Jason Stein, Marilyn Crispell, Damon Smith, Adam Shead: spi-raling horn

  The quartet of Jason Stein, Marilyn Crispell, Damon Smith & Adam Shead is exuberant and boldly exciting on spi-raling horn. Drummer Shead is the least experienced member of the band, but he fits in beautifully, rising to the occasion with grit and rambunctious flair. Stead and the widely acclaimed bass clarinet specialist Stein had met in the recording studio before, on their 2020 duo session Synaptic Atlas. Pianist Crispell needs no introduction to anyone with a passing interest in modern piano stylists. Bassist Smith, whose Balance Point Acoustics label has several decades of releases to be proud of, has performed in free settings with such figures as John Butcher, Henry Kaiser, Frank Gratkowski, and Peter Kowald. The recording details for this date have the notation that “This is the entire studio session in the order in which it was played,” a rarity even in the realm of freely improvised music. The power and spirited interaction of these players is a testament to their distinctive individual sounds and their willingness to give utmost priority to the music of the collective. Picking favorite selections in a session like this one is a fool’s errand. Suffice to say that there are plenty of enticingly elegant and inventive passages in these instant compositions. Heartily recommended. 

Balance Point Acoustics bpaltd20020/Irritable Mystic Records IMR003; Jason Stein (bcl) Marilyn Crispell p) Damon Smith (b) Adam Shead (d); Chicago, IL, June 19, 2023; a song paid by singing/ a universe of otherwise/ the ground laid open/ saturant moon water/ so close it cut my ribs/ back and back out/ a rusted bell’s clank; 62:18. balancepointacoustics.com

Tyshawn Sorey & Marilyn Crispell: The Adornment Of Time

Tyshawn Sorey & Marilyn Crispell approach one another warily and respectfully on their perfectly poised duo release The Adornment Of Time. As Sorey writes, this 65 minute performance at The Kitchen in New York “represents the culmination of the several journeys” that the pair have made together since their first encounter at the Creative Music Studio in 2014. Pianist Crispell is well regarded among creative musicians for, in Sorey’s words, “her mindful decision making, intense listening, and the profound clarity” of her creative responses. For his part, Sorey has been attracting a lot of attention for his composing as well as his exquisite percussion work. There’s a spacious luminosity to this extended improvisation. As you would expect, the pair explores a broad range of instrumental colors and tempos. Particularly fine passages include Crispell’s rhapsodic interlude at around the 18-minute mark, the pair’s delicate call and response around 23 minutes into the piece after a minute or so of silence, the invigorating appearance of tuned bells at the half-way point, a deliciously intense passage in the second half of the piece, some creaky sounds from inside the piano, and the magnificent rave-up that brings things to a close. Absolutely recommended. And is there a better title for creative improvisation than The Adornment Of Time?
Pi Recordings PI83; Marilyn Crispell (p) Tyshawn Sorey (d, perc); NYC, October 21, 2018; The Adornment of Time; 64:57. pirecordings.com