Cecil Taylor and His Drummers

Burning Ambulance

More from the archives...

Taylor is hell on drummers because he's kind of a drummer himself, and no trap set can match his 88 bells, or the overtones with which he purges the air. ... Still, he has had four great ones--Sunny Murray, Andrew Cyrille, Shannon Jackson, and now Tony Oxley. "Great" in this context is easily quantified: the drummer must be able to keep up, but also to lead. For all his speed and the monoliths of sound Taylor builds, he is a most responsive musician, and his drummers have to anticipate in a nanosecond when to jump out front. The music, after all, is relatively airless: almost all the dialogue is simultaneous. He doesn't trade fours. (Gary Giddins, "Bing Bang Bong," Village Voice, 1989-02-14)

Playlist, Week of 2016-10-30

Playlist 2016-10-31:

*Anthony Braxton: Anthony Braxton Quartet [Sao Paulo 2014] (disc 2)
*Tobias Delius 4tet: Pelikanismus
*Eric Dolphy: The Complete Prestige Recordings (disc 8)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 11
*Andrew Hill: Passing Ships
*Clifford Jordan and John Gilmore: Blowing in from Chicago
*Ingrid Laubrock with Liam Noble & Tom Rainey: Sleepthief
*Gianmarco Liguori: Duga-3
*Tomasz Stanko Quartet: Suspended Night
*Sun Ra: The Other Side of the Sun
*Sun Ra: 1979-05-10 Bayou, Washington DC (CDR) (selections)
*Sun Ra And His Intergalactic Myth Science Solar Arkestra: Sleeping Beauty
*Sun Ra: Of Mythic Worlds (side 2)
*Cecil Taylor: Jazz Advance
*Cecil Taylor: Love for Salel
*Cecil Taylor: Conquistador! "Conquistador"
*Cecil Taylor: 1976-07-25 Juan-les-Pins (wav)
*Cecil Taylor and Paul Lovens: Regalia
*Eberhard Weber/Colours: Silent Feet (side 1)
*Brian Eno: Another Green World
*Allman Brothers: At Fillmore East (side 4)
*Beach Boys: All This Is That (boot CDR)
*David Bowie: The Man who Sold the World
*Clash: The Singles (disc 1)
*Marshall Crenshaw: Marshall Crenshaw
*Carmen Electra: On Top (boot CDR)
*Guided By Voices: Fast Japanese Spin Cycle
*King Crimson: Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind (disc 3)
*Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti (disc 1)
*Paul Revere & the Raiders: The Essential Paul Revere & the Raiders (selections)
*Robert Pollard: Edison's Demos
*Premiata Forneria Marconi: Storia di un Minuto
*Premiata Forneria Marconi: Per un Amico
*Prince: Montreux Jazz Festival 2013/From The Soundboard, Vol. 1 (boot CDR) (disc 2)
*Prince: Montreux Jazz Festival 2013/From The Soundboard, Vol. 2 (boot CDR)
*Prince: Montreux Jazz Festival 2013/From The Soundboard, Vol. 3 (boot CDR)
*Soft Boys: Underwater Moonligh
*Tasavallan Presidentti: Lambert Land (side 1)
*UYA: 1990-01-21 Jim Harp Studio, MA (wav) (selections)
*UYA: 1990-01-24 Green St. Station, Jamaica Plain, Boston (wav)
*UYA: 1990-01-28 All Hail Zenon (wav)
*Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention: Road Tapes, Venue #1 (1968) (disc 1)
*Zombies: The BBC Radio Sessions (side 2)

Reading List, Week of 2016-10-30

Reading List 2016-10-31:

*Hernandez, Gilbert. Luba (started)
*Munro, Alice. Runaway (started)
*Christgau, Robert. Grown Up All Wrong (finished)
*Hernandez, Jaime. Locas (reread/finished)
*Martin, Judith. Miss Manners' Guide to Domestic Tranquility (in progress)

Stratification and Articulation: Five Quotes about Cecil Taylor

Cecil Taylor performing at Keystone Korner in San Francisco in 1977. PHOTO: KATHY SLOANE

I've been going through some old files I've accumulated over the years (I don't think of myself as a pack rat; I'm more of a personal musical archivist/clipping service for myself), and I found this fantastic special jazz supplement from the Village Voice back in 1989 dedicated to Cecil Taylor. I'm so glad I held on to it. Here are five quotes:

