Cecil Taylor, the pianist whose music was an intentional sound of revolutionary freedom that broke the jazz-shackled rhythms of conformity while sending his listeners on a perpetual surreal journey, died April 5 at his home in Brooklyn. He was 89.
The death was confirmed by his legal guardian and representative, Adam C. Wilner. The cause of death was not immediately determined.
Taylor’s first recording, “Jazz Advance” (Transition, 1956), put listeners and critics on notice that he was forging his own path, which seemed to be defiant to those who weren’t up for his challenge. The first group he formed on arriving in New York from Boston in 1955 included the soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy, bassist Buell Neidlinger and drummer Dennis Charles. They appeared on Taylor’s debut album and later played the Five Spot Cafe in 1956 for six weeks and performed at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival (which was recorded by Verve),
His somewhat “Monkish” (Thelonius Monk) percussive tonal sound with bent and pointedly scattered notes in all directions was definitely a departure from the usual discourse of jazz.
Taylor’s artistic pursuit called on him to combine his classical music experience, jazz impressions and African traditions to create a profoundly unique style that will inspire music students and aficionados for generations to come.
His independent musical flight became the scale for the origins of free jazz or avant-garde that was the main source of Ornette Coleman’s repertoire. Coleman later played at the Five Spot, further demonstrating that another jazz perspective was brewing.
To enhance the visibility of avant-garde musicians and working opportunities Taylor co-founded the Jazz Composers Guild in 1964.
The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, like Taylor, was devoted “to nurturing, performing and recording serious, original music.” The nonprofit organization was co-founded in 1965 by pianist/composer Muhal Richard Abrams, with members such as Leroy Jenkins, Henry Threadgill and Wadada Leo Smith and like-minded members of the Art Ensemble of Chicago that included Roscoe Mitchell and Lester Bowie.
“Cecil Taylor is a major figure in jazz,” said the pianist/composer Matthew Shipp. “He is in a straight line of modernists in a pyramid from Ellington to Monk to himself as to fusing the idea of pianist and composer in a way that Chopin did in classical music. He developed his own unique music, which was his postcard and gift to the world.”
“All the Notes,” a documentary by Chris Felver featuring Taylor was released on DVD in 2006. Taylor discusses and performs his music, poetry and dance in the documentary film “Imagine the Sound” (1981).
He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1973 and a MacArthur Fellowship in 1991. The Kyoto Prize for Music (which included a $500,000 grant) was awarded to him in 2013.
In 2016, he was the subject of a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art entitled “Open Plan: Cecil Taylor.” It was a two-week exhibition and residency that featured panel discussions, a play, films, dance performances, displays of his written scores and live music. He performed at the beginning and end of the event, playing piano and reading poetry, accompanied by the dancer Min Tanaka and various ensembles.
Taylor, along with Tanaka, was the subject of Amiel Courtin-Wilson’s 2016 documentary film “The Silent Eye.”
“Cecil spoke of Darkness, his code name for Miles Davis, and how they were from different parts of the continuum,” said the pianist/composer James Hurt. “Upon listening, it became evident that Cecil was sharing something deeper, ‘freedom of expression,’ as the American Negro’s time machine. Cecil’s music approached infinity. He used his artistry to fold space-time, hurling the listener light years into the future.”
Taylor was born March 25, 1929, in Corona, Queens, N.Y., where he was also raised. He began playing piano at the age of 6 after being encouraged by his mother.
He went on to study at the New York College of Music and the New England Conservatory, where he majored in music composition and arranging.
While studying there, he was influenced by the works of Hungarian pianist/composer Bela Bartok (considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century) and the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, “called one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music.”
In 1960, the alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons (who became Taylor’s main collaborator) and drummer Sunny Murray joined the band (and later Andrew Cyrille joined) forming the core personnel of The Unit, Taylor’s primary group effort until Lyons’ untimely death in 1986. During 1962, the quartet spent six months in Europe (with Albert Ayler in the group for a time).
Taylor began performing solo concerts in 1967. The first known recorded solo performance was “Carmen With Rings” by Dutch radio in De Doelen concert hall in Rotterdam July 1, 1967. His piano solos continued on albums such as “Indent” (1973), “Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly!” (1980) and “For Olim” (1986).
As his reputation grew, he began lecturing as an in-residence artist at universities and had the opportunity to play on the White House lawn for President Jimmy Carter.
“Cecil was the father of a movement,” said saxophonist, composer, arranger and poet Oliver Lake. “He was outspoken. He was brilliant. His playing left you speechless and breathless. His music lives! He will be missed!”
After Lyons’ death in 1986, Taylor formed the Feel Trio in the early 1990s with the bassist William Parker and drummer Tony Oxley. The trio can be heard on “Celebrated Blazons, Looking” (Berlin Version), “The Feel Trio” and the 10-CD set “2 Ts for a Lovely T.”
Compared with The Unit, the Feel Trio had a more improvisational abstract flow that laughed on the periphery approach, rather than yield to the components of
the jazz tradition.
With an eagerness to explore all possibilities, Taylor performed in projects with big bands and large ensembles. His 1988 extended Berlin residency was documented by FMP, the German label, and resulted in a colossal boxed set of performances in duets and trios with elite European improvisers that included Oxley, Derek Bailey and Louis Moholo.
Many of his recordings were released by European labels, with the exception of “Momentum Space” (a meeting with Dewey Redman and Elvin Jones) on Verve/Gitanes. His 1998 Library of Congress performance “Algonquin,” a duet with violinist Mat Maneri, was released by the classical label Bridge.
During 2000, Taylor composed and arranged music for his self-titled Ensemble and Big Band while performing with the drummer Max Roach, the vibraphonist Joe Locke and the poet Amiri Baraka.
“Cecil was a scintillating conversationalist and could expound for hours on almost any subject,” said Joe Locke. “His music was obviously a reflection of that intellectual curiosity and the creative imagination he possessed. On top of all of that genius, he was a kind man and a friend. I will miss him.”
Taylor was a cultural explorer, who crossed over into ballet and dance. He collaborated with the dancer and choreographer Dianne McIntyre (whose dance studio, Sounds in Motion, was located on 125th Street and Lenox Avenue) during the 1970s and 80s. In 1979, he composed and played the music for a short ballet “Tetra Stomp: Eatin’ Rain in Space,” featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Heather Watts.
As a poet, Taylor cited as his main influences Amiri Baraka and Charles Olson. He consistently used his musical performances and album liner notes as a platform to highlight his poetry. On his CD “Chinampas” (Leo Records, 1987), he plays and recites his poems.
Since 1983, Taylor had lived in a three-story brownstone in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn.
Some of the musicians who seem to have been influenced by Taylor’s uncompromising attitude and performance style include such pianists as Hiromi, Vijay Iyer, James Hurt, Chucho Valdés, Jason Moran
and Aruan Ortiz.
“Cecil Taylor was an uncompromising artist who offered the brilliance on his visions to the world,” stated dancer and choreographer Dianne McIntyre. “I am fortunate to have worked with him quite a few times—dance and music merging into one. His impact on my life and career is
immeasurable.”
No immediate family members survive.