Marilyn Crispell

Marilyn Crispell (born March 30, 1947) 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 known as a longtime member of saxophonist Anthony Braxton’s quartet in the 1980s and ’90s. Biography Crispell was born in Philadelphia and, at the age of ten, moved to Baltimore, where she attended Western High School. She studied classical piano at the Peabody Conservatory beginning at age seven, and also began improvising at an early age, thanks to a teacher who required all her students to improvise regardless of their skill level. Crispell was not interested in jazz until 1975, when, while living on Cape Cod, she heard John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme for the first time. She recalls: “The emotional and spiritual quality of it overpowered me… I can honestly say it’s possibly the most overpowering experience