{"id":12172,"date":"2026-01-19T16:35:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T22:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=12172"},"modified":"2026-01-19T16:35:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T22:35:46","slug":"review-john-ellis-fireball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/review-john-ellis-fireball\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: John Ellis and Doublewide\u2019s \u2018Fireball\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><br \/>Despite the name of woodwind specialist John Ellis\u2019s Double Wide, suggesting a large ensemble, the group is a quintet, with slightly unusual instrumentation. The name reflects less the size of the group and more the breadth of&nbsp;sounds with Ellis (clarinet, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone) on the high end, and a robust&nbsp;bottom featuring sousaphonist&nbsp;Matt Perrine&nbsp;and trombonist&nbsp;Alan Ferber. Holding down the rhythm section are&nbsp;the versatile keyboardist&nbsp;Gary Versace<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>(upright piano, organ, accordion, Fender Rhodes, and Wurlitzer) and&nbsp;drummer&nbsp;Jason Marsalis. On <em>Fireball <\/em>(Sunnyside, 2026), the group delivers a broad swath of colors, textures, and moods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both Perrine and Marsalis hail from New Orleans. While Ellis originally hails from North Carolina, he too has spent considerable time in the Crescent City. &nbsp;As such, it should be perhaps unsurprising that New Orleanian culture is built into <em>Fireball<\/em>, with a distinct second line sound to many of its tracks.&nbsp;The centrality of tuba also makes evident how Ellis formed the band to center around Perrine. You\u2019re not likely to hear more tuba solos than you do here unless you are listening to the likes of Theon Cross or NOLA&nbsp;brass bands. That tie to the second line also gives another meaning to the term \u2018double wide,\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"120\" style=\"position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/v=2\/track=176233550\/album=3333216336\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Fireball\u2019s <\/em>digestible running time of thirty-seven minutes is full of both danceable, playful fare and reflective pieces. The opening \u201cWash Ya Mouth Out,\u201d named after a southern colloquialism, finds&nbsp;Perrine soloing right after the head. Ellis, Ferber, and Perrine soon engage in vigorously playful dialogue before&nbsp;yielding briefly to Versace on the upright piano. Tempo recedes on \u201cTop Down,\u201d with Ellis\u2019s clarinet and&nbsp;Versace\u2019s Rhodes engaging in Brazilian-tinged melodies. It is one of the few pieces where Perrine is not in the&nbsp;forefront and instead providing the bassline. &nbsp;In contrast, Perrine leads the ensemble on the offbeat,&nbsp;rollicking blues of &nbsp;\u201cClown Car,\u201d delivering a NOLA brass band feel, punctuated with the leader\u2019s soprano on the high&nbsp;end. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Whistler\u201d combines rhythmic elements from both New Orleans and Brazil. The high end floats along&nbsp;behind Ellis\u2019s clarinet while the song becomes unique via Marsalis\u2019s whistling, which mirrors Versace\u2019s&nbsp;piano solo. The quick-tempo title track is a Mexican standoff of sorts with the soprano sax and accordion&nbsp;pitted against the tuba and the trombone. The airy, moving ballad \u201cCrocodile Tears\u201d emanates a church-like feel with&nbsp;Versace doubling on organ and piano with a myriad of tones, both upper and lower registers, wafting through. &nbsp;Solemnity quickly morphs to the light-hearted on \u201cMeat Pie,\u201d another tune featuring Perrine\u2019s impressive&nbsp;tuba playing in the intro and outro, as well as fine soloing from the rest of the ensemble. &nbsp;Interestingly, given the&nbsp;energy in Double Wide\u2019s playing, the album ends reflectively on the seven-minute-plus \u201cFrom the Ashes.\u201d&nbsp;For it, Marsalis creates a drum loop  that the other musicians play over. Among the album\u2019s eight pieces, this one leaves the most room for improvisation, giving space for the musicians react to one another and create&nbsp;a mosaic of sound. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Exuberant, thoughtful, and remarkably differentiated from most jazz quintet sounds, John Ellis &amp; Double Wide\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Fireball&nbsp;<\/em>is well worth repeat listens. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>\u2018Fireball\u2019 will be released on January 23, 2026 on Sunnyside Records. It can be <a href=\"https:\/\/sunnysiderecords.bandcamp.com\/album\/fireball\">purchased on Bandcamp<\/a>. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Photo credit: Emra Islek<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite the name of woodwind specialist John Ellis\u2019s Double Wide, suggesting a large ensemble, the group is a quintet, with slightly unusual instrumentation. The name reflects less the size of the group and more the breadth of&nbsp;sounds with Ellis (clarinet, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone) on the high end, and a robust&nbsp;bottom featuring sousaphonist&nbsp;Matt [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":12175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"iawp_total_views":29,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Review: John Ellis and Doublewide\u2019s \u2018Fireball\u2019","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[1532,1531,1528,67,1443,1530,1475,1529,1533,1534],"class_list":["post-12172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","tag-accordion","tag-brazilian-jazz","tag-clarinet","tag-jazz","tag-music","tag-new-orleans-jazz","tag-saxophone","tag-southern-jazz","tag-trombone","tag-upright-piano"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/img_3902.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peRkRR-3ak","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11289,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/erdenebaatar-kugelmann-under-same-stars-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":12172,"position":0},"title":"Review: Shuteen Erdenebaatar and Nils Kugelmann\u2019s \u2018Under the Same Stars\u2019","author":"Jim Hynes","date":"September 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Under the Same Stars (Mot\u00e9ma, 2025) is the second installment of Mongolian-born and Germany-based pianist-composer Shuteen Erdenebaatar\u2019s planned trilogy drawing inspiration from the mythology of her Mongolian homeland surrounding the sun, moon, and stars. 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