Stephan Crump, bass
Adam O’Farrill, trumpet
Ellery Eskelin, saxophone
Kassa Overall, drums
Rhombal features veteran explorer Ellery Eskelin on tenor saxophone engaging with brilliant young trumpeter Adam O’Farrill in the midst of the deep rhythm team chemistry between Crump and Kassa Overall. The group recently released released its first recording, a body of work written for Crump’s late brother, Patrick. The album, Rhombal, was successfully fan-funded through PledgeMusic and arrived in 2016 on the Papillon Sounds label. “Rhombal is not about sadness. Much more, it’s a commemoration of a death well-confronted, of a spiritual evolution I witnessed in my brother during our last days together, and of how close we left each other after what had been, for many years, a very troubled relationship.”
”bristles with the unexpected and the lively” – Downbeat ****
“album of the year” – NYC Jazz Record
”something richer than one could fathom” – NextBop
”excellent” – New York Times
“wonderfully unclassifiable” – StepTempest
“best jazz of 2016” – PopMatters
Stephan Crump Memphis-bred and Brooklyn-based, Grammy-nominated, Echo Award-winning bassist Stephan Crump is an active composer/bandleader with twelve critically-acclaimed albums and numerous film scoring contributions. Known for transforming his instrument into a speaking entity of magnetic pull, his focus on creative instrumental music has led to collaborations with many leading lights of his generation, most notably Vijay Iyer, in whose trio and sextet Crump plays a dynamic, founding role. He can also be heard as long-standing member of Jen Chapin Trio, Ches Smith Trio, Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet, Liberty Ellman Sextet, Secret Keeper (duo with Mary Halvorson), his own Rosetta Trio (with Jamie Fox, Liberty Ellman), his Rhombal quartet (with Ellery Eskelin, Adam O’Farrill, Tyshawn Sorey), as well as co-led ensembles with Kris Davis, Ingrid Laubrock, Cory Smythe, Eric McPherson, Mat Maneri, and Okkyung Lee.