Silent Tongues [Import]

Cecil Taylor | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 17, 1988)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Black Lion
• ASIN: B00002473C
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124,110 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pounding Pervasive Sonorous Piece, September 8, 2000

By 

M. Archuleta (DENVER, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Silent Tongues (Audio CD)

I was turned on (if you will), to Cecil Taylor by the late, great Jazz pianist Don Pullen. Not by direct verbal communication but by the music and the inspiration. "New Beginnings" and "Ode To Life" by Pullen compelled me to seek out this recording by Cecil Taylor.

Taylor literally pounds the ivories as if melody and harmony are silent tongues driven to the recesses of the soundboard and he is seeking redemption by compelling them forth.

The pounding I speak of is beautiful, more beautiful than a drum solo because of the wide ranging notes. Extensive use of the pedal to curtail notes and frequent runs of block glissando are trademarks.

This is a live recording at the Montreaux Jazz Festival in 1974 and it is a clean, vibrant, resonating recording. This is great party music for it will start intelligent conversations by the raw emotive power and verve.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good starting point for Cecil, February 26, 2000

By 

dig-it-the-most "dig-it-the-most" (New York) - See all my reviews

Like another reviewer mentions, I have found nonjazz fans who like this performance. Many people like Cecil best in the solo piano setting, and there is no better place to start than here.

One thing very valuable is the last encore where he plays (in a song form) many of the themes he used in the performance.

Brilliant

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of Taylor, March 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Silent Tongues (Audio CD)

I own about 50 CDs of Taylor, so I know what am talking about: This is one of my favorites, beside the (even better) piano solo record "Air Above Mountains" and the two - very different - trio records "In Florescence" ( with William Parker and Gregg Bendian) and "Looking (Berlin Version)" ( with William Parker and Tony Oxley: "The Feel Trio").

Unlike the trio records, the two piano solo albums are more easily accessible. They open up a complex world of beauty. Hard to explain because there is nothing that would compare to them. They are clear, rich, intense, dynamic, serious, intelligent and warm.

You need to like jazz music or modern classical music to appreciate them. If you do: They will be with you for a long, long time.