Cecil Taylor Music

Following Cecil Taylor's landmark concert series in Berlin in 1988 for Improvised Music Festival, he returned to unveil a piece called "Looking" for the Total Music Meeting in Berlin the following year. This CD captures the second night of that concert event in which "The Feel Trio," comprised of CT, William Parker (bass), and Tony Oxley (drums/percussion), play "Looking." As a side note, the first night featured a solo (CT on piano) version, while the third and last night was played by an ensemble dubbed "Corona" (the Feel Trio + Harald Kimmig and Muneer Abdul Fataah on violin and cello). To be honest, it's hard to really tell that the same "song" is being played from night to night, but each concert is nonetheless pretty special.

The Feel Trio, composed here of the aforementioned players (CT later used the same name despite different personnel), is simply an outstanding band and my preferred setting for CT. "Looking" represents the first recorded outing for the trio, who later went on to record "Celebrated Blazons" (also available on FMP) as well as a monster (and somewhat hard to find) 10-CD set in London in 1990, called "Two T's for a Lovely T." The "Looking" concert here from 1989 features three movements, spanning 71 minutes.

The greatness of The Feel Trio is the somewhat trite sounding but completely accurate sense of telepathic communication between the players. CT is, as almost always, the conductor and sculptor -- heaping on materials and carving out it's major shape. Parker, my favorite CT bassist, plays with a warm-sounding, fuzzy, note-bending pizzicato (as well as the occasional arco) that punctuates and embellishes, while Oxley wields his drum kit (that favors subtle cymbal effects and melodic, woody percussion) like an artist's palette, splashing on color and texture, both of them in close response to CT's strokes. Of course, this is CT, so the music is free, complex, and will likely sound chaotic to the uninitiated, but it is really never crowded or competitive, and a clear sense of order, interplay, and communication emerges as the group follows the maestro through his characteristic aggressive densities as well as moments of space and restraint.

You can't go wrong with either this concert or "Celebrated Blazons" (which is a shorter concert, featuring a bit more space along with interspersed CT vocal poetics), or both. This is CT at the peak of his career with his most attuned accompaniests, and without the distraction of horns.

Just so we're clear -- this is nearly an hour of Cecil Taylor reciting his poetry with the only instrumentation being his voice and the occasional shake of a bell or gentle tympani. Some of the tracks use overdubs with Cecil talking over himself and there is a healthy dose of his usual onomatopoeia, but there is no piano playing here. An interesting recording, and to some extent his spoken word does parallel his playing (he uses words and phrases more for the sound than any readily apparent logical meaning) and is therefore of interest, but this is only for serious Cecil fans who want to hear more of his poetry. I listen to a lot of Cecil and own more than 20 CT albums, but I can't say I pull this one out a whole lot. 3 stars 'cause it's Cecil.

I listened to Conquistador! (1966) in my car this morning. Only two tracks long (three, if you count the alternate take of the second track added on the CD reissue).

The title track had me wondering--why did he pick that title? So I sort of listened with a 1492 backdrop. And I could actually see certain scenes--the conquistadors rowing up to shore and striding across the beach, a battle scene, a lenthy pursuit through the jungle, the eerie quiet of the devastation of some Indian city--while listening to the different parts of the music. I'm not usually trippy that way, but there you go. It was quite enjoyable.

Back on earth, I should mention that the music is free, but not totally out there. There are recurring motifs and certain areas where they get a sort of Latin rhythmic thing going on. The horns drop out quite a bit and leave Cecil--who has a very high-pitched clattering raindrop thing going on a lot--with the rhythm section. The drummer, Cyrille Taylor, is fantastic. The bassist, Henry Grimes, rarely plays conventionally, but usually bows his bass in this really high-pitched whirring way, sort of like an oscillator or a flanger. It started to bug me a bit. I'm not sure if with repeated listenings it will bug me more or less. After about 17 minutes, I started to think that the song had better wind down pretty darn soon, and bizarrely it did, two seconds later! So I guess it's just about the right length for me.

Track two was also good, but I didn't wander the mind gardens nearly as much.

Anyway, there is a lot of contrast on this album and it's really good if you like out there stuff. Check it out!

more accessible than unit structures, but infinitely complex and beautifully rewarding. smooth bill dixon, frenzied lyons, beautiful cyrille and fantastic bass work from the pair of grimes and silva. beautiful beautiful beautiful. don't be afraid.