The Sun Died

The Sun Died is an album by the American saxophonist Ellery Eskelin, released in 1996. He supported it with a North American tour.

Production

Recorded in February 1996, the album is a tribute to the American saxophonist Gene Ammons. Eskelin was backed by Marc Ribot on guitar and Kenny Wollesen on drums.

Critical reception

The [New York Times] said that "Eskelin neither gives Ammons pallid worship, nor does he remake him as some sort of revolutionary: he's simply working with durable blues and gospel melodies that fit his sensibility"; the paper's Ben Ratliff later listed The Sun Died as the second best jazz album of 1996. The Chicago Sun-Times opined that "Eskelin is equally comfortable getting down with the bruising Ammons sound and cutting oblique slices in the soul-jazz firmament."
The Boston Globe stated that Eskelin "is currently the tenor saxophonist to be noticed on the more risk-taking end of the jazz spectrum." DownBeat noted that Eskelin "achieves a stylistic synthesis you'd expect from Joe Lovano or David Murray". The News & Observer concluded that Ribot "is at once primitive bluesman, a mad scientist with the electronic controls and foot pedals and a fan of staccato funk."