Cecil Taylor S+D

OK, i knew all those things but to be clear the post was referring to a "new" release put out by somebody named rob young so pardon my confusion

i appreciate the breakdown though, since folks may follow the thread and not know and i don't want the free jazz threads here to be cryptic or insular

i appreciate the breakdown though, since folks may follow the thread and not know and i don't want the free jazz threads here to be cryptic or insular

My feeling exactly. And to be clear, the reason this discussion cropped up is because I wrote in my Substack newsletter about a Cecil/Bill concert that I spotted on YouTube this weekend, which was the day before the studio recording session. Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVc3qMW1fSY

There’s pro-shot video of both that and their performance in Verona.

I probably posted this before, and it’s mentioned in the liner notes of the Triple Point set, but the original plan in 1992 was for a 2CD box (Bill and Cecil preferred CDs to vinyl) with a book of Bill’s artwork and Cecil’s poetry. Unsurprisingly, no label wanted to release it at the time, at least not on the artists’ terms. It would’ve been incredible if the eventual release was what was originally intended, with the addition of a DVD of the filmed performances, and maybe contemporary reviews of those shows (Bill and Cecil were on the cover of France’s Jazz Hot that summer, and that photo was used in the artwork unperson saw at the Whitney).

As irritatingly cumbersome, pricey, and gatekeepy as the Triple Point set is, at least it has the full backing and approval of the artists’ estates, and that the direct representatives of those estates are being compensated fairly.

my only musical controp is that Love For Sale is one of his best albums

not controversial in my household

I'll try and make it more controp by stating it his best then! Been reading the Thelonious Monk book and was amused that Cecil was initially barred from the Five Spot for breaking an already fragile and dilapidated piano. I love this guy so much.

RDG Kelley's book? i still need to read it, sadly

yeah, it's a tremendous read. I'm taking it slowly and listening to stuff referenced in it. It has taught me a few things and is so good.

Thought this revive would be for unperson's Cecil Taylor book, when's that out?

Not sure yet. Publisher's working on it. I just sent them back cover copy and an author photo today, in fact! I've seen a preliminary page layout, and I know they're talking to the folks at FMP and the Jazzinstitut Darmstadt about including some photos. They're also designing the cover using a painting I sent them. It'll definitely be out this year, though.

Ooooh

I’ve been bumping “calling it the eighth” lately.

i don't think Love is for Sale is my favorite album of his but it's *definitely* my favorite of his album covers

Recently spent a day at the Met museum with my headphones on, selecting music to pair with each group of painting and I chose Air Above Mountains for the Cezannes. Pretty clear resonance imo with their interest in 'underlying architecture' and constructing forms out of individual units. Wondering if Cecil Taylor has ever spoken about any direct influence from visual art or architecture

Wondering if Cecil Taylor has ever spoken about any direct influence from visual art or architecture

Yeah, he was a huge admirer of architect Santiago Calatrava's bridges and other structures; he talked about it many times.

He was a big art and architecture lover. Dantiago Calatrava gets a shoutout early on in the documentary “All The Notes”.

lol unperson beat me to it!

Nice, i should check out that doc.

If there's a print interview online where he talks about it that you know of please lmk!

Yeah, he was a huge admirer of architect Santiago Calatrava's bridges and other structures; he talked about it many times.

I didn't know that, but it actually makes a lot of sense.

freely available on youtube
it's the opening shot lol

you can check this out if you're looking for a print source rather than video:

http://www.furious.com/perfect/ceciltaylor.html

both Miles and Cecil were poshboys compared to Monk who was an autodidact born into struggle and struggled even when he was famous, and there is a fair bit of needle between Monk and Miles. Probably not all down to class resentment but more pride and the clashing out of control egos. But no surprise that Cecil was an urbane intellectual type, given his background. Not that it made life any easier being black in the US at the time.

But no surprise that Cecil was an urbane intellectual type, given his background. Not that it made life any easier being black in the US at the time.

Yeah, I deal with this a little bit in the book, the fact (often unremarked-upon by critics) that Taylor was absolutely a scion of the early 20th century Black upper middle class, if not the Black aristocracy of the era; he says in an interview I quoted that his father had the only brick house on their block, and his (Cecil's) name appeared in the society columns of local newspapers when he was a kid — the family seems to have come through the Great Depression entirely unscathed, and some relatives on his father's side lived in a gigantic manor house near Boston (part of the reason he wound up at New England Conservatory, I think).

I just realized despite the fact I love him so much I have no idea about Taylor’s background. Looking forward to the book, etc.

most of what i know is from the A.B. Spellman book, which i highly recommend!

https://press.umich.edu/Books/F/Four-Jazz-Lives2

thanks budo jeru! i think his intro in the doc was more interesting, if only because he took me by surprise when he referred to bridges as a time-based form

stumbled onto this a while ago and most of what i know about him is from here:
https://unitstructures.commons.gc.cuny.edu/abstracts/

no problem. i don't get asked every day if i can recommend a print source for Cecil Taylor's thoughts on Calatrava, but when it does happen i'm ready

haha, does the Institute of Jazz Studies need a reference librarian?

Yeah, thanks for that link budo jeru.

of tangential interest: this blog posted an audio recording of an interview with chantal d'arcy from 1963, who started Shandar records in Paris in the early '70s with encouragement from CT, and also issued recordings by Taylor, as well as Sun Ra, Terry Riley, Pran Nath, and others:

https://blogthehum.com/2017/04/02/a-rare-wonderful-and-insightful-interview-with-chantal-darcy-founder-of-shandar-records-from-may-23-1973/