Marilyn Crispell
Encyclopedia
Marilyn Crispell is an American jazz
pianist
and composer
.
's Creative Music Studio
. She discovered jazz through the music of John Coltrane
, Cecil Taylor
and other contemporary jazz players and composers as Paul Bley
and Leo Smith
.
For ten years she was a member of Anthony Braxton
's Quartet and the Reggie Workman
Ensemble. She has been a member of the Barry Guy
New Orchestra as well as a member of the Henry Grimes
Trio, the Europea Quartet Noir (with Urs Leimgruber, Fritz Hauser and Joëlle Léandre
), and Anders Jormin
's Bortom Quintet.
In 2005 she performed and recorded with the NOW Orchestra in Vancouver
, Canada and in 2006 she was co-director of the Vancouver Creative Music Institute and a faculty member at the Banff Centre International Workshop in Jazz.
Crispell has performed and recorded as a soloist and leader of her own groups. She has also performed and recorded music by contemporary composers John Cage
, Pauline Oliveros
, Robert Cogan
, Pozzi Escot
, Manfred Niehaus and Anthony Davis
(including his opera X with the New York City Opera
).
In addition to playing, she has taught improvisation workshops and given lecture/demonstrations at universities and art centers in the U.S., Europe, Canada and New Zealand, and has collaborated with videographers, filmmakers, dancers and poets. She received a 2005 Guggenheim Fellowship
.
With Anders Jormin
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Biography
Crispell studied classical piano and composition at the New England Conservatory of Music. She has been a resident of Woodstock, NY since 1977 when she came to study and teach at Karl BergerKarl Berger
Karl Hanns Berger is a musicologist with a PhD in Music Sociology, jazz composer, jazz vibraphone and piano player.-Biography:...
's Creative Music Studio
Creative Music Studio
The Creative Music Studio was a premier study center for contemporary creative music during the 1970s and 1980s, based in Woodstock, New York. Founded in 1971 by Karl Berger, Ingrid Sertso, and Ornette Coleman, it brought together leading innovators in the jazz and world music communities...
. She discovered jazz through the music of John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
, Cecil Taylor
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...
and other contemporary jazz players and composers as Paul Bley
Paul Bley
Paul Bley, CM is a pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing.-Biography:...
and Leo Smith
Wadada Leo Smith
Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith is a trumpeter and composer working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation.-Biography:...
.
For ten years she was a member of Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist, and philosopher. Braxton has released well over 100 albums since the 1960s...
's Quartet and the Reggie Workman
Reggie Workman
Reginald "Reggie" Workman is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey....
Ensemble. She has been a member of the Barry Guy
Barry Guy
Barry John Guy is a British composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras in the UK and Europe...
New Orchestra as well as a member of the Henry Grimes
Henry Grimes
Henry Grimes is a jazz double bassist, violinist, and poet.After more than a decade of activity and performance, notably as a leading bassist in free jazz, Grimes completely disappeared from the music scene by 1970...
Trio, the Europea Quartet Noir (with Urs Leimgruber, Fritz Hauser and Joëlle Léandre
Joëlle Léandre
Joëlle Léandre is a double bassist, vocalist, and composer active in new music and free improvisation....
), and Anders Jormin
Anders Jormin
Anders Bertil Michael Jormin, born September 7, 1957 in Jönköping, is a Swedish bassist and composer.Jormin established a musical partnership with Bobo Stenson in the mid-1980s which led to international recognition playing with Charles Lloyd, in the early 1990s...
's Bortom Quintet.
In 2005 she performed and recorded with the NOW Orchestra in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Canada and in 2006 she was co-director of the Vancouver Creative Music Institute and a faculty member at the Banff Centre International Workshop in Jazz.
Crispell has performed and recorded as a soloist and leader of her own groups. She has also performed and recorded music by contemporary composers John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros is an American accordionist and composer who is a central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music....
, Robert Cogan
Robert Cogan
Robert Cogan is an American music theorist, composer and teacher, who seeks to challenge new domains of musical composition and theory....
, Pozzi Escot
Pozzi Escot
Pozzi Escot is an American composer and faculty member at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts....
, Manfred Niehaus and Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis (composer)
Anthony Davis, better known as Tony Davis , is an American composer, jazz pianist, and student of gamelan music.-Biography:...
(including his opera X with the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
).
In addition to playing, she has taught improvisation workshops and given lecture/demonstrations at universities and art centers in the U.S., Europe, Canada and New Zealand, and has collaborated with videographers, filmmakers, dancers and poets. She received a 2005 Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
.
Discography
- 1997: Nothing Ever Was, Anyway: Music of Annette PeacockNothing Ever Was, Anyway: Music of Annette PeacockNothing Ever Was, Anyway: Music of Annette Peacock is an album by pianist Marilyn Crispell, bassist Gary Peacock, and drummer Paul Motian recorded in 1996 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:...
(ECM, 1997) - 1998: Duo
- 1998: Circles
- 1998: Labyrinth
- 1998: Gryffgryffgryffs; concert in Zweden
- 1998: Live in BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
- 2000: Live in ZürichZürichZurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
- 2000; After Appleby]
- 2000; Santuero
- 2000: For Coltrane
- 2000: Stella Pulsations
- 2000; Gaia
- 2001: Red
- 2001: Natives and Aliens (with Evan ParkerEvan ParkerEvan Shaw Parker is a British free-improvising saxophone player from the European free jazz scene.Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free jazz and free improvisation, and has pioneered or substantially expanded...
) - 2001: AmaryllisAmaryllis (album)Amaryllis is an album by pianist Marilyn Crispell, bassist Gary Peacock, and drummer Paul Motian recorded in 2000 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:...
- 2001: Blue
- 2004: StorytellerStoryteller (Marilyn Crispell album)Storyteller is an album by pianist Marilyn Crispell, bassist Mark Helias, and drummer Paul Motian recorded in 2003 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:...
- 2005: Pola met Barry Guy
- 2006: Trio met Reggie Workman
- 2008: VignettesVignettes (album)Vignettes is a solo album by pianist Marilyn Crispell recorded in 2007 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4 stars stating "Vignettes is a remarkable and moving recording -- one that is timeless and honest, and communicates directly,...
- 2010: One Dark Night I Left My Silent House
With Anders Jormin
Anders Jormin
Anders Bertil Michael Jormin, born September 7, 1957 in Jönköping, is a Swedish bassist and composer.Jormin established a musical partnership with Bobo Stenson in the mid-1980s which led to international recognition playing with Charles Lloyd, in the early 1990s...
- In Winds, In LightIn Winds, In LightIn Winds, In Light is an album by Swedish basist and composer Anders Jormin recorded in 2003 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4 stars stating "This is a startling record, literally unlike anything ever heard before. These players make...
(ECM, 2003)