LOUIS MOHOLO-MOHOLO DUETS WITH MARILYN CRISPELL — Sibanye (We Are One) (2008) FLAC (tracks+.cue) lossless

Sibanye/We Are One is the title of an album recorded at An die Musik Live in Baltimore, Maryland on June 30, 2007. Released the following year on the Intakt label, it was warmly received and has been critically acclaimed ever since. For their first-ever collaborative engagement, the Marilyn Crispell/Louis Moholo-Moholo duo chose a 100-percent improvisational approach, rooted within each individual's life-long commitment to the art and discipline of shared creative exploration. Moholo, a South African drummer who first gained international fame for his work with Johnny Dyani and Dudu Pukwana, was perfectly suited for interaction with Crispell, a Philadelphia-born pianist who is admired and respected as one of the most astute and highly evolved creative musicians of her generation. Precedents for the sounds that resulted from her historic meeting with Moholo may be found among her duets with Gerry Hemingway and her periodic pairings with Anthony Braxton. Anyone who has witnessed her live one-on-one interaction with another artist will recall how she maintains friendly and highly focused eye contact. Photographic evidence suggests this tendency as one explanation for the subtlety and sensitivity that characterized her mutually respectful communion with Louis Moholo-Moholo on that summer day in Baltimore. arwulf arwulf
Tracklist :
1    Improvise, Don't Compromise    12:40
2    Moment Of Truth    7:08
3    Journey    11:49
4    Soze (Never)    6:28
5    Phendula (Reply)    7:07
6    Reflect    7:21
7    Sibanye (We Are One)    6:18
Credits :
Drums – Louis Moholo-Moholo
Piano – Marilyn Crispell

PARKER | GUY | LYTTON and MARILYN CRISPELL - After Appleby (2000) 2CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Evan Parker continues to record session after session of outstanding music. This two-CD set features a splendid quartet with Parker alternating between soprano and tenor saxophones, Barry Guy on bass, Marilyn Crispell on piano, and Paul Lytton on percussion. The first disc is taken from a studio recording just one day before the live club recording captured on the second disk. Lytton and Guy, in particular, are longtime collaborators with Parker, but the addition of the pianist is a welcome addition to the mix, giving the proceedings an extra depth. Crispell can spurt fleetingly across the keyboard with clusters of notes, but she also shows a lyrical side that displays considerable depth. The longer tracks feature the quartet, while the others alternate between different combinations of the musicians. All are in perfect form, and the clear recording quality and lengthy recording time (more than two hours) commend this double-disc set to admirers of Evan Parker and freely improvised music. Steve Loewy
Studio Recording    
1-1    Warp 3:38
Music By – Guy, Crispell
1-2    Blue Star Kachina 20:05
Music By – Guy, Parker, Crispell, Lytton
1-3    Wax 2:57
Music By – Crispell, Lytton
1-4    Falcon's Wing 2:54
Music By – Guy, Parker
1-5    Wane 3:10
Music By – Crispell, Lytton
1-6    Weft 2:32
Music By – Guy, Crispell
1-7    Where Heart Revive 25:14
Music By – Guy, Parker, Crispell, Lytton
1-8    Tchefit 3:05
Music By – Guy, Parker
Live Recording    
2-1    Capnomantic Vortex (For David Mossman) 51:36
Music By – Guy, Parker, Crispell, Lytton
2-2    Fond Farewell 15:59
Music By – Guy, Crispell, Lytton
2-3    (applause)    0:20
Credits :
Artwork [Front Cover Sculpture] – Neil Ferber
Bass – Barry Guy
Percussion – Paul Lytton
Piano – Marilyn Crispell
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Evan Parker

PARKER | GUY | LYTTON and MARILYN CRISPELL - Natives and Aliens (1997) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The billing is a bit misleading: rather than a duo album, Natives and Aliens features the Evan Parker Trio -- saxophonist Parker plus longtime collaborators Barry Guy on bass and Paul Lytton on drums and percussion -- working with avant-garde pianist Marilyn Crispell. Originally recorded in the early '80s and first released in a small vinyl edition before gaining a wider distribution on CD in 2001, these 11 tracks are fluid, small-group improvisations that slot Crispell neatly into the practiced interplay of Parker's trio. Crispell's playing blends the best characteristics of her two acknowledged inspirations, with Paul Bley's fluidity (best heard on the speedy, rippling cascades of notes that color "Sumach") and Cecil Taylor's percussive, rhythmically free attack (as on "Day of Small Truths," where the pianist interjects booming, sustained chords into a lyrical solo by Guy). The Evan Parker Trio, as always, play with the intuition and improvisatory grace that comes when skilled musicians are in tune with each other's idiosyncracies, giving Natives and Aliens a light -- almost swinging, in the old-school sense -- touch that's often missing in this brand of modern jazz. Stewart Mason  
Tracklist :
1    Stag's Horn    9:48
2    Sumach    6:35
3    Rhus    8:05
4    Friends From Above    6:35
5    Hirta    4:25
6    Sippenaeken Visitation    8:22
7    And The Tints    3:55
8    A Deeper Red    1:47
9    In Velvet    2:38
10    Day Of Small Truths    7:19guy
11    Natives And Aliens    10:21
Credits :
Double Bass, Bass [Piccolo Bass] – Barry Guy
Music By [All Ttiles Are Collective Works] – Barry Guy, Evan Parker, Marilyn Crispell, Paul Lytton
Percussion – Paul Lytton
Piano – Marilyn Crispell
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Evan Parker

