Jazz Articles about Cecil Taylor

Cecil Taylor Unit: One Too Many Salty Swift and Not Goodbye

by Rex Butters
April 19, 2005

Hat Hut has done the world a favor and restored Cecil Taylor's epic 1978 Stuttgart concert recording, One Too Many Salty Swift and Not Goodbye, to the active list. Originally released in the unwieldy three-record set format on vinyl, now spread over a less disjointed two-CD collection, this leonine work anticipates the increasingly popular juxtaposition of composed/cued/improvised elements artfully juggled to the delight of listener and musician alike.

This Unit's lineup truly represents a dream team: Jimmy Lyons ...

Cecil Taylor Unit: One Too Many Salty Swift And Not Goodbye

by Jerry D'Souza
February 21, 2005

Cecil Taylor Unit One Too Many Salty Swift And Not Goodbye Hatology 2004 (1978)

It seems to me that what music is, is everything that you do.

Those words from pianist Cecil Taylor, in the documentary Imagine The Sound , are a pointer to his craft. A little later he opens another vent: When one walks down the street and there is a fuchsia coloured awning sticking out on the 30th floor, ...

Cecil Taylor and Mat Maneri: Algonquin

by Clifford Allen
December 2, 2004

As much of a clich' as it may sound, the debate will always rage on some semblance of a definition of “jazz" versus “improvised music." It is never a debate that one really wants to get into, semiotically or aesthetically, but with each new improvised recording, the listener and historian both must consider not only whether it is of value, but where it fits on the artistic continuum. But where does one draw the line between free jazz and free ...

Cecil Taylor: Conquistador!

by Colin Fleming
October 17, 2004

More so than with any label, the greatest recordings on Blue Note, those that pull rank on the merely great and that we can most comfortably say will belong to all ages, seem to prove a burden for many listeners to embrace, no matter how enthralled they are by the sounds of Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Blue Train---the label's signature sounds, really. Consider Out To Lunch! and Point of Departure, often dismissed as acquired tastes, or worse, noise, and flouted ...

Cecil Taylor: Algonquin

by Rex Butters
September 3, 2004

Spending taxpayer money wisely, the Library of Congress commissioned Cecil Taylor to write a work for violin and piano in 1999. The resulting Algonquin features the pianist alongside violinist Mat Maneri, recorded before an audibly appreciative audience. Clearly enjoying the company, Taylor plays it frisky, free and light. Maneri has a more youthful-sounding partner than on his Gravitational Systems duet with Matthew Shipp.

Reciting a short poem, Taylor opens “Part One." Maneri plays a solo improvisation, sounding already warmed up. ...

Cecil Taylor: The Owner Of The River Bank

by Jim Santella
July 2, 2004

The single piece by Cecil Taylor lasts an hour. It was recorded during the second of two concerts given to celebrate the first ten years of the Italian Instabile Orchestra. This was part of the Talos Festival in Ruvo di Puglia, in Southern Italy, on September 10, 2000.

From the sounds of an orchestra warming up, to a subdued conclusion that rumbles deeply and insignificantly, Taylor’s piece takes his audience on a journey through scenery that changes gradually ...

Cecil Taylor & Italian Instabile Orchestra: The Owner Of The River Bank

by Jerry D'Souza
May 25, 2004

The Italian Instabile Orchestra played two concerts at the Talos Festival in Ruva di Puglia in 2000, celebrating its tenth anniversary. Cecil Taylor wrote the music, if it can be called writing, for he brought in paper with symbols, words and shapes to the rehearsals. This work in progress began to ferment over the next three days. Ideas came from Taylor, who encouraged the other musicians to ignite their own. Impulse interacted with heart and soul and mind, and from ...