Impeccable music, beautifully played, this is a totally absorbing set from one of the finest trios of their time.
ECM 1742 / 651 5177
Marilyn Crispell (piano); Gary Peacock (double bass); Paul Motian (drums)
Recorded February 2000
ECM Luminessence series has brought forth a succession of delights in throughout 2024, and here is another in what must be one of the most empathetic, creative and important piano trios.
Following on from the remarkable Nothing ever was, anyway. Music of Annette Peacock recorded four years earlier, it was a no brainer to get the trio back in the studio to find out what they would do with an altogether different set of compositions. The results are no less startling and satisfying as the trio set to work on material that is a little more familiar both to the listener and the trio.
If the empathy and interaction between the three musicians was intensely felt, the music on Amaryllis is a little less taut and more relaxed. This is not to imply that the creativity is diminished in anyway, if anything it may even be heightened by the members of the trio bringing their own compositions to the session.
An intensely beautiful record which is at times hypnotic leaving the listener transfixed in the moment as the music unfurls. From the outset the mood is contemplative, yet always revealing a sunny side and optimism in the playing. It is quite surprising how much can be said when actually playing very little, and the use of silence and space intensifies the drama within the compositions and subsequent improvisations.
Crispell has discovered and elaborated on a side of her playing that many will not have been aware of having heard here work, for example, with Anthony Braxton. Her lines are fluid and ever responsive to her surroundings, and her touch at the keyboard reveals a multitude of tones and dynamics that is exquisite. Gary Peacock is a tower of strength on double bass with his full round sound perfectly complimenting the light and shade that comes from the piano and the drums of Paul Motian.
Each member of the trio has much to say and the time and space in which to say it. All three often seem to be conversing at once so intense is the dialogue, and it can appear that so free flowing the conversation that no one person is responsible for holding it all together at any particular moment in time, but yet the ever shifting foundation remains intact.
This balancing act is what keeps the music so alive and captivating from a fine reading of Motian’s ‘Conception Vessel/Circle Dance’, ‘Silence (For P.) by the pianist and Peacock’s ‘Voice From The Past’ that sound so different from the version recorded almost two decades earlier with Jan Garbarek and Tomasz Stanko almost two decades earlier. The more playful and freer areas of the trio are explored in ‘December Greenwings’ by Peacock, and once again Crispell takes composer credits for the invigorating and exploratory ‘Rounds’.
However exciting the free pieces may be, it is the slower tempos that can be said to bring the greatest rewards. At producer Manfred Eicher’s suggestion, Crispell recalls, the idea of playing some “slow free pieces” was put forward. With the members of the trio all being conversant with playing entirely improvised music, and the only constraints seemingly imposed being the tempo, Crispell, Peacock and Motian conjured out of thin air four remarkable pieces spontaneously composed in the lyrical title track, the mercurial ‘Voices’ led by Peacock’s double bass along with ‘M.E. (for Manfred Eicher) that seemingly continues where ‘Voices’. The final improvisation, ‘Avatar’ is so delicate that one almost holds one’s breath for fear of breaking the spell as the Crispell and Peacock weave their dialogue through the subtle brush work of Motian who scarcely plays above a whisper.
Impeccable music, beautifully played, this is a totally absorbing set from one of the finest trios of their time.
