HurdAudio Rotation: Balancing Introversion with Extroverted Expression

Marilyn Crispell: Vignettes. 2008. ECM: 2027.

Marilyn Crispell: piano

A solo recording by one of the best improvising pianists on the planet realized with all the attention to production and recording detail that one expects from the ECM label. It's no surprise that this is a great record. Drawing upon Marilyn Crispell's current "lyrical period," though she insists that the lyricism was always present in her music since the beginning of her career. Which is true. But at some point she hit upon a sense of restraint and an ability to tap into something finely balanced between simplicity and technical virtuosity that is astonishing. This radiant sound is on full display on Vignettes. Realized here as seventeen short pieces that also show off her sense of ending. Pieces that end with a satisfying tranquility. Each sent into this world with a fully realized sense of form above and beyond the considerable aural creativity of this incredible talent.

Jen Baker: Blue Dreams. 2007. Dilapidated Barns: 001.

Jen Baker: trombone, voice

With a tone composed of voice and trombone unified by a singular breath, Jen Baker explores a timbral interplay that transforms her instrument into an organic entity rich in musical and organic possibilities. Baker traverses a range that growls with humanity before taking more lyrical turns. At times hinting toward Tuvan throat singing, at other times developing its own internal counterpoint. Jen Baker sustains this recording with her improvisational ability and sense of rhythmic balance. Not to mention her impressive musical chops. This is an expressive and honest solo recording that exposes a refined and truly engaging and imaginative extended technique.

Phil Dwyer Orchestra featuring Mark Fewer: Changing Seasons. 2012. Alma Records: ACD 10252.

Phil Dwyer: composition, conductor, piano, tenor saxophone

Mark Fewer: strings conductor, violin soloist

Mark Ferris, Robin Braun, Jason Ho, Jennie Press, Toni Stanick, Yi Zhou, Karen Gerbrecht, Anne Cramer, Cam Wilson, Ashley Plaut, Angela Goddard, Rick Dorfer: violins

Neil Miskey, Isabelle Rolans, Henry Lee, Reg Quiring: violas

Joseph Elworthy, Zoltan Rosnyai, Olivia Blander, Charles Inkman: cellos

Dylan Palmer: double bass

Walter White, Derry Byrne, Henry Christian, John Korsrud, Ingrid Jensen: trumpets

Ian McDougall, Al Kay, Jeremy Berkman, Sharman King: trombones

Chris Gestrin: piano

John Wikan: drums, percussion

Naming the four movements of this suite after the four seasons of the year may suggest a nod toward Vivaldi. But the richly modal orchestral jazz writing draws much of its inspiration from Gil Evans. The performances and arrangements of this wildly varied work by Phil Dwyer is nearly flawless. His seemingly easy access to the substance and humanity of a century of jazz influences is translated here into a work of relentless beauty (that also manages to swing). Changing Seasons is notably devoid of any gimmicks. Each parameter of this music is carefully constructed. Each solo reinforcing the overall sweep of this music. It won't grab a passive listener and overwhelm them with the layers of materials and ideas that went into this music. At the same time it rewards the active listener with its seemingly endless transitions as they unfold with unreserved beauty. The "change" of the Changing Seasons is the key to this ambitious piece.

HurdAudio Rotation: Songs of Travel and Growth

Louis Moholo-Moholo/Marilyn Crispell: Sibanye (We Are One). 2007. Intakt: 145.

Louis Moholo-Moholo: drums

Marilyn Crispell: piano

I've listened to a lot of Marilyn Crispell over the years and she never fails to puncture the familiarity of her sound with elements within her improvisations that are completely new to me. This happens every time. Here is a live recording from 2008 where I was in the audience. At the time I was blown away by the kind of voice leading she was doing. It was something new in her playing I hadn't noticed before. Now as I come back to this recording for the third time or so I'm struck by the resonant spiritual connection that these two players share. Even though this is their first (and only documented) performance together.

Marilyn Crispell has mastered the almost Zen-like quality of stepping back within a performance and finding an improvised path that exists in balance with the present state of the music. Hers is a finely honed intuition that allows her to draw upon her considerable technique without smothering the creative moment. Louis

Moholo-Moholo has carved a path out of Apartheid era South Africa, through the explosive free improvisation movements of Europe and back to South Africa. That sense of returning home after a long and valuable journey comes through in his music. The connection these two master musicians made was something to behold live. This document of that meeting retains much of the glow of that performance.

Ellery Eskelin: Premonition. 1993. Prime Source: 2010.

