Live in Bologna (Cecil Taylor album)
Last updated| Live in Bologna | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | 1987 | |||
| Recorded | November 3, 1987 | |||
| Genre | Free jazz | |||
| Length | 82:11 (Double LP) 69:53 (CD) | |||
| Label | Leo | |||
| Cecil Taylor chronology | ||||
| ||||
Live in Bologna is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded in Bologna on November 3, 1987 and released on the Leo label. The album features a concert performance by Taylor with Thurman Barker, William Parker, Carlos Ward and Leroy Jenkins.
Contents
The compact disc reissue of this album omits the encore at the end and edits about five minutes of music form what was side two of the original 2-LP set.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
The AllMusic review by Stephen Cook states: "Having suffered the passing of longtime musical partner Jimmy Lyons just a year prior, pianist Cecil Taylor enlisted alto saxophonist and flute player Carlos Ward as a replacement for a series of European dates in 1987. Filling out the group were percussionist Thurman Barker and violinist Leroy Jenkins (both veterans of Chicago's trailblazing AACM free jazz collective), as well as bassist William Parker. The new group members proved to be up to Taylor's capricious and galvanizing ways on this Bologna concert recording, not only providing sympathetic support for the pianist's expansive explorations, but also creating uniquely improvised statements of their own... Although this is a great Taylor release, certainly essential for fans, Live in Bologna might not be the best disc for newcomers. Curious listeners should start with either of Taylor's mid-'60s Blue Note discs ( Unit Structures and Conquistador! ), or check out later titles like 1986's live solo piano recording For Olim and his A&M trio date In Floresence ". [1]
Writing for The New York Times, John Rockwell commented: "Even those who respect Mr. Taylor's feisty independence and remarkable technical facility have complained about what seems like an excessively unrelieved assault of aggressive energy: it's involving, even thrilling, but it cries out for moments of relaxation to set the energy into relief... Those moments come here. The members of the quintet seem especially responsive to Mr. Taylor and to one another, and there are long passages of really lovely quiet music to be enjoyed for themselves and to prepare for the patented steady-state climaxes. Particularly on the second side, when Mr. Barker's marimba is partnered by soft flute and airy piano, along with what sounds like the happy chanting and chatting of an African ethnomusicological recording, an almost gentle Taylor begins to emerge... Not that he's lost his bite. Gradually his piano transforms this material into something edgy and uneasy, and soon enough we're back to manic angst. Yet all in all, the range of moods and styles and textures on this set is wide indeed, and welcome in its reach... Still evident, especially in a group as attuned to itself as this one seems to be, is the delicate, fascinating, only dimly graspable way in which composition and improvisation interact; much of the interest of the music, in fact, lies in the very effort one is willing to make to perceive that mystery." [2]
Track listing
- All compositions by Cecil Taylor.
- "Live in Bologna" - 69:53
- Recorded in Bologna on November 3, 1987
Personnel
Related Research Articles
Cecil Percival Taylor was an American pianist and poet.
The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is a non-profit organization, founded in 1965 in Chicago by pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran. The AACM is devoted "to nurturing, performing, and recording serious, original music," according to its charter. It supports and encourages jazz performers, composers and educators. Although founded in the jazz tradition, the group's outreach and influence has, according to Larry Blumenfeld, "touched nearly all corners of modern music."
Leroy Jenkins was an American composer and violinist/violist.
Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come is an album by the Cecil Taylor Unit, recorded live at the Café Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark on November 23, 1962. This concert is nearly all he recorded from 1962 to 1966.
For Alto is a jazz double-LP by composer/multi-reedist Anthony Braxton, recorded in 1969 and released on Delmark Records in 1971. The tracks on this album are performed by Braxton on alto saxophone, with no additional instrumentation or musicians and no overdubbing.
Irving Sidney "Duke" Jordan was an American jazz pianist.
Stone, Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire is a double live album by English guitarist, composer and improvisor Fred Frith. It comprises a series of graphic scores Frith composed in 1992 "for any number of players". It was performed live by Frith, Ikue Mori, Zeena Parkins and the International Occasional Ensemble at five concerts in Canada, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. Frith also conducted and directed the performances.
Thurman Barker is an American jazz drummer.
Blu Blu Blu is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1991 and features performances of eight of Abrams compositions by a big band. Abrams dedicated the title track on the album to Muddy Waters.
Mama and Daddy is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams that was released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1980 and features performances of four of Abrams' compositions by a big band.
Levels and Degrees of Light is the debut album by Muhal Richard Abrams which was released on the Delmark label in 1968 and features performances of three of Abrams' compositions by Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins, Charles Clark, Gordon Emmanuel, Maurice McIntyre, Thurman Barker and Leonard Jones with vocals by Penelope Taylor and a poetry recitation by David Moore.
View from Within is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1985 and featuring performances of six of Abrams' compositions by an octet.
Live in the Black Forest is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded in June 1978 at the SWF-Radio JazzConcert in Kirchzarten, Black Forest, West Germany, and released on the MPS label. The album features two performances by Taylor with Raphe Malik, Jimmy Lyons, Ramsey Ameen, Sirone and Ronald Shannon Jackson.
Olu Iwa is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded in Berlin, Germany on April 12, 1986 and released on the Soul Note label. The album features a concert performance by Taylor with Thurman Barker, William Parker and Steve McCall with Earl McIntyre, Peter Brötzmann and Frank Wright added on one track.
Live in Vienna is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded in Vienna on November 7, 1987 and released on the Leo label. The album features a concert performance by Taylor with Thurman Barker, William Parker, Carlos Ward and Leroy Jenkins.
Tzotzil/Mummers/Tzotzil is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded in Paris on November 13, 1987 with overdubbed poetry recorded in London on November 16 & 17. It was released on the Leo label and the concert performance features Taylor with Thurman Barker, William Parker, Carlos Ward and Leroy Jenkins.
Mayor of Punkville is a double live album by American jazz bassist William Parker and his Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra, which was recorded at Tonic in New York City in 1999 and released on the AUM Fidelity label.
Creative Orchestra (Köln) 1978 is a live album by American composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton. Recorded in Germany in 1978 but not released on the hatART label until 1995, the album features a live concert featuring several of Braxton's compositions that were first recorded on Creative Orchestra Music 1976.
Equal Interest is an album by Equal Interest, a collaborative project by saxophonist Joseph Jarman, pianist Myra Melford and violinist Leroy Jenkins, which was recorded in 1999 and released on the OmniTone label.
2 Ts for a Lovely T is a 10-CD limited-edition live album by American pianist Cecil Taylor. It was recorded during August 27 - September 1, 1990 at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, and was released in 2002 on the Codanza label. The album features the group known as the "Feel Trio," with Taylor on piano, William Parker on bass, and Tony Oxley on drums.
References
- 1 2 Cook, Stephen. "Cecil Taylor: Live in Bologna". AllMusic. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
- ↑ Rockwell, John (May 22, 1988). "The Cecil Taylor Enigma Is Intact, Despite New LP's". The New York Times. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.