By Robert Spencer

For Marilyn Crispell it started with A Love Supreme. She heard it, and determined that she wanted to play like that. Soon she heard Cecil Taylor, and refined her vision. Today, after many years and many great achievements, she plays a bit like Cecil Taylor, but with the sweeping grandeur and spiritual lyricism of A Love Supreme; in short, she plays like Marilyn Crispell.

Marilyn Crispell was born in Philadelphia on March 30, 1947. She studied piano and composition at the New England Conservatory, but she earned her wings and made her name with the celebrated Anthony Braxton Quartet of the Eighties and early Nineties, recording six stunning discs for Leo and six for hat Art. Although Braxton brought out some of her most powerful and compelling playing, her full pallette can best be heard on her solo albums, where she can play with classical sonority, barely audible delicacy, sweet and open-faced lyricism, and driving intensity.

She has recorded for Leo, Music & Arts, Black Saint, and many others. Among the highlights of her career is the solo recording The Woodstock Concert (1995), although she has worked with particular effectiveness in trio settings with renowned bassists Reggie Workman and Barry Guy, and drummers Paul Motian, Gerry Hemingway, and Doug James. She's also recorded with avant reedmen Evan Parker and Mats Gustafsson, among others.

Don't miss Marilyn Crispell. If you do, you'll be missing one of the freshest and most consistently engrossing pianists on the scene today.