The pianist Marilyn Crispell works in jazz and improvised music. Crispell started out in classical music, but when she heard Coltrane’s spiritual suite A Love Supreme, she experienced an epiphany that led her to jazz. A member of Anthony Braxton’s classic quartet in the 1980s, Crispell has established herself since then as one of the most lyrical and introspective voices in avant-garde jazz, especially in her work on ECM records. In our conversation, Marilyn spoke to me about her childhood in Baltimore, the revelation she had listening to A Love Supreme, her work with Braxton and the ECM producer Manfred Eicher, and the restorative effects of contemplation and silence on her art.

Links and Reference:

Storyteller

Amaryllis

For John Coltrane

A Jazz Supreme - Raphaël Imbert

Creative Music Studio - Archive Selections Vol 2

Creative Orchestra Music - Anthony Braxton

Nothing Ever Was, Anyway

Sibanye (We Are One)

MUSIC; A Chosen Calm After the Avant-Garde Storm - New York Times

Camilla Nebbia

Benedicte Maurseth

Lena Willemark

The Adornment of Time - Tyshawn Sorey

J.S. Bach: Six sonatas for Violin and Piano - Michelle Makarski & Keith Jarrett