Cecil Touchon

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.

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. ~ AllMusic

Cecil Taylor - The Cecil Taylor Unit (1978) {New World Records NW 201-2 rel 1987}
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© 1978, 1987 New World Records | NW 201-2
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Creative / Piano

Whether he's playing solo piano or working in a group, Cecil Taylor creates whirlwinds of sound, layers of intricately detailed percussive patterns that form into long overlapping arcs and result in works of extraordinary scale and density. However controversial or demanding his work has been, in a career that stretches back to the early 1950s, it's rooted deeply in the jazz tradition of kinetic rhythmic dialogue. On this sextet recording from 1978, Taylor is joined by alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, trumpeter Raphé Malik, violinist Ramsey Ameen, bassist Sirone, and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson. Taylor's complex methodology here involves both written scores and free improvisation, but the elements are integrated into thick group textures in which lines of demarcation become blurred.

Cecil Taylor - The Eighth (1981) {Hat Hut Records hatOLOGY 622 rel 2006)
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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.

Max Roach and Cecil Taylor - Historic Concerts (1979) {Soul Note 121 100/1 -2 rel 1984}
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© 1979, 1984 Soul Note | 121 100/1 -2
Jazz / Post-Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Piano / Drums

Drummer Max Roach met up with the intense avant-garde pianist Cecil Taylor for a 1979 concert that resulted in this double CD. After Roach and Taylor play separate five-minute solos (Taylor's is surprisingly melodic and bluesy), they interact during a two-part 78-minute encounter that finds Roach not shy of occasionally taking control. The passionate music is quite atonal but coherent, with Taylor displaying an impressive amount of energy and the two masters (who had not rehearsed or ever played together before) communicating pretty well. This set is weakened a bit by a 17-minute radio interview that includes excerpts from the concert one just heard, although some of the anecdotes are interesting. No revelations really occur in the music, but it certainly holds one's interest.