| Storyteller | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 26 April 2004 [1] | |||
| Recorded | February 2003 [2] | |||
| Studio | Avatar, New York City | |||
| Genre | Avant-garde jazz | |||
| Length | 60:52 | |||
| Label | ECM ECM 1847 | |||
| Producer | Manfred Eicher | |||
| Marilyn Crispell chronology | ||||
| ||||
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. [2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [4] |
| The Village Voice | A− [5] |
Reviewing for The Village Voice in September 2004, Tom Hull said:
After two decades of comparisons to Cecil Taylor, her third ECM record is deliberate, cautious, almost pretty. Paul Motian could take credit for taming the shrew, but more likely it was her own growing interest in Bill Evans that led her to Motian. He wrote most of the pieces, but exerts little control. Indeed, his subtle drumming is almost untethered to Crispell's piano. But at this slow pace, the logic of her playing, her knack for surprising sequences that make perfect sense once you’ve heard them, is as dazzling as her speed ever was. [5]
The AllMusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4 stars stating "Storyteller is another triumph for Marilyn Crispell." [3]
The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings awarded the album 4 stars, and stated, "Increasingly concerned with form, and increasingly inclined to temper intensity with control, this is at first hearing an unfamiliar Crispell... she has... selected some... older themes of Paul Motian's... as a tribute to his still underrated compositional skills... the group sound is perfectly balanced... Helias... keeping step with Motian's quiet urgency every inch of the way." [4]
Writing for All About Jazz, John Kelman described the album as "a conversation where Crispell and Motian are active and highly interactive, with sparks sometimes flying, with Helias always present to propose a conciliatory viewpoint." He commented: "the album is a prime example of just how important each player is in creating a musical dynamic. Storyteller may lack the immediate spark of Amaryllis, but in its richer contrast between participants it still makes for compelling listening." [6]
In a review for the BBC, Peter Marsh stated, "Storyteller sees Mark Helias taking over from [Gary] Peacock, but the song remains much the same. In fact, this trio pare down the music even more; there are times when the space between the notes ring as loud as the notes themselves... for the most part this is poised, thoughtful music that gently demands close listening... Sometimes bass and piano echo each other's phrases; they hang in the air like clouds, till blown away gently by Motian's pattering snare or the hiss of cymbals." [7]
Writing for Clocks and Clouds, Beppe Colli remarked, "An excellent album, very well recorded, not at all difficult to listen to, Storyteller is the kind of album that makes me wonder about the real reasons why Crispell's name is not well-known." [8]
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.
It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago is an album by the Paul Motian Trio recorded in July 1984 and released on ECM March the following year. The trio features guitarist Bill Frisell and tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano—the three had previously recorded together on Psalm (1982), The Story of Maryam (1984), and Jack of Clubs (1985) in Motian's quintet.
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.
Time and Time Again is an album by jazz drummer Paul Motian recorded in May 2006 released on ECM the following year. The trio features guitarist Bill Frisell and tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano.
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.
Goodbye is an album by Swedish jazz pianist Bobo Stenson recorded for ECM in April 2004 and released on September 12, 2005. Stenson's trio features rhythm section Anders Jormin and Paul Motian.
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.
Vignettes is a solo album by American jazz pianist Marilyn Crispell recorded in April 2007 and released on ECM later that same year.
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.
Anders Bertil Michael Jormin is a Swedish bassist and composer.
Memory/Vision is a live album by the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble recorded at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo in October 2002 and released on ECM the following year.
The Eleventh Hour is an album by British saxophonist and improvisor Evan Parker's Electro-Acoustic Ensemble recorded in November 2004 and released on ECM the following year.
Lost in a Dream is a live album by jazz drummer Paul Motian, recorded at the Village Vanguard in February 2009 and released on ECM the following year. It features tenor saxophonist Chris Potter and pianist Jason Moran.
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.
Gaia is an album by American jazz pianist Marilyn Crispell, which was recorded in 1987 and released on the English Leo label.
Hamburg '72 is a live album by Keith Jarrett recorded in West Germany on June 14, 1972 and released on the ECM label in November 2014. The trio—Jarrett's first—features rhythm section Charlie Haden and Paul Motian, both of whom died before the album's released.
This is the discography of American jazz musician Paul Motian.
Highlights from the Summer of 1992 American Tour is a live album by pianist Marilyn Crispell. It was recorded at four locations in the United States on dates ranging from November 1991 to April 1992, and was released in 1993 by Music & Arts. On the album, Crispell is joined by bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Gerry Hemingway.
One Dark Night I Left My Silent House is an album by pianist Marilyn Crispell and clarinetist David Rothenberg, recorded in March 2008 and released on ECM in 2010. The album, which is entirely improvised, is named after Peter Handke's novel In einer dunklen Nacht ging ich aus meinem stillen Haus. In addition to playing piano, Crispell also employs percussion instruments and "an old beat-up piano soundboard wrenched out of an old baby grand."
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.