Thank You Cecil

[MRS]

[jon abbey]

there is quite the lovefest going on on FB, nice to see.

[Steve Minkin]

[walto]

there is quite the lovefest going on on FB, nice to see.

Yes. So many tributes--and so much sadness.

NP:

[Steve Reynolds]

Sometimes and most times when musicians who have had a profound effect on *my* life pass, I get a certain feeling kind of like the album that my friend Walter is listening to above (a record I was never able to deal with for whatever reason, fwiw) but reading that Cecil Taylor had passed is far different.

one of the few that was so so SO different and special in a hugely historical way.

Cecil was and is *always* hard to listen to even I was in a "space" back in the day when I had the endurance to listen to 5 or 10 or 15 hours of intense abstract free jazz at explosive volumes and massive variety, listening to Cecil's unrelenting intensity with his Units of the late 70's through the 80's (my most preferred Taylor by a fairly wide margin along with his late 80's and early 90's meetings with the European masters) was often a tough go but *sometimes* the payoff was of the highest order. A few of the times I listening to the full 50+ minute piece on Nailed with Evan on tenor or the 65+ minute disc 2 from Alms/Tiergarten with the large band, the results were beyond words. Of course one had to realize that Cecil took Coltrane one further as to my continued dismay, he *never* *ever* stopped playing. Too bad he has now stopped playing.

Plus what is most different is the effect that Cecil (of course he is one of the first name guys) had on music. To me he changed everything more than anyone else. Yes to me from my relatively small viewpoint as I'm limited compared to many here in my scope and vision of sound, he had more effect on the vast majority of the music that I love - more than anyone else.


Always a Pleasure

[walto]

Thanks, Preach.

Cecil was one of those artists who was (I hate saying "was") always immediately recognizable--in spite of coming to have thousands of imitators over time. His style was both envelope-pushing and unique. But, of course, a lot of B-listers did
or do something original that can be quickly recognized. So exemplifying a recognizable newness isn't enough to guarantee greatness: there also has to be a kind of fecundity, a richness that allows for growth without boring repetition. That's a combination that most artists strive for, but few can achieve.

Cecil did.

[Dan Warburton]

A giant. Always sad to see a musician of this stature go, but he left us with a body of work that will keep us busy for generations. It was a rare privilege to see him live - only twice, but both life-changing experiences. A drink will be raised.

[Lao Tsu Ben]

I've just discovered in disbelief that I learnt of his death nearly a month after it happened.
I consider myself lucky, too feeble a word, to have seen him at La Villette seven years ago with Amiri Baraka (who recited that poem about 9/11 which got him so much trouble, not unduly so, or so it seems).