By Gary Chapin
Marilyn Crispell has been, for me, for a long time, the most mystic of our
beloved piano-playing chaos magicians. Sometimes it’s obvious. For example,
when, in the past, she has played Coltrane’s “Dear Lord,” for example, or
Monk’s “Ruby, My Dear,” beginning at the deconstruction, bringing it slowly
back to coherence, you are almost involuntarily transported into the music.
Even the most raucous playing—the stabbity-stab, stochastic melodies, and
the thoom thoom thooming—invites me to altered consciousness in a way no one
else’s playing does. I’ve had less experience of Harvey Sorgen, who has a
strong list of collaborations, including with Joe Fonda, Karl Berger, and
Michael Bisio, but I had no real doubts about what he brings to the table.
Crispell has a great track record finding duet partners.
The two come together beautifully. “Forest,” sets the tone and demonstrates
the dynamic of conversation, which starts civilly, but becomes deeply
impassioned. “Overtones” is ruminative and leans heavily on the snare, and
refuses to grow in tempo or dynamic, while absolutely growing in intensity
and perseverance. “Dulcimer” left me thinking, “Why dulcimer?” But after a
few moments I did recognize a hammer dulcimer-ish vibe—hammers hitting
strings—and it made sense. Not that making sense is a criteria for
greatness. Maybe I’m reading too much into titles. I don’t know if “Woolf
Moon,” is a Virginia Woolf reference, but I want it to be. Either way, it’s
a great piece of music. For “Seascape,” Sorgen takes a solo turn with bells
and brushes, as beautiful as the landscape it purports to represent. We
close with “Green,” a gentle, three-minute experience, inviting you to stop
thinking, for just a bit.
The free jazz duet is on my short list of favorite things in the world. It
feels like the purest and truest form of musical conversation one can
imagine. Both Crispell and Sorgen have each made the duet a significant part
of their respective oeuvres, with brilliant examples going back decades. The
consistency of excellence in their outputs sometimes make it seem like a new
release is no big deal. Forest is a big deal. A wonderful listen. Five
stars.