No artist has given me more pleasure than Taylor, in part because I know that what I get from him I can get nowhere else. He recharges my batteries, wakes me to possibilities, exonerates my mind for wandering--because anywhere it wanders is sanctified by the music that took it there. (Gary Giddins, "Outer Curve: Mirror and Water Gazing," Village Voice, 1989-06-26)

In the long, celebrated (and celebratory) "D Trad, That's What" [from Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come], all the possibilities of Taylor's new music rush to the surface. There's nothing superfluous in it, as packed and many-noted as the music is. The pianist's lengthy central improvisation rises and falls as the garrulous right hand is countered by the constantly developing answers at the other end of the keyboard; Murray's playing, now bright, now heavy and ominous, is equally varied in accent. When Lyons returns for his second solo, Taylor is somehow galvanized into redoubling his intensity, and the trio takes on an orchestral breadth and grandeur. They careen on to a finish that appears from nowhere. It's a free improvisation that makes Coleman's Free Jazz seem conservative, and it's no wonder that such a performance seeded so much of the free jazz of the subsequent three decades. (Richard Cook, "At First: To Play What One Hears," Village Voice, 1989-06-26)

Cecil's alchemization of piano into orchestra forced his drummers to rethink favored playing patterns. And the rethinking was mutual. Cecil had to reformulate his playing at the promptings of his diverse drummers. (Norman Weinstein, "Drum Song: Rhythmic Eclipse (time)," Village Voice, 1989-06-26)

Long before one begins to hear and appreciate the unique structural features, the rhythmic and tonal connections, and the formal processes in Taylor's music, one cannot help being impressed by his heightened manual artistry and technical competence, But Taylor's pianism involves much more than just the stunning ability, so readily demonstrated, to play fast. At least as important as that frenzied interlocking of motifs and those cascades of clusters is the clarity with which all this is achieved--it's not as though Taylor, quasi delirious, sweeps over the keyboard, muddying the contours with too much pedal. On the contrary, what lifts Taylor's playing beyond mere technical dazzle is not speed alone, but rather the compounding of speed, density, and the precise articulation of every single detail. (Ekkehard Jost, "The Player Advances: Area and Plain," Village Voice, 1989-06-26)

Closely related to call-and-response patterns is the technique of stratification, or layering, which can be thought of as a temporal variant of the call-and-response idea. In stratification, the "call" and "response" simply occur simultaneously instead of separately. (Ekkehard Jost, "The Player Advances: Area and Plain," Village Voice, 1989-06-26)

Playlist, Week of 2016-10-23

Playlist 2016-10-24:

*Daniel Barbiero/Sam Byrd/Jimmy Ghaphery: 2016-08-27 Rhizome, Washington DC (wav)
*Colla Parte: 2015-08-15 Auxiliary, Richmond VA (wav)
*Kris Davis Trio: Waiting for You to Grow
*Kris Davis: Capricorn Climber
*Kris Davis Infrasound: Save Your Breath
*Jack DeJohnette: Made in Chicago
*Ingrid Laubrock Quintet: 2014-01-22 Brooklyn NY (CDR)
*Ingrid Laubrock Ubatuba: 2015-10-08 Bremen, Germany (CDR)
*Ingrid Laubrock’s Ubatuba Quintet: 2015-10-11 Barcelona (CDR)
*Steve Lehman Octet: Travail, Transformation, And Flow
*Gianmarco Liguori: Duga-3
*Made in Chicago: 2015-07-11 Rotterdam (CDR)
*Charles Mingus: A Modern Jazz Symposium Of Music And Poetry
*Charles Mingus: Pre-Bird
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2016-10-17 "Sounds in Corners" (wav)
*Tom Rainey Trio: Hotel Grief
*Raymond Scott: Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: 1978-12-24 Boston (CDR) (selections)
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: In for a Penny, In for a Pound (disc 2)
*At the Drive-In: Relationship of Command
*James Brown: Star Time (disc 1)
*Derek and the Dominos: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2016-10-08 (wav)
*Esquivel: Space-Age Batchelor Pad Music
*Esquivel: Music from a Sparkling Planet
*Esquivel: More of Other Worlds, Other Sounds
*Guided By Voices: Tonics & Twisted Chasers
*Robert Pollard: Kid Marine
*Spirit: Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus
*13th Floor Elevators: The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators (selections)
*13th Floor Elevators: Easter Everywhere (selections)
*U.K.: U.K.
*Various artists: WSAM: Fart-Rock!! (cassette compilation) (side B)

