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Steve Elson

Composer/Instrumentalist Steve Elson

About Me

As a teenager, saxophonist Steve Elson toured with the legendary Johnny Otis Rhythm and Blues Revue, featuring Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Shuggie Otis and the Three Tons of Joy. He has gone on to play saxophone and clarinet in a wide variety of settings including world tours with David Bowie, film soundtracks for Philip Glass, several hundred pop, jazz, klezmer, R&B and new music recordings. He has performed in many of New York's best new-music ensembles, including the Borneo Horns (with Lenny Pickett and Stan Harrison), the Slickaphonics (Ray Anderson), the Klezmatics, Big Joe and in the groups of Guy Klucevsek, Linda Bouchard, Scott Johnson, Dick Connette and Bobby Previte. Elson has been a recipient of numerous composition grants and fellowships from the NEA, NYFA and Mary Cary Flagler, among others. He leads his group Steve Elson's Lips and Fingers Ensemble. More info can be found at www.steveelson.com.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 12/13/2006
Band Website: steveelson.com
Band Members: /
Influences: Duke Ellington, Johnny Otis, Ben Webster, Jobim, Coleman Hawkins, Coltrane, Cannonball, Sonny Rollins, Stravinski, Jivan Gasparyan, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Louis Armstrong, Joe Henderson, Count Basie, Gene Ammons, Turrentine, Naftule Brandwein, Barney Bigard, Charlie Parker, Hendrix, Monk, James Brown, Bartok, Debussy, Roland Kirk, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Ornette, Elliot Carter, Clifford Brown, Mingus, Messiaen, Astor Piazolla, Beatles, Prince, Sly Stone, Bartok, Earl Bostic, Johnny Hodges, Getz, Paul Desmond
Sounds Like: Jon Pareles of the New York Times "Mr. Elson composes pieces that combine his studio skills-precise articulation and machine-tooled ensemble riffing-with forays into extended harmony, shifty rhythms and wry humor. In some pieces it sounded like the missing link between the Philip Glass Ensemble and James Brown's JB's, dispensing crisp minimalistic riffs in staggered patterns." Deborah Jowitt in the Village Voice "...a beguiling jazz/new music score that sparkles with irony."Peter Watrous of the New York Times "Mr. Elson brought a real passion for melody to his pieces. Where a lesser composer might have used a style in quotes, Mr. Elson used the styles from the outside, knowing well their implications. And he used them from within as well, manipulating the melodies and the harmonies to elicit all sorts of emotionally sophisticated work"Charles Murray in London's New Music Express "Steve Elson's joyous baritone sax and Stevie Ray Vaughn's majestic guitar drive David Bowie to what seem like new vocal heights."Drew Featherston of New York Newsday "Elson's music takes many chances, ranging widely over traditional and unconventional forms, and the quality throughout is remarkably high."...................................................... .The Ray Charles band used to test out their material on the road. When they found something special, like what the "Ooh-Ahh" section in What'd I Say could do to a dance floor, they'd record it. Similarly, the music on composer/soloist Steve Elson's Smoke and Mirrors has been distilled from his life as a working musician. Over the last twenty-five years, he's played funk, blues, jazz, rock, pop, r&b, Latin, and klezmer. He's learned lessons you can only get from the bandstand, like the absolute importance of the correct tempo, what makes a horn section tight, and how to lock in with the bass and drums. What's even more important, and less subject to analysis, he's learned how to get down, how far to go out, and how to bring it back home.The excellent musicians Elson has assembled share his breadth of experience. As a result, there's an effortless swing, a relaxed groove, and a sinuous give and take, not only in the solos, but in the supporting parts. While the supple quality of the ensemble performance defies conventional notation, it simply, and profoundly, reflects a common awareness and understanding. What particularly distinguishes the music, however, is Elson's craft as a composer and his attention to detail - themes are rarely stated the same way twice; a lead line will be supported by two, three or four counter melodies; the combinations of instruments and their function within the ensemble will shift from section to section; a canonic cascade will come out of nowhere to support a solo; an apparently free introduction will resurface as a funky bridge. Many of the pieces display a lively wit and a delightful sense of humor - a recapitulation suddenly modulates; an interpolated bar of 5/4 shakes up a regular rhythm; a smokey ballad transforms itself into a superfly groove. Above all, there is an abundance of melodic invention, and some of the tunes are heartbreakingly beautiful.While it's not unusual for "art" composers to be attracted to the vitality of the more functional musics of song, dance and celebration, the results often seem stiff and false. Steve Elson comes at popular music from the inside, where if the band can't cut it, they're out of a job. His pieces feel right, from the langorous propulsion of the tango, to rowdy gutbucket squawk, to the exquisite shadings of the cafe waltz. It may be called Smoke and Mirrors, but this, in all its passionate and soulful conviction, is the real thing. (notes by Dick Connette)
Record Label: 1) Open Minds 2) Lips and Fingers Music
Type of Label: Indie