Cecil taylor born

Cecil Percival Taylor March 25, — April 5, [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex improvisation often involving tone clusters and intricate polyrhythms. His technique has been compared to percussion.

Referring to the number of keys on a standard piano, Val Wilmer used the phrase "eighty-eight tuned drums" to describe Taylor's style. At the New England Conservatory, Taylor majored in popular music arrangement. During his time there, he also became familiar with contemporary European art music. Throughout the s and s, Taylor's music grew more complex and moved away from existing jazz styles.

Gigs were often hard to come by, and club owners found that Taylor's approach of playing long pieces tended to impede business.

Cecil taylor unit structures

Unlike others at the time, Taylor utilized virtuosic techniques and made swift stylistic shifts from phrase to phrase. These qualities, among others, still remained notable distinctions of his music for the rest of his life. Landmark recordings, such as Unit Structures , also appeared. Within the Cecil Taylor Unit a distinction that was often used at performances and recordings between and for a shifting group of sidemen , musicians were able to develop new forms of conversational interplay.

By , Taylor was working regularly with alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons , who would become one of his most important and consistent collaborators. Lyons' 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.