ANTHONY BRAXTON - The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note (2011) RM | 8CD BOX SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Cam Jazz's Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note series rolls on with this set by Anthony Braxton, who cut eight full-lengths for then owner Giovanni Bondarini. The first of these is an excellent studio duet with Max Roach, entitled Rebirth, recorded in 1978; the final album in this box is a curiosity piece composed for a multimedia performance entitled Braxton: Compostion No. 173, recorded in 1996. While the bookends are compelling for Braxton's devotees, the real attraction to this budget-priced box lies in his quartet recordings. There are two with Marilyn Crispell, Gerry Hemingway, and Mark Dresser: Four Compositions (Quartet) 1983 and Six Compositions (Quartet) 1984. On Five Compositions (Quartet) 1986, David Rosenboom replaced Crispell. Six Monk Compositions 1987 is an entirely new band with Mal Waldron, bassist Buell Neidlinger, and drummer Bill Osborne holding the greatest appeal. The other two recordings are Ensemble Compositions 1992 (with Guy Klucevsek, Don Byron, and Marty Ehrlich as part of a larger group), and Eugene 1989 (where Braxton conducted the Northwest Creative Orchestra). It's easy to claim that anyone who would buy an Anthony Braxton box is a hardcore fan anyway, but in his case there are levels of that distinction. That said, this set is almost worth the purchase price just to have remastered versions of the two albums with the Crispell/Hemingway/Dresser group; these are standouts even in Braxton's vast catalog.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
CD1    Birth And Rebirth
CD2    Four Compositions (Quartet) 1983
CD3    Six Compositions (Quartet) 1984
CD4    Five Compositions (Quartet) 1986
CD5    Six Monk's Compositions (1987)
CD6    4 (Ensemble) Compositions 1992
CD7    Eugene (1989)
CD8    Composition No- 173 For 4 Actors, 14 Instrumentalists Constructed Environment And Video Projections    
All Tracks & Credits

ANTHONY BRAXTON — Creative Orchestra (Köln) 1978 (2CD 2009) + Creative Orchestra (Guelph) 2007 (2008) Serie Line – LINE 30 | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This expansive two-LP set captures an entire, nearly two-hour live set by Anthony Braxton's Creative Orchestra recorded in Koln, Germany, in 1978. Braxton, like most members of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, a loose Chicago-based collective that also included the Art Ensemble of Chicago and others), normally performed in small groups, from duos to quartets. Braxton's Creative Orchestra -- in which the saxophonist does not play, but merely conducts his own compositions -- is a 20-member exception to this rule. Many of Braxton's compositions explore near-silence in ways similar to John Cage, but this group is nothing if not loud.

Thanks to Braxton's skill as a composer, the results never devolve into mere cacophony, even in those passages where all 20 members -- including an accordionist and a synthesizer player -- are playing at once, as in the opening "Language Improvisations." This is a powerful document of a little-appreciated side of Anthony Braxton's work. Rovi Staff  
Tracklist :
1-1    Language Improvisations    14:34
1-2    Composition 55    12:27
1-3    Composition 45    25:21
2-1    Composition 59    21:45
2-2    Composition 51    17:19
2-3    Composition 58    12:56
Credits :
Accordion – Birgit Taubhorn
Bass – Brian Smith, John Lindberg
Conductor, Composed By – Anthony Braxton
Electric Guitar – James Emery
Percussion, Marimba – Thurman Barker
Piano – Marilyn Crispell
Saxophone [Saxophones], Clarinet [Clarinets], Flute [Flutes], Piccolo Flute [Piccolo], Nadaswaram [Nagaswaram], Ocarina – Dwight Andrews, J.D.Parran, Marty Ehrlich, Ned Rothenberg, Vinny Golia
Synthesizer – Robert Ostertag
Trombone, Tuba – George Lewis, James King Roosa, Ray Anderson
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Kenny Wheeler, Michael Mossman, Rob Howard, Leo Smith
Vibraphone – Bobby Naughton

Tracklist :
1    Language Improvision    5:02
2    Composition 306    7:04
3    Language Improvision    15:09
4    Composition 307 / Language Improvisation    25:36
5    Composition 91    9:00
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Evan Shaw
Bass – Rob Clutton, Victor Bateman
Cello – Tilman Lewis
Clarinet [Eb Clarinet], Bass Clarinet – Ronda Rindone
Conductor, Soprano Saxophone, Composed By – Anthony Braxton
Drums – Joe Sorbara, Nick Fraser
Flute – Rob Piilonen
Guitar – Ken Aldcroft
Guitar, Harmonica – Justin Haynes
Piano – Tania Gill
Soprano Saxophone – Kyle Brenders
Tenor Saxophone – Colin Fisher
Trombone – Scott Thomson
Trumpet – Nicole Rampersaud
Violin – Parmela Attariwala
Voice – Christine Duncan
Xylophone – Brandon Valdivia

