Reading these comments was fun, and I agree with many of them and will try to explain what happened this night. They began with the film crew at Cecil's house, filming the rehearsal. This video was the first of at least ten performances(sets) that took place that week. I have others in my collection of different nights we played. When watching this performance, you will see Cecil very uptight in the beginning waiting for things to fall into place. I was backstage listening and hearing for the pocket to reign it all in. William and I played with Cecil for a long while during this period. It can get wild when you have all these titans of music at once on day one. But, as the performances continued, they became calmer and much tighter. Without Jimmy Lyons, it was a challenging period for Cecil. He was always very fond of Carlos Ward, an excellent choice for this band. Another was Thurman Barker, an exceedingly great player and a perfect ear for melody, which was essential to this unit. We were supposed to have two drummers, but Tony wanted to play alone. So Cecil asked me to play percussion which I set up as a drum set set to keep the peace. Cecil loved controversy and used it to his advantage. John was a great player and had a tough gig and survived. Glen and Raphé were the titans. Raphé was always on my case about my approach to music and the language. My response was I speak many languages. However, the most important thing that happened to me was when Cecil, Raphé, and Glen came to my apartment below Cecil's to thank me for keeping things cohesive and celebrating the rest of the night! That meant a lot to me! André Martinez - Memoirs of The Cecil Taylor Unit 1980-1992
Glenn Spearman, Cecil Taylor, Raphe Malik: RIP. I had the pleasure of having Spearman and Malik rehearse a weekend at my home in the mid nineties. Blew the roof off. I brought out Dark To Themselves to show Malik where I first heard him. He told me it was his debut recording. And with Cecil, too.
The house was not isolated at all. Plenty of neighbors all around. I was sure some neighbors would complain, but later I saw them standing in the street. They said "Those were some awesome sounds coming from your house." One of those neighbors happened to be the grandson of Abraham Zapruder. Also, my housemates didn't even know who they were or what kind of music they would be playing when they agreed to let them practice. Folks just carried on doing what they normally would. Make breakfast, wash clothes. A teenager was sleeping past noon upstairs. A friend came by with his newborn, walking between Dennis Charles (another RIP) and Raphe to meet a housemate in the kitchen. Hard to believe all three of them are dead now. Damn, even that teenager, a great musician himself, is no longer with us, died just short of 30 years old.
Oh wow....now that's my idea of the perfect neighborhood.... where people experience new sounds and continue to live day to day without any arguments etc...sadly not many of those neighborhoods exist today...but thanks for sharing your memories of these wonderful musicians William...much appreciated ;-)
I met Cecil at an after hours bar in Chelsea. We hit it off and went back to his place in Brooklyn where we proceeded to do a bunch of blow Followed by some Champagne.I went to his funeral as well 😢😢😢
I found the Knitting factory when it first opened on Houston st .. it was a tyring to be a folk music venue. I alerted my friends( Adam Rogers Arturo Ofarrill Heywood Peele Pablo Colegero) to this venue They (.we ) were " just kids" but they got gigs there playing a sort of M base type jazz ...Thus the legacy of the Knitting factory was born
I wouldn't have thought he played with any guitarists either cause Derek sounds so unique and like another instrument other than guitar, Sonny Sharrock would have been the bomb, that would have been an explosion!
there are a few misspellings of the personnel in the titles. Trumpet: Raphe Malik, percussion: Thurman Barker, drums: Tony Oxley, saxophone: Glenn Spearman. The names of the other musicians are spelled correctly. (John Bruschini, guitar, Carlos Ward, saxophone, Henry Martinez percussion and William Parker bass.
Seriously Fools will be fools Too bad Spearman Malik etc gone Younger than me by far Dark to themselves Student studies Great theme based music Not where
Kind of sounds just like noise to me, and I love modern jazz! I like music like Ornette Coleman, etc., but come on! May Cecil rest in peace. I will take Miles Davis any day over this stuff........ yikes.
I saw Cecil with his various "Units" many times from the late 70's until the early 2000's. I like him better with smaller groups, or solo, because these big-band sessions can get to be too much of a high-pitched horn "screech-fest." For example, here, the guitarist, even though he's playing an electric guitar, isn't even audible! Maybe his guitar wasn't plugged in? Major props to the late Raphe Malik for the way that his incisive trumpet holds things together for so much of the piece, though. He sounds something like Clifford Brown might have sounded if he'd lived into the avant-garde jazz era.
each sound occupies the right place. everything is perfectly assembled. It's not an accident. thank you
Reading these comments was fun, and I agree with
many of them and will try to explain what happened this night. They began with the film crew at Cecil's house, filming the rehearsal. This video was the first of at least ten performances(sets) that took place that week. I have others in my collection of different nights we played. When watching this performance, you will see Cecil very uptight in the beginning waiting for things to fall into place. I was backstage listening and hearing for the pocket to reign it all in. William and I played with Cecil for a long while during this period. It can get wild when you have all these titans of music at once on day one. But, as the performances continued, they became calmer and much tighter. Without Jimmy Lyons, it was a challenging period for Cecil. He was always very fond of Carlos Ward, an excellent choice for this band. Another was Thurman Barker, an exceedingly great player and a perfect ear for melody, which was essential to this unit. We were supposed to have two drummers, but Tony wanted to play alone. So Cecil asked me to play percussion which I set up as a drum set set to keep the peace. Cecil loved controversy and used it to his advantage. John was a great player and had a tough gig and survived. Glen and Raphé were the titans. Raphé was always on my case about my approach to music and the language.
