Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
Keeping the Flame at Van Gelder Studio
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
Saxophonist John Ellis’ album, Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow (Hyena), will be released on March 25.
Ellis has gone back to his Crescent City roots, forming a new band dubbed Double-Wide to record his third album for Hyena. He assembled the four-piece unit, featuring Matt Perrine on sousaphone, Gary Versace on Hammond B-3 organ and Jason Marsalis on drums, with a musical vision in mind. Although he’d played with the three musicians in previous configurations, the Double-Wide quartet went into the studio without having previously performed together as a unit.
“For the longest time, I’ve been wanting to make a record with sousaphone, and with Matt Perrine in particular,” Ellis said. “This all goes back to a memorable gig I did in New Orleans, probably around ‘95 or ‘96 at the New Showcase Lounge. David Torkanowsky put the group together, and the band was Johnny Adams on vocals, Herlin Riley on drums, Tork on keys, Perrine on bass and sousaphone, and me on saxophone. Matt’s ability to play the bass function on the sousaphone even outside of the normal tuba-as-bass vernacular blew my mind.”
He will tour behind the album later this year, kicking it off with a performance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 1.
More info: johnaxsonellis.com
Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.
Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
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