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Connie Crothers

As performer and recording artist, Connie releases her deepest feeling—her source—into the music, creating a wide range of expression and a virtuosity which is based on her desire to discover everything she can hear and imagine through spontaneous improvisation.

In 2015, she performed solo in Kassel, Germany, at Staats Theater. The reviewer Von Georg Pepl, under the headline “Fantastic Adventure,” called it “a magnificent solo concert.”

She performed at the Vision Festival with dancers Elaine Gutierrez and Elaine Cray, MoralesDance, at Judson Memorial Church, NYC

During the year, Connie’s performances featured a number of musicians in a variety of contexts. She performed duos—with Warren Smith, percussionist, at Zurcher Gallery, NYC and also at Clemente Solo Velez, NYC, presented by Arts for Art Evolving Series; Joe McPhee, tenor saxophone, at Zurcher Gallery NYC; bassist Ken Filiano at Soup and Sound, Brooklyn; electronic composer and improviser Tom Hamilton at The Old Stone House, Brooklyn, presented by Dan Joseph’s Musical Ecologies; Paula Hackett, poet, Scholes Street Studio, Brooklyn; Ryan Messina, trumpet, Scholes Street Studio. Her trio performances included TranceFormation—Andrea Wolper, voice, Ken Filiano, bass at the Will Connell Memorial Concert, St. Peter’s Church, NYC; Kevin Norton, vibes and percussion, and Guillermo Gregorio at iBeam, Brooklyn; Michael Bisio, bass and Michael T.A. Thompson, drums, at Clemente Solo Velez, Arts for Art, NYC; Adam Lane, Michael Wimberley, Scholes Street Studio; Pete Swanson, bass and Michael Wimberley, drums at Scholes Street Studio. Quartet appearances include Adam Caine Quartet, with Adam Caine on guitar, Ken Filiano on bass, Federico Ughi on drums, Firehouse Performance Space, Brooklyn; Jeff Pearring Quartet at Lang Hall, Hunter College, NYC, with Jeff Pearring on alto saxophone, Ken Filiano on bass and Carlo Costa on drums, also at Scholes Street Studio.

In 2014, Connie was selected for a week residency at The Stone, from August 19 to 24, 2014. She performed twelve sets, each set with a different lineup of musicians. The duet set with Pauline Oliveros was chosen for the critics pick in the music section in Time Out magazine. This residency was a CD release celebration for “Concert in Paris,” a CD of selections from a solo concert performed in Paris in 2011, New Artists label. This CD was selected by Ken Weiss for his best of 2014 list in Cadence and by Gregory Applegate Edwards for “best jazz album of the year” (a tie). Earlier in this year, her quartet, with Richard Tabnik on alto saxophone, Ken Filiano on bass, Roger Mancuso on drums, released “Deep Friendship,” New Artists, from a concert at William Paterson University. The quartet celebrated the CD release in a performance at Roulette in Brooklyn. This CD received a four-star review in DownBeat and was included by DownBeat in their selection of best recordings of the year. She appeared in the Vision Festival in June with Times Three, a trio with Henry Grimes on bass and violin and Melvin Gibbs on electric bass. In this festival, she also performed in a set with the dancer Patricia Parker. She appeared at The Firehouse Performance Space, Brooklyn, in a quintet led by bassist Adam Lane which featured two pianos, the other pianist being Virg Dzurinko. She performed duo with bassist Ken Filiano at JACK, Brooklyn. She toured California with Jessica Jones, tenor saxophone, celebrating their 2013 CD release, “Live at the Freight.” This CD was chosen for best of the year lists by Ken Weiss and Duck Baker.

In 2013, the Relative Pitch label produced a duet CD with alto saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, “Two.” She performed at the Vision Festival with poet Steve Dalachinsky. With the Northwoods Improvisers, she performed at the Edge Festival. She performed solo at Roulette. In 2012, the French label RogueArt released a four-CD box set, a duo with pianist David Arner, “Spontaneous Suites for Two Pianos.” Ken Weiss, Alain Drouot and Pat Frisco chose it for their best of 2012 lists. A trio, TranceFormation, with Ken Filiano and singer Andrea Wolper, released the CD, “TranceFormation in Concert,” New Artists. She recorded duo with singer Alexis Parsons, “Hippin’,” and duo with poet Paula Hackett, “Sharing the Thrill,” both released on New Artists. Four CDs were released in 2011. “Live at the Stone, NYC’’ features her quartet, performing with poet Mark Weber. Another band release is “Band of Fire,” the quartet plus Roy Campbell on trumpet. “The Stone Set,” is a duet performance with clarinetist Bill Payne. “Kingston Tone Roads,” features a duet with Kevin Norton on vibes and percussion, with Tabnik on one track, New Vanguard label. Connie’s quartet appeared in the 2011 Vision Festival. Writing in Jazz Inside, Ken Weiss described this set as “the highlight of the Festival.”