Ellery Eskelin: tenor saxophone

In 1993, Ellery Eskelin was well on his way to becoming the most interesting improvising musician on the tenor saxophone. The material on Premonition is outstanding on its own. But if you've heard him play lately it is clear that he has grown exponentially as an artist since that time. Premonition does make a clear, declarative case for the multiple tendrils of jazz tradition that feed into his astonishingly original voice. Three original works - part of Eskelin's own "Song Cycle" followed by two by Monk and a lighter excursion through a Torres Velazquez tune. Deep roots that hardly keep Eskelin from reaching into the stratosphere with his own ideas. Premonition is a snapshot of an artist in mid growth that stands on its own as a solo recital worth revisiting.

Sanda: Gypsy in a Tree. 2010. Barbes Records: BR0029.

Sanda: vocal

Shoko Nagai: piano, accordion, farfisa

Stomu Takeishi: electric bass

Satoshi Takeishi: percussion

Douglas Wieselman: guitar, clarinet

Ben Stapp: tuba

There aren't many vocalist led disc in the HurdAudio Rotation. Partly out of oversight and partly because these ears gravitate toward the instrumentalists. And frankly, I was attracted to this disc because of the Takeishi brothers in the rhythm section. So I have Stomu and Satoshi to thank for pushing me out of my comfort zone and into the gypsy songs so brilliantly realized by Sanda. Sanda Weigl has an amazing voice and an innate sense for how these songs breathe and dance. Combining her voice with this outstanding band is simply a winning concept that rewards the ears that stop to take it in. This is music with unbelievable sonic and emotional texture delivered by serious players.

HurdAudio Rotation: Monkey Mind and Human Ears

Zeitgeist: In Bone-Colored Light. 2010. Innova: 774.

Heather Barringer: percussion
Patti Cudd: percussion
Pat O'Keefe: woodwinds
Shannon Wettstein: piano
with Jerome Kitzke: vocals and whistle on title track

Anthony Gatto: Lucky Dreams
Ivo Medek: Into The Same River
Jerome Kitzke: In Bone-Colored Light
Kathy Jackanich: Polarity
Ethan Wickman: Angles of Repose

Zeitgeist is a St. Paul based new music ensemble that features works with a spiritual bent. Music of healing and rooted-ness that draws out my monkey mind long before I can settle into the calm tranquility that these sounds require. Once that mental zone is realized this disc becomes an enormously rewarding journey. But it takes a few spins before that initial resistance wears away. Beautifully recorded with a deceptively clean sense of rhythmic precision. The unison lines that trickle through Into The Same River are executed with jaw dropping exactness. The sense of ensemble balance is also stunning. Lucky Dreams opens this disc with an invocation that is unfolded sequentially. Angels of Repose concludes with a symmetrically similar sense of sequential arrangement. In between there are works that touch upon story telling, texturally vivid arranging and flights of whimsy.

Alban Berg: Wozzeck. (Recorded in 1998). EMI Classics: 7243 5 56865 2 7.

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
Ingo Metzmacher: conductor
Chor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper
Steffen Kammler: chorus master

Bo Skovhus: Wozzeck
Jan Blinkhoff: Tambourmajor
Jurgen Sacher: Andres
Chris Merritt: Hauptmann
Frode Olsen: Doktor
Konrad Ruff: Handerwerksbursch 1
Kay Stiefermann: Handerwerksbursch 2
Frieder Stricker: Der Narr
Angela Denoke: Marie
Renate Spingler: Margret
Daniel Michel: Mariens Knabe
Findlay A. Johnstone: Soldat

Still one of the high water marks of operatic achievement that could easily endure another century of listening (and stagings). Alban Berg's thick textures paint the air with a vivid Germanic expressionism. Each listening exposes new threads and ideas that give this work enormous vitality. The use of stylistic idioms within the larger canvas - ensembles from within the orchestra - is fascinating. The marching band, the waltz and the out of tune piano that provide a sense of place within this rich and atonal universe. Then there is the orchestration and the inventive use of vocal lines along with the formal construction of this work. It is one of the greats.

Now Orchestra & Marilyn Crispell: Pola. 2005. Victo: cd 097.

