Cecil Taylor: Solo Piano (1984)

From the Munich Piano Summer in 1984
Cecil Taylor - Solo Piano Performance
1:08 Free Improvisation I
51:13 Free Improvisation II
Cecil Percival Taylor (born in March 25, 1929) is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and intricate polyrhythms. His piano technique has been likened to percussion, for example described as "eighty-eight tuned drums" (referring to the number of keys on a standard piano). [...]
Taylor was born in New York City. He began playing piano at age six and studied at the New York College of Music and New England Conservatory. [...] Taylor's first recording, Jazz Advance, featured Lacy and was released in 1956. [...] Taylor's Quartet featuring Lacy also appeared at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival. He collaborated with saxophonist John Coltrane in 1958 (Stereo Drive, currently available as Coltrane Time).
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Taylor's music grew more complex and moved away from existing jazz styles. Gigs were often hard to come by, and club owners found Taylor's approach to performance (long pieces) unhelpful in conducting business. Landmark recordings, like Unit Structures (1966), appeared. [...] In the early 1960s, an uncredited Albert Ayler worked for a time with Taylor, jamming and appearing on at least one recording, Four, unreleased until 2004.
By 1961, Taylor was working regularly with alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, one of his most important and consistent collaborators. Taylor, Lyons and drummer Sunny Murray (and later Andrew Cyrille) formed the core personnel of The Unit, Taylor's primary group effort until Lyons's premature death in 1986. Lyons's playing, strongly influenced by jazz icon Charlie Parker, retained a strong blues sensibility and helped keep Taylor's increasingly avant garde music tethered to the jazz tradition.
Taylor began to perform solo concerts in the second half of the sixties. The first known recorded solo performance (by Dutch radio) was 'Carmen With Rings' (59 min.) in De Doelen concert hall in Rotterdam on July 1, 1967. Two days before Taylor had played the same composition in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Many of the later concerts were released on album and include Indent (1973), side one of Spring of Two Blue-J's (1973), Silent Tongues (1974), Garden (1982), For Olim (1987), Erzulie Maketh Scent (1989) and The Tree of Life (1998).[...]
Following Lyons's death in 1986 Taylor formed the Feel Trio in the early 1990s with William Parker (bass) and Tony Oxley (drums); the group can be heard on Celebrated Blazons, Looking (The Feel Trio) and the 10-CD set 2 T's for a Lovely T. [...] His extended residence in Berlin in 1988 was extensively documented by the German label FMP, resulting in a massive boxed set of performances in duet and trio with a who's who of European free improvisors, including Oxley, Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Han Bennink, Tristan Honsinger, Louis Moholo, Paul Lovens, and others. Most of his latter day recordings have been put out on European labels, with the exception of Momentum Space (a meeting with Dewey Redman and Elvin Jones) on Verve/Gitanes. The classical label Bridge released his 1998 Library of Congress performance Algonquin, a duet with violinist Mat Maneri. Taylor continued to perform for capacity audiences around the world with live concerts, usually played on his favored instrument, a Bösendorfer piano that features nine extra lower-register keys. A documentary entitled "All the Notes", was released on DVD in 2006 by director Chris Felver. Taylor was also featured in an earlier documentary film Imagine the Sound (1981), in which he discusses and performs his music, poetry and dance.
Taylor recorded sparingly in the 2000s, but continued to perform with his own ensembles (the Cecil Taylor Ensemble and the Cecil Taylor Big Band) as well as with other musicians such as Joe Locke, Max Roach, and the poet Amiri Baraka. In 2004, the Cecil Taylor Big Band at the Iridium 2005 was nominated a best performance of 2004 by All About Jazz, and the same in 2009 for the Cecil Taylor Trio at the Highline Ballroom in 2009. The trio consisted of Taylor, Albey Balgochian, and Jackson Krall. [...] Taylor is a poet, citing Robert Duncan, Charles Olson and Amiri Baraka as major influences. He often integrates his poems into his musical performances, and they frequently appear in the liner notes of his albums. [...] In 1982, jazz critic Stanley Crouch outed Taylor as being gay, prompting an angry response. However, Taylor never denied it. In 1991, Taylor told a New York Times reporter "someone once asked me if I was gay. I said, 'Do you think a three-letter word defines the complexity of my humanity?' I avoid the trap of easy definition."
en.wikipedia.o...

