Marilyn Crispell's trio music has always stood apart from all the rest, including her influences of
McCoy Tyner and
John Coltrane,
Thelonious Monk, and
Cecil Taylor. But the longer her career goes, the more distinctive her playing becomes. Rife with space-filling obbligatos, arpeggiated figures, chordal complexities, and furious streams of connected linear ideas that flow forever,
Crispell's formidable ability as a premier improviser is especially telling on this collection of live performances. Featuring bassist
Reggie Workman and drummer
Gerry Hemingway, this trio as a working unit makes magic on so many different levels that it is staggering, and near impossible to find a soft candy center. From performances in Connecticut at Real Art Works and Wesleyan University, the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, MN, and somewhere in Denver, CO,
Crispell and her trio explore concentrated energy music, some tonic and even conventional rhythmic nuances among the bold and brazen pure improvisational style only she commands. Of the three contrasting selections done at Wesleyan, "Commodore" sports spare arco bass,
Hemingway on the vibraphone, and a patient
Crispell building spacious lines turning forceful, dancing on the keys, and implying a militaristic march motif. "Rain" and "Angels" are more thematic, the former in a melancholy mood with
Workman's pizzicato bass, the latter with two-fisted chords inspired by
Hemingway's long drum intro summoning a rumbling but bright discourse. The sole Denver piece, "Mouvements Changeables," is angular à la
Monk. "Not Wanting" signifies that time is only a number and nothing more, with stark piano statements from
Crispell asking for a response -- although none is needed -- and receiving little back. The three-part "Suite for Trio" varies from cascading lines, tumbling percussion, and bass to a calmer probing section and back to skittishness, while "Solstice" has
Crispell using every inch of the 88 piano keys in both discernible time and no-time theorems, very busy and dense, but reverting to a static bop 4/4 swing. As satisfying as her studio projects can be,
Marilyn Crispell is in her element in live performance, and these tracks, with worthy and extremely talented bandmates, is a high watermark for her brilliant creative and innovative music-making. ~ Michael G. Nastos