Longtime colleagues, friends, and inspirations, pianist Marilyn Crispell (Joe Lovano Trio Tapestry, Antony Braxton Quartet) and bassist Anders Jormin (Bobo Stenson Trio, Tomasz Stańko Quartet) have made music together in the past, but never as collaboratively as they do on Memento. Eschewing bandmates, the pair engage in an intimate dance that emphasizes silence and space as much as melody and performance.
Crispell’s minimalist playing beelines for note choice and chord voicings, making sure there’s a lot of air in her performances. Jormin tends to lean more towards solos, with his pizzicato thrumming and arco work providing most of the showcase moments. Each track is a collusion in the best sense – two minds in pursuit of a single goal, giving and taking more on instinct than by design. Listening to Crispell’s title track, Jormin’s two-part mini-epic “Three Shades of a House,” or the co-composed “Contemplation in D” is like eavesdropping on a planning session for something that will change the world for the better.
The booklet photos show Jormin’s bass placed right next to Crispell’s piano bench, which underscores a song whose title encapsulates the primary aim of Memento: “Dialogue.”
