Cecil Taylor

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February 4, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Cecil Taylor / Tony Oxley: Being Astral & All Registers: Power of Two

Cecil Taylor / Tony Oxley Being Astral & All Registers: Power of Two Discus Music Cecil Taylor left this dimension nearly three years ago now – he’s almost certainly swirling elsewhere, projecting, transmitting; at the very least his towering influence continues to sway jazzers to the freer side. It’s quite possible that Taylor invented free […]

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November 5, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Mat Maneri Quartet: Dust

Mat Maneri Quartet Dust Sunnyside Mat Maneri, son of saxophonist Joe, is a composer and violin/viola player. Under his own name he’s released some 30 albums in around about as many years and he’s been a sideman for a great range of avant-garde jazzers including several records with his old man and, I guess most […]

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April 6, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

R.I.P. Cecil Taylor

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 Ayler and John Coltrane was one of the towering […]

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December 9, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

R.I.P. Sunny Murray

Sunny Murray has died. He was 81. The American free-jazz drummer was born James Marcellus Arthur “Sunny” Murray. His influence on free-jazz drumming – on the very idea of liberating the rhythmic constraints, of exploring textures as a drummer/percussionist – is profound. Murray made records under his own name and with a variety of groups […]