This came as something of a shock one day back in 2000 when I walked into a local record store and saw this on the display shelf. Was this really new? Is that seriously Elvin Jones playing with Cecil Taylor? I'd heard of Dewey Redman, but this was my first exposure, really, to his music (I would become a huge "Ear of the Behearer" fan in no time flat, and now have great appreciation for his work both with Ornette Coleman and with Keith Jarrett). It took a few times to fully appreciate this album, though, as something seemed almost too studio, a little sterile, maybe, than the live shows of Taylor's with which I was spending time. It's Verve, after all, and what was Verve even doing putting this out? Aiding the community, of course, giving some exposure to an old-fashioned summit meeting that found all three musicians pulling back just a little but often truly inspiring each other to some stellar performances.
The first real surprise is how lyrical it all is. From the first song, melody (even though there are no "heads" per se) and lyricism are front and center. Jones is largely playing time keeper on this one, though his pulse is as great as ever. I didn't understand then that Taylor was inserting a lot of lyricism into his music, as seen by the recent sets from the Iridium. I was stunned, really, by the beauty of his solo track, "Life As", but equally astonished by how subdued Jones was on his solo track. Back in his 'Trane days, Elvin would often use his time to demonstrate how unbelievably brutal he could be, really letting it hammer out on his solo. Some of the solo studio tracks, though, like "the Drum Thing" already demonstrated that when he slowed down, he could show just how lyricism and tone could work purely on a drum set. Redman, then is the glue that holds it all together. His rich tenor tone was immediately striking to my ears, and it was easy to see why he was so in demand, though difficult to understand why his solo day in the sun never really came (do go back and check out those Impulse! solo albums, though. Really amazing stuff). He could really take it "out", too, and some of his attacks add an edge to the studio sheen that kicks the listener out of that space, reminding just how free and intense these guys could be.
The song "It", a masterful duet between Taylor and Jones, is actually a song Taylor had been playing live for some time. Should any have access to "Qu'a Yuba: Live at the Iridium, Vol. 2", just start the first track. Right off, here's the soulful beginning that leads to Taylor's signature clusters and motif, and then into more abstract territory. The difference is Jones, right there with him. This shows the kind of sympathetic relationship that Jones and Taylor had, and sadly a number of duet shows organized after this recording all went unrecorded, so this is as close as it gets. It's more than close enough, though, and it shows Jones outright sparring with Taylor and increasing his attack, which spurs Taylor even further out yet; magical. "Is" (yes, rather annoyingly completing the sentence starting with "Life As") is something else entirely. Here, at least at first, Jones moves into a "coloring" role, and his and Redman's work, specifically, reminds one of "A Love Supreme: Psalm" more than anything. Taylor, naturally, is playing something else entirely, filling all possible voids in the background with arpeggios and crazy chords, each building on the other, and occasionally inviting Jones to step in and drive forward. That drive brings back a stronger Redman, who then stays in a bold space while Taylor seems to flutter all around him. It's a thrill, Everybody then intensifies, and one realizes that it's almost like hearing Taylor playing with Coltrane and Jones circa 1965. That's a strong spot for Redman, who takes it from an overblowing intensity back to that relaxed tone again, with Jones alongside for the ride (though Taylor, at times, seems to spin into his own orbit, being far away from where the others are). Eventually, though, everyone comes back together, and Taylor uses his most recent techniques of moving into slow, beautiful territory to resolve the song and take it out on a high note. Redman then gets his own denouement in the brief track, "Dew", which showcases how lovely overblowing can be. All in all, a solid meeting of the three, even if it doesn't quite match the thrills a live show of much the same might've achieved. Fans of any of the three won't want to miss it. - rateyourmusic.com / Disink
Desde los seis años, Taylor empezó a ejercitarse en el piano. Luego estudió en la New York School of Music y, más tarde, en el New England Conservatory (piano, teoría, arreglos y composición). Su carrera profesional comenzó con músicos tradicionales como Hot Lips Page, Lawrence Brown y Johnny Hodges.
Cecil Taylor creó su propio grupo en 1956, con Steve Lacy, ss., Buell Neidlinger, b., y Dennis Charles, bt., que grabó Jazz Advance (1956, Blue Note), su primer álbum, y se presentó en el Five Spot. El conjunto funcionaba todavía dentro de la ortodoxia jazzística, pero en el festival de Newport de 1957, ya se pudieron ver los primeros signos de vanguardismo. Luego, el vibrafonista Earl Griffin sustituiría a Lacy. De 1958 es el álbum Looking Ahead! (1958, Contemporary), con el nuevo cuarteto. El disco coincide, en fecha y sello, con el primer álbum de Ornette Coleman como líder. Y si el cuarteto de Ornette no tenía piano, el free jazz lo tendría con Cecil Taylor.
Tras una sesión, sin mayor trascendencia, con John Coltrane —que primero se editaría como Stereo Drive, a nombre de Taylor, y más tarde como Coltrane Time (1958, Blue Note)—, y en la que figurarían Kenny Dorham, Chuck Israels y Louis Hayes, empezarían las grabaciones decisivas de Cecil Taylor. Hay que hacer notar que las distintas reediciones de los álbumes del pianista han cambiado a menudo de título, lo que complica un tanto su relación.
Tras Love for Sale (1959, United Artists), vendrá The World of Cecil Taylor (1960, Candid), en trío con Neidlinger y Charles, también editado como Air, y las fundamentales sesiones de 1961 con los dos citados y Archie Shepp, Clark Terry, Steve Lacy, Roswell Rudd, Don Cherry, Charles Davis y Billy Higgins, lanzadas con títulos como New York City R & B, Jumpin’ Punkins y Cell Walk for Celeste, asimismo bajo el sello Candid.
