Jazz Advance [Original recording remastered, Import]

Cecil Taylor | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 15, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered, Import
• Label: Japanese Import
• ASIN: B00005QCFE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #649,538 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Bemsha Swing

2. Charge 'Em Blues

3. Azure

4. Song

5. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To

6. Rick Kick Shaw

7. Sweet and Lovely

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cecil's Beginnings, August 13, 2002

By 

Christopher Forbes "weirdears" (Brooklyn,, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jazz Advance (Audio CD)

This is the first Cecil Taylor album that I bought, back in the 70's when it was released as a Blue Note two-fer along with Love for Sale. The album opened up a new world to me. I had been your basic bebopper up until then. Taylor showed me how to mix my love of jazz with the chordal structures and harmonies of the European avant-garde that I loved as well. It was amazing...for me it outshown even the first Ornette Coleman recordings that I heard.

This is not the Cecil Taylor of the late 60's. This is Cecil's first steps into finding a new language for jazz. As such, the music should be heard in the context of the hard bop movement of the 50's. The traditional jazz elements are still to be found. The music swings, though Taylor plays with the rhythm. Steve Lacy can be heard taking his first foray into advanced music. (Before this date he was known best as a "moldy fig", playing mostly traditional jazz with the likes of Jack Teagarden.) Buell Neidlinger is marvelous. He lays down a swinging bass but is not afraid to stretch the time. The weak link in the mix is Dennis Charles. He is not a particularly inventive drummer. Nor does he swing as well as he should. His playing is the reason that the disc doesn't get five stars from me.

Taylor is the real reason to get the disc though. His playing is a marvel. He moves inside and then outside the chord changes, at times playing almost Monkish lines, and at times piling up dissonance like a jazzy Bartok. The playing is not frenetic, as his work since the 60s has been. It swings and is even quite lyrical on the ballads. But he is constantly taking risks. This music was way ahead of the curve for 1955, and in fact is still ahead of the curve. You can hear it's influence on Pianists as diverse as Paul Bley, Herbie Hancock and Mulgrew Miller, though they might not publically acknowledge it.

Jazz Advance certainly was that...an advance. Taylor continued to develop this line of work for about 10 years. Each new album developing new elements in the Taylor style. After his breakthrough Blue Note albums of the mid 60s (Unit Structures and Conquistador) he abandoned this kind of work. Many of the implications of this music have never been fully explored. I encourage every searching and open eared musician to explore this important period in the avant-garde. You might find in it the key to your own personal style.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is great., September 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Jazz Advance (Audio CD)

This CD is probably the best place to start for those unfamiliar with Cecil Taylor. Not only is it fascinating to hear his unique, dischordant piano technique in the context of a traditional bebop band, but it is easier to follow the logic of his playing at this early stage. Although it is not as radical as his later stuff, this album sounds like nothing else recorded in 1956. Truly ahead of its time.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Place to Start, December 29, 1999

By 

"s_molman" (CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jazz Advance (Audio CD)

I love this album. I love what he does with Bemsha Swing and the other works on the recording, pushing the tonal and rhythmic elements to their limits. I have always had difficulty with free Jazz (still do), but I like the early works of Coleman and Taylor because they are still somewhat restrained by tradition. Give it a try.