Just Due: Marilyn Crispell/Harvey Sorgen Duo at IMA

The old saying, “good things come to those who wait”, suggests that patience and persistence will eventually lead to reward. It actually happens sometimes in the jazz world, as veterans blossom to master-status and get their just deserts. Pianist Marilyn Crispell, who celebrated her 79th birthday on March 30, is enjoying such a moment in time. On April 2 at the Institute For the Musical Arts in Goshen, MA, she and drummer Harvey Sorgen gave 55 of us a profound lesson in the art of invention.

Crispell’s career - deeply touched by Anthony Braxton, Reggie Workman and the Creative Music Studio – has brought grants and accolades throughout the years, along with some high profile concerts and recordings. But in the last twelve months she has been awarded a National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship, and a Jazz Legacies Fellowship, a prestigious lifetime achievement honor bestowed by the Mellon Foundation and the Jazz Foundation of America. She’s also on the April cover of New York City Jazz Record. The laurels are starting to accumulate.

Her long time musical partner Harvey Sorgen, 69, has also amassed an impressive musical resumé. In addition to his work with Ahmad Jamal, Karl Berger, Joe Fonda and Bill Frisell, he was Hot Tuna’s drummer throughout the 1990s. Hot Tuna would tour with the Allman Brothers, and Jaimoe would insist Sorgen sit in with Gregg, Duane and the band. In those years he also got  a chance to play with Carlos Santana and Bruce Hornsby. When Sorgen was in high school he participated in a workshop by drummer Jack DeJohnette which consisted of two hours of non-stop playing. His mind was blown and his life-path revealed. DeJohnette became a mentor and was instrumental in getting Sorgen to move to Woodstock, NY in the mid-80s. They remained friends and neighbors until his passing in October. He was wearing Jack’s shoes at the concert.

It was impressive to see these two seasoned musicians shape a concert. The evening contained a multitude of moods, swinging from gorgeous, tear-welling melodies to seismic rumbles that shook the room. Like Hiromi and Zoh Amba, Crispell generates a volume of sound out of all proportion to her physical stature. After the concert, people reported seeing the piano shudder. For the most part, the music was composed on the spot, with melodies by Paul Motian, Arild Andersen and Crispell used as fleeting signposts. Sorgen’s use of Hang drum added a soothing, mellifluous dimension. Pronounced “hong”, the instrument was developed in Switzerland about 20 years ago, and consists of two steel shells bonded at the rim, creating a hollow, resonant chamber. Sorgen gently played the instrument with his hands, producing a subtle, but resonant sound. Crispell’s ringing response simulated a choir of bells.

At Charlie Mariano’s suggestion, Crispell spent the summer of 1977 at the Creative Music Studio (CMS) in Woodstock, NY, where she still lives. “You were living and eating and hanging out with the guiding artists in this country motel setting,” Crispell recalled in JazzTimes. “People would be up all night making bonfires and playing outside on the lawn with musicians from all over the world. It was a very important human experience and I met many of the people I ended up playing with,” including Roscoe Mitchell, Don Cherry, Wadada Leo Smith and Oliver Lake. Another of those musicians was Anthony Braxton. Crispell, Mark Dresser and Gerry Hemingway played in his quartet from 1983-1995, touring the world, making records, and reaching a wider jazz world. She also met Anthony Davis at CMS and performed in the premiere of his opera, X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X with the New York City Opera.

For the past eight years she’s toured the world with Joe Lovano’s Trio Tapestry and continues a 30 year musical relationship with the Swedish bassist Anders Jormin. Trio Tapestry has three ECM records to their name, while Crispell and Jormin recently unveiled Memento, also on the Munich-based label. Crispell’s long relationship with ECM founder Manfred Eicher has given her a larger audience, and her 1997 ECM debut, Nothing Ever Was, Anyway: The Music of Annette Peacock, featuring Gary Peacock and Paul Motian, has been followed by a half dozen important solo, duo and trio releases.

Crispell is becoming more selective in what she says “yes” to these days. She and Sorgen had just played the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, and were heading to Portland, ME to play a concert in Paul Lichter’s Dimensions in Jazz Series. Relationships are important determinants for her, and there were lots of friends in IMA’s big barn. Michael and Rosemary Lategano, who are active in A Place For Jazz, made the trip from Albany. Jazz Shares member Richard Murphy has known the pianist for decades, and Sorgen’s partner, Donna was there, and they made new friends, too. To be in an intimate setting with such an important musician felt special. And the music Crispell and Sorgen gave us filled our hearts and minds with wonder.