of work spans Cecil Taylor to Matmos, gained experience in the communities of Toronto, San Francisco, and Montreal before taking up NYC residency in 2005.

By following the links below, those interested can be brought up to date on current events and hear tracks for Ellis' ensemble as well as have news of recent and forth coming activities for Instant Coffee, his collaborative trio with Martin Schmidt (Matmos, Bjork) and Jason Willet (Half Japanese).

Other current "sideman" projects include trumpeter Kirk Knuffke's Trio with percussionist Kenny Wollesen, Darius Jones Quartet featuring pianist Angelica Sanchez and the Charles Gayle Trio.

Instant Coffee

Member Since:

December 11, 2006

Members:

Stomping Ground

Recorded - Roulette, NYC - September 26, 2009

Michael McGinnis, clarinet

Patrick Brennan, alto sax

Darius Jones, alto sax

Bob Feldman, tenor sax

Brian Groder, trumpet

Kirk Knuffke, trumpet

Bern Nix, guitar

Angelica Sanchez, piano

Lisle Ellis, bass

   The Cherokee tribe performed rain dances to both induce precipitation and to cleanse evil spirits from the earth. The legend of the tribe holds that the rain summoned by the tribe contains the spirits of past tribal chiefs, who, when falling, battle evil spirits in the transitional plane between our reality and the spirit world.[It was also believed that particularly elaborate rain dances could inspire the participants, as well as audience, to take part in unusual and extreme acts of worship.

    The plains peoples would stomp the ground with their feet and beat it with great sticks for days on end, playing the biggest and lowest pitched drum possible: the earth itself.

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Imagine if you a will, a “song” that never ends, where every melody that has ever existed, every “tune” that you’ve ever heard and loved, every rhythm that you’ve ever moved to or wished you’d danced to, could occur simultaneously in a kind of sumptuous sonic soup.  This may not be an exact description of what you will hear in these track but it points to an aspiration I have for music.  And this music is one installment, one projection of a particular “etude” I am currently investigating.

I‘ve taken to referring to this current work of mine, in a general way, as the “etudes for the music of the next 3,000 years.”  This expression comes from the title of a piece,“Music for the Next 3,000 years.” by the late saxophonist, composer, Glenn Spearman with whom I had the privilege of working with and learning from for many years. 

I’m absorbed in thoughts concerning the evolution of musicians and musicianship and I perceive my work as creating studies for a possible transformative future music.  I see this in a certain perspective and recognize my own vanishing point:  at best, my contribution is a small drop in an immense bucket.

Music never really ends but it does stop occasionally to let us off, allowing us to disengage, regroup, rethink, and re-sensitize ourselves to our perceptions of the sounds.  It is then that the musicians mantra of “practice, practice, practice” becomes a preparation to re-enter the realm of discovery and invention that music offers.

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SUCKER PUNCH REQUIEM was published by Henceforth Records early in 2008. It is an homage to the painter Jean Michel Basquiat. Four of the songs, Summoning, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict, La Pulgas (Repelling Ghosts), and Bas Relief may be listened to here on My Space.

Performing on these tracks are:

Pamela Z (voice)

Holly Hofmann (flutes)

Oliver Lake (saxes)

George Lewis (trombone)

Mike Wofford (piano)

Lisle Ellis (bass and circuitry, sound design)

Susie Ibarra (drums and percussion)

CIRCULATIONS is an excerpt from a piece for solo bass & circuitry in three movements. It was premiered at the Steve Allen Theatre in Los Angeles on June 19, 2008.

SONG NOTES IN 'LYRICS' is culled from recent work with INSTANT COFFEE, a trio comprised of Martin Schmidt (Matmos, Bjork), and Jason Willet (Half Japanese, Pleasant Livers).

Influences:

You name it ...

Sounds Like:

as only it could sound ... ..

Record Label:

Henceforth, Black Saint, Hat Art, Victo...others