Cecil Taylor - “Lena,” from Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come, recorded live at the Café Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark on Nov. 23, 1962 with Jimmy Lyons (alto saxophone) and Sunny Murray (drums).
“But singers of a different age are his great love . . . 'Lena Horne – when she walked onstage, she really was Erzulie” – a reference to the voodoo god of beauty and luxury," Taylor told Hank Schteamer in a 2008 interview for Time Out New York, “Cecil Taylor brings the sweet thunder.”
Pianist Cecil Taylor (March 25, 1929 – April 5, 2018), one of the pioneers of free jazz (along with Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane and Albert Ayler), passed away last week at the age of 89 at his Brooklyn residence.
Former Village Voice jazz critic Gary Giddins gives an excellent evaluation of Taylor’s legacy in a backstage interview from artistshousemusic.org on Sunday, Oct.10, 2004. Cecil Taylor gave the first of the Master Classes Series presented by NYU in conjunction with John Snyder of Artists House Foundation.
Another session from Nov. 1966: Cecil Taylor Quartet (Cecil Taylor, piano, voice, percussion; Jimmy Lyons, alto sax; Alan Silva, bass; Andrew Cyrille, drums) in the Marais district, Paris. Video made during recording material used in L’Autre Cote (“On The Other Side Of the Tracks”) and other Luc Ferrari films.
