The Adornment of Time | |
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Live album by | |
Released | 2019 |
Recorded | October 21, 2018 |
Venue | The Kitchen, New York City |
Studio | 1:04:57 |
Genre | Free jazz |
Label | Pi Recordings PI83 |
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. [1] [2] The album features an hour-long piece that was freely improvised; nothing was determined or discussed beforehand. [2]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
DownBeat | [4] |
Pitchfork | [5] |
All About Jazz | [6] |
In a review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek wrote: "The Adornment of Time... is among the most aptly titled improvised recordings in many years... Besides the instruments, audience, and the performance space, what exists between and around these two is time: Forever passing, ever present, and always falling forward into the next moment... For nearly 65 minutes, their interaction begets inquiry and investigation that in turn begets declamations, questions, and discoveries that serve to propel communication -- with silence, with one another, and with time itself -- deeper and wider than either of the participants could have conceived... By the time they conclude..., they have traveled far and taken their listeners with them through a pregnant sense of time painted with emotional, spiritual, and intellectual ideas and profound feelings. This is as much as any musical encounter can offer, let alone provide, and Sorey and Crispell deliver both." [3]
Ammar Kalia, in a review for DownBeat , stated: "There is a type of improvisation that seems almost mystical to witness. It's full-blown, free-flowing and intensely narrative, the arc of which is only established as the players play and we listen along, trying to keep up. And it's the essence of drummer Tyshawn Sorey and pianist Marilyn Crispell's work together... A work this instinctual and eminently present-tense can seem difficult to unpack from the perspective of a recording, yet within it lies the key to the jazz form: the synaptic rushes of musicians communicating purely in the moment." [4]
Writing for Pitchfork , Seth Colter Walls commented: "The Adornment of Time doesn't merely present two talented musicians in a room, improvising at the same time. Instead, the album makes good on ideals at the heart of the free-improv tradition—including equality and adaptiveness—that are often paid lip service, if not always easily heard." [5]
Karl Ackermann of All About Jazz called the album "extraordinary," and remarked: "Sorey and Crispell are known for their exceptional ability to listen and to empathize with colleagues. These personal traits make this album a benchmark for immediate creativity... they create outside any obvious genre, but with a concentration on many musical foundations. The audience is spellbound—silent for the entire piece; it's likely many listeners will react the same way. Highly recommended." [6]
Michael Rosenstein of Dusted Magazine stated that the "notion of 'mindful decision making' is evident throughout as the two build measured waves of tension and release. The way they steadily mount to crescendos of dynamics and density and abate into sections of extended composure is riveting." [7]
Adam Shatz, writing for The New York Review, described the album as "gorgeous," and stated that, over the duration of the piece, "the collaboration’s architecture comes into radiant focus, gradually acquiring such physical power that you feel a kind of shock, and even sorrow, when it ends." [8]
In an article for WBGO , Nate Chinen referred to the album as "mesmerizing," and praised its "grave, shimmering beauty." He commented: "The Adornment of Time is an experiential creation, and for those of us who couldn't be in the audience on that evening, the album is our chronicle. The only option is to devour it whole." [9]
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.
Pi Recordings is a jazz record label founded by Seth Rosner in 2001. He was soon joined as partner by Yulun Wang. Pi specializes in avant-garde jazz. Its first two albums were by Henry Threadgill.
John Escreet is an English pianist, composer and improviser. He has lived in the United States since 2006 and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
Tyshawn Sorey is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, and professor of contemporary music.
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.
Gaia is an album by American jazz pianist Marilyn Crispell, which was recorded in 1987 and released on the English Leo label.
Blood Sutra is an album by pianist Vijay Iyer recorded in 2003 and originally released on the Artists House label before being reissued on Pi Recordings in 2006.
Door is the third album by Fieldwork, a collective trio consisting of Vijay Iyer on piano, Steve Lehman on alto saxophone and Tyshawn Sorey on drums replacing former drummer Elliot Humberto Kavee, which was recorded in 2007 and released on Pi Recordings.
Bells for the South Side is a double album by American jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, which was recorded live in 2015 at Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago in the context of The Freedom Principle, a 50th-anniversary exhibition devoted to the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, and released on ECM.
Far from Over is a studio album by the Vijay Iyer Sextet recorded in April 2017 and released on ECM August that same year. The sextet features brass section Graham Haynes, Steve Lehman and Mark Shim and rhythm section Stephan Crump and Tyshawn Sorey.
Uneasy is an album by American pianist and composer Vijay Iyer recorded in December 2019 and released on ECM in April 2021. The trio features rhythm section Linda May Han Oh and Tyshawn Sorey.
2 Blues for Cecil is an album by drummer Andrew Cyrille, bassist William Parker, and trumpeter Enrico Rava. It was recorded in February 2021 at Studios Ferber in Paris, France, and was released by TUM Records in January 2022. The album is a tribute to pianist Cecil Taylor, with whom all three musicians played; despite this, it does not feature a piano, and does not "attempt to reanimate or imitate Cecil Taylor's style of playing."
Overlapping Hands: Eight Segments is a live album by pianists Marilyn Crispell and Irène Schweizer. It was recorded at the Workshop Freie Musik, Akademie der Künste in Berlin in June 1990, and was released in 1991 by FMP.
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.
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.
Red is a live album by pianist Marilyn Crispell and saxophonist Stefano Maltese. It was recorded at the A.S.A.M. Auditorium in Chiesa di San Pietro, Siracusa, Italy in September 1999, and was released in 2000 by the Black Saint label. The duo, with vocalist Giocondo Cilio, recorded the album Blue the following day.
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.
Stellar Pulsations / Three Composers is an album by pianist Marilyn Crispell on which she performs works written for her by composers Robert Cogan, Pozzi Escot, and Manfred Niehaus. The Cogan work, "Costellar Pulsations," features Crispell with a second pianist, Ellen Polansky, and was recorded on February 11, 1992, at Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Escot's piece, "Mirabilis II," was performed by Crispell along with clarinetist Don Byron and drummer Gerry Hemingway, and was recorded on March 26, 1992, at Studio One, WGBH-FM in Boston. "Concerto for Marilyn," the composition by Niehaus, features Crispell as soloist with the WDR Radio Orchestra, conducted by David de Villiers, and was recorded on July 10 and 13, 1992, at the Grosser Sendesaal of WDR Cologne. The album was released in 1994 by Leo Records.