Ed Askew (1940-2025)

[clifford_thornton]

Sad to report that the songwriter, poet, and visual artist Ed Askew died last night at age 84; he had been ill. Source: a mutual friend who collaborated with Ed and assisted him greatly in his later years.

Ed's music can be heard to great and nuanced advantage on recordings for ESP-Disk', De Stijl, Drag City, Tin Angel, and a bevy of self-released cassettes and CDs. I was very lucky to get to see Ed numerous times over the years and work on the rerelease of his ESP debut for Tin Angel Records. Many fond memories are coming back right now of various hangs, gigs, meals, drinks, and good times with Ed and his bandmates. His music had a great impact on the underground singer songwriter community in New York and beyond. 

I remember watching the below in a rented theater in Minneapolis in the early 00s, probably right around the time he played at the Empty Bottle in Chicago (2005). He's playing a Martin tiple. The uploader has broken up the video into three parts.

 

 

Edited yesterday at 04:46 AM by clifford_thornton

[Joe]

Sad to hear. ASK THE UNICORN is transcendent stuff.