Cecil Taylor Music

I finally picked up Incarnation after several years of thinking about it, to add to my collection of well over 50 CT recordings. Cecil is right up there among my very favorite musicians, but as someone with a fairly extensive discography, I do find myself increasingly feeling like CT has settled into his idiom and that his playing hasn't changed all that drastically since the 1980's -- to some extent, he is playing the same "song" and so I'm always looking for evidence that he has something new to say, or for a new recording that adds something in the way of novel accompaniement. It's this niche that I hoped Incarnation would fill, since it includes not only the return of Andrew Cyrille (CT's core drummer in the '60's and 70's), but also cellist Tristan Honsinger (who has recorded with CT since the late '80s), and the new addition of Franky Douglas on guitar -- only the second time ever CT recorded with a guitarist (the first being a duet with Derek Bailey that I found less than inspiring).

Incarnation is a live FMP recording from the Total Music Meeting in Berlin in 1999. There are three movements, "Focus" (32:32), "Carnation" (19:32), and Cartouche" (25:01) that make up a continuous concert without interval applause for a total of 77 minutes. It really is very interesting music and it does offer a nice variation from CT's denser Unit dates, his work with the Feel Trio, or his solo concerts. Andrew Cyrille's work is distinctive here with frequent use of hand drums as well as toms or tympani, the use of space, and communication with CT in a give-and-take fashion for which they are well known. CT is overall on the restrained side here, also generous with space and mostly playing in an unhurried fashion. As far as the stringmen, Douglas really takes on the role of decorator, or percussionist rather than drummer if you prefer a musical analogy. He adds splashes of color and textured effects -- sometimes adding a pluck suggesting a reverbed faucet-drip, or elsewhere mixing in a jagged run with CT's pianistics. On "Focus," he gets into some cool rubber-bandy bass-lines underneath the others that transitions at the 30" mark to him strumming a vampy rhythm that's unheard of anywhere else in CT's recordings -- so refreshing to hear, but unfortunately it ends all too soon (one wonders what the maestro's response was). Douglas is then largely absent from the middle movement, which sounds the most like usual CT territory, but he makes a substantial return in the third movement in the way that I wish Derek Baily had on Pleistozaen Mit Wasser. It really takes CT bowing out near the end to get him into an assertive duet with Honsinger, but for the most part Douglas is not keeping pace or dueling with CT the way I keep wishing a guitarist would. Instead, that role largely falls to Honsinger on this album, with his arco sounding like a raspy buzz as he zig-zags over the strings. I'm a big fan of Honsinger and the other cellists and violinists who've sparred with CT, so that's no complaint, but I do wish Douglas were more prominent.

But this is really a very good concert with much to like and differentiate from other CT dates, whether the reunion with Cyrille (credited here as a "special guest"), Honsinger's cello work, or CT's steadiness throughout, not to mention a fair amount of vocalism and poetics. Overall a great ensemble feel with shades of light and dark and things in between.

Indent and Silent Tongues are Cecil Taylor's best solo piano albums I think. I bought Indent as an LP back when Arista was still releasing avant-garde music. The album was a revelation. Taylor's music is highly structured, even though on first aquaintance it seems formless. His music is based on the gradual obsessive development of small motives, most of which are based on modal scales. These motives are played at a frenetic pace, which adds to the mistaken idea that this is "free" playing. Cecil can blow free with the best of them, but his music is always controlled and his chops are unequaled.

The solo work doesn't have the complexity of structure or instrumental timbre that you would find in Taylor's group work. But the solo stuff is indispensible, especially for pianists. If you are a jazz player, you cannot understand all of the music until you come to terms with this seminal innovator. Love him or hate him, Taylor is a force to be reckoned with.

This is a fantastic live album, although jazz fans new to Cecil Taylor should be forewarned that this is not an easy item to listen to. It's one of the most "difficult" albums in my own collection, and it's not something I put on without being in a situation where I can give it my undivided attention. Definitely the last thing you'd want to hear if you're suffering from a headache or hangover. The CD consists of a lengthy solo piano piece in three parts. Although it's clearly improvised, it doesn't bear much resemblance to what we conventionally think of as "jazz," even free jazz. It's very dissonant, full of cluster-chords, and sounds a bit like Bartok played at double or triple speed. Still, if you listen closely enough you can make out distinct sections and moods. Taylor's playing is technically mind-blowing, extremely fast throughout, but alternately brash and subtle. Overall, an endlessly fascinating album that will drive your neighbours insane.

This recording from the Cecil Taylor Unit circa 1980 includes CT with Jimmy Lyons on alto, stringmen Ramsey Ameen on violin and Alan Silva on bass and cello, and double-drummers with Jerome Cooper also playing balaphone (kinda like a vibraphone) and Sunny Murray anchoring it all with his free-drumming. The venue is Fat Tuesdays in NYC and so this is a live recording featuring two cuts collectively entitled "It Is In the Brewing Luminous."