ANTHONY BRAXTON — Quartet (London) 1985 (1990) 2CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This two-disc set, recorded in November 1985 during the London stop of a European tour, showcases an Anthony Braxton project that the composer/reedsman dubbed the "Forces of Motion Quartet," consisting of Braxton, pianist Marilyn Crispell, bassist Mark Dresser, and drummer Gerry Hemingway. The group's name derives from the philosophy behind the tour: the quartet begins playing one of Braxton's numbered compositions, until one of the four members breaks away and begins playing a part -- not necessarily one's own; so for example, Dresser might adapt one of Crispell's piano scores or even one of Hemingway's drum scores for bass -- from another composition entirely, at which point the other musicians follow that lead until another one decides to switch compositions. It sounds complicated in précis -- as always, Braxton's extensive liner notes detail the compositional and improvisational processes clearly and with only the barest minimum of jargon -- but the resulting music is completely fascinating. The first disc covers the night's first set (starting with "Composition 122"), which for Braxton sounds downright accessible, at times no more challenging than the average post-bop quartet's improvisations and climaxing, around the 50-minute mark, with a simply outstanding Crispell solo. The second set (building upon "Composition 105a") is much more minimalist, with an extended section starting less than 15 minutes into the set that features solos by Hemingway and Braxton that at times are little more than long periods of silence broken by barely perceptible riffs. Even when the full quartet returns, this set is generally placid until a fierce, squealing, and unaccompanied solo by Braxton starting at around 43 minutes punctures the quiet. This set was originally released in Europe as a limited-edition, three-LP box set. Stewart Mason
First Set    56:10
1-1.1    Composition 122 (+108A)
1-1.2    Composition 40(O)
1-1.3    Collage Form Structure
1-1.4    Composition 52
1-1.5    Composition 86 (+32 +96)
1-1.6    Piano Solo From Composition 30
1-1.7    Composition 115
Second Set    1:05:30
2-1.1    Composition 105A
2-1.2    Percussion Solo From Composition 96
2-1.3    Composition 40F
2-1.4    Composition 121
2-1.5    Composition 116
Credits :
Artwork – Ilona Medvedeva-Weber
Bass – Mark Dresser
Clarinet, Flute, Alto Saxophone, Saxophone [C-melody Saxophone], Sopranino Saxophone, Composed By – Anthony Braxton
Percussion – Gerry Hemingway
Piano – Marilyn Crispell

ANTHONY BRAXTON — Quartet (Birmingham) 1985 (1991) 2CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

(Birmingham) 1985 is probably the least essential of the four double-disc sets that Leo devoted to Anthony Braxton's November 1985 tour of Great Britain. Of course, the hardcore Braxton fans who this release is designed for will want it because this tour of Braxton's Forces of Motion Quartet (Marilyn Crispell on piano, Mark Dresser on bass, and Gerry Hemingway on percussion, with Braxton on reeds) looms fairly large in the composer's legend. However, in comparison to Quartet (London) 1985, which has the most exciting interplay between the four musicians, and (Coventry) 1985, which features an often fascinating hour's worth of interviews of Braxton by Graham Lock (who wrote the liner notes on all of these releases), (Birmingham) 1985 is the least essential of the lot. It does, however, feature a charming rarity on the second disc: an actual encore, the only one Braxton played on this tour. A brief run-through of "Composition 40(0)" led by a fleet spray-of-notes solo by Braxton and featuring some comping by Crispell in the manner of her hero Cecil Taylor, it's proof that avant-garde jazz needn't be difficult or forbidding. Stewart Mason  
1-1    First Set    45:10
1-1.1    Composition 69M (+10 +33 +96)
1-1.2    Composition 110A (+96 +108B)
1-1.3    Composition 60 (+96 +108C)
1-1.4    Composition 85 (+30 +108D)
2-1    Second Set    44:25
2-1.1    Composition 105B (+5 +32 +96)
2-1.2    Composition 87 (+108C)
2-1.3    Composition 23J
2-1.4    Composition 69H (+31 +96)
Encore   
2-2    Composition 40(O)    2:45
Credits :
Bass – Mark Dresser
Drums – Gerry Hemingway
Piano – Marilyn Crispell
Reeds, Composed By – Anthony Braxton

ANTHONY BRAXTON - (Victoriaville) 1992 (1993) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This is a live performance of Braxton's classic quartet of the '80s and '90s at the annual festival of new music held in Victoriaville, Canada. Unlike many of the other documented recordings of this group, the material, with the exception of the closing track, consisted entirely of (at the time) recently composed pieces. Since much of Braxton's writing in the early '90s involved the exploration of very fluid and expansive sound territories, there are none of his infectious, bop-derived numbers or any plaintively emotional ballads. Instead we have a series of fairly knotty compositions where the thematic elements are elusive, recurring melodies rare and regular meter almost non-existent. All of which makes for one of the more challenging recordings by this quartet, requiring of the listener an approach perhaps more suited to contemporary classical music than to jazz. In fact, in the excellent and detailed liner notes/interview by John Corbett, Braxton makes reference to his concept of "navigating through form" and to the music and graphic scores of the composer Earle Brown. One is advised, therefore, not to listen for the standard (even as that term applies to Braxton's music) theme/solos/theme format here; rather, one listens to the musicians, alone or in groups, investigating the rich, strange soundscape structure in which they find themselves immersed. Even so, there's a feeling of pent up energy waiting to be unleashed so when the band vaults into a raging version of Coltrane's "Impressions" as an encore, it's hardly surprising. Indeed, one detects a very human sense of relief as they step back into familiar territory. Brian Olewnick  
Tracklist :
1    Composition No 159+ (131+30+147)    10:37
Written-By – Anthony Braxton
2    Composition No 148+ (108a+1319+147)    20:29
Written-By – Anthony Braxton
3    Composition No 161    12:52
Written-By – Anthony Braxton
4    Composition No 158+ (108c+147)    14:38
Written-By – Anthony Braxton
5    Impressions 6:12
Written-By – J. Coltrane
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Sopranino Saxophone [E♭], Clarinet, Bass Clarinet – Anthony Braxton
Contrabass – Mark Dresser
Drums, Percussion, Vibraphone, Marimba – Gerry Hemingway
Piano – Marilyn Crispell

ANTHONY BRAXTON | MARILYN CRISPELL – Duets : Vancouver • 1989 "Four Compositions By Anthony Braxton (1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

