Vignettes

The underrated jazz pianist Marilyn Crispell was a regular member of the Anthony Braxton Quartet for 15 years. Her influences include Cecil Taylor and Paul Bley, but listening to this 2008 solo piano album, it’s hard not to think of Crispell’s classical background — she graduated from the New England Conservatory and didn’t start playing jazz until she was almost 30. Vignettes is a showcase for Crispell’s wonderfully far-ranging improvisations. With its Eastern scales “Gathering Light” evokes a jazzier version of Terry Riley; Keith Jarrett’s work also comes to mind. The mellow track is followed by “Vignette 2,” where the piano’s strings are used to nice effect and the space between notes looms large in a Morton Feldman sort of way. “Vignette 3” is a brief, edgy scramble of agitated notes, while “Vignette 4” opens with dark, thick voicings that give way to captivating upper register plinks. In addition to performing her own pieces, Crispell covers works by two other composers: Arve Hendriksen’s folk-inflected “Stilleweg” and Jayna Nelson’s lyrical “Cuida Tu Espiritu.”