Connecting Spirits

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Connecting Spirits
Connecting Spirits Cover.jpeg
Live album by
Joseph Jarman and Marilyn Crispell
Released1996
RecordedJanuary 12, 1996
VenueFirst Unitarian Society Meeting House, Madison, Wisconsin
GenreJazz
Length58:51
LabelMusic & Arts
ProducerScott Fields
Joseph Jarman chronology
Calypso's Smile
(1991) 		Connecting Spirits
(1996) 		Pachinko Dream Track 10
(1997)
Marilyn Crispell chronology
Contrast: Live at Yoshi's
(1996) 		Connecting Spirits
(1996) 		Nothing Ever Was, Anyway: Music of Annette Peacock
(1997)

Connecting Spirits is an album by American jazz saxophonist Joseph Jarman and pianist Marilyn Crispell, which was recorded live in 1996 and released on the Music & Arts label.[1]

Background[]

After several years of semi-retirement (his work as a Buddhist priest, poet, and teacher of aikido taken him away from musical activity), Jarman reemerged to perform with Crispell as a duo for the first time at the Frank Lloyd Wright designed First Unitarian Society Meeting House in Madison, Wisconsin. They have both already separately joined duets with Anthony Braxton and smalls groups with Fred Anderson and the two were in Madison to play together on a recording by another mutual connection, guitarist Scott Fields.[2] In subsequent concerts Gerry Hemingway joined the pair.

Crispell and Jarman have both composed and performed tributes to John Coltrane in their careers: Crispell with her album For Coltrane and Jarman with the piece "Ohnedaruth" on the Art Ensemble of Chicago's Phase One. Here they play Coltrane's composition "Dear Lord".[2]

Reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic3.5/5 stars[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz3/4 stars[4]

In his review for AllMusic, Scott Yanow states "Not everything works, but overall this is a stimulating set and it is nice to hear Jarman featured in this setting."[3] The Penguin Guide to Jazz says about Jarman "Like everything he does, it is thoughtful, passionate and somewhat enigmatic, a lateral approach to fairly basic material, and a technically modest exercise in saxophone artistry."[4]

Track listing[]

  1. "For Joseph" (Marilyn Crispell) – 11:33
  2. "MCPS" (Marilyn Crispell) – 3:34
  3. "Structure I" (Crispell/Jarman) – 8:21
  4. "Upper Reaches" (Joseph Jarman) – 5:38
  5. "Dear Lord" (John Coltrane) – 9:54
  6. "Connectivity" (Crispell/Jarman) – 5:22
  7. "Meditations on a Vow of Compassion" (Joseph Jarman) – 14:29

Personnel[]

References[]

  1. ^ Marilyn Crispell Sessionography by Rick Lopez
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Original Liner Notes by Tom Waters
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Yanow, Scott. Joseph Jarman – Connecting Spirits: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2002). The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (6th ed.). London: Penguin. p. 779. ISBN 0140515216.
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