For this duet set with pianist Marilyn Crispell from the 1989 Vancouver Jazz Festival, Anthony Braxton (who plays alto and flute) performs six of his complex originals. The music is a mixture of composition and improvisation (it is often difficult to know which is which). Although it will not win any new converts who are put off by the complexity of Braxton's music, repeated listenings to these dynamic performances will result in listeners gain in better understanding and appreciating these masterful musicians. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
Duets - Vancouver, 1989 (Four Compositions By Anthony Braxton)    (44:35)
1    Composition No. 136    10:11
2    Composition No. 140 (+ 112 + 30)    11:50
3    Composition No. 62    11:01
4    Composition No. 116    12:25
Credits :
Flute, Saxophone [Sax] – Anthony Braxton
Piano – Marilyn Crispell

ANTHONY BRAXTON - Prag 1984 (Quartet Performance) (1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Announcement    0:52
2    Composition 105A / Composition 110A / Composition 114 / Composition 69H    59:07
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, C Melody Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute – Anthony Braxton
Bass – John Lindberg
Drums – Gerry Hemingway
Piano – Marilyn Crispell

ANTHONY BRAXTON - Composition 98 (1981-1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Composition 98    
Pt. 1 24:23
Pt. 2 24:14
Credits:
Alto Saxophone [Alto Sax], Tenor Saxophone [Tenor Sax], Soprano Saxophone [Soprano Sax], Sopranino Saxophone [Sopranino Sax], Saxophone [C Melody Sax], Composed By – Anthony Braxton
Piano – Marilyn Crispell
Trombone, Trombone [Alto Trombone], Trombone [Slide Trombone] – Ray Anderson
Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Piccolo Trumpet – Hugh Ragin

ANTHONY BRAXTON - Quartet (Santa Cruz) 1993 (1997) 2CD | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

In the waning days of the 1993 tour, and the soon after disbanding of his finest -- and longest standing -- band, this single concert of the seven nights played at Santa Cruz. This double CD documents with a finality just what the quartet had achieved in its eight years together. Braxton had realized within this group of musicians a goal he had previously thought unattainable: the ability to interchange any composition from any of his periods with any other -- and within each other -- in a small group setting. And given the far-reaching musical tenets each of these "sets of compositions" notated by tracks are, that is no mean feat. The first set takes the now legendary "159" and adds to it the rhythm section improvisation from "30," and the piano saxophone duet from "108a." Braxton and Crispell herald in "150," trading phrases and polytones as Dresser and Hemingway shift around trying to locate the two soloists in the framework they are playing. When they are heard and are given free passage into "30," they alight before moving each other into a counterpoint system that begs the re-entrance of Braxton and Crispell, who slip through the knots, "make it jazz," and hand it back through "108a" before Hemingway and Dresser take it out. And this goes like this throughout. Even where Braxton's designs are carried out within one composition, such as on "69f" or "161" or "172," where the new "Ghost Trances" -- pursued by a sextet after this group split -- period begins, the fluidity and harmonic languages created within the context of four musicians speaking through one another is ever present. For those who don't find Mr. Braxton's music "jazz" enough, or make it "too cerebral" in theory, the fact of the matter is, you're not listening. Find your way through Crispell's interaction with Dresser on "161" or Hemingway's with Braxton's flute on "40 (o)," and you will hear, in keeping with both the linear nature of jazz since the '60s and its more design-oriented functionality since the '80s -- which Braxton ushered in almost single-handedly for other improvisers -- the abstractions are obscured by the lyrical interplay coming from the bandstand. This is music projected from inside out toward an audience that doesn't have to think so much as emote what they hear. Braxton's systems are large and varied; the sheer psychic and physical energy the band has to endure in order to play this music is almost unimaginable. To listen and think this quickly is not mere communication -- it is telepathy. This is the quartet's farewell, and it is more than fitting; it's astonishing what they achieved in eight years. On the second CD's closer, "124+108c+147," you hear Crispell slinking through Hemingway's rimshots on "124" to solo with him as Braxton repeats a phrase that Dresser harmonically echoes in a trancelike fashion before exploding into "108c," where Braxton takes the lead and Crispell is shouting out long lines and tonal clusters to Hemingway like she's another drummer. Dresser takes these fragments and creates a series of chords for Braxton to improvise on the soprano before heading wildly into "147," one of this band's signature pieces. Here, all four members are given the opportunity to take the theme and deconstruct any or all of its parts within the safety of Braxton's harmonic system of improvisational intervals. That they all come near to each other before stopping on a dime should be no surprise -- though it does leave one breathless -- given the preceding wonder of the entire set. What a fitting finish for a truly legendary band.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1-1    Comp. 159 + (30 + 108a) / Comp. 40(o) / Comp. 69f / Comp. 173 / Comp. 69(o) / Comp. 52    1:16:06
2-1    Comp. 172 / Comp. 161 / Comp. 69m / Comp. 23c / Comp. 124 + (108c + 147)
Credits :
Bass – Mark Dresser
Composed By – Anthony Braxton
Percussion, Marimba – Gerry Hemingway
Piano – Marilyn Crispell

ANTHONY BRAXTON - Quartet (Coventry) 1985 (2002) RM | 2CD | FLAC (tracks), lossless

