I N - T H I S - I S S U E :

Workman / Crispell / Cleaver

The only performance I was able to attend in full at Edgefest this year was the concert that brought together the veteran bassist Reggie Workman, pianist Marilyn Crispell and drummer Gerald Cleaver. The Kerrytown Concert House on October 6 was, not surprisingly, packed for this awesome trio. Workman and Cleaver have recorded several memorable albums since at least the mid-1980s. Cleaver recently moved to New York, but had never played with this trio, except for a short rehearsal the day of the concert. I was curious to see him perform with two such prominent stars of the avant-garde, and I am happy to report that he did great.

Workman acted as leader of the group and penned most of the music. Somewhat to my surprise, the evening contained relatively few burners; instead, we got a healthy dose of ballads. Crispell was more lyrical than when I last heard her last. "Balance," introduced by Workman as a contrapuntal tone poem, had a theme carried by bass and piano, and featured some very delicate piano by Crispell. "Variation 3," in contrast, ended with very intense piano chords after a mellow start by Cleaver's measured mallets.

The trio returned to New York to record three days later and it was a pleasure to think of myself as a witness to their main rehearsal.

Above: Reggie Workman at Kerrytown Concerthouse

Below: Gerald Cleaver's Veil of Names was part of Edgefest at the Firefly.
left: Mat Maneri, viola, and Ben Monder, guitar
center: Reid Anderson, bass
right: Andrew Bishop, tenor sax

photographs by Lars Björn

I N - T H I S - I S S U E :
1. WORKMAN/CRISPELL/CLEAVER---2. DONALD WALDEN / RICK ROE
3. LETTER FROM NEW YORK---4. PAT FLOWERS
5. GONZALO RUBALCABA---6. JIMMY SCOTT
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