Cecil Taylor

First visit archive offers previously unreleased recordings of historic and musical importance. When, in this music, he succeeds in fusing the emotional (translated into its lyrical and dramatic qualities) pas- sage of ritual with the complex architecture of his ensemble’s infrastructural procedures, we have a bridge into Cecil Taylor’s creative spirit, and far beyond. (Art Lange)

Cecil Taylor & Dominic Duval - The Last Dance Volumes 1 & 2 (2009) {2CD Set Cadence Jazz CJR 1229~30}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 317 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 222 Mb
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© 2009 Cadence Jazz Records / CIMP |CJR 1229~30
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Creative / Piano / Bass

Dance is a crucial factor, both in this music and in Cecil Taylor's life at large. His mother was a dancer, and he often described his technique as a way to reproduce choreography's leaps and movements on the keyboard. Moreover, bassist Dominic Duval refers to these improvisations — recorded at 2003's San Francisco Jazz Fest — as "a truly integrated dance in which there are two dancers, dancing and singing together in harmony and with love and respect for each other". This relationship dates back to 1995, this double CD marking the first time in which the artists' output as a bass/piano duo is released.

Cecil Taylor - Live In Vienna (1987) {Leo Records CDLR174 rel 1991}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 305 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 170 Mb
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© 1987, 1991 Leo Records | CD LR 174
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Improvised Music / Piano

One look at this recording and anyone familiar with the work of Cecil Taylor will know that it isn't for the faint of heart or spirit. An unbroken, hurricane of an album that extends for more than 71 minutes, Live in Vienna begins with a multi-voice poetry performance that descends into glossolalia and clucks, reminding the listener of the heyday of the Four Horsemen. Perhaps it isn't a coincidence that while the rest of the album remains firmly perched on the edge of the avant-garde, like the Four Horsemen it also seems to come from a previous time when the outrageous, experimental, and cerebral were more likely to be found together.

Cecil Taylor - Lifting The Bandstand (2021) {Fundacja Słuchaj! FSR01 rec 1998}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44.1kHz - Official Digital Download -> 427 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 181 Mb
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© 1998, 2021 Fundacja Słuchaj! | FSR 01
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Creative / Piano

When the Cecil Taylor quintet was ready to play at the Tampere Jazz Happening on October 30, 1998, all the musical world knew the virulent compactness of Taylor’s groups, especially after the American pianist had established an on-going link with Berlin and the European public. That day in Tampere, a superlative performance of free improvisation (Harri Sjöström on soprano sax, Tristan Honsinger on cello, Paul Lovens on drums and Teppo Hauta-aho on double bass) was able to represent Taylor’s enormous creative potential. It is a concert discovered in the archives of Finnish Radio YLE, never documented on a recording medium, which allows us to enter that absolutely unique world of Taylor’s groups: art and sound density, expressive universes that leave you speechless even after their conclusion.

Cecil Taylor - The Eighth (1981) {Hat Hut Records hatOLOGY 622 rel 2006)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 462 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 165 Mb
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© 1981, 2006 Hat Hut Records | hatOLOGY 622
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Creative / Piano

Recorded live in West Germany in 1981, THE EIGHTH is an aptly named Cecil Taylor concert. Listened to casually (though it's hard to imagine this music listened to casually), one hears four virtuosi–Taylor on piano, Jimmy Lyons (alto sax), William Parker (bass), and Rashid Bakr (drums)–playing maelstroms of dense music. Closer listening reveals symphonic ambition, mystical leanings, and the magic of numbers. The eighth can also refer to an octave, one of Taylor's favorite intervals.