marilyn crispall trio

a special night at the sound lounge tonight
another touring jazz musician doing the club thing
a one-off show following on from some opera house shows
anticipation running high for me for one major reason
she records on the eclectic german ecm label
home to some of the best jazz musicians in the world
she herself apparantly regarded as a supreme 'free' pianist
first impressions are she is almost dwarfed by the new yamaha c7
on this tour she has employed 2 of the best locals
double-bass supremo lloyd swanton centre stage and anchor
simon barker stage right and in charge of drums and percussion
my luck held tonight with scoring a great seat
another lone fan had got there early enough
a spare seat available directly in front of mr barker
i had no real expectation of what would happen sonically
though i had been advised that she has mellowed
her days of avant-gardiness now tempered by melody
in the first long rambling piece improvisation ruled
there were 3 consummate musicians belting it out big time
simon barker totally dominating proceedings with his noise-making
demanding attention as he assumed his usual posture
eyes closed, head lifted, hands and arms splaying his equipment
creating an array of noises far beyond beat and rhythm
every piece of every piece of equipment tapped or bashed
tom-toms, brushes, sticks, hands, fingers all interchanged
just an extraordinary percussive performance
which meant it was easy to forget the other musicians
lloyd swanton faultless as usual and also indulging
mostly seen to similarly operate with closed eyes
and the star of the show over there on piano
mostly adding in some fairly dischordant sounds
melody almost totally absent from her contribution
and only occassionally dropping back to a gentle solo sound
the first tune must have been close to 30 minutes
no back-announcement so no idea of its origin or name
then the same with the second and final tune of the set
more noise-making of a confident and appealing nature
a quick thanks from marilyn crispall and time to breath
discussions with my nearby audience members confirming my thoughts
simon barker inadvertently stealing the show from the star
most likely assisted by our front of stage position
the musicians seemed well pleased with the first set
and continued on a more-of-the-same approach in the second set
a few more shorter tunes given an airing this time
but still annoyingly no talk of meaning or origin
which ultimately lead me to think maybe there were none
certainly no sheet music on stage and no long-time association
so in this case tonight it was assumed to be pure improvisation
... not that there is anything wrong with that
in the right hands it can be quite exhilerating
tonight at many times it was as good as it gets
however my overall impression was of overload
probably one long tune too many for me
though happy to join in with wild applause
a standing ovation for some of the audience
(we need to encourage visitors to come back)
the trick being to bring or buy the best
i hope it was all worthwhile for the local lads
for it was them that made her star shine on this night