As with much of CT's group work, the music can get quite dense and therefore may seem daunting, but really once you listen it's pretty cohesive and digestible. The first half of track 1 features mostly Jimmy Lyons soloing -- reminds me quite a bit of "The Eighth" recorded a year later, also on the HatHut label. But things get more interesting thereafter, with Ameen's violin taking the solo space and working complex lines sounding like some tortured insect in and out of CT's banging, while the last third of the track features CT soloing with the rhythm section. Track 2 is a mirror image -- CT opens slowly, Ameen enters the fray, this time sounding a bit off-mike and upper-register so that CT is at the fore, and then Lyons comes in at the halfway mark with his alto lines swirling around the pianistics. Both tracks conclude with CT playing some gentle phrases and with his trademark gutteral utterances and vocalisms rounding out the disc.

So, an interesting date... It's the 1980's CTU with Lyon sharing the helm -- I confess though, I've never been a huge fan of his alto (to me, he seems to repeat short phrases an awful lot, and I wish he'd learned circular breathing). But what's cool is the addition of violin with Ameen -- something CT does from time to time and for me an excellent counterpoint to his piano. Sunny Murray is unexpectedly restrained (often playing quiet snare rolls and not over-crashing the cymbals). The recording quality could be better -- I can barely detect either the cello or the balaphone here, and on a decent stereo an audible electronic buzz can be heard underneath everything. But all in all, a solid ensemble date for CT and not as chaotic as you might guess.

This recording from the Cecil Taylor Unit circa 1980 includes CT with Jimmy Lyons on alto, stringmen Ramsey Ameen on violin and Alan Silva on bass and cello, and double-drummers with Jerome Cooper also playing balaphone (kinda like a vibraphone) and Sunny Murray anchoring it all with his free-drumming. The venue is Fat Tuesdays in NYC and so this is a live recording featuring two cuts collectively entitled "It Is In the Brewing Luminous."

As with much of CT's group work, the music can get quite dense and therefore may seem daunting, but really once you listen it's pretty cohesive and digestible. The first half of track 1 features mostly Jimmy Lyons soloing -- reminds me quite a bit of "The Eighth" recorded a year later, also on the HatHut label. But things get more interesting thereafter, with Ameen's violin taking the solo space and working complex lines sounding like some tortured insect in and out of CT's banging, while the last third of the track features CT soloing with the rhythm section. Track 2 is a mirror image -- CT opens slowly, Ameen enters the fray, this time sounding a bit off-mike and upper-register so that CT is at the fore, and then Lyons comes in at the halfway mark with his alto lines swirling around the pianistics. Both tracks conclude with CT playing some gentle phrases and with his trademark gutteral utterances and vocalisms rounding out the disc.

So, an interesting date... It's the 1980's CTU with Lyon sharing the helm -- I confess though, I've never been a huge fan of his alto (to me, he seems to repeat short phrases an awful lot, and I wish he'd learned circular breathing). But what's cool is the addition of violin with Ameen -- something CT does from time to time and for me an excellent counterpoint to his piano. Sunny Murray is unexpectedly restrained (often playing quiet snare rolls and not over-crashing the cymbals). The recording quality could be better -- I can barely detect either the cello or the balaphone here, and on a decent stereo an audible electronic buzz can be heard underneath everything. But all in all, a solid ensemble date for CT and not as chaotic as you might guess.

The person rsktmc is a tasteless idiot. "Not for the squeamish" he says. I say "Not for worthless idiots like rsktmc who most likely like smooth jazz." This CD is awesome, just a little bit further out than Monk but not too far out there.

mr taylor's piano playing on this recording from 1956 is unique and inventive, yet completely accessible to the listener. his quirky compositions and fresh cover versions are a joy. steve lacy adds some excellent soprano sax on 2 tracks and the rhythm section work (provided by buell neidlinger on bass and dennis charles on drums) carries along mr taylor's music just fine. recommended.

This is good music played by real greats, but to me feels a bit stiff when compared the music that would come later. This was my 1st cecil taylor disc and it did not really resonate until I heard his later, more unique work like "Silent Tounges" and "Unit Structures."

For those coming to this music with a real love of Ornette coleman, Steve Lacy or especially Ellington or Monk, this disc would be a good start, and all established Taylor fans should at least hear this. But in it's nature as a document of an essentially formative music, it presents the listener with a unique set of challenges which don't seem to be present on his later albums, even if they are perhaps superficially more "dissonant." This music feels hybridized in a way later work feels complete and fully concieved.

