| Nothing Ever Was, Anyway | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1997 | |||
| Recorded | September 1996 [1] | |||
| Genre | Avant-garde jazz | |||
| Length | 87:21 | |||
| Label | ECM ECM 1626/27 | |||
| Producer | Manfred Eicher | |||
| Marilyn Crispell chronology | ||||
| ||||
Nothing Ever Was, Anyway: Music of Annette Peacock is a double album by pianist Marilyn Crispell, bassist Gary Peacock, and drummer Paul Motian recorded in September 1996 and released on ECM the following year. [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [3] |
Thom Jurek of AllMusic stated: "When the reprise of the title tracks comes around to end the set, it's not like nothing ever was, it's more like nothing will ever be the same, as this fine music and these musicians have gone through a quiet transformation in the process of interpretation. They have done Ms. Peacock proud." [2]
The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings stated, "The album becomes a type of mini-opera without words, an extended portrait of one fine artist's engagement with another... Crispell has seldom (if ever) played as elegantly and with such control. Perhaps the discipline of staying within the bounds set by another composer—and one with a much more melodic approach than Coltrane, say—allowed her to free up one hitherto suppressed aspect of her musical personality. Suffice it to say that we consider this a contemporary masterpiece. To miss it would be to overlook a piano trio the equal of anything since the late Bill Evans." [3]
Writing for the New York Times, Adam Shatz called the album "a ravishing work by a group whose members seemed to enjoy near-complete telepathy", commenting: "Nothing Ever Was, Anyway gave the first intimation of a different Ms. Crispell: elegiac, meditative, more inclined to let the spaces between the notes breathe. The Annette Peacock tribute, which marked the beginning of her association with ECM... seems to have liberated her." [4]
In an article for Jazz Times, Bill Shoemaker wrote, "Nothing Ever Was, Anyway is a triumph of the potentially corrosive collaborative process. This was a project that would have steamrolled a less assured artist, as Crispell was working with an exacting composer, arguably the strongest willed, hands-on producer in the industry, and two musicians with decades-long experience with Annette Peacock's music... Yet Crispell clearly emerges as first among equals on this extraordinary two-disc album... it becomes plain that Crispell has adroitly brought an unvarnished emotionalism to an arcane body of work, a quality that is increasingly important in her work. What is especially striking about Crispell's interpretations is her acute awareness that the pathos of Peacock's music is prone to over-inflation; accordingly, she frequently uses... a deliberate attack to let the intrinsic dramatic qualities of Peacock's music unfold." [5]
Disc one
Disc two
Gary George Peacock was an American jazz double bassist. He recorded a dozen albums under his own name, and also performed and recorded with major jazz figures such as avant garde saxophonist Albert Ayler, pianists Bill Evans, Paul Bley and Marilyn Crispell, and as a part of Keith Jarrett’s “Standards Trio” with drummer Jack DeJohnette. The trio existed for over thirty years, and recorded over twenty albums together. DeJohnette once stated that he admired Peacock's "sound, choice of notes, and, above all, the buoyancy of his playing." Marilyn Crispell called Peacock a "sensitive musician with a great harmonic sense."
Stephen Paul Motian was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer. Motian played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties.
Marilyn Crispell is an American jazz pianist and composer. Scott Yanow described her as "a powerful player... who has her own way of using space... She is near the top of her field." Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote: "Hearing Marilyn Crispell play solo piano is like monitoring an active volcano... She is one of a very few pianists who rise to the challenge of free jazz." In addition to her own extensive work as a soloist or bandleader, Crispell is also known as a longtime member of saxophonist Anthony Braxton's quartet in the 1980s and '90s.
Annette Peacock is an American composer, musician, songwriter, producer, and arranger. She is a pioneer in electronic music who combined her voice with one of the first Moog synthesizers in the late 1960s.
At the Deer Head Inn is a live album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded at the Deer Head Inn jazz club on September 16, 1992 and released by ECM in April 1994. The trio features rhythm section Gary Peacock and Paul Motian.
I Have the Room Above Her is an album by American jazz drummer Paul Motian recorded for ECM in April 2004 released on January 24, 2005. The trio features guitarist Bill Frisell and tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano, their first release since At the Village Vanguard in 1995.
Paul Bley with Gary Peacock is an album by Canadian jazz pianist Paul Bley with American bassist Gary Peacock recorded in two sessions on 1964 and 1968 and released on ECM in December 1970. The sessions' trios feature drummers Paul Motian and Billy Elgart, respectively.
Fragments is an album by Canadian jazz pianist Paul Bley recorded in January 1986 and released on ECM October later that year. The quartet features reed player John Surman, guitarist Bill Frisell, and drummer Paul Motian.
The Paul Bley Quartet is an album by the Paul Bley Quartet, recorded in November 1987 and released on ECM March the following year. The eponymous quartet features reed player John Surman, guitarist Bill Frisell, and drummer Paul Motian.
Amaryllis is an album by American jazz pianist Marilyn Crispell recorded in February 2000 and released on ECM March the following year. The trio features rhythm section Gary Peacock and Paul Motian.
Storyteller is an album by the Marilyn Crispell Trio, featuring rhythm section Mark Helias and Paul Motian, recorded in February 2003 and released on ECM April the following year.
Live in Zurich is an album by American jazz pianist Marilyn Crispell, which was recorded in 1989 and released on the English Leo label. It was the second of three concerts which her trio with bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Paul Motian gave in Switzerland.
This is the discography of American jazz musician Paul Motian.
Complicité is a three-CD live album recorded on May 22, 2000, at the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville in Victoriaville, Quebec, and released in 2001 by the Canadian label Les Disques Victo. Disc one features pianist Paul Plimley and saxophonist John Oswald, disc two features pianist Marilyn Crispell, and disc three features pianist Cecil Taylor.
Piano Duets is a two-CD album by pianists Marilyn Crispell and Georg Graewe. Disc 1, titled "Tuned Pianos," was recorded live at the Ruhr Jazz Festival Bochum in Germany in October 1991, while disc 2, titled "Detuned Pianos," was recorded at the Ibach Piano Factory in Schwelm, Germany. The album was released in 1992 by Leo Records.
Contrasts: Live at Yoshi's (1995) is a live solo piano album by Marilyn Crispell. It was recorded at Yoshi's in Oakland, California in June 1995, and was released in 1996 by Music & Arts.
The Woodstock Concert is a live solo piano album by Marilyn Crispell. It was recorded at the Kleinert/James Arts Center in Woodstock, New York in April 1995, and was released in 1996 by Music & Arts.
Azure is an album by bassist Gary Peacock and pianist Marilyn Crispell. It was recorded at Nevessa Production in Saugerties, New York in January and February 2011, and was released on ECM in 2013.
The Adornment of Time is a live album by percussionist Tyshawn Sorey and pianist Marilyn Crispell. It was recorded at The Kitchen in New York City in October 2018, and was released in 2019 by Pi Recordings. The album features an hour-long piece that was freely improvised; nothing was determined or discussed beforehand.
Joëlle Léandre Project is a live album by bassist Joëlle Léandre. It was recorded in January 1999 at Sons d'Hiver in Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France, and was released in 2000 by Leo Records. On the album, Léandre is joined by pianist Marilyn Crispell, drummer Paul Lovens, electronic musician Richard Teitelbaum, and violinist Carlos Zingaro.
