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JJJJJerome Ellis
Vesper Sparrow
Shelter Press - Cat No: SP165lp
- updated:2026-01-16
Wielding dulcimer, sax, organ and electronics in a multi-instrumental sweep, exploring Black religious tradition and music. A stunning spiritual jazz masterpiece brimming with beauty and emotion! The second album from Grenadian/Jamaican-American artist JJJJJerome Ellis arrives on SHELTER PRESS. From thick layers of sound built from a wide array of instruments to the silences of carefully savored poetry, the album's dynamics are superb.
Track List
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1. Evensong, part 1 (for and after June Kramer)
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2. Evensong, part 2 (for and after James Harrison Monaco)
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3. Vesper Sparrow (feat. Haruna Lee, James Harrison Monaco, Ronald Peet, and S T A R R (busby))
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4. Savannah Sparrow (for and after Kenita Miller)
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5. Evensong, part 3 (for and after Jessica Valoris)
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6. Evensong, part 4 (for and after okcandice)
The work of JJJJJerome Ellis lives comfortably in the gaps between silence and possibility.
The Black disabled Grenadian-Jamaican-American artist creates atmospheric soundscapes with saxophone, organ, hammered dulcimer, electronics, and their voice. Improvisation is at the core of their artistry – often chipping away at large slabs of recordings to reveal the piece like a marble sculptor. It’s an expansive and interdisciplinary practice that allows JJJJJerome to adapt to any medium or form, including recorded music, live theatrical and performance art, scoring, spoken word and storytelling, and multimedia/visual works that incorporate sound.
The Black disabled Grenadian-Jamaican-American artist creates atmospheric soundscapes with saxophone, organ, hammered dulcimer, electronics, and their voice. Improvisation is at the core of their artistry – often chipping away at large slabs of recordings to reveal the piece like a marble sculptor. It’s an expansive and interdisciplinary practice that allows JJJJJerome to adapt to any medium or form, including recorded music, live theatrical and performance art, scoring, spoken word and storytelling, and multimedia/visual works that incorporate sound.
Already generating buzz across a range of media and a strong contender for year-end best-of lists — now in stock. Born with a stutter, JJJJJerome Ellis confronted the barrier that speech posed to self-expression, yet mastered the saxophone at age seven, later taking up the many instruments heard on this record and facing music as a multi-instrumentalist, going so far as to explore the very possibilities that stuttering opens up within musical expression. Led by "Evensong, part 1" (sample1), where trembling hammered dulcimer melodies, saxophone and assorted instruments pile up until they resolve into one great wave of sound, this is a spiritual jazz masterwork born out of his ongoing research into Black religious tradition and spirituality. Diverse elements interact texturally to generate beautiful harmony, unfolding alongside spoken word and electronics inspired by Black American music — a gorgeous record with breathtaking moments throughout. Highly recommended. (Original Japanese text by Akie)