Marilyn Crispell: piano
Coat Cooke: baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute
Kate Hammett-Vaughan: voice
Bruce Freedman: alto saxophone
Graham Ord: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute
Saul Berson: alto saxophone, clarinet, flute
John Korsrud: trumpet, bugle
Kevin Elaschuk: trumpet, bugle
Rod Murray: trombone
Brad Muirhead: bass trombone
Ron Samworth: guitar
Paul Blaney: bass
Clyde Reed: bass
Dylan van der Schyff: drums

Two forces of creative improvised music that I am enormously fond of assembled for a collaborative session. Compositionally, there is more material here by Coat Cooke than there is from Marilyn Crispell. But her Ying Yang offers up a tantalizing glimpse of what a world with more big band charts by Crispell would be like (and I want to live that world). For most of this disc she is a guest performer functioning as an equal part of the overall soundscape. Exchanging the Paul Plimley sound (also another force of creative improvised music worthy of great enthusiasm) for Marilyn Crispell on the piano makes this a unique NOW Orchestra experience. Though my ears greedily wonder what hearing both pianists working together would sound like. A captivating glimpse into the sounds coming out of the Vancouver scene that more than piques the curiosity.

HurdAudio Rotation: Restrained Noise

Carla Bley: The Lost Chords find Paolo Fresu. 2007. Watt Works/ECM: WATT794/B0010120-02.

Carla Bley: piano
Paolo Fresu: trumpet, flugelhorn
Andy Sheppard: soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
Steve Swallow: bass
Billy Drummond: drums

Clearly the same mind and creative impulse behind the arrangements performed by Charlie Haden and the Liberation Music Orchestra. Carla Bley takes the beautiful - and in the case of Paolo Fresu's tone and phrasing there is no shortage of beauty - and deftly prevents it from sliding into pretty. Carla Bley is so good, the results so slippery with gentle quirks and ideas that she tends to be underrated. She is the genuine article with compositions reinforced by her remarkable arranging prowess. "The Banana Quintet" makes for an excellent showcase for her ideas along with the Fresu lines woven throughout its bluesy appeal.

The Zs: 4 Systemz: Brown 1951. 2007. Planaria: PR029.

Sam Hillmer: tenor saxophone
Matthew Hough: electric guitar
Charlie Looker: electric guitar, baritone guitar
Ian Antonion: drumset, percussion
Brad Wentworth: drumset, percussion

The graphic scores of Earle Brown allow for enormous flexibility in instrumentation and interpretation. Like any form of notation, the sonic quality depends upon the ability of the performer. Graphic notation calling for an improvisation that reflects the visuals. The Zs find an intriguing sense of Brown's 4 Systems with a taut performance that is nearly transparent with everything operating at low dynamic levels. The sparse layers of drums against electric guitars played acoustically and soft held tones on the saxophone comes through the speakers with the gentle ferocity of a summer breeze through an open window.

Michele Rabbia/Marilyn Crispell/Vincent Courtois: Shifting Grace. 2006. Cam Jazz: CAMJ 7791-2.

Michele Rabbia: percussion
Marilyn Crispell: piano
Vincent Courtois: cello

Three musicians, six ears and a singular, lyrical sound that passes through. Sometimes as a trio, duo or solo. The tension of hearing master musicians applying so much restraint combined with the blurring between free improvisation and composed music (there are elements of each here) leaving no sign where one leaves off and the other begins. At times the ideas and lines pass seamlessly through piano, percussion and cello. The prolonged understatement standing as evidence of the profound listening ability shared between these performers.

HurdAudio Rotation: Deep and Dirty Projectors

Marilyn Crispell: Vignettes. 2008. ECM Records: 2027.

Marilyn Crispell: piano

The "deep lyricism" of Marilyn Crispell's current creative incarnation sears deep into this solo expression. Within these spare, melodically focused tracks there are so many different dimensions along which Crispell will vary things. A universe of nuance falls under her fingers as the spaces between notes and chords expands and contracts along a wide horizon. Unpredictable yet structured within Crispell's distinct sensibilities. In many ways, this is a music that reaches deeper toward the spirituality of John Coltrane that first inspired Marilyn Crispell to take up improvised music.

Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca. 2009. Domino Recording Company: DNO217CD.

David Longstreth: vocals, guitar
Amber Coffman: vocals, guitar
Angel Deradoorian: vocals, keyboard, samples, guitar, bass
Brian McOmber: drums
plus:
Nat Baldwin: bass
Haley Dekle: voice
Jordan Dykstra: viola
Caleb Russell: violin
Andrew Todd: violin
Anna Fritz: cello

Summer soundtracks come from unexpected places. I recall bonding with Talking Heads 77 while lying on a hardwood floor on a hot summer in Portland, Oregon. The sophisticated simplicity of a "Psycho Killer" and "Don't Worry About the Government" creating their own wrinkles in my brain with their infectious, guilt free listening. A sound that is immediately appealing that does not wear out after periods of addictive listening. Bitte Orca is that kind of record. Vocal centric writing that threads a line through infectious, addictive territory while retaining an aggressively sophisticated edge in the unexpected turns of form and development. A polished, produced recording that doesn't feel the weight of over-production serving up a set of songs that immediately appeal to the ears while darting out at odd angles away from traditional song form. Generous portions of drum-free textures contrasting against satisfying, full ensemble material. And the voices alternate between male and female while moving in and out of the focal point of the overall sound. This is a wonderful record.

