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*** Cecil Taylor ***


Aggie87

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There´s a new Hatology Cecil Taylor release:

hatOLOGY 622

Cecil Taylor Unit

The Eighth

Total time 69:01, ADD, Barcode: 752156062226

hat622.jpg

Taylor's art confronts Nature so organically because it embraces the same attitudes, makes the same demands. Rejecting frivolous entertainment, it is ritual—a rite of creation that accepts paradox as it attempts to transcend it. — Art Lange

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  • 8 months later...
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A lot has happened with Cecil Taylor since August of 2OO6. Henry Grimes was reunited with him on the bandstand for the first time in 4O years in October, 'O6 at Jackie and Dollie McLean's Artist Collective in Hartford, Connecticut, along with Pheeroan akLaff on drums, forming the trio Cecil named AHA3, and two more concerts ensued the same month with this trio at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City. Mr. Taylor also played solo concerts in New York and Philadelphia in October and November of 'O6, and recently he toured Japan with pianist Yosuke Yamashita. Next up: Jazz at Lincoln Center, two dates with AHA3 in March, 'O7. That same month Mr. Taylor was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (but did not attend the ceremonies). And shortly to follow:

Sunday, May 6th, 'O7: Cecil Taylor’s AHA3 featuring Henry Grimes & Pheeroan akLaff + special guest Andy Bey, the Blue Note, 131 West 3rd St. at 6th Ave., New York City, 8 & 1O:3O p.m., 212-475-8592, www.bluenotejazz.com/newyork/schedule/index.shtml, staff@bluenote.net.

Further along (but scheduled previously), there's Cecil Taylor featuring Anthony Braxton plus William Parker and Tony Oxley on Sunday, July 8th at the Royal Festival Hall in London. And there is talk of two Cecil Taylor dates in Bologna, Italy in October and possibly four Cecil Taylor dates with a different group each night in the fall of 'O7 at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York.

Someone started a Web site for Cecil, www.cecil-taylor.com, and things were looking good there at first, but the concert listings have not been maintained.

Edited by musicmargaret
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Nate Dorward wrote, "I note that Taylor's doing a solo gig in Toronto at the start of June." What's the date and what's the place, please, Nate?

And for everyone's enjoyment, here's a 194O photo of actor Terry Carter (then called John DeCoste) with his friend Cecil Taylor (on the right) as Boy Scouts:

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Nate Dorward commented on the "steep ticket price though ($55) for a solo gig." To me, $55 is a low price to hear a genius, especially when you think about what people pay to hear Wynton Marsalis or Diana Krall (or, getting silly with it, Madonna). Also, those are presumably Canadian dollars, worth somewhat less than U.S.

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Tom Storer wrote, "Cecil Taylor trio featuring Andy Bey? The world's most iconic 'free jazz' pianist meets the world's best singer of standards? Jesus God, I hope someone records that."

Cecil Taylor and Andy Bey collaborated in a musical theatre piece called "A Rat's Mass" based on a poem by Adrienne Kennedy back around 1976.

And Henry Grimes believes he went to Sunday school with Andy Bey many years before that.

Andy Bey is indeed the greatest living singer of standards I know about, but he also has great musical courage and freedom, and he can do just about anything with his voice, and he's also a phenomenal pianist.

If any in this group don't know about the great Andy Bey, please see: www.andy-bey.com; a short but solid bio by Alex Henderson at www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3ifwxqt5ld6e~T1; www.myspace.com/andybey; and www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1638560.

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Nate Dorward wrote, "I note that Taylor's doing a solo gig in Toronto at the start of June." What's the date and what's the place, please, Nate?

And for everyone's enjoyment, here's a 194O photo of actor Terry Carter (then called John DeCoste) with his friend Cecil Taylor (on the right) as Boy Scouts:

Andy Bey doesn't bother me. I'm sure that something unique will come out of that.

But - Cecil as a Boy Scout?

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Paul Secor wrote, "But - Cecil as a Boy Scout?"

Yes, well, last night Henry and I went to a glorious concert by Olu Dara outdoors in the courtyard of the Studio Museum in Harlem, and we met the actor Terry Carter there, and he gave us a card for an upcoming screening of an Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington documentary he made (it's being shown at the Walter Reade Theater "Come Sunday," April 29th), and I gave Terry a Henry Grimes concert card for May, and he saw that Henry is playing with Cecil at the Blue Note on May 6th. Then he told us that he and Cecil were Boy Scouts in Brooklyn together when they were children and that there was a photo of the two of them on his (Terry's) Web site. So that's how that came about.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got a chance to fill in a lot of Taylor, thanks to a blow-out at Half-Price Books. Besides the Contemporary, Blue Notes, UA's, and the Candids, I now own four more FMP's, a Hat Art, two Leo's, and a New World Records. I really love Taylor's music, because he makes you listen. He is demanding in every sense of the word and once you get it, it is marvelous. The FMP's are: Taylor with Gunther Sommer, Tony Oxley, Berlin Solo, and Berlin Corona. Out of these, I really like the Oxley, and Berlin Corona, mostly for William Parker. The Hat Art is the Eighth, which is really good. In fact, I have not encountered a 'bad' Taylor record. The Leo's are two concert dates and the New World is one of two Cecil Taylor Unit records which is probably my favorite for Jimmy Lyons and Raphe Malik alone. My general impression is just simply demanding, but if you devote some time to understanding him, the payoff is tremendous.

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