Cecil Taylor

Strange as it sounds, this is a somewhat typical date by avant-garde master Cecil Taylor. Recorded live at a Minneapolis concert, the performance consists of three improvisations (two of which are quite lengthy) that have Taylor in mostly thunderous form, leavened by a few brief lyrical moments. Bassist Dominic Duval and drummer Jackson Krall do their best to keep up with Taylor but there is no doubt who the leader is. Taylor's remarkable technique and endurance are in evidence, as is his ability to build on the most abstract ideas and somehow have it all make musical sense…

This second installment from an electrifying concert should thrill Taylor fans and win a few converts. It defies odds that the pianist, after so many years, continues to astound with his totally original performances. This one is vintage Taylor, with the pianist in full throttle, winding and turning phrases with characteristic brilliance…

Cecil Taylor has never compromised his ideals, and this recording is no exception. During the course of more than one hour, Taylor and his quartet perform only one piece, but do it with such exquisite finesse that it incorporates dozens of shades and styles of expression…

This double-LP is the only recording that exists of Cecil Taylor and his group (other than two songs on the bootleg Ingo label) during 1962-1965. Taylor's then-new altoist Jimmy Lyons (who occasionally hints at Charlie Parker) and the first truly "free" drummer Sunny Murray join the avant-garde pianist in some stunning trio performances recorded live at the Cafe Montmartre in Copenhagen. With the exception of an interesting version of "What's New" (which finds Lyons showing off his roots), the music is comprised entirely of Taylor originals and is atonal and full of power.

One of Cecil Taylor's earliest recordings, Looking Ahead! does just that while still keeping several toes in the tradition. It's an amazing document of a talent fairly straining at the reins, a meteor about to burst onto the jazz scene and render it forever changed. With Earl Griffith on vibes, Taylor uses an instrumentation he would return to occasionally much later on, one that lends an extra percussive layer to the session, emphasizing the new rhythmic attacks he was experimenting with. Griffith sounds as though he might have been a conceptual step or two behind the other three but, in the context of the time, this may have served to make the music a shade more palatable to contemporary tastes…

Oblivion Records is delighted to announce the February 15, 2022 release of Cecil Taylor – The Complete, Legendary, Live Return Concert, marking the first chance for listeners to hear the legendary pianist’s 1973 return to live performance in full. The concert saw Taylor reunite with Cecil Taylor Unit members Jimmy Lyons (alto saxophone) and Andrew Cyrille (percussion), with the addition of Sirone on bass. This project, assembled by the original producer and recording engineer Fred Seibert, is a much-anticipated opportunity to hear the missing piece of a puzzle long-thought lost, that adds another chapter to the story of Taylor’s search for artistic freedom.

Avant-garde icon Cecil Taylor has a superfluity of gems in his catalogue, but his recordings from the early 1960s have a special significance in that they represent the pianist's transition from a traditional post-bop approach to his more abstract stylings. Lyrical, bluesy, and driven by bold improvisation, 1960's Air is an excellent example of Taylor's early work. Along with saxophonist Archie Shepp (who sits in on two numbers) and a sharp, tight-knit rhythm section, Taylor can be heard stretching the jazz canvas of the era, forming the radical vocabulary he would master on landmark albums like 1966's Unit Structures. Air is a must for Taylor fans, and is also a good entry point for those who find his later work too jarring or abrasive.

Cecil Taylor - One Too Many Salty Swift and Not Goodbye (1978) {2CD Set, Hat Hut Records hat ART CD 2-6090 rel 1991}
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© 1978, 1991 Hat Hut Records | hat ART CD 2-6090
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Creative / Piano

In 1978 Cecil Taylor not only formed a band, he took it into the recording studio (something he hadn’t done since Conquistador!, a dozen years earlier) and on a European tour. The Cecil Taylor Unit of spring and summer 1978 is not only one of the pianist’s most vital ensembles, it’s also unique in its instrumentation, and its development of a collective identity makes it a rarity among his groups. Fans of Cecil Taylor's unrelenting music will certainly enjoy this exuberant work. This is the best-recorded performance of the enlarged Cecil Taylor Unit at its creative and most unified peak.

Cecil Taylor - The World Of Cecil Taylor (1960) {Candid CD9006 rel 1987}
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© 1960, 1987 Candid | CD 9006
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Creative / Piano

From the opening patterns of Denis Charles' drums on the title cut, the listener knows he/she is in for something special. One can only imagine what the reaction of the average jazz fan was in 1960 when this session was recorded. This is a wonderful document from early in Taylor's career, when he was midway between modernist approaches to standard material and his own radical experiments that would come to full fruition a few years hence. The quartet, rounded out by the youthful Archie Shepp (playing only on "Air" and "Lazy Afternoon") and bassist Buell Neidlinger, is already quite comfortable at pushing the boundaries of the period, giving an almost cursory reading of the themes before leaping into improvisation.

Cecil Taylor - The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note (2010) {5CD Set, CAM Jazz BXS1007 rec 1979-1986}
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© 1984-86, 2010 CAM Jazz / Black Saint / Soul Note | BXS 1007
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Improvised Music / Piano

The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note is a monographic box-set collection aimed at recounting the most beautiful chapters that revolutionised the history of jazz. A deep philological work, beginning with the original recordings on original master tapes, patiently integrally remastered paying strict attention to sound quality.