Quick Facts
Biography
Connie Crothers (May 2, 1941 – August 13, 2016) was an American jazz pianist. She majored in music at the University of California, Berkeley before becoming a student of Lennie Tristano.
Crothers began studying classical piano at age 9 and went on to major in composition at the University of California at Berkeley. At Berkeley, her teachers emphasized "procedure and structure" and "compositional rigor" over emotional expression, which did not sit well with Crothers.
After Tristano's death in November 1978, she 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.
Death
Crothers died of lung cancer in Manhattan on August 13, 2016.
Discography
As leader
- 1974 Perception (SteepleChase)
- 1980 Solo (Jazz)
- 1984 Concert at Cooper Union (Orchard)
- 1987 Duo Dimension (New Artists)
- 1989 New York Night (Orchard)
- 1991 In Motion (Orchard)
- 1992 Love Energy (New Artists)
- 1993 Jazz Spring (Orchard)
- 1994 Deep into the Center (New Artists)
- 1996 Music from Everyday Life (Orchard)
- 1997 Session (New Artists)
- 1997 Just for the Joy of It, with Bob Casanova
- 1999 Ontology (New Artists)
- 1999 Notes from New York
- 2006 Live Outpost Performance Space (New Artists)
- 2006 Music is a Place (New Artists)
- 2007 Conversations (New Artists)
- 2010 Session at 475 Kent (Mutable Music)
- 2011 Live at the Freight (New Artists)
- 2011 Spontaneous Suites for Two Pianos (Rogue Art)
- 2012 Hippin ' (New Artists)
As sidewoman
- 1982 Swish, Max Roach
- 1992 Lennie Tristano Memorial Concert, Tristanos Disciples
- 1999 The Way I Am, Linda Satin
- 2002 Primal Elegance, Bud Tristano