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*** Cecil Taylor ***


Aggie87

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That would be the Japanese 2CD reissue that does only contain the actual Akisakila, then? (as opposed to the Konnexes which also have the "Lono" solo album to fill up the second volume)

Correct. I have the solo disc on vinyl and a Japanese cd from 2002.

Thanks again - I guess that one's almost impossible to find by now... (I didn't even know of it before I searched the net again a few days back)

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  • 3 months later...
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Up for Cecil.....not sure why but my interest in Taylor has been slowly rising over the years , only recently for something to really click in my cerebrum to allow me to properly "hear" and enjoy his stunning work.

Currently enjoying Celebrated Blazons, I realise that I have very few CT solo sessions , a fact that I must rectify. I have Spring of 2Jays (one side solo only) and an Intakt session.

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Guest Bill Barton

Up for Cecil.....not sure why but my interest in Taylor has been slowly rising over the years , only recently for something to really click in my cerebrum to allow me to properly "hear" and enjoy his stunning work.

Currently enjoying Celebrated Blazons, I realise that I have very few CT solo sessions , a fact that I must rectify. I have Spring of 2Jays (one side solo only) and an Intakt session.

Spring of 2 Blue-J's is a superb album. That's a fine place to start when it comes to solo Cecil. The Unit side ain't too shabby either. If you have a copy of the original vinyl on Unit Core that is sweet. Mine came packaged in a "generic" white sleeve, perhaps a sure sign of a DIY project. No frills. Just great music. Very high quality pressing too. Other classic solo recordings that you should check out are Indent and Silent Tongues, both of which are among my favorites. The three-CD collection on Victo titled Complicité is also very nice indeed. One disc of Marilyn Crispell solo, one of Paul Plimley with John Oswald and one of Cecil. It was a heck of a concert. I could have done without Oswald but otherwise a memorable evening of music. There's so much fine solo Taylor out there... I'm looking forward to hearing him again in solo performance in Seattle a few weeks from now.

Just for the record; the two cds on New World are masterpieces of Taylor group performances.

Yes! That was a hell of a group. I heard them at Dartmouth College shortly after these albums were released (I think that it was in early 1979). As I recall they played somewhere between two-and-a-half and three hours without an intermission. Taylor and Ronald Shannon Jackson didn't even pause or sit-out through the whole set although the others had a few breathers. It was damned intense. Jackson looked like he had just finished running a marathon afterwards. Not to say that there weren't episodes of CT's often unacknowledged lyricism in there too... I guess that's a somewhat wordy way of seconding Chuck's motion that the New Worlds are essential.

Edited by Bill Barton
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The three-CD collection on Victo titled Complicité is also very nice indeed. One disc of Marilyn Crispell solo, one of Paul Plimley with John Oswald and one of Cecil. It was a heck of a concert. I could have done without Oswald but otherwise a memorable evening of music.

Oh that's a shame to hear--I've always been curious about this set but the hefty price tag has dissuaded me. Plimley's one of my favourite pianists--utterly AMAZING player who seems criminally underrepresented on disc (the last two concerts I caught by him--at Guelph in 2006 w/ Hamid Drake & Tommy Babin & Vancouver this year w/ Nicole Mitchell--were some of the best concerts I've ever been too, & a trio with Joe McPhee & Lisle Ellis in the 1990s was also memorable). But Oswald..... he's one of those free players who "can't play" (in a conventional sense), & though there are some players in that category I dearly love he's definitely not one of them. (Though I've heard the odd decent thing from him, like that quirky disc with Kimura/O'Rourke/Kaiser.)

The New Worlds are my favourite CT discs; haven't really got into the live set from the same time on Hat Art. -- Count me among the few people who don't like the Intakt solo album, just sounds like CT playing his same half-dozen pet licks over & over.

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Regarding the New World recordings: anybody curious about these can check them out pretty inexpensive via Amazon MP3 downloads:

Cecil Tayor Unit - $2.97

Cecil Taylor: 3 Phasis - $4.95

Both are also available on eMusic.

