Product Details

• Actors: Marilyn Crispell
• Directors: Happy Traum
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Hal Leonard
• DVD Release Date: September 1, 2002
• Run Time: 80 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00006JUJ9
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #301,638 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Sit down at the piano and play whatever comes into your head, making up your own music as you go along. That's free improvisation. Marilyn Crispell digs into her long experience with the music of Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Gary Peacock and other jazz

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learned a lot, November 13, 2007

By 

Robert Anderson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Pianist's Guide to Free Improvisation DVD (DVD)

I really enjoy this DVD. I have been interested in piano improvisation for some time now. Bought some books on improvisation, Levine - Jazz Piano Book, Olmstead - Solo Jazz Piano. They are both great but not quite what I was looking for. This DVD explains many of the concepts in those books, and encourages you to explore improvisation yourself easily. Ms Crispell's presentation includes technical concepts, and encourages you to explore them, but more importantly demonstrates what you can do to improvise while staying within a set of harmonic "rules."
I would recommend this DVD to anyone who enjoys jazz, wants to learn more about harmony and wants to have some fun improvising.
I should mention that the concepts apply to improvising music on the piano in general, not just jazz.
Highly recommended.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Needs some focus, September 11, 2008

By 

S. Slaughter - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Pianist's Guide to Free Improvisation DVD (DVD)

I'm only giving this video 2 stars, just to knock it down a bit from the previous (and only) reviewer's take on it. It was his review that sold me on buying it for myself, as I too, have the Levine and Olstead books and was looking for something that might more quickly "unlock" some of the mysteries that still seem out of my reach. Well at least for me - this DVD didn't do it.
Marilyn Crispell is a very capable player, at least from what I could tell, but this "lesson" feels rather an "improvisation" in itself, and goes from explaining "beginner" concepts like intervals and the major scale to what amounts to a free jam session that no beginner could ever comprehend.
If you're into Cecil Taylor and that style of playing, you might enjoy this. If you're looking for a more fundamental approach to get you moving (which I was) this probably will frustrate you.
In all fairness, the concept of the DVD is about "free improvisation" and that IS what she is trying to deliver here. If you want to know how to play in a rather traditional jazz setting like Ellington or even Bill Evans, look elsewhere.