Reading List, Week of 2016-10-23

Reading List 2016-10-24:

*Crumb, Aline and R. Drawn Together (finished)
*Díaz, Junot. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (finished)
*Hernandez, Gilbert. Palomar: The Heartbreak Soup Stories (reread/finished)
*Christgau, Robert. Grown Up All Wrong (in progress)
*Hernandez, Jaime. Locas (reread/in progress)
*Martin, Judith. Miss Manners' Guide to Domestic Tranquility (in progress)

Long-time Bands

Alexander Hawkins on the value of long-standing musical relationships:

“One of the things that’s really important about the Blue Notes is that they show the value of long-standing – long-standing – musical relationships and empathy,” he said, adding the Schlippenbach Trio as another instance of this. The free-improv era, Hawkins explained, gave musicians a lingua franca, an ability to make music in impromptu, one-off meetings. The Blue Notes, however, pointed to another way of working. “They really show the power, that where there’s long-standing relationships and understanding, then that’s really a deeply productive way to create new music. I think lesser musicians are worried that long-standing relationships create something predictable. The great musicians, the history of the group – the Ellington band, the Basie bands, the Blue Notes – shows that long-standing understanding probably creates the deepest freedom.” (Jumpin’ In by Greg Buium, Point of Departure , issue 52, 2015)

...and Mary Halvorson on the same topic:

I really appreciate longstanding bands ... of course there is always the excitement of newness, but there is also a certain element of chemistry which can only develop over time. (Mary Halvorson: Variety and Contrast by Troy Collins, Point of Departure, issue 52, 2015)

I have been extremely lucky to have had several long-lasting band experiences. The improvising core of New Ting Ting Loft (Jimmy Ghaphery, Tim Harding, and myself) has been together since 1996, for 20 years now (!), first as a sax/drum duo, then as the New Loft Quartet, then, as a trio, just plain old New Loft, and now, with the augmentation from our valued bandmates for the last few years, as New Ting Ting Loft. I think we have continued to surprise ourselves over the years!

UYA lasted for almost 8 years, and I've been playing with Rodger Coleman at least once a year for the last 16. Going further back, Tad Thaddock played as a unit for 4 or 5 years. Alexander Hawkins is absolutely right!

Playlist, Week of 2016-10-16

Playlist 2016-10-17:

*Muhal Richard Abrams: One Line, Two Views
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: Reese and the Smooth Ones
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: Kabalaba (side 1)
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1991-10-31 Berlin Jazzfest (youtube)
*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: You've Been Watching Me
*Rodger Coleman: Real Gone
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 10 (disc 2)
*Joseph Jarman: Song For
*Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House: Roulette of the Cradle
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2016-09-19 "Uncle Arthur's Flour Apprehension" (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2016-09-28 "Ankle, Rain, Pack" Strange Matter, RVA (wav)
*Chris Pitsiokos Quartet: One Eye with a Microscope Attached
*Spanish Donkey: Raoul
*Sun Ra Arkestra: ca. 1969-1970 Slug's Saloon, NYC (CDR) (selections)
*Sun Ra: Cosmos
*Sun Ra: Untitled Recordings
*Sun Ra: Disco 3000
*Sun Ra: Disco 3000: The Complete Milan Concert 1978 (Art Yard)
*Sun Ra: Media Dreams (Art Yard)
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: In for a Penny, In for a Pound (disc 1)
*David S. Ware/Apogee: Birth of a Being (disc 1)
*John Zorn: Cobra: John Zorn's Game Pieces, Vol. 2
*George Clinton & the P-Funk Allstars: T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M.
*George Clinton & the P-Funk Allstars: Dope Dogs
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2016-10-14 (wav)
*Guided By Voices: Please Be Honest
*Jefferson Pilot: 2016 Demos/Rough Mixes (CDR)
*King Crimson: Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind (disc 2)
*Opeth: Sorceress
*Richard Pinhas: 2014-05-16 Victoriaville (CDR)
*UYA: 1989-12-18/28: Everything Breaks
*UYA: 1990-01-11 Greedy Venus Power (wav)
*UYA: 1990-01-14 Coin Breath (wav)
*UYA: 1990-01-14/15 Under Your Anarchy (wav)
*Various artists: Nigeria Soul Fever: : Afro Funk, Disco and Boogie: West African Disco Mayhem! (disc 1)
*Yes: Relayer

