v FOLK v JAZZ
l
heart- beat
voice A sings ;
Pianist Marilyn Crispell is set to make her Scottish
, debut. Kenny Mathieson explains why you should
' be there.
Every now and again. you come
across a musician who simply blows I you away. The first time I heard
Marilyn Crispell play live was at the ;
Bloomsbury Theatre in London in g
1985. as part ofthe Anthony Braxton
Quartet concert tour immortalised in l
Graham Lock‘s epic book on the .
saxophonist. Forces In Motion. I
I was aware of her work from I
l
I first became aware ofhis massive talent at a
sold-out concert by the I seminal lrish band Planxty inthe old ice rinkat Edinburgh's I Iaymarket — this was way back in the
7(ls— just a few months before the band split.
New member Paul Brady stopped the show with a stunning solo performance of an old ballad. There was no way the group Could have added anything to his reading. and when the band played again it took quite a few numbers to win back the audience's heart.
From his early Dublin days in University blues clubs. through his grounding in the internationally successful coffee-bar folk ofthe Johnstons. through Planxty and two beautiful albums reworking 5 traditional material. l Brady has continually I evolved as a performer I and songwriter. A ' succession of well-produced albums. the best of which are Hard
I Braxton‘s records. but they didn’t ; quite prepare me for what I heard
i that night. She played with an almost ; demonic intensity throughout. embracing Braxton‘s difficult and demanding music as ifshe had never l played anything else. Her I. 1 performance hadthe same ' “ ' ' -‘"""‘ ' overwhelminglyvisceraleffect asan ' I introductory exposure to Cecil
t Taylor on stage. and I was hooked. If your response to all of this is
l
l
‘Marilyn who?‘. I can‘t pretend to be much surprised. Although she has ,
acquired a considerable reputation !
in the slightly arcane reaches of new improvised music. Crispell remains a § sadly well-kept secret to the public at 5 large. Then again. her music does .’ not exactly court popularity. i Until now. Scottish audiences have had to judge only on the basis ofher recordings. ifyou can find them. Crispell has never played north of
ROCK & BLUES 35 JAZZ 38 FOLK & WORLD 39 LIGHT 37 CLASSICAL 40
5mm”, and Blu‘k m ,1“, the border (neither. forthat matter. W . Centre. broadened out has Braxton). and the Scottish Jazz CttttseIVtttt’r33 ertSPe“ had ftettttttt." I Taylor’s tempestuous example. through rock. jazz and Network deserve a services to the gtt'eh hp 0" mus'e and gone thtt’ ' however. she has long since I _ Ct’lltCmPt’riu'Y midi" arts award for bringing her here in medtethe‘ httt that ehet’tthtet “'tth ' established her own distinctive mum“ and gamed mm the companv ofdrummer Eddie ' Ct’ttttthe (the ttthttm htttt heeh tent to artistic voice in which to make the hug? LUSPCN "0'" mm“ Prevost. It may not make them rich. : her by it Jazz Pianist Who 3'50 ; ivories sing. “Iiifgfiihis mm ‘5 but it Will mak'c me very happy. and ‘ intmdueed her to the wt’tktt’t Despite the corruscating brilliance album. '15,” 0, Tm”. a 5 you too if you check her out. i 1 hett’htt’us Monk and (eett Tttytt’r) i of her solo piano recordings and collectionof moving. I" Like 'I‘aylor. Crispell tends to view . set hert’ttt’h it he“ tangent It rrtthe ; recitals. Crispell expresses a moody and h g the piano as a kind ofpercussion “'33 the eptr'tttttt Presehee th her i preference for playing in groups. and carefully-crafted songs. instrument. and can unleash an conversion. 1 aylor provided the : particularly for playing .Stmng will be the one to break attack which rivals Cecil in Shccr proof that she could pursue the l rhythmS of m). own against a strong thmt’gh ‘0 the mg” 3 ferocity when the mood seizes her. mttStettt hhes “'hteh were dtttwthg her rhvthm.‘ Her work with Braxton. the “whence he (kWh-“‘5’ Against that. though. there is an t’h- . . _ l Reggie workman Ensemble, and Ahhm‘ghi briefing “0 w increasingly lyrical strain to her ‘I had Started t0 tmpttmse ttke that i her trio recordings with Workman :Kliylliltllt hilltghxli‘ILd playing which may have had its roots 7 tthl't’t'itY hUt It Was t’ht." Vt'_heh I heard and Doug James or Paul Motian. all [grudygtbccmi{mg}, > in her classical training at the austere C ee't that I felt 'tthStt“ “ght tt’Pttt." ; revealdifferent facetsofhermusic. , We‘ll leave the last word w New England Conservatory. back that muste- [guess I htttt maybe i but are equally marked by her ' to one Bob 1)} Ian. who a before she encountered the music of f tttet'ted e'thet the ef’ht'dehee t" the I distinctive stamp. é .admits. ‘I’eoplc get John Coltrane. in the shape ol‘A . vision before that. . That isjust astmcofhcr “mm” M.) “N mu“ Q LUV" 5“P“’"“’- In her poem ‘And Ym” hm." interpretations ofwork by other l the" "3‘" ” dwm'“ . "l‘here was something in the music. Vetee hthgt‘h (“Spelt httehett hands as it is of her own - them. stlnne gruff”: II something in its feeling and its I “Flt” 5 mtts'e t0 ‘Sthg'hg furthest." compositions. She does not so much grin”[simmldfil Rut,” energy. which caught me.’ Crispell "h detteate tongue-‘1 3th etegttht play a standard like ‘When I Fall In 3 gLCm “Whig.- ( Mn..." recalled. ‘I became incredibly moved tt’rmtttttttt’h “'h'eh Gttthttm Lt’ek Love‘. Coltrane's ‘Dear Lord‘. or I I'halmers) by it. and I kept playing the record t Stthsetlttehtt.v 'dehtthed. as the Monk classic ‘Ruby. My Dear' as Mm] ,,,m,‘./)lm \ ml, over and over again. I knew I had to i encapsulating th? “02111ng y‘OHISIOflS reinvents them, [casingout oblique i Qllw'm Hull. him/noun . . lcurn 10 play it for Inysell.‘ : and “heXPeeted Jtt’ttttpt’Stttt’hS 0t her references to the theme as she goes. Uri/715. ' l 'I‘ircd of the academicism of the ("m “'t’rt't- "She OnCC (“CW 0” Her cvcmual arrival at a first
32'I'he List 5 - lb’ April lWl