A companion release to Quartet (London) 1985 and the other double-disc sets recorded during a November 1985 U.K. tour, Coventry (1985) documents two sets recorded on November 26, 1985 at Warwick University's Arts Center Studio by composer/saxophonist Braxton and the rest of his Forces of Motion quartet: Marilyn Crispell on piano, Mark Dresser on bass, and Gerry Hemingway on drums. The two sets are in the same style as the recordings on Quartet (London) 1985, with the four musicians switching from one composition to another one player at a time, from scores where all four players' parts were written to be interchangeable. What makes this two-disc set stand out above the others in the series of live reissues from this tour is that each disc includes a half-hour interview between Braxton and Graham Lock (who also wrote the album's liner notes), an enlightening, free-ranging discussion that covers Braxton's influences, concepts, and techniques. One particularly fascinating passage features Braxton's heated response to critics who feel that his cerebral, at times difficult music owes too little to jazz traditions and too much to European art music. Stewart Mason  
First Set    
1-1    Music    42:05
1-1.1    Composition 124 (+30+96)
1-1.2    Composition 88 (+108C+30+96)
1-1.3    Piano Solo From Composition 30
1-1.4    Composition 23G (+30+96)
1-1.5    Composition 40N
1-2    Interviews    31:52
Second Set    
2-1    Music    40:25
2-1.1    Composition 69C (+32+96)
2-1.2    Percussion Solo From Composition 96
2-1.3    Composition 69F
2-1.4    Composition 69B
2-1.5    Bass Solo From Composition 96
2-1.6    Composition 6A
2-2    Interviews    29:57
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, C Melody Saxophone [C-Melody Saxophone], Sopranino Saxophone, Clarinet, Composed By, Interviewee – Anthony Braxton
Bass – Mark Dresser
Percussion – Gerry Hemingway
Piano – Marilyn Crispell

ANTHONY BRAXTON - Willisau (Quartet) 1991 (1992) 4CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This mammoth document of the final year of the famous Anthony Braxton Quartet shows exactly why that group finally split: They had reached a creative apex as a group that -- arguably -- could not be furthered. The music on this collection features two live CDs and two studio CDs, and gives a completely different picture of the same band who recorded for Black Saint on the Six Compositions (Quartet) 1984 record.

The concert reveals the quartet able to execute any notion from Braxton's theoretical yet soulful music, almost instinctually. As the compositions get stacked up, such as "No. 67+147+96," it means that some element of each of those compositions enters into the playing of this piece, whether it be in Marilyn Crispell's piano solo or line, Mark Dresser's bassline or changes, or a particular shift in rhythm from drummer Gerry Hemingway. The empathy of the players saturates Braxton's music, and he appears, giant that he is, not so much as a soloist on his many saxophones and clarinets, but as another player in a band that spoke with multi-lingual possibilities, but with one voice. The interplay between Braxton and Crispell has reached a point in their relationship where, technically speaking, he is well aware that she is his equal as a technician of the sacred that is sound. His solos on "No. 34A," "No. 23G (+147+30)," and "107B (+96)" are evidence. Crispell's momentum to strike at the space inside the group improvisation is also to turn it ever inward to focus on how these micro and polytonal shifts, when combined with the overdriven yet ultimately sympathetic washes of percussion from Hemingway and Dresser's constant pulse as it sifts through changes, are, in effect, realizing the chameleon-like place of harmony better than Braxton himself could ever articulate. This group is all lightning and fire; there is no hesitation, nor is there any room for it. They challenge each other and their leader to the breaking point, and somehow ride the wave into yet another new territory, where the process begins again. The studio discs in this collection show another side of the band. Here, dynamic and harmonic possibility are the concern of Braxton -- each note is played, at least in the opening lines, and is carefully nuanced as if it were finding its own place in space. There is a freedom for the composer to seek out color and dexterity, texture and surface, as the band is all about making it anyway. They know what's needed in a composition such as "No. 160 (+5) 40J," where Crispell adds a piano solo that quotes the harmonic structure of "No. 5," and, along with Dresser, flows through his gorgeous bowed cello solo from "No. 40J" through the middle section, where Braxton and Crispell bring the proceedings back. In each new Braxton composition, the players are welcome to quote from earlier material in the catalog, find the interval it best fits, and explore it in this new context, thereby making a rich intertextuality whereby the current composition is extended dynamically and musically. Also on this studio session, which was recorded over two days, Braxton himself is looser, picking compositions that seldom are touched live in order to be finessed in the studio -- usually it's the other way around, but his exploration of shape, polytonality, and rhythmic architecture is relentless. Listen to "No. 67" (dedicated to the actress Bette Davis) to hear one of Braxton's "sound environment spirals." Here, material -- created by all four members of the quartet and variants thereof -- explore repetition as a "physical" material and a vibrational factor in the creation of further sonorous material. First they play repeated phrases until near exhaustion sets in (Philip Glass has nothing on this band), and then are offered numerous options for changing tempo and shape (Hemingway has a real party with this, trying to dodge his bandmates, but never quite succeeding). The result? What does it mean? Simple: No person can play the same phrase over and over and the same way without that eventual variation. Eventually, variation becomes the sole M.O., and each player drifts further apart from the rest until they become unstuck completely. Once in free space, the swirling flutes, cascading piano lines, and dense thick intervallic chords humming bass harmonics, as well as flutes, call the entire thing further out on a star until Braxton re-enters with the alto to call the exploration to order. He locks horns with Crispell, and then launches into "No. 140 (+147+139+135)." And so it goes. Braxton's quartet was easily the most creative band he played with, and his longest running. Since that time, in duet and solo performance, he has found the fire he needs to continue exploring the musical ground his mind conjures up on composition paper. But he has been lost in band settings. Since 1994 he has not found a group that has, member for member, this much musical talent or empathetic dexterity. With this band, he never had to assert himself as a leader because they could instinctively follow his cues. Since that time, he has had to assert himself more and more. And while the music he's writing has every bit of the wonder, awe, and irritation of his earlier work, it has never been played with this virtuosity. This set is a worthy companion to the Leo Records "Coventry Concerts" series. What a swan song.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Studio (June 4 & 5, 1991)    
1-1    No. 160 (+ 5) + 40J    11:26
1-2    No. 23M (+ 10)    15:03
1-3    No. 158 (+ 96) + 40L    17:04
1-4    No. 40A    8:24
1-5    No. 40B    12:13
2-1    No. 161    5:55
2-2    No. 159    12:47
2-3    No. 23C + 32 + 105B (+ 30)    23:48
2-4    No. 23M (+ 10)    10:28
2-5    No. 40M    12:03Concert Live (June 2, 1991) - No. 67 (+ 147 + 96) / No. 140 (+ 147 + 139 + 135) / No. 34A / No. 20 + 86 / No. 23G (+ 147 + 30)    
3-1a    Untitled    13:22
3-1b    Untitled    16:03
3-1c    Untitled    17:28
3-1d    Untitled    13:29
3-1e    Untitled    11:35