Reading List, Week of 2016-10-16

Reading List 2016-10-17:

*Christgau, Robert. Grown Up All Wrong (started)
*Díaz, Junot. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (started)
*Klosterman, Chuck.  But What If We're Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past (finished)
*Mizumura, Minae. A True Novel (transl. Juliet Winters Carpenter) (finished)
*Crumb, Aline and R. Drawn Together (in progress)
*Hernandez, Gilbert. Palomar: The Heartbreak Soup Stories (reread/in progress)
*Hernandez, Jaime. Locas (reread/in progress)
*Martin, Judith. Miss Manners' Guide to Domestic Tranquility (in progress)

The Improviser and the Improvised

Daniel Barbiero and Al Margolis

Corbett describes this existential dimension of free improvisation when he suggests that the best improvisers develop an intensely personal vocabulary--the “lexicon” alluded to earlier--of the sounds and gestures they find most meaningful. More than technique is involved, although that certainly is part of it; sensibility, and, as he terms it, “an amplification or intensification of personal identity” are also involved. In other words, something beyond music narrowly construed comes into play--something indicative of a more fundamental aspect of the improviser's comportment in the world. When most effectively played, free improvisation tells us something about the improviser that goes beyond the strictly musical. (Daniel Barbiero, "Free Improvisation, Beyond Mystery and Mystique: John Corbett's A Listener's Guide to Free Improvisation," Perfect Sound Forever Oct./Nov. 2016)

Playlist, Week of 2016-10-09

Wasn't there something announced from Irwin Chusid about this being remastered soon without the horrible pressing defect present in all circulating vinyl rips? I hope so, because there's some primo Gilmore on this, especially "What's New?"

Playlist 2016-10-10:

*Muhal Richard Abrams: One Line, Two Views
*Daniel Barbiero/Sam Byrd/Jimmy Ghaphery: 2016-08-27 Rhizome, Washington DC (wav)
*Anthony Braxton Sextet: 2005-11-05 Boston (CDR) (disc 1)
*Dutch Jazz Orchestra: Portrait of a Silk Thread: Newly Discovered Works of Billy Strayhorn
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 10 (disc 1)
*Ellery Eskelin: The Secret Museum
*Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House: 2014-09-16 Koln, Germany (CDR)
*Ingrid Laubrock: Ubatuba
*Paradoxical Frog: 2012-09-21 Firehouse 12, New Haven CT (CDR) (disc 1)
*Sonny Rollins: East Broadway Run Down
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: 1976-08-24 Châteauvallon, France (CDR)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: 1976-08-25 Châteauvallon, France (CDR)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: 1977-04-17 Smuckers, NYC (CDR) (selections)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Some Blues But Not the Kind That’s Blue
*Sun Ra Arkestra: Unity
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Taking a Chance on Chances
*Sun Ra Quartet: New Steps
*Sun Ra Quartet: Other Voices, Other Blues
*Beach Boys: Alternates (disc 2) (CDR compilation)
*Opeth: Watershed

Reading List, Week of 2016-10-09

Reading List 2016-10-10:

*Klosterman, Chuck.  But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past (started)
*Crumb, Aline and R. Drawn Together (in progress)
*Hernandez, Gilbert. Palomar: The Heartbreak Soup Stories (reread/in progress)
*Hernandez, Jaime. Locas (reread/in progress)
*Martin, Judith. Miss Manners' Guide to Domestic Tranquility (in progress)
*Mizumura, Minae. A True Novel (transl. Juliet Winters Carpenter) (in progress)

Mary Halvorson on the influence of Braxton

TC: What is the most important thing you feel you learned from Braxton?
MH: It’s really hard to narrow it down to just one thing! So I might cheat and mention a few things. When I first met Anthony and started taking his classes at age 17, his music inspired me deeply (and it still does today). During those early years as a student he constantly encouraged me to explore, and to get out of my comfort zone. He encouraged mistakes, and encouraged taking risks even if it meant failing. His musical universe is and was so expansive and diverse, and seeing the scope of what he’s done and how he continues to change and evolve is inspiring in itself. He is fearless, and makes no compromises. In my mind, all kinds of boundaries started dissolving. Anthony also taught me to value musical tradition of all kinds, to be open-minded, and to check out absolutely everything. He never qualified one kind of music as “better” than another kind. And maybe most importantly, he gave me the courage to pursue music as a career. When I was 19 and trying to decide if I should become a musician, I really wanted to but just didn’t think I could pull it off. Fortunately, I had Anthony, and my guitar teacher Joe Morris (Joe was the other really important figure during my college years) pushing me to go for it. I needed that. (Troy Collins, Mary Halvorson: Variety and Contrast, Point of Departure, issue 52, 2015)

Photos from Strange Matter Gig

Here are some photos (taken by Jimmy Ghaphery) from New Ting Ting Loft's gig last week at Strange Matter.