Max Roach and Connie recorded duo in 1982, as part of Roach’s historic duets project–“Swish,” New Artists. This recording got two four-star reviews in DownBeat. They performed duo at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, in Tokyo, and at Harvard University, where she was honored as Visiting Jazz Artist. She co-led an engagement at The Vanguard with tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh, featuring bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Pete Scatarettico. Marsh performed with her in Carnegie Recital Hall with Mancuso and bassist Joe Solomon. Connie’s quartet, co-led with tenor saxophonist Lenny Popkin, featured bassist Cameron Brown and drummer Carol Tristano. Their recording, “Love Energy,” was voted #1 of the year in Wire Magazine by Jack Cooke.

As a solo performer, she appeared in the Berlin Jazztage, Jazz at Middleheim when she received a feature article in Knack, the Toronto International Jazz Festival, and at Carnegie Recital Hall, presented by Lennie Tristano. Tristano wrote on her first record, “Perception,” SteepleChase, “Connie Crothers is the most original musician it has ever been my privilege to work with.” Show less

I'm Gonna Go Fishin' on a Sunday Afternoon

by Mary Foster Conklin
May 11, 2020

A new month begins with recent releases from the Cory Weeds Quartet and vocalist Naama Gheber, with birthday shoutouts to Duke Ellington and Judy Collins in the first hour, followed by pianists Blossom Dearie, Shirley Horn and Connie Crothers (pictured). Thanks for your continued support and please support the artists you hear on this broadcast and their music. Playlist Gabriel Mark Hasselbach “I'm Gonna Go Fishin'" from MidCentury Modern Vol II (Windtunnel Records) 00:00 Billy Stritch “I'm Gonna ...

Album Review

Connie Crothers: Concert In Paris

Read "Concert In Paris" reviewed by John Ephland

by John Ephland
October 22, 2014

Connie Crothers' piano sounds like nothing you've heard before. Sure, it's acoustic, she plays melodies, she can be inside or outside the music. One thing she isn't, though, is wishy-washy. One of her latest, Concert In Paris, is a solo effort. And for anyone who loves the intimacy of a solo-piano recital, this one more jazz than classical in nature; for anyone who digs the feeling of being played to and for in a cozy setting; for anyone who likes ...

Live From New York

Spiritualized, Connie Crothers, Allen Lowe & Vinny Golia

by Martin Longley
April 18, 2013

Spiritualized Secret Project Robot April 2, 2013 The English cosmo-psychedelic drugsludge-rock combo Spiritualized would usually be expected to play at one of NYC's larger venues, such as Terminal 5 or Webster Hall. Just prior to their U.S. West Coast dates, Spiritualized suddenly announced a micro-gig, leaking the news on the morning of the show after rehearsing locally in preparation for the tour. Secret Project Robot is a small d.i.y. joint in ...

293

Album Review

Connie Crothers / Bill Payne: Conversations

Read "Conversations" reviewed by Marc Medwin

by Marc Medwin
November 23, 2008

Connie Crothers is one of the most versatile pianists on a scene that is so often mislabeled free jazz. Her pianism has been cultivated through long years of study and deep listening, evident in each tone, chord and gesture. Overwhelming intensity, at whatever volume, is juxtaposed with transparent beauty in a style that is as unique as it is unpredictable. Crothers has the perfect partner in clarinetist Bill Payne, with this disc of dialogues belying a long ...

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Album Review

Connie Crothers Quartet: Music Is A Place

Read "Music Is A Place" reviewed by Tom Greenland

by Tom Greenland
June 9, 2008

With Music Is A Place pianist Connie Crothers has created an enduring work, a crystallization and clarification of her musical aesthetic. Featuring longtime colleagues Richard Tabnik (alto) and Roger Mancuso (drums) along with veteran bassist Ratzo Harris, the disc contains a set of originals that explore the interzone between pre- and free composition, a mix of straight-up swing rhythms, blues inflections, cool-school instrumental timbres and emotional reserve, along with a predilection for controlled chaos.

