Cecil Taylor has died. The legendary pianist recently celebrated his 89th birthday. What a legend. What a legacy. He took what Art Tatum started and freed it. That’s a simple description – but it’s how I’ve always heard him.
Taylor – along with Ornette Coleman, Albert Aylerand John Coltrane was one of the towering giants of free jazz – one of the educators and innovators; one of the ones that did the freeing.
There were great free players to come – better players even. But they needed heroes, they needed examples, they needed to know what to do and how to do it. And Taylor – a working pianist since the 1950s was one of the giants of the genre.
And when he played straight – or fairly straight – it was just great in my book too. His album,Love For Sale from 1959 is the first Cecil Taylor that I heard. And I loved it then – and still. It’s not typical by any means. Not when it comes to what Taylor did. But it’s a pleasant, exciting jazz album – it might be something of a sore-thumb in Taylor’s discography but it still works for me. Magnificent playing.
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