Katrina Krimsky - Four Moons (1992)

If you enjoyed Terry Riley's A Rainbow In Curved Air courtesy of that live version the other week, good news: here's another one.  This time it's not played by Riley himself, but by pianist/composer Katrina Krimsky (b. 1938), until now only known on this blog for being one of that fascinating, select group of musicians who make a single appearance on ECM then seemingly fade back into obscurity - check the gorgeous Stella Malu if you haven't already.

Krimsky's arrangement of ARICA starts out with gently rippling piano, before gradually being joined by flute, sitar and tabla.  Her group of musicians on this beautiful rendition of Riley includes one Krishna Bhatt, who we'll be hearing more from in a week or so.  Some vibes join the mix for the closing minutes when the ARICA arrangement revs up closest to its originator's version, sounding interestingly close to 80s Steve Reich.

The other two pieces on this album are Krimsky originals, with the 20-minute title piece up next.  The same basic palette of flute and tuned percussion colour the impressionistic piece, its four sections dedicated to the main four moons of Jupiter.  The addition of the gentle, unobtrusive sitar makes me think of Popol Vuh at times, or Jan Garbarek & co circa Song For Everyone once the percussion kicks in.  Every twist and turn in the arrangement adds fresh beauty to the piece, making me wish there were more CDs available of Krimsky's compositions, as does the third piece, Elise's Dream.  As hinted in the title, it's based on variations of the opening line of Beethoven's Für Elise.  Seriously, can't recommend this whole album highly enough.

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pw: sgtg

Katrina Krimsky / Trevor Watts ‎– Stella Malu (1981)

ECM obscurity for crisp, blustery mornings. Just sparkling, echo-laden piano courtesy of Kristina Krimsky, a classically-trained pianist with links to Terry Riley, and English saxophonist Trevor Watts.  The latter's playing here is very much in the vein of another ECM Englishman, John Surman, especially in Watts' brief solo turn 'Rhythm Circle'.

The occasional knottier flourish aside, this is a mostly tasteful, elegaic programme, with Krimsky sometimes bringing to mind Harold Budd if he played more notes.  The gorgeous highlight 'Crystal Morning' is a perfectly self-descriptive case in point.  I'm actually drafting this writeup on a Saturday morning with a light dusting of last night's snow gradually melting in the cemetery across the road, and went straight to this album as a result when I got up.  But I'll wind up now before trying anything too fancy and image-descriptive, and leave that sort of stuff  to the master.  Tyran Grillo, as mentioned previously, can not only totally nail the essence of any ECM record, but deserves eternal kudos for making such a major project out of doing so several hundred times to date.

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