My response was I speak many languages. However, the most important thing that happened to me was when Cecil, Raphé, and Glen came to my apartment below Cecil's to thank me for keeping things cohesive and celebrating the rest of the night! That meant a lot to me!
André Martinez - Memoirs of The Cecil Taylor Unit 1980-1992
Glenn Spearman, Cecil Taylor, Raphe Malik: RIP. I had the pleasure of having Spearman and Malik rehearse a weekend at my home in the mid nineties. Blew the roof off. I brought out Dark To Themselves to show Malik where I first heard him. He told me it was his debut recording. And with Cecil, too.
Wow cool William!!! Must have been an awesome practice session at your place!!!!!!! Oh to be a fly on the wall
The house was not isolated at all. Plenty of neighbors all around. I was sure some neighbors would complain, but later I saw them standing in the street. They said "Those were some awesome sounds coming from your house." One of those neighbors happened to be the grandson of Abraham Zapruder. Also, my housemates didn't even know who they were or what kind of music they would be playing when they agreed to let them practice. Folks just carried on doing what they normally would. Make breakfast, wash clothes. A teenager was sleeping past noon upstairs. A friend came by with his newborn, walking between Dennis Charles (another RIP) and Raphe to meet a housemate in the kitchen. Hard to believe all three of them are dead now. Damn, even that teenager, a great musician himself, is no longer with us, died just short of 30 years old.
Oh wow....now that's my idea of the perfect neighborhood.... where people experience new sounds and continue to live day to day without any arguments etc...sadly not many of those neighborhoods exist today...but thanks for sharing your memories of these wonderful musicians William...much appreciated ;-)
NEVER ENOUGH CECIL NEVER ENOUGH FREEDOM NEVER ENOUGH LOVE
After Naked City ; this GIANT free-jazzman with a great band ; thanks for upload
I met Cecil at an after hours bar in Chelsea. We hit it off and went back to his place in Brooklyn where we proceeded to do a bunch of blow
Followed by some Champagne.I went to his funeral as well
😢😢😢
What, after the champagne? You c...🤣🤣
from Siberia with love!! Greetings, friends!
What a trip !!!!!
I found the Knitting factory when it first opened on Houston st .. it was a tyring to be a folk music venue.
I alerted my friends( Adam Rogers Arturo Ofarrill Heywood Peele Pablo Colegero) to this venue
They (.we ) were " just kids" but they got gigs there playing a sort of M base type jazz ...Thus the legacy of the Knitting factory was born
Greetings from 2022. It is so actual. From Russia with love...
Wow what a show, the late, great Raphe Malik is fantastic and I can't remember CT playing with any guitar players before.
Cecil Taylor has at least one album with Derek Bailey.
Yes, correct thanks, Brotzmann played with Bailey once in Japan, very rare cd.
I wouldn't have thought he played with any guitarists either cause Derek sounds so unique and like another instrument other than guitar, Sonny Sharrock would have been the bomb, that would have been an explosion!
He also plays with Bailey on the Berlin Concerts
Aren’t we hearing Leroy Jenkins here? I don’t see him though.
Amazing!
...thanks infinitely for posting. Wadda band...
And then the heavens came crashing down in tribute.
Thanks for posting this great video Tony
there are a few misspellings of the personnel in the titles. Trumpet: Raphe Malik, percussion: Thurman Barker, drums: Tony Oxley, saxophone: Glenn Spearman. The names of the other musicians are spelled correctly. (John Bruschini, guitar, Carlos Ward, saxophone, Henry Martinez percussion and William Parker bass.
Thanks stochasticactus for the info....I've amended the names ;-)
wow!
Nice!
Tony Oxley
what ever floats your boat
Didnt think I'd ever have to look at that shitbox room again!
In his last life part Cecil Taylor played his African roots (like his collaboration with A.E.O Chicago ; or Soweto later)
They playing my song!!!.....😃
That guitar hard to hear yes Cecil has used guitars Derek? Sounds okay with a guitar
One would think this would deaden CT
Aspirin anybody?
Voah
their plays are extreme collective improvisation.
theres no melody but very groovy bump.
when starts when over can you realize?
Seriously
Fools will be fools
Too bad Spearman Malik etc gone
Younger than me by far
Dark to themselves
Student studies
Great theme based music
Not where
Great performance but the guitar is wayyyy too loud
sashs ki g crimson ₪₪₪₪
I love you
The awewome advantage in this band is anybody can sub on any instrument!!!
Country and western musicians hate this!
There now we're even!
This better pay good!!!
How do we end this one?
The after party band was a polka band!
Now l understand the phrase "silence is golden"
I think l can sub in this band on sax, and l play guitar!
The name of this piece is "l hate my mother in law"
Hahaha
Kind of sounds just like noise to me, and I love modern jazz! I like music like Ornette Coleman, etc., but come on! May Cecil rest in peace. I will take Miles Davis any day over this stuff........ yikes.
I do like the bass player...
7:33 is JUST noise... that is all it is. LOL
Who gives a shit what you like or don't like?
We all like what we like. Cecil was not the the easiest to listen to.
I saw Cecil with his various "Units" many times from the late 70's until the early 2000's. I like him better with smaller groups, or solo, because these big-band sessions can get to be too much of a high-pitched horn "screech-fest."
For example, here, the guitarist, even though he's playing an electric guitar, isn't even audible! Maybe his guitar wasn't plugged in?
Major props to the late Raphe Malik for the way that his incisive trumpet holds things together for so much of the piece, though. He sounds something like Clifford Brown might have sounded if he'd lived into the avant-garde jazz era.
Wow !