Getting ready to play....

Fred in his element:

A closeup of some of Fred's equipment:

Playlist, Week of 2016-10-02

The new Ra Slug's material that recently appeared on Dime is a revelation. Compositions I'd never heard before, plus another astonishing Gilmore solo on "Space Aura"!

Playlist 2016-10-03:

*Muhal Richard Abrams: Vision Towards Essence
*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: You've Been Watching Me
*Anthony Braxton: The Complete Arista Recordings of Anthony Braxton (discs 7, 8)
*Sam Byrd: Sound Row No. 7 (various versions) (wav)
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: Imaginary LP (wav)
*Eric Dolphy: The Complete Prestige Recordings (disc 6)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Ellington Suites
*Bill Evans: The Complete Riverside Recordings (disc 3)
*Barry Guy/London Jazz Composers Orchestra: Ode
*Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey: 2009-01-07 The Stone, NYC (CDR)
*George Lewis: Homage to Charlie Parker
*Joe Morris Quartet: Balance
*Music Improvisation Company: Music Improvisation Company (side 2)
*Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: 2010-05-13 Koln (Break-Ups) (CDR)
*RAIC: 2016-09-01 "Lovers Never Leave" Sound of Music Studios, RVA (youtube)
*Sun Ra Arkestra: ca. 1969-1970 Slug's Saloon, NYC (CDR)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: 1974-09-08 Jazz Showcase, Chicago (CDR)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: 1974-12-11 Santa Cruz, CA (CDR)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: 1975-06-11 "New" Five Spot, NYC (CDR)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: 1975-12 Jordan Hall, Boston (CDR)
*Sun Ra and His Interplanetary Vocal Arkestra: The Space Age Is Here to Stay
*Cecil Taylor: Conquistador! “With (Exit”)
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: In for a Penny, In for a Pound (disc 2)
*Beach Boys: Alternates (disc 1) (CDR compilation)
*Heldon: Stand By
*High Llamas: Here Come the Rattling Trees
*Hummingbird: We Can't Go On Meeting Like This (selections)
*Hummingbird: Diamond Nights (selections)
*Chaka Khan and Rufus: selections
*King Crimson: Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind (disc 1)
*Minutemen: ...Just a Minute Men
*Muffins: 1977 Washington DC (CDR)
*Opeth: Deliverance
*Opeth: Ghost Reveries
*Richard Pinhas/Yoshida Tatsuya: 2014-12-01 Tokyo (CDR)
*UYA: 1989-11-28 Lip (wav)
*UYA: 1989-12-03 Void Snacking (wav)
*UYA: 1989-12-05 Pelvic Antler (wav)
*UYA: 1989-12-12 Open Your Mouth Open Your Mind (wav)

Reading List, Week of 2016-10-02

Reading List 2016-10-03:

*Hernandez, Gilbert. Palomar: The Heartbreak Soup Stories (reread/started)
*Hernandez, Jaime. Locas (reread/started)
*Mizumura, Minae. A True Novel (transl. Juliet Winters Carpenter) (started)
*Njal's Saga (transl. Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson) (started/finished)
*Hornby, Nick. More Baths, Less Talking (finished)
*Knausgaard, Karl Ove. My Struggle, Book Five: Some Rain Must Fall (transl. Don Bartlett) (finished)
*Crumb, Aline and R. Drawn Together (in progress)
*Martin, Judith. Miss Manners' Guide to Domestic Tranquility (in progress)

Misha Mengelberg on Improvisation

Han Bennink and Misha Mengelberg

Part of improvisation, the act of improvisation, playing with other people, has very much to do with survival strategy. You have, of course, all your expectations and plans, which are destroyed the moment you play with other people. They all have their own ideas of how the musical world at that moment should be. So there are two, three, five six composers there at the same time destroying each other's ideas. (John Corbett, Microgroove)