The accent here is on compatibility ...

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Megaphone

Connie Crothers: Ideas for a Jazz Renaissance

by AAJ Staff
November 15, 2006

By Connie CrothersThere is a strong potential right now for a jazz renaissance. There are many signs of it. When there is no commercial pressure on the outcome of a performance or recording, there is evidence among musicians of greater looseness, openness and willingness to take chances. Although some small venues don't pay (and this is a problem!), there are so many more of them; younger musicians can evolve through frequent performances. (One caveat--where are the pianos?) There ...

213

Album Review

Connie Crothers: Live at the Outpost Performance Space

Read "Live at the Outpost Performance Space" reviewed by Francis Lo Kee

by Francis Lo Kee
February 6, 2006

This is a great example of truly free music, not the kind of posing, temper-tantrum stuff that is often enslaved by its ignorance of melody or harmony. Connie Crothers has forged a truly individual path in music, with next to no help from the marketplace. From track one, “Bird's Word, you get the feeling that even though this is pretty standard instrumentation, the approach to the music is very original.

It would be a misleading oversimplification to say that this ...

Recording

"Tranceformation In Concert”: October 9 Release By Connie Crothers / Ken Filiano / Andrea Wolper

Source: Michael Bloom Media Relations
August 7, 2012

TranceFormation, the improvising trio of Connie Crothers (piano), Ken Filiano (bass), and Andrea Wolper (voice), subverts expectation on several counts. From the first moment, this seemingly traditional bass-vocal-piano formation leaves tradition behind: there are no assumed or assigned roles, no leader, no side players. Instead, three strongly individual “voices" join to make music cooperatively as they weave in, out, and among one another, extending, bending, and experimenting with the sonic capabilities of their respective instruments. The music and words are ...
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Recording

Connie Crothers, Band of Fire: Live at the Stone with Roy Campbell

Source: Gapplegate Music Review by Grego Edwards
October 20, 2011

This is the third of a trilogy of recordings Connie Crothers made during her tenure at the famed NYC club The Stone in 2010. We've discussed the other two in earlier posts (see below). For this set Connie engages her long-lived regular group of Richard Tabnick on alto, Roger Mancuso on drums, and Ken Filiano on the bass, plus the addition of trumpet firebrand Roy Campbell. The Band of Fire (New Artists 1050) title well describes what was happening that ...
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Recording

Connie Crothers and Bill Payne Engage in Lively New-Improv Clarinet-Piano Duets: "The Stone Set"

Source: Gapplegate Music Review by Grego Edwards
October 7, 2011

Pianist Connie Crothers is back with another nice offering: The Stone Set (New Artists 1044), a two-CD volume of duets with clarinetist Bill Payne. The first disk captures the two playing a set at NY's The Stone, 2009, probably the premier venue these days for what's important in new jazz and free improvisation. The second disk, Conversations, covers another session of the two playing in Connie's loft in Brooklyn. It is a chance to hear the two interacting with an ...
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Recording

Connie Crothers Quartet and Poet Mark Weber Live at the Stone

Source: Gapplegate Music Review by Grego Edwards
September 21, 2011

Connie Crothers is important. Important to the music. Now Branford Marsalis, adding to the recent, rather over- weening pile-up/ discussion /furor about “what's wrong with jazz," noted in a recent interview that cats from New York talk about so-and-so being important, yet no one outside of a small group of people know about it, so how could it be important? With all due respect for Mr. B. Marsalis, whose music I admire greatly, that's easy. The most important jazz today ...
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Event

Barry Levitt and Connie Crothers to Perform at Manhattan Country School's Spring Benefit

Source: All About Jazz
April 8, 2009

Manhattan Country School will host its annual spring benefit- Big Night Out! on Saturday May 2, 2009 at the Prince George Ballroom in Manhattan.

The fundraiser will begin at 7:00p.m. with a cocktail reception followed by dinner, live music, and dancing. Musical guests include Barry Levitt, pianist Connie Crothers, cajun cellist Sean Grissom, Chip Jackson, Rodney Jones, and Michael Neal.

The Prince George Ballroom is located at 15 East 27th Street New York, NY. Please call 212-348-0952 ext 280 or ...
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