These are videos that I like: Erik Jekabson String-tet at the Red Poppy

Today’s featured video is from trumpeter Erik Jekabson performing the song “Umm-Bop” at a December 2012 appearance at San Francisco’s Red Poppy Arthouse.  The song fades before it ends, which is disappointing, but it’s still an excellent video and I’m featuring it because, one, I really think Jekabson and strings really snap into place and my enjoyment of that combo never ends, and, two, I love a video that shows gallery & museum art on display at the same time the music is playing.

It’s a theme very much in line with Jekabson’s excellent 2012 release Anti-Mass, an album that rated as one of the top albums of the year on this site’s Best of 2012 list.  Jekabson and strings are very prominent on this recording that utilizes works of art as a thematic device.  It’s an album that I still return to, and this is coming from a guy with a pretty busy listening schedule.

It’s also worth noting that another Jekabson project has just released a new recording.  His Electric Squeezebox Orchestra was mentioned recently in a This Is Jazz Today column for their 2015 recording Cheap Rent.  It’s a different sound that Anti-Mass, which is just fine, since it’ll let you see another facet of Jekabson’s creative vision, and, well, it’s nice to experience an album on its own terms and not necessarily in how it compares to another recording.

Be sure to check out both recordings.  Above, I’ve linked to columns on this site that will get you on your way.

Now, about that video…

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

Cheers.