Concert Live (June 2, 1991) - No. 69 (O) + 135 / No. 69B / No. 107B (+ 96) / No. 101 / No. 23N (+ 112 + 108A + 33)    
4-1a    Untitled    17:23
4-1b    Untitled    17:04
4-1c    Untitled    9:10
4-1d    Untitled    13:46
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Clarinet, Contrabass Clarinet, Flute, Sopranino Saxophone, Composed By – Anthony Braxton
Artwork [Cover Art] – Niklaus Troxler
Bass – Mark Dresser
Drums, Marimba – Gerry Hemingway
Piano – Marilyn Crispell

ANTHONY BRAXTON - Twelve Compositions : Live At Yoshi's In Oakland, July 1993 (1994) 2CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Of all of the avant-garde players of the past 30 years, Anthony Braxton has been perhaps the most diligent at documenting his work. The brilliant multireedist has been very fortunate to have a stable quartet for the past nine years with the frequently astounding pianist Marilyn Crispell, bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Gerry Hemingway doing justice to his very complex originals. This double-CD set features Braxton and his group on two continuous and complete live performances. Not only do the musicians tackle a dozen of Braxton's complicated originals, but during part of four of them, individual members are assigned the task of playing a different composition than the rest of the group. Obviously this is not music to be taken lightly or merely played in the background. However, listeners with the time and interest will find much to enjoy in the very lively explorations from these masterful musicians. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1-1    Composition No. 48    13:26
1-2    Composition No. 23M (+108C)    14:35
1-3    Composition No. 32    5:45
1-4    Composition No. 66 (+135)    10:06
1-5    Composition No. 160    10:52
1-6    Composition No. 158    6:15
1-7    Composition No. 140    14:32
2-1    Composition No. 69J (+30+108D)    14:05
2-2    Composition No. 20 + 86    10:11
2-3    Composition No. 171    19:20
2-4    Composition No. 23C    7:47
2-5    Composition No. 105B    9:56
Credits :
Bass – Mark Dresser
Drums – Gerry Hemingway
Piano – Marilyn Crispell
Woodwind [Woodwinds], Producer – Anthony Braxton

ANTHONY BRAXTON QUARTET - The Coventry Concert (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The legendary Anthony Braxton Quartet, featuring pianist Marilyn Crispell, drummer Gerry Hemingway, and bassist Mark Dresser, recorded the music on this disc in 1980. The music on this disc should not, however, be confused with the same music plus plenty more that appear on the Leo label's multiple-CD package of The Coventry Concert. This partial version of the concert is a highly edited illegal pirate recording that both Mr. Braxton and Leo Feigin have thoroughly disavowed as such and have sought to have suppressed. Unfortunately, neither of them have the money to prosecute the German West Wind label. If this were only a bootleg it would be bad enough, but the substandard recording and stereo balance make this performance -- which is more than remarkable, it's revelatory -- not worth the substance it's printed on. It gives a warped picture of what the band played that night and reduces the continuity -- so central to any Braxton quartet performance -- to nil. Seek out the complete concert on Leo and forget this exists.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    Composition 124    8:44
2    Composition 88    11:03
3    Piano Solo & Composition 239    16:33
4    Composition 69 F    5:09
5    Composition 40 N    9:35
Credits :
Bass – Mark Dresser
Drums – Gerry Hemingway
Piano – Marilyn Crispell
Reeds – Anthony Braxton

