JazzTimes
While the Crispell trio’s previous ECM disc, which featured the music of Annette Peacock, was widely praised, I found it a rather dour and occasionally ponderous set. Amaryllis is very different. Much of the music has a lighter, airier feel, and the trio’s exchanges are delightfully deft. There has always been a lyrical element in Crispell’s pianism, but it’s never been as apparent or as finely honed as it is here.
Each member of the trio contributes a few compositions, but the heart of this music lies in four pieces collectively improvised in the studio. “Amaryllis,” “Voices,” “M.E.” and “Avatar” are all spacey, delicate forays, almost free-form ballads that take the listener through an interior soundscape of hushed, filigree beauty. Peacock’s fluent bass and Motian’s ultrasensitive percussion are vital factors, yet it’s Crispell’s sureness of touch that stands out; her choice of notes are pared back in Zenlike economy. As she remarks, these pieces show that “freedom is not a concept that can be reserved for any one particular style of improvised music.”
A similarly terse lyricism informs several of the compositions on Amaryllis, notably Crispell’s lovely “Silence” and Gary Peacock’s “Voice from the Past.” Ironically, more conventional expressions of freedom can be heard on two other composed pieces, Crispell’s “Rounds” and Paul Motian’s “Morpion,” which feature darting, rapid-fire piano runs and stabbing percussion. Crispell’s trademark ability to infuse the music with a sudden, surging joy is evident on “Amaryllis” and Motian’s exuberant “Circle Dance.”
The tracks are all relatively short, which is a mixed blessing. While the scampering excitement of “Rounds” and “Morpion” might be most effective in short bursts, the rhapsodic impulses of “Amaryllis,” “Silence” and “Avatar” feel unduly abbreviated. Overall, the CD seems like a set of vignettes; sketches that, while undeniably beautiful, could possibly benefit from a more extended realization. But perhaps that will be the next step-Zen bones to Zen flesh. - Graham Lock
All About Jazz
It's difficult to give this disc the praise it deserves. Crispell's piano trio work with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Paul Motian surfaced in fine form on their recent '96 ECM record Nothing Ever Was, Anyway, a tribute to Annette Peacock. Crispell has been quite promiscuous in the past couple decades, working with players from the New York, Chicago, and European improv scenes. Amaryllis, a delicately crystalline record, brings together three personalities with distinctly individual voices. Peacock and Motian combine for a powerfully intuitive "rhythm section" which blurs the boundaries between pulse, harmony, and melody.
In-and-out bass veteran Peacock brings his harmolodic sense to Amaryllis, anchoring the bottom end while at the same time presenting understated counterpoint to the pianist. Crispell appears more than eager to share the stage with his open-ended voice, and some of the finest moments on the record feature improvised conversations between these two players. Motian also blurs the lines, never settling into the traditional swinging role of the jazz drummer. Instead, he uses the snare and cymbals to create ethereal color and accents that propel the music forward more delicately and abstractly.
The tunes on Amaryllis include loosely-structured compositions by each member of the group (and one by Mitchell Weiss), plus four free improvisations. While the understated formal structure of the "composed" pieces offers room for expansion, the pure improv work tunes acquire an equally potent inherent logic as each player contributes ideas and progressions in real time. The free playing constitutes some of the most beautiful moments on the record.
While the general tone of Amaryllis remains dark and melancholic, the record surges with life if you pay attention to the vital interactions among these three players. It's been through at least twenty rounds on my CD player, and I continue to find tasty nuggets scattered throughout. If Nothing Ever Was, Anyway was a masterpiece (and yes, it really was), then Amaryllis reaches if not exceeds that level of pure musicianship. Don't play this disc if you're looking for pep or pizazz—but during quieter moments or periods of introspection, you'll have a hard time finding anything more satisfying. - Aaj Staff
AllMusic
The gathering of this trio in February of 2000 guaranteed little except that they had demonstrated ably -- on Nothing Ever Was Anyway: The Music of Annette Peacock -- the ability to play together almost symbiotically. This follow-up attempts to extend the trio's reach across Peacock's music and into the terrain of the trio as an entity in and of itself. That said, not all the pieces here are new; in fact, some of them are decades old -- Marilyn Crispell's "Rounds" is from 1981, Gary Peacock's "Voices of the Past" and "December Greenwings" are both from the early '80s, and Paul Motian's "Conception Vessel/Circle Dance" is from the early '70s. The trio brings to these vintage pieces not only new eyes, but the freshness of this relationship and the willingness to reinvent them. In addition to the older works, producer Manfred Eicher asked the group to improvise a number of pieces just for the session. The results of this combination are quite remarkable. Perhaps the most noticeably gripping is the melodic invention in Crispell's playing. While it's true she has often displayed her lyrical side in free improvisation, she has never done so to this extent or with this much restraint. No matter where the improvisation goes, no matter whose tune she's playing, Crispell insists on harmony and an inventive yet attentive melodic framework as the session's basis. A shining example is on Peacock's "Voices From the Past," where his opening modal bassline is graced over by Crispell's pianistic melody, offering both line and harmony for Peacock to insert his lyric bassing. Motian uses his slip-dance on the cymbals to offer her just enough counterpoint to create a crystalline, droning melody that gleams in the darkness of the minor key signatures. On the brief title track, Crispell's tune, Peacock once again opens with the time signature and the underside of the melody. Motian joins him to usher in a minimal melodic architecture by Crispell. Short arpeggios are woven into diminished chords and the texture of the interplay. This is improvisation at its most restrained, its most closely listened to, executed with hushed yet dynamic brilliance and emotion. Crispell's "Rounds" echoes Mal Waldron and Dave Burrell in its angular architecture. Peacock takes the piece through from underneath, playing a modal counterpoint to Crispell's sharply arpeggiated harmony. The set ends with "Prayer," an anthem-like hymn. Motian taps out a restrained magisterial rhythm on his ride cymbal with satiny flourishes on the high hat, as Crispell calls Peacock forth from the middle registers and he drones his assent to a chorded melody that moves from augmented sevenths to flatted fifth to major chords. One can hear everyone from Thomas Dorsey to Bill Evans, but underneath it all, is the exacting hand (if the young Claudio Arrau played jazz, he may have sounded like this) and enormous, tender heart of Crispell, calling the piece -- and set -- to a close. More than a follow-up to their first work together, on Amaryllis, Crispell, Peacock, and Motian have established a new yet authoritative voice in melodic improvisation for the jazz trio. - Thom Jurek
Tracks
01. Voice from the Past (Gary Peacock)
02. Amaryllis (Marilyn Crispell)
03. Requiem (gary Peacock)
04. Conception Vessel/Circle Dance (Paul Motian)
05. Voices (Paul Motian)
06. December Greenwings (Gary Peacock)
07. Silence (Marilyn Crispell)
08. M.E. (Paul Motian)
09. Rounds (Marilyn Crispell)
10. Avatar (Marilyn Crispell)
11. Morpion (Paul Motian)
12. Prayer (Michell Weiss)
MARILYN CRISPELL piano
GARY PEACOCK bass
PAUL MOTIAN drums
Recorded February 2000 at Avatar Studios, New York
ECM records - ECM 1742 / ECM Records - 013 400-2