Gaia is an album by American jazz pianist Marilyn Crispell, which was recorded in 1987 and released on the English Leo label.[1]

Gaia
Studio album by Marilyn Crispell
Released	1988
Recorded	March 15, 1987
Studio	Woodstock studio, Woodstock, New York
Genre	Jazz
Length	39:40
Label	Leo
Producer	Leo Feigin
Marilyn Crispell chronology
Quartet Improvisations, Paris 1986 (1987) Gaia (1988) Labyrinths (1988)

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	[3]
Tom Hull – on the Web	A–[4]

The Wire's 1988 critics poll listed Gaia as one of the best albums of that year. The editors wrote: "Named for the Greek Goddess of the Earth, GAIA affirms the power of the life-force in fierce, joyous music that is both sexual and spiritual..."[5]

In his review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek states "Gaia is too fragmented to be marketed as a single work, its editing is sloppy and incoherent, and the improvising here - by a trio that would later stun live audiences with its empathy and near telepathic communication - is too stilted and rudimentary."[2]

The Penguin Guide to Jazz says that "Gaia is one of the finest composition/improvisation records of the '80s, a hymn to the planet that is neither mawkish nor sentimental, but tough-minded, coherent and entire."[3]

Track listing

All compositions by Marilyn Crispell

1. "Gaia" – 39:40

Personnel

• Marilyn Crispell – piano, harp, percussion
• Reggie Workman - bass, drums, percussion
• Doug James - drums, percussion

References