Marilyn Crispell

[jostber]

I have wondered looking into some of Marilyn Crispell's releases. She's seems like an interesting artist, me being fan of Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, John Coltrane and such.

Does anyone have any recommendations on what to get first?

- Jostein

[Alexander Hawkins]

I'm not famiiar with too much under her own name, but love 'Live in Berlin' on Soul Note - an awesome quartet with Billy Bang, Peter Kowald, and John Betsch. Very Cecil-esque in spots.

My favourite Crispell is probably with the Braxton quartet though...check out Birmingham, London and Coventry (all on Leo) from the 1985 UK tour.

[7/4]

My favourite Crispell is probably with the Braxton quartet though...check out Birmingham, London and Coventry (all on Leo) from the 1985 UK tour.

[brownie]

Highly recommended Crispell is the ECM album 'Notghing Ever Was Anyway' where she - with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian - go deep into the music of Annette Peacock!

Another interesting album from her is the duo she recorded with Irene Schweitzer 'Overlapping Hands:Eight Segments' on FMP.

[michel1969]

Brownie do not take it for yourself, it is just my opinion nothing more ! But really this "nothing ever was anyway" is probably (imho) one of the most boring jazz record i've ever heard. I've tried desperately to enter into this aerial, music... all my efforts were totally useless. And there are TWO cd's !!!!

Highlits from this disc :

cling..........(piano)

1 minute later : shhhhhh (cymbals)

.....45 seconds later : pouiiiiiiiiii (bass)

....1 minute later : cliong cling tlong

30 seconds later ......pouiiiii poum

1 minute later : shhhhh shhhhhhh

etc....

[brownie]

Michel, I know what you're saying. I get this feeling from quite a number of ECM releases.

BUT this one worked for me and I had no problem getting into Crispell's music.

I'm also a big fan of Annette Peacock!

As they say, nobody's perfect

[JohnS]

I like the ECMs too, thoughtful but interesting, but they are not that represenative. I'm not sure I'd enjoy some of her other things that much.

[Nate Dorward]

Nothing Ever Was...--yeah that's a dull, dull album. Of the discs on ECM Amaryllis is the best, the only one I actually enjoyed a lot. -- I also find the trio with Barry Guy & Paul Lytton rather chilly & dull (they've done 2 albums for Intakt), but if you like the ECMs then they're worth checking out as something in roughly the same line.

The best single disc is probably Santuerio--a superb disc that touches all the bases. I wish she'd done more in that vein. Some people are huge fans of Gaia, though I've never really gotten into it. Virtually any solo Crispell album is excellent. I'm also fond of the 1992 tour album with Reggie Workman & Gerry Hemingway--sound is variable depending on the location but there are some terrific performances, & it's the first disc of hers to start working back towards swing from abstraction.

Band on the Wall with Eddie Prevost is superb & one of my favourites, though the recording has a minor flaw (crackling at the peaks).

[alocispepraluger102]

Brownie do not take it for yourself, it is just my opinion nothing more ! But really this "nothing ever was anyway" is probably (imho) one of the most boring jazz record i've ever heard. I've tried desperately to enter into this aerial, music... all my efforts were totally useless. And there are TWO cd's !!!!

Highlits from this disc :

cling..........(piano)

1 minute later : shhhhhh (cymbals)

.....45 seconds later : pouiiiiiiiiii (bass)

....1 minute later : cliong cling tlong

30 seconds later ......pouiiiii poum

1 minute later : shhhhh shhhhhhh

etc....

i loved it.

some of her small sessions with barry guy are among my favs.

a duo date with gerry heminway, rarely mentioned, is most enjoyable, although hemingway is the star of that date.

she did a gorgeous loving tribute to trane in the midnineties, titled "for trane", i believe.

[B. Goren.]

I think her recordings for Leo and for Music & Arts are much more interedting than the ECMs. Live in Zurich, Gaya and Destiny are my favorites. I think M Crispell is one of the most interesting pianists of the contemporary jazz.

[B. Goren.]

Her solo recordings are also recommended.