Iannis Xenakis: Works for Large Orchestra - Volume II. 2001. Timpani: 1C1062.

Jonchaies (1977)
Shaar (1983)
Lichens (1983)
Antikhthon (1971)

Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg
Arturo Tamaho: conductor

Jonchaies is written for 109 musicians. And the din Xenakis rips out of all that humanity is thoroughly unholy and relentless. What a fantastic work! Orchestral music that begs to be played loud to feel the relentless pummeling of percussion, brass, piercing piccolos and strings. Major props to the Orchetre Philharmonique du Luxembourg for performing this music with an aggressive bite not normally associated with genteel orchestras.

Orchestral masses and forces set in motion characterize all the works on this disc. Shaar pours Xenakis's unique language into a large string orchestra while Lichens and Antikhthon add plenty of percussion, brass and winds to the massive ensemble load. Music that thrives under the baton of Arturo Tamaho as the assaultive, unapologetically dissonant textures burn with a heat more often reserved for wicked feedback solos. Recordings like this make the best argument for modernist aesthetic of the previous century.

HurdAudio Rotation: Startling Turns and Lyricism

Marc Ducret: Un Certain Malaise. 1997. Screwgun Records: Screwu 70005.

Marc Ducret: electric guitar

Solo electric guitar with plenty of turns toward avant asides and aggressive energies. Marc Ducret brings a unique ear to his instrument that soars in the unbridled and unaccompanied setting. The final tracks settle toward more lyrical material without losing any of the jagged edges that poke throughout this performance. Beautiful and fully engaging throughout.

Misha Mengelberg: The Root Of The Problem. 1997. Hat Hut Records: hatOLOGY 504.

Misha Mengelberg: piano
in duos, trios and quartet formed with -
Steve Potts: alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
Thomas Heberer: trumpet
Michel Godard: tuba, serpent
Achim Keremer: percussion

The overlapping improvisational sensibilities of Misha Mengelberg and Thomas Heberer makes for some startling play between the piano and tuba. "Play" is the operative word to describe this music. Loose yet strangely focused and a wonderful freedom to stumble in and out of established jazz conventions toward free improvisation and back. At its core, a string of moments that connect and stand independently from one another. A rare balance of form and idea.

Louis Moholo-Moholo/Marilyn Crispell: Sibanye (We Are One). 2008. Intakt: CD 145.

Louis Moholo-Moholo: drums
Marilyn Crispell: piano

I have a particular interest in this recording as one who was present at this first-time collaboration at Baltimore's An Die Musik. Listening for specific moments I remembered from that evening with an ear toward deeper understanding of how this duo achieved such a joyous sound. This was also the performance that piqued my interest in Luis Moholo-Moholo's artistic journey and his work with the Blue Notes and the Brotherhood of Breath. A body of music I now regard as indispensable for understanding the evolution of free improvisation in Europe via exile from South Africa. In this encounter, the evolved languages of Moholo-Moholo and Crispell mesh together as each generously extends space toward the other. The rich, tonal lyricism of much of Crispell's playing in this session was startling - and still is on recording.

The Telepathic Duo

Marilyn Crispell/Gerry Hemingway @ An Die Musik, Baltimore, MD
Saturday, March 14, 2009

Marilyn Crispell: piano

Gerry Hemingway: drums, percussion

In his superbly written Forces in Motion (pulished in 1989), Graham Locke tagged along with the legendary Anthony Braxton Quartet on a 1985 tour through the UK in an effort to communicate the creative substance of their music.  Marilyn Crispell and Gerry Hemingway were one half of that quartet.  After more than a quarter century of making music together this pair continues to smolder as creative forces still in motion.  Forces that have continued to grow and expand their collaborative sonic vocabulary over the decades.

