Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Cecil Taylor: Garden 2nd Set

21

Cecil Taylor: Garden 2nd Set

By

Sign in to view read count
Cecil Taylor: Garden 2nd Set
Years after this 1981 performance at a Swiss venue, pianist Cecil Taylor advised producer Werner X Uehlinger that this was his best solo concert, as the 2nd Set chronicles the order of performance and follows up the 2015 reissue of Garden 1st Set (hatOLOGY, 2015). And to cite the often-used movie critic adjective, this concert was truly riveting.

Taylor performs on a 92-key Bosendorfer piano, providing extra bass keys to bottom F. Taylor proffers a detailed soundstage amid his interchanging cadences and homogenous blend of melody, discordance and rapid-fire outbreaks. He's a master of invention and alters the currents with split-second accuracy, spanning off-center blues vamps; traces of Ellington, stately motifs, Chamber and avant-garde centric fabrications. At times, the artist takes on the characteristics of a renegade classical concert pianist going against the grain.

The pianist's monstrous block chords add emphasis and a sense of urgency to many of these movements. On the lengthiest track "Garden II," he largely operates at a maddening pace as he reimagines previously enacted themes on a continual basis, staggered with fractured voicings and artful use of space, perhaps allowing the listener to digest a horde of subplots. During "Pemmican," Taylor ignites a stark vista by using the lower registers and pedals, subsequently synthesizing a jazz-classical framework along with some balladry and nods to Thelonious Monk. He mixes it up and doesn't reside within any particular genre for very long by executing angular and geometric patterns with some memorable melodic intervals and reverse-engineering progressions.

On the brief 2:49 final track "Points," Taylor inserts a percussive element with a few nods to early piano pioneers such as James P. Johnson or Jelly Roll Morton, sparking a trad-jazz scenario via an abundance of contrapuntal maneuvers. In sum, Taylor projects a series of mind-altering puzzles and briskly paced thematic developments and sometimes operating at time warp speed while accomplishing these all-embracing feats in a mere 46-minutes.

Track Listing

Introduction to Z; Garden II; Driver Says; Pemmican; Points.

Personnel

Cecil Taylor: Bosendorfer piano.

Album information

Title: Garden 2nd Set | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Hat Hut Records

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.
View events near New York City
Jazz Near New York City
Events Guide | Venue Guide | Local Businesses | More...

More

Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
Candid
Sunny Five
Inside Colours Live
Julie Sassoon

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.