The first time I heard this Chick Corea‘s song it was not played by him but by Marian McPartland on her NPR Piano Jazz radio show. She was interviewing Chick, he played something, they played together, and then she tells him that she wants to play Crystal Silence for him. It was (it is) a wonderful and inspiring version, and since then it has become one of my favorite songs. The song itself is beautiful, and Marian’s version is so open minded that…
I’ve listened to many of her interviews on her program, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson, Alice Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan, Jim Hall… She was always making the right questions, and then so humbly playing duets with her guests (and many times asking for a free improvisation duet!), I’ve really learned a lot about the meaning of music from her. Great musician and great artist!
When I recorded “Secrets of a Kiri Tree” there were a few songs that did not make it to the album. I just sat down and played for more than two hours, and in fact I had a hard time in choosing the songs that eventually were included in the album. This is one of the leftovers that is part of the new piano solo album Peripheral Songs.