Search - Marilyn Crispell :: Santuerio

An essential disc

N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 06/25/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of the great free-jazz discs of the 90s. The band consists of Crispell on piano, Gerry Hemingway on drums, Mark Feldman on violin & Hank Roberts on cello. I think this recording manages to capture both the rhapsodic & the furious sides of Crispell's music at close to their best. The music is a true ensemble music, with Feldman leading off the disc with a beautiful, almost cantorial solo, before the band gradually enters behind him. Elsewhere he gets an entire feature track to himself. The track titles suggest the simultaneously elemental & visionary nature of the music--"Air/Fire", "Water", "Repercussions of Air and Light", "Burning Air/Wood", etc.--& even on the wilder & louder tracks the music is celebratory & passionate rather than merely angry or noisy. -- The recording is warm, if somewhat raw in feel, with a wide dynamic range that can be disconcerting, though this reflects the music's emotional range. A high point in Crispell's oeuvre."