This disc shows his early roots,and it would not be my advice you start here, but rather go for "Looking Ahead" (with a same-ish group 1 year later) or "Silent Tounges" (stunning solo concert from the 70's) to get a better sense of what Taylor's mature style is really about. Then dip into the denser ensembles on Unit Sturctures or Student Studies.... and then hear this disc as to understand a musician whose work you care about, rather than using this disc as a test to ask "Do I want to care about this music?"

Just a second,Christopher Forbes "weirdears." Don't be putting down my main man Denis Charles! He swings daddy-o, and don't you forget it! Weak link? Your taste is weak! Anything Mr. Charles plays on deserves 5 stars. It's not a matter of opinion. It's a matter of fact!

History has a way of making the radical seem conservative, and certainly within the context of Cecil Taylor's music, his debut album, "Jazz Advance" is rather conservative. Taylor, known for his relentless, dense music, did not emerge fully formed (although even at this early date, his music is far removed from his hard bop contemporaries), but developed over time. For those of us who enjoy Taylor's music, this record is a historical curiosity, for anyone else, its either going to sound as one permutation further from the early Ornette Coleman idiom (indeed, this music is far closer to Coleman's sound than anything Taylor would be doing in the '60s or later). My understanding is that when this was first released, it raised quite a stir. Its a bit difficult to see why.

Taylor is largely melodic-- performing pieces with coherent themes-- his experimentations seem to be in the use of block chords, odd inversions, and in soloing underneath the primary voice at this point. The record is four originals and four standards, and as one would suspect, Taylor largely breathes on his own compositions. He is backed by nearly inaudible bassist Buell Neidlinger and drummer Dennis Charles, with soprano sax player Steve Lacy on two tracks. Neidlinger and Charles are far closer in the hard bop idiom-- their performances swing, Charles in particular is playing way inside hard bop. This puts them a bit at odds with Taylor, who, while he gives more space than he would on his later work, is still more of a neoclassical improvising pianist than a jazz pianist. When Lacy plays, Taylor's form of comping doesn't seem fully formed, or Lacy doesn't seem quite prepared to play inside Taylor's environment, and as a result he sounds somewhat detached from the pianist.

The sounds of the future can clearly be heard on several tracks, "Bemsha Swing" features many of Taylor's clustered chords and runs, solo piano take on "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" presents the theme in a barely recognizable fashion and is as close to his future organized chaos as he'd get, and while original "Rick Kick Shaw" is far away from where he'd end up, its the first sign of the short of aggression that Taylor would harness in the future. The music is enjoyable enough, but Taylor would reach such heights that its hard to not listen to this without comparing it to his future works. The other complaint is the sound-- this issue is from 1991 and is in desparate need of remastering.

In the end, this is an album of historical value. If you're looking for an introduction to Taylor's music and aren't ready to dive head first into his methods, try "Looking Ahead!", its a far superior album by which point Neidlinger and Charles (who reprise their roles) were far more closely integrated with Taylor's music.

It is my favorite album in Taylor's candid series. In Jumpin' Punkins, the Mercer Ellington brilliant theme composition, you can discover all the basics of Cecil Taylor's genius. Every time I listen to this track I hear it in a different way. The interpretation of the tune is like some kind of a prism in which the light passes through to the eye in various angles and hence can be seen in many ways. So many hues emerging out of one dazzling light - taylor's music. Like a prism, one can hear sometimes Taylor's piano side as a lead, sometimes Rudd's trombone melody is the more obvious side, perhaps Lacy's soprano or Shepp's tenor or Davis's baritone or the combination between them are at the top of playing. There are no regular role plays and everyone of the musicians can surprise you. After a long time listening I am still bewildered. To try and describe the Neidlinger bass part in this simple-complex musical situation or the drums of Higgins would be waste of time and space. They are the corner stone of the piece in this master trickery of taylor to the human ear. The mirage playing of Cecil Taylor is even stronger in his solos. But I always come back to this particular album and to this particular mainstream tune to understand better his latter, avant-garde way. A perfect balance surrounds me when I hear this music and this balance emanates from the octet/quartet playing. It is a very rich album in textures and colors and although it consists of only four pieces it is a complete album and there is no need in supplements. This album can stay in your cd player for weeks and you won't even notice.

