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CT @ 80
26 Mar2009
B1
Cecil Taylor & Tony Oxley
Ailanthus/Altissima
Triple Point Records : 2009
CT, piano; TO, drums.
Cecil Taylor turned 80 yesterday. Octogenarians in the house, say yeah. To honor the occasion, we’re pleased and privileged to present an exclusive track from Taylor’s upcoming album Ailanthus/Alitssima. This 2-LP set was recorded during Taylor’s Village Vanguard duo stint with Tony Oxley in July 2008. It was a spectuacular two-week run, and the artists have culled the best performances from over ten hours of recordings.
Ailanthus/Altissima: bilateral dimensions of two root songs will be available on vinyl only — in a limited run of 500-odd copies. More details on the record and its full contents are available at the Triple Point site. They’re taking pre-orders now. If vinyl’s your bag, you know what to do.
Drew was lucky enough to catch one of the sets at the Vanguard last year. He directs your attention to this fine, fine write-up over at Hank Shteamer’s place for as detailed and lovingly articulate a description as you’re going to get. New Yorkers are highly recommended to catch Cecil Taylor this weekend at Merkin Hall. At 80 years old, he miraculously displays an undimmed vitality, athelticism that bests players half his age, and a musicality that’s simply unparalleled.
D:O thanks Ben Young, Hank Shteamer, and the artists for making this happen.
12 Responses to CT @ 80
Brian Roessler
March 26th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Currently counting pennies in piggy bank in hopes of placing a pre-order….
Scott
March 27th, 2009 at 9:36 am
$110 – ouch! couldn’t they throw in shipping at least! :) Thanks for making the mp3 available, this is amazing music.
The lasting impression from the Vanguard set I caught is how much FUN they were having, challenging each other, playing cat and mouse, dropping huge redirectionals like hammers to see how the other guy would respond/react.
Happy 80th CT!
Chris Rich
March 27th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Jeez how time does fly. OC is nearing the 8th decade too.
It presents an interesting problem. The idiom gets reduced to a hagiography while all those young uns who climb on board to make a living thing of it barely get on the radar screen.
I recently blundered into yet another interest in getting large amounts of money for old OC and concluded the hell with it. Let’s support the many who embrace Harmelodics and what have you and let pops retire gracefully.
Lets help Bern Nix, who doesn’t have much to show for his efforts and still lives in the same tiny dump I visited in the late 1980′s.
My myspace page is loaded with amazing young uns of every description who want to keep this thing alive even when they know it is probably a fools errand.
There is something very deep about this.
Chris Rich
March 27th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Oh and I had a fun conversation about this with my dear friend and honorary uncle John Voigt.
I recently reinvented the review as a form to fit an interactive web2 world that dethrones the ‘Author’ and makes me mingle with the artists as a form of honest advocacy. They get to read the stuff I write about them before I post and weigh in.
So I explained the method to John and he said: “Jazz fans are like wine lovers talking about their favorite vintages and we are the bottles, no one wants to actually talk to the bottles..you go Chris.”
hettie
March 27th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
You go Chris! Give yourself a pat on the back!
david
April 1st, 2009 at 1:57 pm
hm, more than a little pricey! still, good to see some of cecil’s recent music getting a release.
hope it’s ok if i take the opportunity to plug the recent third issue of the online magazine which i put together, ‘eartrip’ – downloadable from http://eartripmagazine.wordpress.com. it may be of interest to readers of this blog, i suspect.
Matt W
April 14th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Cecil’s Vermont visit has been canceled due to unexpected surgery — I hope he’s OK.
cjc
April 14th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Matt – or anyone else – let us know what you hear about CT’s surgery. Hope there’s no serious problem.
Matt W
April 15th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
The site for the venue says that they’re hoping to reschedule the concert, which (I hope) means that they’re not expecting it to be too serious, but I don’t have any more information than that. If I do hear something I’ll definitely let you know.
Just wanted to let you guys know — hopefully the absence of any other rumors is a good sign.
Matt W
April 17th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
As far as I can tell Cecil’s show in Buffalo (Asbury Hall) is happening, so it looks like things are all right — know anyone in Buffalo with firsthad information?
Michael
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Well Cecil is most definitely unwell. He was scheduled to perform in Melbourne, Australia, next week, solo, and with Tony Oxley. All shows have been cancelled.
Sigh, I was so looking forward to this.
Heath Watts
August 16th, 2009 at 12:39 am
I was able to see two sets from this show last summer. It was great–simply amazing! It’s too bad that this great music won’t be available on CD or better yet, in 24-bit digital format. I’d be willing to pay that much for the digital format, but $110 for two LPs that will scratch after the second playing is too much for me. The nostalgia of the LP (and soon CD) is long over for me. It was a great show, that I hope becomes available in a better format, for a lower price.