[@khalidnawaz3405]

His element resides in all of us.Thunderous and in the moment.Percussive,unrelenting with moments of Quiet beauty.

[@williamtkoltek1350]

One of the 20th century's greatest artists. To see as well as hear him is to marvel. Thank you for posting this priceless video!

[@StephenAntKneeBk5]

Taylor asks to to reevaluate and re imagine what the Piano is and can be. Of all the Free Jazz players, Taylor's one of my favorite.

[@ChildovGhad]

This guy gets it. Pay attention.

[@pianoman0609]

I would have to think he is one of the most uniquely creative pianists!

[@rickperlstein9988]

The remarkable thing is how disciplined his playing is.

[@ChildovGhad]

Yes, indeed. You have to be really, really good to do what he's doing.

[@ADURG1]

his piano exudes the thunderous qualities of orchestral classical music in the blink of an eye, yet it is more fluid, flowing and creatively sporadic than imaginable... a true force of nature and maestro...thank you for this heavy footage!

[@thainmlh]

😲 Jaw dropping GOOD!

[@Argentos2008]

Taylor, the music chaman. Perfect

[@robertodagamapaes1657]

It’s so ahead of us, it’s like see a superior being, unique on the face of the earth just giving a shot of what is out there!

[@annettetalavera3739]

How can a legend like this have 10 dislikes!!😠😠😠😠😠. WTF!! Your never gonna get this. LEARN TO LISTEN AND LISTEN TO LEARN😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠. WHAT A PIANIST😮. EXCELLENT, ELEGANT CLASSY. THATS MY MAN!!!!

[@bryancooker175]

How are you doing today my name is Bryan coookre

[@gregory8634]

The dickriding is crazy

[@barbarabrown3381]

I saw him once. My brain worked so hard following the music. Then it was so tired I had to let go. That is when l could hear it without effort.

[@MITTELEUROPAENSEMBLE]

Geniale, sorprendente, unico 🙂 Visto dal vivo diverse volte a Milano nel passato.

[@magickriver]

Thanks for this rare & priceless recording.

[@magickriver]

Eternal gratitude for uploading this video of an immortal at play.

[@Johnnralph]

Rip : Cecil Taylor (March 25 1929 - April 5 2018)

[@balloonandy1652]

Yes. RIP to a great man and artist.

[@bernardtheillaucher9478]

ça c'est de l'ART! âmes sensibles s'abstenir... J'aurais aimé qu'une théorie puisse avoir tenté de marier les pianos de Schoenberg, Xénakis et Stockaüsen avec le free-jazz d'un Cecil Taylor, mais ce serait comme vouloir unifier la mécanique quantique et la relativité générale : une théorie musicale des cordes par exemple... Grand merci pour le partage!!!

[@bandfromearth]

Rest in peace Cecil Taylor. Richard Hill Jr.

[@albinocrovetto4846]

Notevole. Visionario, materico, echi di blues selvaggio, gesti sonori, sfregi, dolcezza... è un'esperienza... questo non è e non è mai stato uno dei tanti fighetti o marchettari che appestano il jazz, figurette anemiche, e cialtroni targati ECM...

[@GaetanoFiore-t3g]

memorabile!!!!

[@billrebsamen1810]

"If someone wants to learn to play the piano they need to listen to Cecil Taylor" - Frank Zappa

[@pedroa.cantero9449]

Uno de los últimos pilares de la música más estremecedora que he conocido fue portado el jueves 5 de abril de 2018 a los Campos Elíseos por el carro de fuego que arrancara al mítico Elías. No lo imagino de otro modo. Él fue luz fulgurante y vivirá en el fulgor que nos legó. Iker Seisdedos, entre tanto ruido mediático, le rinde un lúcido homenaje en El País que comparto plenamente. «Pocos músicos como Cecil Taylor podían presumir de haber llevado el lenguaje del jazz tan lejos, tanto como hasta rozar la última frontera. Pianista extraordinario, bailarín impetuoso, poeta abstracto e intelectual sarcástico, murió ayer en su ciudad, Nueva York, a los 89 años. […] Taylor se disputa en los libros de historia con aventureros como Lennie Tristano, Ornette Coleman y Sun Ra la introducción de la atonalidad y la paternidad de aquello que tuvo que bautizarse en los sesenta como free jazz (o new thing ), a falta de un calificativo mejor. El debut del pianista, grabado para el sello de nombre profético Transition, llegó en 1956 en Boston, ciudad a la que se había mudado a principios de esa década. Titulado muy apropiadamente Jazz Advance, se escuchó entonces como el temprano grito de una aguerrida vanguardia. Hoy, a diferencia de mucha de su producción posterior, no apta para espíritus débiles, suena con el aroma de los clásicos».

