I told Marilyn Crispell at dinner
last night that three years ago, when I first
contacted her to invite her to perform
in Tucson with another poet, I was sort of stepping out
of the world of poetry where I always
felt very comfortable calling and inviting people
to come here--
and was somewhat intimidated that I
was stepping into a different world
and inviting one of my heroes.
As a listener to jazz since I was a teenager,
and as a listener to Marilyn Crispell for nearly 30 years
now, I have been serenaded, surprised, stunned, delighted,
and transported.
Marilyn Crispell selected discography online runs
to more than 50 albums, and her complete sessionography,
which was compiled by Rick Lopez,
goes on for pages and pages.
She has played with groups headed
by Anthony Braxton, Reggie Workman, Scott Fields, Barry
Guy--
and many, many more.
And has issued more than 20 works either on solo piano
or as leader herself.
Some of the highlights to me are Vignettes, Storyteller
with Mark Helias and Paul Motian,
Affinities with Gerry Hemingway, Live in Berlin, The Marilyn
Crispell Trio.
To me, it all seems a highlight.
And "it all" is a lot.
She has said that listening to John Coltrane
made her a jazz musician, and she
carries on a questing musical practice that connects her
to his searching work.
I spoke of being inside Nathaniel Mackey's poems
earlier and finding all sorts of connection there.
This is true as well of Marilyn Crispell's piano work.
Yet, I also feel entirely enclosed while listening
to this work, as though time and any thought of outside
is simply not part of the equation.
Yet, when a solo by her is over, I
go back into the world alert, cleared, rearranged, and ready.
The Canadian poet, BpNichol, once
told me of a medical procedure he
had had to try to alleviate pain, in which his molecules
were realigned as a treatment.
If it's possible for music to realign your molecules,
Marilyn Crispell just might be the one creating that music.
Please welcome, Marilyn Crispell.