ANDERS JORMIN - In Winds, In Light (2004) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Bassist and composer Anders Jormin has been one of the more restless and adventurous musical talents on the ECM roster. He's worked with numerous jazz talents from his long associations with Bobo Stenson, Charles Lloyd, and Tomasz Stanko, and from his composing for brass ensemble. This project is off the map. Commissioned to write new sacred music for premiere in the cathedral in Västerås, Switzerland, he composed a series of works in which he used the existing poems of Swedish writers like Harry Martinson, Johannes Ederfelt, Lotta Olsson-Anderberg, and the great Pär Lagerkvist, as well as those of William Blake. He also wrote his own songs for the project. His focus was on the "beyond" (which was the project's original title) and needless to say, with these writers as inspirations, his concentration was anything but monotheistic. The band he assembled for this outing, recorded in the Organ Hall of the Musikhögskolan in Götenberg, includes pianist Marilyn Crispell, vocalist Lena Willemark, organist Karin Nelson, and percussionist Raymond Strid. Jormin, of course, plays bass. This is a startling record, literally unlike anything ever heard before. These players make wonderful use of space and dynamic, and the manner in which they interact is as one. The strange union of a piano and a church organ is one of the most compelling elements of this record, Crispell's uncanny intuition to bring "song" to her improvisational talent is rich yet restrained and unconventionally lyrical. Nelson's ability to have such an unwieldy instrument move quietly through some of these songs and shift her focus into a dialogue with Crispell is striking and original. But it is Willemark's singing -- utterly uncharacteristic of her Swedish folk-oriented material -- that takes the listener's breath away. As this band focuses on creating a backdrop that underscores the written lines, Willemark falls headlong into them. She uses the complete physicality of her voice to communicate not only the nuance of the lyric -- in Swedish and English -- but uses it to point into the depths of the heart and into the formless void that is beyond the reach of understanding, the same place these texts direct themselves toward. Whether she is whispering, crooning, sighing, or grunting, her attempt to express what is unspeakable flows effortlessly into an undefined terrain given shape and shape-shifting form by the other musicians. This record may not be for everyone, but it is surprisingly accessible and has literally no new age connotations. This is music that may approximate the harmony of the spheres, but it does so from the ground -- from the heart of the heart of the matter -- up.
(This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa')
Tracklist :
1    Vårstäv 1'10
(Anders Jormin)
2    Introitus 1'36
(Anders Jormin)
3    Sång 80 6'08
(Anders Jormin)
4    Choral 8'28
(Anders Jormin)
5    In winds 3'02
(Anders Jormin)
6    Sandstone 2'01
(Anders Jormin)
7    Allt 6'37
(Anders Jormin)
8    Soapstone 2'10
(Anders Jormin)
9    Gryning 3'31
(Anders Jormin)
10    Each man 0'53
(Anders Jormin)
11    Transition 1'08
(Anders Jormin)
12    Flying 3'10
(Anders Jormin)
13    Sommarorgel 4'49
(Anders Jormin)
14    Lovesong 6'33
(Anders Jormin)wille
15    Limestone 1'27
(Anders Jormin)
16    En gång 8'50
(Anders Jormin)
Credits :
Anders Jormin   Double-Bass
Lena Willemark   Voice
Marilyn Crispell   Piano
Karin Nelson   Church Organ
Raymond Strid   Percussion

JOE LOVANO / MARILYN CRISPELL / CARMEN CASTALDI - Trio Tapestry (2019) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Though most often associated with his swinging post-bop albums for Blue Note, saxophonist Joe Lovano is no stranger to the ECM label. He first recorded with producer Manfred Eicher's storied German institution in 1981 for drummer Paul Motian's album Psalm, playing alongside bassist Ed Schuller and guitarist Bill Frisell. Since then he has made several appearances on the label, including further hits with Motian (who died in 2011), as well as pianist Steve Kuhn and guitarist John Abercrombie. With 2019's deeply atmospheric Trio Tapestry, Lovano takes his relationship with ECM to the next logical and long-awaited plateau: by leading his first session for the label. Joining him are longtime associates in pianist Marilyn Crispell and fellow Cleveland native/drummer Carmen Castaldi. Lovano first played with Crispell in 2006 in a group that included Motian. He's known Castaldi since he was a teenager, and also as a student at Boston's Berklee School of Music, where they both studied. Having started her career in the '70s playing free jazz, Crispell has evolved into a deeply nuanced and harmonically engaging performer whose style often works as a bridge between the avant-garde and more accessible playing. This in-between bridge is what Lovano's trio explores on a set of original compositions that work more as impressionistic sound explorations than traditional, standards-based improvisations. Silence plays a huge role in the trio's sound. "One Time In" opens with a skittering clang of cymbals and a gong, and then there's nothing until Lovano's mournful, bird-like saxophone breaks through the metallic glow. Similarly, "Sparkle Lights" begins as a piano/sax duo with Lovano and Crispell playing a hushed, diminished-sounding phrase that gives way to emptiness before the trio delicately push back against the silence with icy harmonic swells. Elsewhere, they take a more tangible approach, offering up the melancholy balladry of "Seeds of Change," and growl through the atonal Ornette Coleman-ism of "The Smiling Dog." Primarily however, tracks like the evocative "Mystic" (which sounds like it was recorded in a large church, or empty gorge), and the aptly titled "Gong Episode," remain enigmatic, as if Lovano and his bandmates are less interested in a playing music, than in playing the space around them. by Matt Collar 
Tracklist:
1 One Time In 3:41
Joe Lovano
2 Seeds of Change 5:13
Joe Lovano
3 Razzle Dazzle 3:40
Joe Lovano
4 Sparkle Lights 4:07
Joe Lovano
5 Mystic 8:25
Joe Lovano
6 Piano/Drum Episode 3:40
Joe Lovano
7 Gong Episode 2:01
Joe Lovano
8 Rare Beauty 6:18
Joe Lovano
9 Spirit Lake 3:49
Joe Lovano
10 Tarrassa 4:15
Joe Lovano
11 The Smilling Dog 2:55
Joe Lovano
Credits:
Drums, Percussion – Carmen Castaldi
Piano – Marilyn Crispell
Producer [Produced By] – Manfred Eicher
Tenor Saxophone, Tárogató [Tarogato], Gong [Gongs] – Joe Lovano