Gerry Hemingway brings a wonderful focus toward his percussive textures.  His technique of bowing the vibraphone while rhythmically striking it with a soft mallet is a sound with enormous potential for composed music.  This same attention to timbral range and rhythmic detail was applied to the drum kit as the membranes of drum heads became a surface for amplifying or altering the sounds of metallic bowls, wood blocks and a small wind up music box.  Brushes coaxed soft tones from cymbals, snare and metallic bars of the vibraphone.  Soft tremolos from tiny, hand held bells provided a slight sheet of sound.  And Hemingway explored playful ways of altering the mechanics of the high hat - at one point inserting a metal cup mute between the top and bottom halves.  For all his extended technique, it was often the persistent or absent pulse that was the most striking quality of his playing.  Improvisation built upon a mix of abstract gestures or steady grooves depending on the interplay of the moment.

Marilyn Crispell is a talent held in high esteem at HurdAudio.  Her range and creative inventiveness continues to hold these ears in rapt attention.  Her work within the innards of her instrument provided a sympathetic and collaborative response to Hemingway's sound.  Often to the extent of using drum sticks to play the strings and frame of the piano.  The final piece of their second set featuring a tautly restrained sound of extended pianissimo where Crispell barely touched the keyboard of the instrument.  The mix of free improvisation with composed works offered no audible seams to distinguish between them.  Only the evidence of premeditated forms and gestures within a larger texture rich with detail.

The chemistry and interplay between these individual talents is impressive.  The immediacy of their collaborative spontaneity often felt more telepathic than reactive.  Extended periods of driving pulse flowed immediately into a tight, rhythmic pocket while sparse textures often featured gestures with a similar lock step between partners.  Almost as if one performer was finishing the sentence begun by the other.  The conversation between them turning continually between scintillating ideas and drawing upon a refined vocabulary forged from the forces that continue to bring these players together.

HurdAudio Rotation: Works for/with Piano and A Good Church Organ Freak Out

NOW Orchestra & Marilyn Crispell: Pola. 2005. Victo: cd 097.

Marilyn Crispell: piano
Kate Hammett-Vaughan: voice
Bruce Freedman: alto saxophone
Graham Ord: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute
Saul Berson: alto saxophone, clarinet, flute
John Korsrud: trumpet, bugle
Kevin Elaschuk: trumpet, bugle
Rod Murray: trombone
Brad Muirhead: bass trombone
Ron Samworth: guitar
Paul Blaney: bass
Clyde Reed: bass
Dylan van der Schyff: drums
Coat Cooke: baritone saxoophone, tenor saxophone, flute, artistic director

Vancouver group improvisation meets Marilyn Crispell of Woodstock, NY. And the results are every bit as intoxicating as the combination of these elements would suggest. This has the feel of a NOW comprovisation with generous splashes of Crispell's pianistic sound. Though Paul Plimley - NOW's regular pianist - is also a favorite of mine and the chance to mix those two contrasting forces on the ivories feels like a missed opportunity. Not that any part of this recording is empty or lacking. The ensemble shifts generously between large and small subgroups with plenty of free swinging from every angle.

The Sun Ra All Stars Band - Stars That Shine Darkly: Hiroshima. Recorded in 1983. Released on LP in 2007. Art Yard: LP 2007.

Sun Ra: piano, pipe organ
John Gilmore: tenor saxophone
Marshall Allen: alto saxophone
Archie Shepp: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
Don Cherry: pocket trumpet
Lester Bowie: trumpet
Philly Joe Jones: drums
Richard Davis: bass
Don Moye: drums, percussion
Clifford Jarvis: drums

That's a serious list of "all stars" to contend with. And that's just the crew on the "B-side" of this vinyl wonder. "Hiroshima" is Sun Ra painting in deeply explosive hues on the church organ with some light percussion accompaniment. It's a performance that treads into extremes of expressive Ra and heat with all the expansive duration of a single side. And it leaves a mark. Then there's the formidable cast on the flip side playing "Stars that Shine Darkly." Different Ra canvas featuring a medium of collaborative creation pointed toward the same severity of Ra-ism. Heavy, luminous and every bit the real, surreal and undiluted deal. This is a tough entry point for those unfamiliar with the Saturnian great one. But an excellent document for those already riding the Spaceways.

Dane Rudhyar: Works for Piano. 2004. Hat Hut: hat[now]ART 140.

Steffen Schleiermacher: piano

Jagged, dissonantly beautiful solo works for piano from the underrated composer and astrologist. Steffen Schleiermacher plumbs the range between quiet and blisteringly loud in these demanding works that leaves the ears ringing with this resonant force. The harmonic language is that remarkable, early twentieth century American sensibility that feels out dissonance through intuition over system. The titles bear the images of star signs and pentagrams that suggest an overtly mystical side to this music. Rudhyar is a long standing fascination for these ears.

