Connie Crothers

[Late]

Sometimes I find Crothers' playing more interesting than Tristano's. Is that taboo?

Her first album is a great place to start:

Other fans? Comments, recommendations?

[JSngry]

Any time I play one of her albums, I start out really digging it and end up being really annoyed by the time its over. So I know what you mean about the interest/intrigue.

My recommendations would be to go for the quartet records with Lennie Popkin, Cameron Brown, and Carol Tristano. None of these are perfect, but Popkin keeps things interesting enough, and the quartet format keeps Crothers from going so far off into her frustratingly rambling (at least to me) extrapolations.

I'd start with Jazz Spring. That's the one I best recall, although maybe that's just due to all the bright colors on the cover.

The one I really need to get is Swish, the duet with Max Roach. That's one that's been on the "get to it someday" list for waaaay too long.

[Leeway]

Connie was a student of Lennie Tristano. Her saxophonist, Richard Tabnik is still very much a Tristano-ite. There's a connection there. I think she has taken Tristano and brought him into the free improv arena.

I like her live performances, often quite a bit, but have not delved into her recordings; they don't seem to capture what she does best.

[JSngry]

  On 1/31/2015 at 9:16 PM, Leeway said:

I think she has taken Tristano and brought him into the free improv arena.

Not sure if I hear it like that myself, but have you heard Jimmy Halperin's Joy & Gravitas on CIMP? That one was a more than slight "jolt" for me.

[Leeway]

  On 1/31/2015 at 10:06 PM, JSngry said:

I think she has taken Tristano and brought him into the free improv arena.

Not sure if I hear it like that myself, but have you heard Jimmy Halperin's Joy & Gravitas on CIMP? That one was a more than slight "jolt" for me.

I haven't heard Halperin. My ideas about Connie pretty much come from her live performances.

[JSngry]

You might enjoy Joy & Gravitas. Halperin's earleir work was very much n-th generation Tristano-ite. This one is not that, and thinking about how somebody could get that "out" from out of Tristano is perhaps as fascinating as the music itself.

[clifford_thornton]

  On 1/31/2015 at 11:03 PM, JSngry said:

You might enjoy Joy & Gravitas. Halperin's earleir work was very much n-th generation Tristano-ite. This one is not that, and thinking about how somebody could get that "out" from out of Tristano is perhaps as fascinating as the music itself.

Crothers definitely is pretty engaged in free music, playing with people like Jemeel Moondoc, Ras Moshe, and others associated with the William Parker circle.

[Chuck Nessa]

Where else could she go?

[JSngry]

I've never heard her get particularly "locked in". It all seems like like splattered Lennie-isms, except when it doesn't, and then it sounds like more focused Lennie-isms. And the progression seems to be to start focused, then start splattering...not unlike the more masturbatory early-ish Brubeck in terms of keeping a focused expression...just get it started and then start whanking.

At least to me, and in general, not literally "always".

[Leeway]

My impression is that Connie's playing is very situational. When she plays with someone like Tabnik, it gets more buttoned down, more modulated, more compositional, perhaps one can say more apparently Tristano-ish, while still retaining an improvisatory spirit. In solo performances, it tends to get more ecstatic and energy-driven (although I think the core is still Tristano-ish). In impromptu group settings, she plays somewhere in between these positions, reacting to what others are doing. At least that's the way I've seen her over some years.

[Chuck Nessa]

true

[JSngry]

  On 1/31/2015 at 11:49 PM, clifford_thornton said:

You might enjoy Joy & Gravitas. Halperin's earlier work was very much n-th generation Tristano-ite. This one is not that, and thinking about how somebody could get that "out" from out of Tristano is perhaps as fascinating as the music itself.

Crothers definitely is pretty engaged in free music, playing with people like Jemeel Moondoc, Ras Moshe, and others associated with the William Parker circle.

Yeah, but the kind of "out" that Halperin is into on that album is not at all that type of "out"...it's more like a Jimmy Giuffre/Roscoe Mitchell merge.

[Quasimado]

That "Manhattan Studio" is a great video.

Q

[JSngry]

  On 2/1/2015 at 3:38 AM, Quasimado said:

That "Manhattan Studio" is a great video.

Q

Warne @ 42:35:

  Quote

Look at how intimate the relation is between musicians who improvise together...ya' know? ...........If it's going to make sense, it has to be adult ..uh, thinking all the way, and an adult relationship. It's not "one-nighters", it's people who will spend time together....which is not too common.

Yes to that, all the way.

[Dfrankjazz]

Jimmy Halperin will be playing live next Saturday, 2/7 from 9-11 at the Somethin' Jazz Cafe, 212 E 52nd St. in Manhattan with the Brothers of Contrapuntal Swing.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Dfrankjazz

[Late]

  On 1/31/2015 at 9:16 PM, Leeway said:

Connie was a student of Lennie Tristano. Her saxophonist, Richard Tabnik, is still very much a Tristano-ite. There's a connection there.

If you haven't already, check this one out:

  On 2/1/2015 at 3:38 AM, Quasimado said:

That "Manhattan Studio" is a great video.

Agreed — one of my favorites. Worthy of repeated viewings. That documentary led directly to my discovery of Liz Gorill, another Tristanoite, but more obliquely, and more volcanic. I always recommend this disc:

The short track "Chord Storm" is just that — some of the most lovely dissonance I've heard on a piano. It can be had for around $12 on Amazon.

Now I need to check out that Halperin disc.

BTW, there are quite a few Crothers performances on YouTube. A good way to explore her thinking/playing.

[Late]

  On 1/31/2015 at 6:46 PM, JSngry said:

The one I really need to get is Swish, the duet with Max Roach. That's one that's been on the "get to it someday" list for waaaay too long.

Whoa.

[JSngry]

Indeed!

[JSngry]

dammit!