TISZIJI MUÑOZ / MARILYN CRISPELL - Beautiful Empty Fullness (2014) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Fans of guitarist Tisziji Muñoz will be surprised by Beautiful Empty Fullness, a duet session with pianist/composer Marilyn Crispell. They've recorded together before, but this marks their first time as a duo. Both players are fiery improvisers who share John Coltrane as inspirational spiritual source and musical influence. While Ms. Crispell has recorded several programs of deeply intuitive, nearly songlike performances beginning with 1997's Nothing Ever Was, Anyway: The Music of Annette Peacock on ECM, Mr. Muñoz has, to date, never so straightforwardly showcased his work as a composer. Ms. Crispell is the perfect partner to assist in revealing this profound aspect of his musical character. These are songs, from short and sweet to lengthy and exploratory, that carry within them a lyricism we've seldom encountered from Muñoz before. The two opening tracks, "Fatherhood" and "I Thank You Love," are each under two minutes. The former carries within it the seeds of gospel, while the latter is almost a hymn. "Prayer for Awakening the Heart" is a modal number. Ms. Crispell's rumbling, lower mid-register chord voicings provide a base for the guitarist's sparse yet lyric melody. Given its nearly eight-minute length, there is room for both players to stretch a bit, but their interplay hovers around the composition's tonal center. Crispell's gorgeous intro to "Precious Friendship" offers an elliptical, blissful atmospheric lilt before Muñoz's signature tone -- simultaneously biting and tender -- digs into its center and carries it to the margins, underscoring, highlighting, and deepening the complex emotions at its core. There is real drama in the nearly 11-minute "Impermanence," which seems to open at the center of a crescendo, but it's merely the beginning of a long ascent, a winding journey toward something even more revelatory as it unfolds, almost cinematically moving backward and forward until the lyric line has been extended almost boundlessly. "Love's Continual Presence" has a nearly "Love Supreme"-esque motif, as Muñoz repetitively offers a mantra-like phrase and Crispell illustrates it compellingly, her ostinati shimmering through the guitarist's "chant"-like phrases. "When I'm Gone" emerges from a minor-key modal exploration; tone, dissonance, and dynamic force are offered in a labyrinthine improvisational language. Heartfelt emotion fuels every gorgeous track on Beautiful Empty Fullness, adding depth and dimension to the portraits of both players. by Thom Jurek  

MARILYN CRISPELL / GARY PEACOCK / PAUL MOTIAN - Amaryllis (2001) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The gathering of this trio in February of 2000 guaranteed little except that they had demonstrated ably -- on Nothing Ever Was Anyway: The Music of Annette Peacock -- the ability to play together almost symbiotically. This follow-up attempts to extend the trio's reach across Peacock's music and into the terrain of the trio as an entity in and of itself. That said, not all the pieces here are new; in fact, some of them are decades old -- Marilyn Crispell's "Rounds" is from 1981, Gary Peacock's "Voices of the Past" and "December Greenwings" are both from the early '80s, and Paul Motian's "Conception Vessel/Circle Dance" is from the early '70s. The trio brings to these vintage pieces not only new eyes, but the freshness of this relationship and the willingness to reinvent them. In addition to the older works, producer Manfred Eicher asked the group to improvise a number of pieces just for the session. The results of this combination are quite remarkable. Perhaps the most noticeably gripping is the melodic invention in Crispell's playing. While it's true she has often displayed her lyrical side in free improvisation, she has never done so to this extent or with this much restraint. No matter where the improvisation goes, no matter whose tune she's playing, Crispell insists on harmony and an inventive yet attentive melodic framework as the session's basis. A shining example is on Peacock's "Voices From the Past," where his opening modal bassline is graced over by Crispell's pianistic melody, offering both line and harmony for Peacock to insert his lyric bassing. Motian uses his slip-dance on the cymbals to offer her just enough counterpoint to create a crystalline, droning melody that gleams in the darkness of the minor key signatures. On the brief title track, Crispell's tune, Peacock once again opens with the time signature and the underside of the melody. Motian joins him to usher in a minimal melodic architecture by Crispell. Short arpeggios are woven into diminished chords and the texture of the interplay. This is improvisation at its most restrained, its most closely listened to, executed with hushed yet dynamic brilliance and emotion. Crispell's "Rounds" echoes Mal Waldron and Dave Burrell in its angular architecture. Peacock takes the piece through from underneath, playing a modal counterpoint to Crispell's sharply arpeggiated harmony. The set ends with "Prayer," an anthem-like hymn. Motian taps out a restrained magisterial rhythm on his ride cymbal with satiny flourishes on the high hat, as Crispell calls Peacock forth from the middle registers and he drones his assent to a chorded melody that moves from augmented sevenths to flatted fifth to major chords. One can hear everyone from Thomas Dorsey to Bill Evans, but underneath it all, is the exacting hand (if the young Claudio Arrau played jazz, he may have sounded like this) and enormous, tender heart of Crispell, calling the piece -- and set -- to a close. More than a follow-up to their first work together, on Amaryllis, Crispell, Peacock, and Motian have established a new yet authoritative voice in melodic improvisation for the jazz trio. by Thom Jurek 
Tracklist:
1 Voice from the Past 5:54
Gary Peacock
2 Amaryllis 3:33
Marilyn Crispell
3 Requiem 4:40
Gary Peacock
4 Conception Vessel/Circle Dance 5:35
Paul Motian
5 Voices 4:28
Paul Motian
6 December Greenwings 4:07
Gary Peacock
7 Silence 3:17
Marilyn Crispell
8 M.E. 5:15
Paul Motian
9 Rounds 4:05
Marilyn Crispell
10 Avatar 4:14
Marilyn Crispell
11 Morpion 3:30
Paul Motian
12 Prayer 5:42
Mitchell Weiss
Credits:
Double Bass – Gary Peacock
Drums – Paul Motian
Piano – Marilyn Crispell
Producer – Manfred Eicher