Any thoughts on "Dark To Themselves" (Enja)? I'm not familiar with that one, but it looks intriguing.

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Guest Bill Barton

The three-CD collection on Victo titled Complicité is also very nice indeed. One disc of Marilyn Crispell solo, one of Paul Plimley with John Oswald and one of Cecil. It was a heck of a concert. I could have done without Oswald but otherwise a memorable evening of music.

Oh that's a shame to hear--I've always been curious about this set but the hefty price tag has dissuaded me. Plimley's one of my favourite pianists--utterly AMAZING player who seems criminally underrepresented on disc (the last two concerts I caught by him--at Guelph in 2006 w/ Hamid Drake & Tommy Babin & Vancouver this year w/ Nicole Mitchell--were some of the best concerts I've ever been too, & a trio with Joe McPhee & Lisle Ellis in the 1990s was also memorable). But Oswald..... he's one of those free players who "can't play" (in a conventional sense), & though there are some players in that category I dearly love he's definitely not one of them. (Though I've heard the odd decent thing from him, like that quirky disc with Kimura/O'Rourke/Kaiser.)...

Yes, Plimley is amazing. It's too bad that he didn't play solo in Victoriaville that year. Sigh. Woulda, coulda, shoulda, etc. etc. I'd love to hear him solo sometime...

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Spring of 2 Blue-J's is a superb album. That's a fine place to start when it comes to solo Cecil. The Unit side ain't too shabby either. If you have a copy of the original vinyl on Unit Core that is sweet. Mine came packaged in a "generic" white sleeve, perhaps a sure sign of a DIY project. No frills. Just great music. Very high quality pressing too.

Mine's got a nice blue cover ( fairly flimsy) with CT pictured, vinyl is quiet as can be......

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  • 6 months later...

Via the CT list serv....

Taylor bows out of festival

Andra Jackson

April 22, 2009

AMERICAN jazz pianist Cecil Taylor has pulled out of next week's Melbourne International Jazz Festival because of illness.

.... snip....

Taylor, who was voted by critics into the Downbeat Hall of Fame in 1974, turned 80 this year and was to embark on an 80th anniversary tour performing internationally.

He has suspended all international travel plans indefinitely because of an aggravated, ongoing medical condition, program director Sophie Brous said. "Cecil looks forward to a full recovery and the opportunity to perform at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival in 2010, advised Taylor's management," she said.

The rest here....

http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainmen...0079670319.html

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Now available from JazzLoft:

Piano Solo at Town Hall 1971

Artist: Cecil Taylor

Label: Free Factory

Price: $18.95

Year: 2009

Format: CD

This release presents an impressive performance by Cecil Taylor at New York’s Town Hall in 1971 on July 24, performing an uninterrupted medley combining parts of four of his tunes.

This is the first time that this concert appears on CD.

As a bonus, two short quartet pieces taken from a rare broadcast.

ARTISTS

Cecil Taylor (piano)

*BONUS TRACKS: Cecil Taylor (piano); Jimmy Lyons (alto sax); Henry Grimes (bass); Andrew Cyrille (drums)

TRACKS

Medley: Arzoolie Dance Rouge/Point/Shows/Hot Point (51:07)

Number One (2:33)*

Octagonal Skirt & Fancy Pants (2:44)*

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From Richard Shapiro's Cecil Taylor sessionography

http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mtaylors.html

The Village Gate, NYC, September 19, 1965

1. Number One

2. Octagonal Skirt and Fancy Pants

Cecil Taylor: piano; Jimmy Lyons: alto sax; prob. Henry Grimes: bass; Sunny Murray: drums

Rare Broadcast Performances Ozone (Italy) 19 (lp)

Note: This was originally recorded for BBS tv broadcast by WNET-TV, NYC. the original material was broadcast followed by a panel discussion involving CT, novelist Ralph Ellison and critic Martin Williams. The taping from this original broadcast is some 29 min. long. These are believed to be rehearsals, not concert performances.

Note: Some sources give the drummer as Andrew Cyrille. Some give the bassist as Alan Silva.

Note: The rest of this record features music by Charles Mingus.

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