Pianist Cecil Taylor was born in New York City in 1933 and has lived there ever since. His urban life seems to have been important in the development of his musical aesthetic. ‘What makes jazz unique’, he has said, ‘is the compression of energy into a short period of time and that, in turn, is a reflection of what the machine has done to our lives in metropolitan areas of America.’
Entering jazz after intial interest and prolonged study in the academic musical world, he has been recording infrequently since 1956. All his records show a deep appreciation and an intelligent development of the work of older musicians. His appreciation of Duke Ellington is evident in his concern for tone colour, both in his own playing and in the playing of the particular musicians he employs. As an example, consider the use of the metallic clours of saxophonists Archie Shepp and Jimmy Lyons4 and the use of a drummer Dennis Charles, whose hard brilliant sounds contribute much to the urgent mood of many of his performances—Air3 is a good example. Like Ellington, Taylor seems to be gifted with a strong visual imagery which acts as an aid to his composition. In an attempt to explain his composition Bulbs7 he says ‘if you stand at the north-west corner of a certain park in New York City you will see—particularly in the evening—reflections of multipleshaped cubes in the distance when you look into the water below and