Connie Crothers

• Name — Connie Crothers • Landscape — yes • Born — 2 May 1941 • Birthplace — Palo Alto, California, U.S. • Died — 13 August 2016 (aged 75) • Place of death — New York City, New York, U.S. • Genre — Avant-garde jazz, free jazz • Occupation — Musician, composer, educator • Instrument — Piano • Years Active — 1972–2016 • Label — SteepleChase, New Artists • Past Member Of — Lennie Tristano, Richard Tabnik • Website — www.conniecrothers.net

Crothers began studying classical piano at age 9 and went on to major in composition at the University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley, her teachers emphasized "procedure and structure" and "compositional rigor" over emotional expression, which did not sit well with Crothers. Inspired by his recording of "C Minor Complex," one of the first examples on record of free improvisation, she relocated to New York City to become a student of Lennie Tristano.

After Tristano's death in November 1978, Crothers founded the Lennie Jazz Foundation and recorded a memorial concert album in his honor. In 1982, she recorded an album with drummer Max Roach for New Artists Records, a label she and Roach founded. She also recorded in groups with, among others, Richard Tabnik and Cameron Brown. In the fall of 2013, while Connie Crothers was struggling with terminal cancer, she invited Dhamma Ace Yamashita, the only Japanese disciple from Japan, to her private studio and conducted a recording session for several days. Dhamma Ace Yamashita remembers, "At the recording sessions, Connie Crothers' concentration was cosmologically deep. We communicated without a single word; our souls became one, completely within our music." Crothers died of lung cancer in Manhattan on August 13, 2016.

• Year recorded — Title — Label — Notes • 1974 — Perception — SteepleChase — Trio, with Joe Solomon (bass), Roger Mancuso (drums) • 1980? — Solo — Jazz • 1982 — Swish — New Artists — Duo, with Max Roach (drums) • 1984 — Concert at Cooper Union — Orchard — Solo piano • 1985 — Duo Dimension — New Artists — Duo, with Richard Tabnik (alto sax) • 1988 — Love Energy — New Artists — Quartet, with Lenny Popkin (tenor sax), Cameron Brown (bass), Carol Tristano (drums) • 1989 — New York Night — Orchard — Quartet, with Lenny Popkin (tenor sax), Cameron Brown (bass), Carol Tristano (drums) • 1989 — In Motion — Orchard — Quartet, with Lenny Popkin (tenor sax), Cameron Brown (bass), Carol Tristano (drums) • 1993 — Jazz Spring — Orchard — Quartet, with Lenny Popkin (tenor sax), Cameron Brown (bass), Carol Tristano (drums) • 1993–94 — Deep into the Center — New Artists — Duo, with Roger Mancuso (drums) • 1993–96 — Music from Everyday Life — New Artists — Solo piano • 1996 — Session — New Artists — Quartet, with Lenny Popkin (tenor sax), Rich Califano (bass), Carol Tristano (drums) • 1997? — Just for the Joy of It — with Bob Casanova • 1998–99 — Ontology — New Artists — Quartet, with Richard Tabnik (alto sax), Sean Smith (bass), Roger Mancuso (drums) • 1999? — Notes from New York • 2005 — Music Is a Place — New Artists — Quartet, with Richard Tabnik (alto sax), Ratzo Harris (bass), Roger Mancuso (drums) • 2005 — Live at Outpost Performance Space — New Artists — Quartet, with Richard Tabnik (alto sax), Ratzo Harris (bass), Roger Mancuso (drums); in concert • 2007? — Conversations — New Artists • 2010? — Session at 475 Kent — Mutable Music • 2011 — Two — Relative Pitch — Duo, with Jemeel Moondoc (saxophone) • 2011? — Live at the Freight — New Artists — Duo, with Jessica Jones (tenor sax); in concert • 2011? — Spontaneous Suites for Two Pianos — RogueArt — Duo, with David Arner (piano) • 2012? — Hippin' — New Artists • 2013 — UNISON — A.Y.L — Duo, with Dhamma Ace Yamashita (guitar) • 2013 — Synchronicity — A.Y.L — Duo, with Dhamma Ace Yamashita (guitar) • 2014 — Concert In Paris — New Artists — Solo piano • 2016 — Live At The Stone — Imprec — Duo, with Pauline Oliveros (accordion, electronics, voice) Sources:

• 1992? Lennie Tristano Memorial Concert, Tristanos Disciples • 1999? The Way I Am, Linda Satin • 2002? Primal Elegance, Bud Tristano

Connie Crothers is recorded with the occupation music educator. Recorded with the occupation jazz musician. Classed in the genre jazz. Recorded as pianist, music educator and musician.