MUSIC FROM EVERYDAY LIFE
Connie Crothers, solo piano
By Frank Rubolino
The piano style of Connie Crothers is replete with rich textural phrasing and an ability to dissect a composition to expose its barest roots. Crothers has been an adept pursuer of creativity since the 1960s when she studied under Lennie Tristano and thereafter began performing publicly in the New York area. Her playing is filled with depth and density, hinting at a somber, seemingly brooding persona, which in reality is counter indicative of her true character. This perception is particularly suggested on the solo album Music from Everyday Life. While the title might imply a lighthearted romp, it is anything but that. The songs unfold in heavy layers of sound that cascade from her piano with abundant resonance. Her program of original and standard material is an announced statement of personal, subjective choice, and it is played with intensity and an obvious outpouring of emotion.
While one would expect her own compositions to be freeform vehicles, I was surprised and impressed by the way Crothers approached the standards. Songs such as "Lover Man", "Star Eyes", and "How High the Moon" are played with such originality that the melody lines are fully submerged under her interpretive direction. She projects the essence of the songs without ever having to make an overt statement on the theme. Only on the opening segment of "Good Morning Heartache" does even the slightest hint of the theme surface. This subtlety indicates an ability to hear far beyond the superficial level of melody. Crothers makes heavy use of the lower end of the register in probing the labyrinth she designs inside the songs. Her right hand adds the sparkling relief, but the most meaningful statements are derived from the bottom end of the sound spectrum. The tunes are the essence of full-bodied articulation, and her exploratory endeavor results in substantive music with power framed in a veil of tenderness.
www.onefinalnote.com
September 2001
Chosen by John Sutherland for his list of the ten best recordings of the year 2001 in CODA Magazine
MORE REVIEWS
quartet
Connie Crothers Quartet, Music is a Place
Tom Greenland, All About Jazz: New York
June 9, 2008
Connie Crothers Quartet, Music is a Place
Bruce L. Gallanter
Downtown Music Gallery Newsletter
June 29, 2007
Connie Crothers Quintet
Live at the Outpost Performance Space
Francis Lo Kee, All About Jazz: New York
January 2006
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Connie Crothers and Michael Bisio
Session at 475 Kent
Derek Taylor, Master of a Small House
February 2010
Connie Crothers and Michael Biso
Session at 475 Kent
Grego Edwards, Gapplegate Music Review
February 2010
Connie Crothers - Bill Payne, Conversations
Marc Medwin, All About Jazz: New York
November 2008
Connie Crothers - Bill Payne, Conversations
Chris Kelsey, www.jazz.com
August 27, 2008
Connie Crothers - Bill Payne, Conversations
Scott Yanow, L.A. Jazz Scene
July 2008
solo
Connie Crothers
Solo Set at the 2008 Vision Festival
John Sharpe, All About Jazz
June 2008
Concert at Cooper Union
John Sutherland, CODA Magazine
November 1, 1992