[tonym]

Well I loved Nothing Ever Was... too, and I thought Amaryliss beautiful.

[Scott Dolan]

Well I loved Nothing Ever Was... too, and I thought Amaryliss beautiful.

Still haven't heard the former, but completely agree with you on the latter.

[ep1str0phy]

I think her recordings for Leo and for Music & Arts are much more interedting than the ECMs. Live in Zurich, Gaya and Destiny are my favorites. I think M Crispell is one of the most interesting pianists of the contemporary jazz.

I'm also a fan of Live in Zurich, although I haven't dug into the others. Quite moving.

She's also excellent on Destiny with Fred Anderson and Hamid Drake, although the more "conventional" free jazz context doesn't quite push my adrenaline like other things... I really enjoy her somewhere between the ultra-minimalism and energy poles--the Braxton quartet split that difference wonderfully.

[brownie]

this "nothing ever was anyway" is probably (imho) one of the most boring jazz record i've ever heard. I've tried desperately to enter into this aerial, music... all my efforts were totally useless. And there are TWO cd's !!!!

Nate Dorward Posted Yesterday, 01:17 PM

Nothing Ever Was...--yeah that's a dull, dull album.

Now that will teach me for saying something nice about an ECM album

[B. Goren.]

Another favorite of mine is the duet she recorded with Joseph Jarman: Connecting Spirits.

Edited February 8, 2007 by B. Goren.

[king ubu]

I have the Jarman/Crispell duo (just above), but I never really like Jarman that much...

Of the ECMs, I don't have the Peacock one, but the other two - found both of them in sales and after I was quite surprised by how much I liked the first one I got, "Amaryllis", and thus got "Storyteller", too, when I saw it in a sales bin. Pretty nice one, too.

The only other thing I have is the Leo Golden Years 2CD compilation, long time I played it.

And once I saw her live, with Grimes' fumbling space bass (yuck! for that sound, sorry...) and Andrew Cyrille. She was definitely the best part of that concert, a dense 80 minutes of mostly high energy playing, with her providing almost all of the highlights!

[jostber]

Thanks for all suggestions! Has anyone heard the newest CD "Shifting Grace" from October 2006?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shifting-Grace-Mar...TF8&s=music

- Jostein

[B. Goren.]

Two years ago I wrote a few lines about M Crispell and Gaia:

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=15743

[Simon Weil]

I like "Nothing ever was...", but then I have a large slab of romantic in me. To me it kind of moves away slightly (and vitally) from the ECM romantic vibe, but romantic is passe for many people per se.

Of course she's great on the Braxtons and the guest appearance I've got on Parker/Lytton/Guy is very good. But my personal favourite is "For Coltrane" which I have as a kind of "ongoing player".

Started as a folk singer, gave it up, started again. I believe.

Simon Weil

[Guest donald petersen]

i like gaia a lot also. i mean not a whole lot. i don't own it anymore but anyone looking to get into her music-it is a good one.

that live soul not one gets bad reviews. i have avoided it because of this. the penguin guide is wrong?

[Alexander Hawkins]

that live soul not one gets bad reviews. i have avoided it because of this. the penguin guide is wrong?

If you mean the one I mentioned, I would say (IMHO of course) that the guide is emphatically wrong. I think Crispell is phenomenal on it.

[Nate Dorward]

Thanks for all suggestions! Has anyone heard the newest CD "Shifting Grace" from October 2006?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shifting-Grace-Mar...TF8&s=music

- Jostein

Hadn't known of that one. From the lineup, looks like it'll be in the zone of Stefano Battaglia's (excellent) work for Splasc(h)--i.e. free but ECM-handsome.

[B. Goren.]

Another Crispell thread:

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...arilyn+Crispell

[randyhersom]

-- I also find the trio with Barry Guy & Paul Lytton rather chilly & dull (they've done 2 albums for Intakt), but if you like the ECMs then they're worth checking out as something in roughly the same line.

Wonder if time and new material changes that assessment. I'm quite blown away by Phases of the Night, the latest by this trio.