HurdAudio Rotation: Free Improvising Trio, Duo, Solo

Michele Rabbia/Marilyn Crispell/Vincent Courtois: Shifting Grace. 2006. Cam Jazz: CAMJ 7791-2.

Michele Rabbia: percussion
Marilyn Crispell: piano
Vincent Courtois: cello

Free improvisation that "shifts" focal points between players with virtuosic ease. Rabbia's percussion takes on a light touch that matches the lyrical whisps of Crispell's piano playing and the artful phrasing of Courtois' cello. Even the foreground "shifts" with each player slipping into focus in a music built upon collective creation. The fluid encounters captured for this recording reveal a mature sense of pace and compositional form.

Derek Bailey/Cyro Baptista: Derek. 2003. Amulet Records: amt 023.

Derek Bailey: guitar
Cyro Baptista: percussion, voice

Completely "in the moment" improvisation from two figures with radically different orbits. The differences between the English guitarist and Brazilian percussionist is bridged by an open responsiveness that allows for humor and deeply individual sounds to coexist upon the same canvas. With this listening I am aware of the individualistic techniques at work in this music. Baptista's sample-and-loop approach feels at odds with Bailey's persistent (and sometimes harsh) strumming at first. The whims of Baptista's words often work against the abstract harmonies and tones of Bailey's wall of acoustic guitar textures. This tension between parts marks much of this sound and the attraction of this disc lies in how these two performers feel out a mutual space with a sense of give and take to fit these jagged pieces into an unusual sonic image.

Gunda Gottschalk: Wassermonde. 2002. Elephant: 002.

Gunda Gottschalk: violin, viola

This one accurately captures the live solo Gottschalk experience. With a wide ranging improvisatory language and a strong intuitive instinct toward long arching forms this disc feeds the lingering hunger to "hear more" of this impressive performer. The long arc holds for over an hour on this collection and even has the surprise entrance of Gottschalk's voice blending within the overall texture late in the performance - just as was the case with her live performance last year.

Vignettes in Charm City

Marilyn Crispell @ An Die Musik, Baltimore, MD
Friday, May 16, 2008

Marilyn Crispell: piano

"I believe her music will be considered required listening by future students of exploratory creative music. Having the opportunity to work with this most special musician has helped to open my own musical universe in every way. With Marilyn I am free to introduce march music, totally notated pieces, no music or vertical harmonic music -- she can execute in every area (and even more importantly, she creatively contributes). Her work will be seen as one of the models for the next time cycle." - Anthony Braxton, August 1989

Braxton's generous statement rings more true than ever as Marilyn Crispell has continued to add more texture and material to her amazing improvisative voice at the piano. With an added sense of lyricism and melodic focus and an uncanny ability to spin fantastic spontaneous creations out of simple component parts, Marilyn Crispell is a substantial creative force in the current time cycle. Required listening for anyone studying creative music and intensely rewarding listening for anyone who loves hearing the continued evolution of jazz piano music.

In the first of two sets, Crispell featured her melodic side as she built remarkable tension out of tasteful restraint. Single lines and singular gestures gave way to open piano voicings built up from the middle-low register of the instrument as she effortlessly picked out exquisite harmonies from just a few well-placed notes. The whispers of melodies that she added to her textural vocabulary with Amaryllis and Nothing Ever Was, Anyway has since been folded into the range of sounds at her finger tips as the Marilyn Crispell of the current time cycle is one of breathless extremes in the service of intuitively pristine formal constructions. At the core of this music remains the prayerful tone of John Coltrane's "Dear Lord" that served as an early inspiration and signature tune for Crispell.

The second set featured a satisfying return to the cluster-rich, spiky free improvisations that had such a strong pull for these ears when I first discovered her music. The percussive precision and clarity of her forays into the registral and textural extremes of the instrument growing organically from sequences and gestures that would return and remain prominent through much of her improvisation. The understanding of just how explosive and controlled her sound is with such an expansive set of materials does indeed make her the model of improvised music that Braxton recognized her to be.

(Photo credit: Joe Fornabiao)

HurdAudio Rotation: The Piano-centric Edition

Udo Kasemets: Pythagoras Tree: Works for Piano. 1996. Hat Hut Recordings: hat[now]ART 113.