[@RobertBisha]

Beautiful!

[@jazzonlp]

Amazing, as is the album Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! on MPS

[@HMBAD2]

The GOAT !!!

[@hanstaagen2066]

^

[@TheHairyKnee]

cecil taylor's improvisations sound like a through composed Boulez piano sonata

[@josephbrown9076]

THANK YOU

[@kukumuniu5658]

Modern Black Metal & Jazz they both follow one path of expression 17:03

[@danielantoniomiraglia1185]

Increíble artista.

[@ml-zj4oh]

Awesome.. RIP..

[@MahavishnuProject]

His touch.

[@bandicoot5412]

He's right there

[@toeugenio8218]

Sem Palavras ! Sensacional ...

[@jabu003]

RIP........ MAster

[@pedroa.cantero9449]

Pura corporeidad la música mana en todo él. Fluye desde los adentros. Existe. Más allá de las apariencias. En el soplo vital. ¡Polvo de estrellas! Procedencia y destino de lo humano. Surgida de la entraña hacia la luz sideral, la música de Cecil Taylor -cual fulguración- asemeja al ángel aterrador de Rilke. Recordáis: « ¿Quién, si yo gritara, me escucharía entre las órdenes angélicas? Y aun si de repente algún ángel me apretara contra su corazón, me suprimiría su existencia más fuerte. Pues la belleza no es nada sino el principio de lo terrible, lo que somos apenas capaces de soportar, lo que sólo admiramos porque serenamente desdeña destrozarnos ». ¡Amesha spenta! Sefiroth, Uriel…Todo ángel es terrible, vedado en el cara a cara, tan solo queda « algún árbol en la loma, al cual mirar todos los días; nos queda la calle de ayer y la demorada lealtadde una costumbre, a la que le gustamos, y permaneció,y no se fue. Oh, y la noche, y la noche, cuando el vientolleno de espacio cósmico nos roe la cara ». Miramos y no lo encontramos pues él no está en la noche. Es la noche… oscura, intensa y franca como la misma belleza. Puro fulgor, no lo busques en su trayecto sino en su proyección. « Escucha, como sólo los santos escuchaban; la enorme llamada les alzaba del suelo;mas ellos seguían de rodillas, de modo imposible, sin darse cuenta: de tal manera escuchaban. No que pudieras soportar la voz de Dios, lejos de eso, pero escucha el soplo, la noticia incesante que se forma del silencio ». Solo así, quedo, ensimismado podrás seguirle a la traza. Morar en Él. Voilà !

[@pauloluisdemoraespereirape9484]

Top!!!

[@PaulWalker-lk3gi]

Dude is piloting a spaceship

[@bladome]

a full artist

[@bryancooker175]

How are you doing today my name is Bryan coookre

[@chrisisland7792]

Cool

[@bryancooker175]

How are you doing today my name is Bryan coookre

[@Savoots]

The Cosby Show brought me here

[@sammieseoul5544]

Theo, who told you to turn that off?

[@kukumuniu5658]

Which episode?

[@jberry1237]

🗣Tony cleanhead taylor in my bill Cosby voice

[@kukumuniu5658]

The Cosby Show S01E09

[@beneaththecrust4661]

Savoots, me too April 27, 2020

[@marcocalarco7575]

The Jackson Pollock of the piano.

[@youngsummers7541]

So perfect!

[@blacknwhitesalright]

Much better & with more emotive range & a fuller compositional world than Pollock.

[@philippeguasch8770]

Cesar Aira brought me here.

[@jonnathanopazohernandez7469]

great book

[@tonygreen4578]

haven't heard anyone complaining if he hums or sings or shouts -- [cf the comments on Pollini playing] :-)

[@steveegallo3384]

Gould was known to have murmured on occasion.....

[@tonygreen4578]

V de Pachmann was fairly vocal

[@AMROU76]

Tant de virtuosité au service du chaos !

