A Concert in Berlin is a live solo piano album by Marilyn Crispell. It was recorded at the Summer Music concert series at the Haus am Waldsee in Berlin in July 1983, and was released later that year by FMP.[1]
| A Concert in Berlin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Live album by | |
| Released | 1983 |
| Recorded | July 2, 1983 |
| Venue | Haus am Waldsee, Berlin |
| Genre | Free Jazz |
| Label | FMP SAJ-46 |
| Producer | Jost Gebers |
Reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [3] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [4] |
The editors at AllMusic awarded the album 4 stars.[2]
The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings wrote: "Solo performances by Crispell are dramatic, harmonically tense, and wholly absorbing," and praised the "dramatic flow and coherence" of the album. They stated that, although it is "initially rather more academic," it "develops into a powerful emotional statement that culminates, deliberately or not, with an 'America' that has nothing to do with either Leonard Bernstein or Paul Simon, but which is Crispell's own."[3]
Milo Fine, writing for Cadence, remarked: "Crispell has a developing independence of the hands that make for some engaging interaction... Crispell's voice is developing nicely."[5]
In an article for Music and More, Tim Niland commented: "Crispell moved to jazz through the influence of John Coltrane and Cecil Taylor, and the latter's cascading, exhilarating style imbues this rare concert recording with a sense of breathless excitement, as she uses the entire breadth and width of the instrument to her advantage in this excellent recording. The music on this album flows outward in one continuous suite with one section of music tumbling into another with grace and excitement. The music has a crystalline feel where every note is articulated like swirling snowflakes... The music is lean and very well thought out, and it is well worth investigating for fans of progressive piano playing."[6]
Track listing
edit"Evidence" by Thelonious Monk. Remaining compositions by Marilyn Crispell.
- "Rounds" – 4:09
- "Ode To Messiaen" – 5:16
- "Spaces & Elements" – 5:53
- "Pulsations, Spirals" – 6:22
- "Into The Blue" – 6:07
- "Early Light" – 4:25
- "America" – 7:01
- "Evidence" – 3:49
Personnel
edit- Marilyn Crispell – piano
References
edit- ^ "Marilyn Crispell: A Concert in Berlin". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- ^ a b Erlewine, Michael; Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Yanow, Scott, eds. (1996). All Music Guide to Jazz (2nd ed.). Miller Freeman. p. 179.
- ^ a b Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (1992). The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette. Penguin Books. pp. 247–248.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2000). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Oxford University Press. p. 622.
- ^ Fine, Milo (June 1984). "Record Review: Marilyn Crispell: A Concert in Berlin". Cadence. No. 6.
- ^ "Marilyn Crispell: A Concert in Berlin". FMP. Retrieved March 5, 2022.