Stephen Clarke: piano
Timepiece (1964) version 1
Tangovariables on the word TANGO (1986)
Timepiece (1964) version 2
3/7 D'un Morceau en Forme de Poire (1995)
Feigenbaum Cascades (1995)
Pythagoras Tree (1994)
Music of the First Eleven Primes (1995)

The Estonian composer Udo Kasemets has long been a curiosity for me. When I lived in Toronto he was an eccentric presence on the new music scene with his austere, mathematically inclined and John Cage inspired compositions. Pythagoras Tree is a quiet manifestation of the active mind of Kasemets. Clarke gives these piano pieces a steady, accurate presentation with many of the qualities that make Kasemets' music (and personality) so unique and rewarding to focus on. The brief glimpses of his music - and this disc is but one of those glimpses - suggest a larger body of subtle works offering similarly understated rewards.

NOW Orchestra & Marilyn Crispell: Pola. 2005. Victo: cd 097.

Marilyn Crispell: piano
Kate Hammett-Vaughn: voice
Bruce Freedman: alto saxophone
Graham Ord: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute
Saul Berson: alto saxophone, clarinet, flute
John Korsrud: trumpet, bugle
Kevin Elaschuk: trumpet, bugle
Rod Murray: trombone
Brad Muirhead: bass trombone
Ron Samworth: guitar
Paul Blaney: bass
Clyde Reed: bass
Dylan van der Schyff: drums
Coat Cooke: tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, flute

A collaboration between the NOW Orchestra and Marilyn Crispell has enormous appeal in the HurdAudio pantheon. Though I can't help being a little disappointed that NOW's regular pianist wasn't included on this project as the creative heat generated between Marilyn Crispell and Paul Plimley would be something to hear. But the sonic shades found on Pola are far from disappointing as Coat Cooke's compositions provide a tremendous impetus for this heady, large ensemble experience. Crispell's "Yin Yang" is a fantastic translation of Crispell's sensibilities channeled through the NOW Orchestra. While Crispell's presence is clearly felt, the focal point of much of this music shifts freely throughout the ensemble in a sound that is more collaborative than concerto.

Dane Rudhyar: Works for Piano. 2004. Hat Hut Records: hat[now]ART 140.

Steffen Schleiermacher: piano
Granites (1929)
Three Paeans (1927)
Tetragrams 1st Serie (1920-27)
-Quest
-Crucifixion
-Rebirth
Third Pentagram (1926)

Exquisitely dissonant and deeply mystical piano pieces from the pioneer of transpersonal astrology. There's something majestic about the harmonic density of these short works that sets them apart and suggests a path yet to be fully explored. Schleiermacher does enormous justice to these difficult works (I used to play Third Pentagram - a fiendishly difficult piece). Dane Rudhyar's music is painfully overdue for some kind of revival as we re-asses the music of the early twentieth century.

HurdAudio Rotation: From Lapse to Grace

Andrew Drury: A Momentary Lapse. 2003. Innova: 581.

Andrew Drury: compositions, drums
Eyvind Kang: violin
Briggan Krauss: alto saxophone, clarbone
Chris Speed: tenor saxophone, clarinet
Myra Melford: piano
Mark Dresser: bass

A Momentary Lapse covers a lot of compositional territory that allows the massive improvisational forces of these great players plenty of room to maneuver and paint large, vibrant sonic canvases. From the unmistakable Krauss screams on the alto saxophone of "The Schwartzes" to the clear, Dresser-tones on "Keep the Fool," this is an all-star ensemble focused on some stellar compositions.

Bill Frisell/Dave Holland/Elvin Jones: Bill Frisell with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones. 2001. Nonesuch Records: 79624-2.

Bill Frisell: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, loops
Dave Holland: bass
Elvin Jones: drums

This is one of those Bill Frisell records that the ear keeps reaching for out of fascination with how this rhythm section plays these familiar Frisell compositions. The sound is squarely in the Americana realm and Holland and Jones turn in a laid back, supportive performance. There's so much detail lurking around the edges of this sound in how this trio brings out the melodic phrasing and the relaxed sense of time. These make for definitive interpretations of Frisell's "Twenty Years," "Tell Your Ma, Tell Your Pa" and "Convict 13." At least these are the arrangements that come to mind when I reflect upon them. The interpretations of the non-Frisell "Moon River" and "Hard Times" are also particularly engaging and a hint of the depth of music lurking within all three of these players.

Michele Rabbia/Marilyn Crispell/Vincent Courtois: Shifting Grace. 2006. Camjazz: CAMJ 7791-2.

Michele Rabbia: percussion
Marilyn Crispell: piano
Vincent Courtois: cello

Opening with Crispell's incredible piano playing bathed in warm reverb - perhaps a bit more reverb than I care for - this trio of outstanding improvisers "shift" between duos, solos and the full trio over a span of a dozen brief pieces of incredible restraint and detail. The brevity lends to an aching, wispy quality that pulls away before any trace of indulgence can form. Rabbia's bowed cymbals and silence-framed percussion is a perfect layer for this intense and quiet music. Courtois runs a wider gamut of dynamic range as he pulls sustained crescendos on sustained tones into sharp focus.