[@qzrnuiqntp]

Quel chaos? Vous n'écoutez pas ce qui est essentiel. Vous ne comprenez tout simplement pas la musique de ce pianiste.

[@BUSHMASTER-GoIN]

♾️

[@Strecklord]

nothing more to say....its all there

[@estebanabondano6108]

que caLord, hey descubri a Cecil TayLord , gracias a la loma, you can put it on Cecil's style or on Scarlatti's, if the messagge it's broken, the surprise would be lost, it's not my bad, ask the cosmos.

[@jimrader5299]

Once he got more known in the '70s, more and better gigs came in and it would seem from his live recording output that the guy did nothing but play piano for the next 40 years or so. "All I need is a half-hour of sleep and some carrot juice."-Lou Reed

[@scriabinismydog2439]

20:25

[@yuef3i]

08:10

[@博多角帯]

■🎹🌸　I　Feel　He　 Is　 Real　 Genius・・・I　Agree～By　Chopin. 　が、このあと調律が８８Kye全部で・・・最悪、弦替え？？

[@andreholly2027]

The Cosby show brought me here

[@koolpopjones6499]

Yes... Season 1 of the Cosby show brought me here

[@ac7969]

I wanna snoop dog see this

[@kukumuniu5658]

The Cosby Show S01E09

[@davidlewis4595]

Criss Cross

[@RobertoLorenzPianist]

In our modern talent shows he would have been booed off stage. That's why I doubt these shows will ever contribute anything to art.

[@simond.flores8213]

Cause most people dont understand this level of sophistication and originality. Plan & simple.

[@judithscott3972]

people coughing. you wouldn't hear no human sound at ahmad jamal or chick corea or whats his face who will walk off the stage if you blink in the dark.

[@jibsmokestack1]

Keith Jarrett

[@PaulCaruso53]

Keith has been known to give out cough drops prior to performing, and has stopped his playing to ask everybody to get it out of their systems with a “ group cough” before he will continue.

[@aaroneaton583]

Tony cleanhead Taylor

[@testtube-nr2pd]

This nigga’s crazy!

[@GeoCoppens]

Not jazz but improvised classical music. Intellectual constructions, very much in the mode of Schoenberg. Most unpleasant and unfeeling! Taylor's voicings are ridiculous.

[@erinhoskins4464]

The Cosby Show brought me here.

[@Bati_]

Why the audience laughed at him? These people think they know Art. I don't think so.

[@LOFTmusicChannel]

+Batı When do they laugh? Can you post the timecode?

[@Bati_]

0:15, 0:28...

[@LOFTmusicChannel]

+Batı Oh, you mean at the beginning. Ok. It's a rather normal reaction, don't you think? Most of the artists feel happy if the audience enjoys their art, also by laughing and showing that they are having fun. Why not?

[@Bati_]

Could you give an example of those artists?

[@LOFTmusicChannel]

+Batı Well, Mozart for instance.

[@accappatoiogiorgio7135]

ok boomer

[@johnnyquest6115]

This man keeps throwing melody out the window! That's not nice.

[@Xbangsplot]

SamuraiSamara69: When you listen to Cecil, it helps to take it as though you're on a hike through the woods, with all its bends, rivers, unexpected sights, etc. Unlike traditional music, his music has endless change with no back tracking. In essence, you need to alter the way you interpret music. Go to a quiet place, alone, where you can focus entirely on the procession of notes. It took me a long time to be able to focus on and appreciate every note of a Cecil Taylor performance but eventually I was able to follow his musical flow and ideas with all its pieces fitting perfectly together. But for that to happen you need to be at the right place at the right time. When it happened, it was extremely satisfying emotionally. When he plays his extremely quick riffs using bunched fingers of both hands, his precision in hitting those keys is perfect, never hitting between them. He's an astonishing piano player, one of a kind, who will never be imitated. A real artist who did not compromise his playing to make more money.

[@TR3NCII]

You need to submit to this music so your subconscious can appreciate it. Not possible with the conscious mind.

[@jazzman642]

Chick Corea has said that people have built in preconceptions of what music is and what it is not. He felt that one way to break down these barriers was to simply turn the volume up. I disagree with his answer but not the premise. A place where you won’t be disturbed and can focus on what you are listening to. Perhaps a drink or a couple of puffs to relax. Once you hear it you can’t unring that bell. For me it was the album Silent Tongues. Happy listening.