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Marilyn Crispell
by Tom Greenland
Soft-spoken and unassuming in person, pianist Marilyn Crispell's modest mien belies her dynamic musical personality, a key force and central voice in modern jazz piano since the early '80s. A native of Baltimore, MD, Crispell had early training in classical music at the Peabody Music School, followed by tenure at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied piano and composition. In the late '60s, however, she married and moved music to rear of the stove, making a living ...
Continue ReadingMarilyn Crispell Trio: Storyteller
by John Kelman
Improvised music is often described as a conversation. Consider album titles like Conversations with Myself , Interconnection , and Duologues. Pianist Marilyn Crispell's last two recordings for ECM, Nothing Ever Was, Anyway and the quietly dramatic Amaryllis , placed her in discussion with two artists who have proven to be brilliant communicators over lengthy careers, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Paul Motian. The discussions were often understated, at first somewhat uncharacteristically so for Crispell, whose history following the Cecil Taylor ...
Continue ReadingMarilyn Crispell (Golden Years of New Jazz: Selected Works 1983-1986
by Glenn Astarita
Pianist Marilyn Crispell has emerged as one of the finest modern jazz artists of our time based upon her past and ongoing work with members of the British Free-Jazz movement, recordings with saxophonist/composer Anthony Braxton, drummer/composer Gerry Hemingway, strong outings for ECM records and more. With the recently released 2-CD package featuring music from now out-of-print LP’s titled Selected Works 1983-1986, Crispell performs solo piano, several duets with drummer Doug James and one thirty-eight minute opus for quartet, featuring bassist ...
Continue ReadingMarilyn Crispell/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: Amaryllis
by AAJ Staff
It's difficult to give this disc the praise it deserves. Crispell's piano trio work with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Paul Motian surfaced in fine form on their recent '96 ECM record Nothing Ever Was, Anyway, a tribute to Annette Peacock. Crispell has been quite promiscuous in the past couple decades, working with players from the New York, Chicago, and European improv scenes. Amaryllis, a delicately crystalline record, brings together three personalities with distinctly individual voices. Peacock and Motian combine ...
Continue ReadingMarilyn Crispell, Gary Peacock, Paul Motian: Amaryllis
by David Adler
These trio reflections never exceed six minutes per piece. Thus, they come across as perfectly crafted and concise musical thoughts, despite their esoteric thrust. Avant-garde piano titan Marilyn Crispell ranges from hushed, sparkling lyricism to jagged “energy" playing a la Cecil Taylor, with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Paul Motian completing the conversational triangle. There are certainly parallels to be drawn between this album and Peacock and Motian’s 1999 trio outing with Paul Bley, Not Two, Not One. But here ...
Continue ReadingMarilyn Crispell/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: Amaryllis
by Mark Corroto
If the Crispell/Peacock/Motian record Nothing Ever Was, Anyway (ECM 1997) was the coming-out party for this highly adventurous interactive trio, Amaryllis should begin a series of anticipated recording sessions. Crispell, classically trained, came to jazz late in life. She held the piano chair in Anthony Braxton’s quartet through the 1980s and 90s then went on to make solid solo recordings inspired by John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Thelonious Monk, and Paul Bley. Crispell exhibits the beauty of Bill Evans in improvisational ...
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