La actuación en directo en el Cafe Montmartre de Copenhague, en plena gira europea con Jimmy Lyons y Sunny Murray, What’s New (1962, Freedom), se ha reeditado como Nefertiti – The Beautiful One HasCome. En Suecia, Taylor se encontró con Albert Ayler, y el trío le hizo de acompañante, volviendo a Estados Unidos y tocando hasta 1963.
Para entonces, el acercamiento free de Taylor al piano ya está consolidado, y empezará a notarse su influencia en pianistas y otros músicos. En 1966, Taylor grabará para Blue Note Unit Structures y Conquistador!, este último con Jimmy Lyons, Bill Dixon, Henry Grimes, Alan Silva y Andrew Cyrille. Con estos dos últimos y el fiel Lyons, se publicará un concierto en directo, desde París, Student Studies (1966, Affinity). En 1968, Taylor grabará como solista invitado de la Jazz Composers’ Orchestra, Communications 11 (JCOA). Después de grabar Praxis (1968, Praxis) en solo, se lanzará una grabación en Francia como The Great Concert of Cecil Taylor (1969, Prestige), en cuarteto con Sam Rivers, Lyons, y Cyrille.
Se ha escrito mucho, pero todavía es difícil poner en palabras lo que representa el pianismo de Cecil Taylor. Enormemente discutido, acusado por sus detractores de imitar la música contemporánea occidental, a lo que el artista responde que él hace una música basada en su tradición cultural como afroamericano, y no en ninguna otra, Taylor es un pianista clave en el siglo XX. Marginado del éxito comercial, Cecil Taylor ha proseguido una carrera absolutamente independiente, en la que ha sabido exponer emociones a partir de una tremenda energía vital. El magma sonoro evolutivo que Taylor ha extraído de su piano une las raíces africanas con la poesía del abismo, el sentido de la aventura con el vigor de la danza.
Persona de variados intereses intelectuales, Cecil Taylor ha colaborado con figuras como Friedrich Gulda, Max Roach o Mary Lou Williams. El interés por la danza, procede de su madre, bailarina, y también pianista y violinista. Y en numerosas ocasiones, Taylor ha actuado con bailarines, o él mismo ha practicado la danza en el escenario, además de recitar su poesía.
En los años setenta, Cecil Taylor quedará entronizado como un icono de la música improvisada, sobre todo en Europa, con conciertos para piano solo, o con su grupo Unit, por el que pasarán el trompetista Raphé Malik, David S. Ware, el bajista Sirone y Ronald Shannon Jackson. Indent (1973) y el extraordinario Silent Tongues – Live at Montreux ’74 (1974), ambos en piano solo y publicados por Freedom, o Dark to Themselves (1976, Enja), Live in the Black Forest (1978, MPS), Cecil Taylor Unit (1978, New World) y One Too Many Salty Swift and Not Goodbye (1978, hatArt), todos en grupo, son muestras definitivas de la volcánica música de Taylor.
Casi siempre en sellos europeos, Taylor seguirá dejando huellas de su trayectoria, en grabaciones como: ItIs in the Brewing Luminous (1980, hatArt); Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! (1980, MPS); Winged Serpent –Sliding Quadrants (1984, Soul Note), de la llamada Cecil Taylor Segments II (Orchestra of Two Continents), con Enrico Rava, Tomasz Stanko y el fiel William Parker, entre otros; Olu Iwa (1986, Soul Note); For Olim (1986, Soul Note), en solo; Live in Bologna (1987, Leo), con la Unit; y Live in Vienna (1987, Leo), con Carlos Ward, Parker, Leroy Jenkins y Thurman Baker; éstas son algunas de las grabaciones de la década de los ochenta.
En la década de los noventa, Taylor acostumbrará a actuar en trío, junto a William Parker y Tony Oxley, como en Looking – Berlin Version (1990, FMP). El sello alemán FMP cuidará de manera especial de las grabaciones de Cecil Taylor en dicha época, publicando álbumes y estuches. En 1998 se publica Momentum Space (Verve), una reunión en la cumbre de Taylor, con los grandes Dewey Redman y Elvin Jones.
Siempre en activo, y practicando intensamente con el piano, lo que más de una vez le ha ocasionado lesiones, Cecil Taylor sigue publicando grabaciones como The Willisau Concert (2000, Intakt), en solo, o en colaboración con la Italian Instabile Orchestra The Owner of the River Bank (2000, Enja), una suite en siete partes, "compuesta" por los 18 músicos de la IIO para celebrar el décimo aniversario de la formación. En 2002, Taylor actuaba en trío, junto a Bill Dixon y Tony Oxley, y en 2005, volvía a escena con ellos, además de con un nuevo trío, con Albey Balgochian, b-el., y Jackson Krall, bt.
Y así seguirá Cecil Taylor, a ser posible, frente a un Bosendorfer, su marca de piano preferida, conjugando y conjurando su música. - tomajazz.com / Joan Sardà 2006
Joan Sardà (2006)
Tracks
1. Nine (Dewey Redman)
2. Bekei (Elvin Jones)
3. Spoonin' (Dewey Redman)
4. Life As (Cecil Taylor)
5. It (Cecil Taylor)
6. Is (Cecil Taylor)
7. Dew (Dewey Redman)
ELVIN JONES drums
DEWEY REDMAN tenor saxophone
CECIL TAYLOR piano
Recorded on August 4 and 5, 1998 at Avatar Recording Studios, New York
Verve Records – 559 944-2