Probing Resonances - Marilyn Crispell/Mark Helias/Andrew Cyrille Trio at the Rose

Marilyn Crispell/Mark Helias/Andrew Cyrille Trio
Paul Lytton/Nate Wooley Duo
@ Rose Recital Hall, 4th Floor of Fisher-Bennet Hall, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Marilyn Crispell: piano
Mark Helias: bass
Andrew Cyrille: drums

Paul Lytton: drums
Nate Wooley: trumpet, electronics

This was exactly the Marilyn Crispell set I've been craving after all the years of obsessing over her recordings in trio formats such as this one. A well-rehearsed set featuring compositions from all three members of this super-trio (and other composers) complete with a performance of Crispell's signature interpretation of John Coltrane's "Dear Lord" and the phenomenal chemistry between long-time collaborators.

Andrew Cyrille is clearly one of the great drummers of all time. His recordings with Cecil Taylor, John Coltrane and Albert Ayler makes for some incredible recorded documentation. Hearing him play live only solidifies my already high esteem with his expansive dynamic range and creative acumen. At one point he put a real jolt into the start of his solo with a forceful thud on the tom as he stood up and explored a stand-up improvisation at the kit that allowed him to strike the drums at odd angles and draw out the percussive timbres of the seat he had just vacated.

Mark Helias was a particular joy with his rich, arco solos and lock-step creative dialogue with Crispell. The set concluded with a performance of his composition "Subway," a piece filled with twisting rhythmic lines and satisfyingly busy details as a tribute to the New York subway system.

The Rose Recital Hall is little more than a classroom with a Steinway and great acoustics. There is no raised stage and little separation between performers and audience. I was sitting directly behind Crispell - close enough to read the sheet music she was playing from. Close enough to study her technique at the keyboard. It's hard to believe that such proximity is possible to one's heroes performing with such a great trio. Crispell's percussive approach to the extreme registers of the piano was a perfect compliment to Cyrille's drumming - with clusters answering his elbow-on-toms sound. The textured improvisations leading into the composed materials, and the many liberties taken within those materials, is something I'll be absorbing for some time.

The opening set of Paul Lytton and Nate Wooley was a short, free improvised exploration of extended techniques for each instrument. This duo mined a tight, restrained dynamic range with nice sense of drawn out tension. Wooley's use of electronics focused on bringing out the micro-sounds of air passing through the trumpet that allowed for some exquisite mouthpiece-free playing. With the mouthpiece on he deftly navigated some multi-phonic textures, circular breathing, mutes and some low register sounds that were incredible. Lytton's drumming was a great match with his cluttered drum surfaces and taut, energetic restraint.

Halfway Between Capetown and Woodstock

Marilyn Crispell & Louis Moholo-Moholo @ An Die Musik, Baltimore, MD
Saturday, June 30, 2007

Marilyn Crispell: piano
Louis Moholo-Moholo: drums

Marilyn Crispell and Luis Moholo-Moholo understand free improvisation. And they both understand what freedom means for one's soul. When these two master musicians play together they positively soar.

As a member of the legendary Soul Notes, drummer Moholo-Moholo lived - and played - in exile from his homeland of Capetown, South Africa from 1964 - 1993. During that span he toured with many great jazz players the world over.

While studying classical piano at the New England Conservatory, Marilyn Crispell discovered the spirituality of the music of John Coltrane and turned to improvisation to find her own voice. Her intense creativity took root as a member of the iconic Anthony Braxton Quartet and Crispell's music has since become widely influential - and she is deeply revered in the hallowed HurdAudio Hall of Heroes.

Their two sets at An Die Musik this evening was an expression of freedom as an exhilarating art and practice - not theory. These players have so much technique and expressive range that they could only begin to explore their potential interactions over the span of a single evening. Crispell would often take a percussive approach to the piano - sometimes working inside the instrument with open palms on the piano strings or slapped on the body of the instrument - as she would drum along with Moholo-Moholo. The flowing, ever-changing stream of rhythm would form into a sweeping wave that seemed to grow larger over time. And just as one expected this wave to crest, Crispell would start playing some achingly beautiful, lyrical melodic lines in parallel harmonies over shifting pedal points to reveal new musical vistas. It was a sound I had not heard from her before. Thankfully, this performance was being recorded for a future release so I'll get a chance to hear that sound again.