The music industry is swarming with van Goghs — brilliantly creative minds who struggle in vain to reach the height of their artistic potential while, you know, being able to eat and keep the lights on. Sometimes, a rare few manage to persist through the mire and reach the apex of their talents and ambitions — and, miraculously, have the world actually give a damn about it while the creator in question is still breathing.
Fortunately, Roger Ebner — multi-instrumentalist, producer, engineer, philosopher, and life coach for at least one wayward drummer/author — is happily upright and earning due respect and accolades for his work. He had been kicking around for decades with varying degrees of recognition before landing the saxophone position in Chicago’s infamous Pigface in 2016. The freewheeling nature of that gig propelled him to embrace the group’s spirit of interconnection, soon prompting him to assemble a staggering array of projects featuring musicians both in and out of the Pigface circus. With an ever-growing discography as eclectic, sprawling, sneakily subversive, and meaningful as a phone call with the man himself (think of a less kinky Genesis P-Orridge mixed with a Smooth Jazz DJ), Ebner has the rare ability to consistently produce music worthy of attention.
His recently released EBNR EP is unquestionably the brightest moment of a career already full of highlights. Boasting an exceptional guest vocal appearance by Vessy Mink, the funky “Break It Up” gives way to the midtempo burn of “The Writing’s on the Wall,” a track where Ebner’s half-spoken, Goth-tinge vocals accentuate Mink’s silky tone. While there’s not a stinker in the bunch, the exotic “Desert Water” is perhaps the EP’s strongest representation of Ebner’s willingness to take his work into new terrain. EBNR isn’t just another EP thrown up on Bandcamp to mass indifference; it is a collection of sounds that inspire images of shifting colors forming new worlds.
Just like a van Gogh painting.
Naturally, the EP showcases several names from Ebner’s growing stable of musical accomplices. In addition to Mink, guests include Dan Milligan (The Joy Thieves), William Kopecky (Yeti Rain/Snarling Adjective Convention), and Martin King (Dogtablet/Test Dept/Pigface). Extra nods go to longtime Ebner cohort Eric McWhorter (Modiviccan/Project .44/W.O.R.M./Pigface/Salamander Red/Now I'm Nothing/PriMary/Boltpile) — who not only wrote the music for the evocative instrumental “Prelude to the Last Thing'” but also pops up in various places throughout the proceedings — and BILE madman Krztoff, whose co-production enables Ebner’s sonics to reach clearer and more expressive territories than on past releases.
And speaking of exceptional modern-day artists, full marks to Jim Marcus (Die Warzau/GoFight) for his characteristically stellar work on the EP's cover.
By writing and posting this review, I’m fully aware that I’m potentially painting my dear friend and frequent collaborator into a corner. Yes, EBNR is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard the guy create, but by no means do I want to give the impression that his search for the thing all creative types strive to embrace is over. Yes, the EP is a musical masterstroke and the best most mortal musicians can even hope to achieve, but my heart tells me this sixtysomething on the sax is still just getting started.
EMAIL JOEL at gaustenbooks@gmail.com