WKCR, I love you...if it wasn't for you, I'd never have bought another Cecil Taylor CD. I've been listening to him for 35 years, and while the man is an indisputable genius (at least I believe so),as time goes on I have less and less patience with his hectoring and his perorations. In my soul I am a post-Cagian, with big issues around the imposition of rhetoric upon musical structure and discourse. Whew! But that being said, check this CD out! This disc has one of CT's most gutbucket of personnels - Carlos Ward is what made me really pay attention when I heard it for the first time: "wait! that's not Jimmy Lyons...cut from the same cloth but...funkier...less boppy...no Charlie Parker as cut up and rearranged by William Burroughs and John Ashbery...". And Thurman Barker is really the eternal TDWR of 2nd generation Free Jazz - no matter how abstract the context, he burns. The rhythm team of Barker and William Parker makes this one of Cecil's groovingest discs. And the man is up to it - 25 years after Port of Call. He is rocking here - whoever says that he's not a Jazz player but some kind of hybrid of Jazz and Modern Concert Music really needs to hear this disc. Whatever Cecil got from Contemporary Classical Music is used to sweeten and deepen the pot.But what I really hear are all kinds of echoes and abstractions from Duke, Horace Silver, Erroll Garner, Earl Hines, Herbie Nichols, all kinds of blues and boogie and barrelhouse traditions...lots of call-and-response, lots of bluesy mimesis, riffing...I'd like to hear Kontarsky or Tudor do those things! People are stupid...but what can you do? Just put this CD on, dance around the room like a broken scarecrow, and let the world go by...For the record, Leroy Jenkins on violin is a really acquired taste, but he's pretty good here.
Minor Cavil: I wish they could've banded this CD so one could skip the noodling in this middle if one wanted (no-one's finest hour), but...that's showbiz. The first 20 - or - so minutes of this disc are indispensable. When they come back after the noodling there is a kind of clash between Ward and Taylor's concepts of modality (Ward's is much simpler). Cecil gives it up to Ward, but I'm not sure that's the right choice...But then there's the long section that starts about 56 minutes in: groove music solidly in G, like some kind of space-age combination of "We're Gonna Have a Funky Good Time" and "Flyin' Home" (sans bridge). Some kind of career highpoint. Those lucky Bolognese!

With most Taylor albums it is the case that it takes several months, and several listens, before I begin to appreciate them. This album was no exception, as the first half-hour is incredibly unconventional. However, with repeated listenings I have come to appreciate what the band is doing during the introduction. The highlights for me, however, are the celestial middle flute section and the conclusion, which seems a coming together of the chaotic opening and the peaceful middle interlude.

In addition to the album's music, a highlight for me is the presence of William Parker, perhaps the Mingus of contemporary jazz. From the very beginning, Parker forms an unusual and wonderful accompaniment to Taylor, and also adds terrific atmosphere to Ward's flute during the middle section. Hence, this is an album that will satisfy fans of both Parker and Taylor, two of the most important jazz musicians of the past 35 years.

My first Cecil Taylor cd and still among my very favorites. For non-Cecil Taylor fans, the first twenty minutes may be a little plodding, but a beautiful, meditative flute passage by Carlos Ward, followed by a heavy trance section at the hour mark make the seventy minute single cut seem too short. Not as molten as "It is in the Brewing Luminous" or as labyrinthine as "Silent Tongues", this is as accessible as any of his works, but still as astonishing to me as when I first heard it ten years ago.

i would like to have some information about the drummer denis charle

"Love For Sale" is easily one of the most accesible Cecil Taylor albums extant and is perhaps the best starting off point to the understanding of Mr. Taylor's music(with Monk much in evidence as a source, as well as the influence of the much earlier "stride" pianists as well). The fact that a number of the cuts on this Lp are well known standards allows the listener to more easily follow Mr. Taylor's improvisations, thus giving a map and a primer for the music to come.

"Love for Sale" was an early Cecil Taylor studio album recorded in 1959, though not released on CD until Blue Note's reissue of 1998. The date finds Cecil in transition -- first playing three Cole Porter tunes (the first three tracks) with a trio that includes Buell Neidlinger (bass) and Dennis Charles (drums) -- though mysteriously, previous LP releases credit Chris White and Rudy Collins as the sidemen. Although Cecil was still deeply rooted in the post-bop tradition at this point of his career, he nonetheless deconstructs the three standards with characteristic dissonant chords and free explorations well beyond the melody. However, he does actually play the melody and hadn't yet taken off into the maniacally fast, structured chaos that would become his signature style after the 70's. The tunes are therefore quite accessible as Cecil goes, though clearly something vastly different and 'avant garde' (and therefore potentially difficult to absorb) compared to say, contemporary at the time Bill Evans. The latter three tracks are Cecil originals, but add Ted Curson (trumpet) and Bill Barron (tenor sax) to the trio line-up. The result is that despite the original Taylor compositions, the horns play fairly restrained choruses and solos that again keep the music (and Cecil as accompaniest) rooted in melody, hard bop, and tradition. In the middle of this studio date, Cecil abandoned the piano-bass-drums trio format for the next two decades in favor of at least one horn (usually saxophonist Jimmy Lyons until his death) -- this is therefore one of the last chances to hear Cecil in standard trio format for quite some time. It's a good album, but kind of a mixed bag given the shift between the two different group formats -- worth having if you're a fan of Cecil's early departures, but only after you've listened to "Jazz Advance," "Looking Ahead!," and "Coltrane Time" and are hungry for more.