REINFORCED CONCRETE PART 3 / ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT PART 2 / PETHRO VISITING THE ABYSS, AND CHARLES AND THEE / THIRD PART

The main body of my last post on this blog was a long list of unsupported assertions of instances where pieces recur on multiple occasions in Cecil Taylor’s released solo and trio music from 1988-91, organised by album. It is completely beyond my available time and resources to provide analytical justifications for every one of the assertions I made in this list – however, I’m acutely aware of the necessity of backing up my claims with at least a few illustrative examples. The current post is the first attempt to do so, and will seek to demonstrate the following two claims from the list:

1. that the section from 5:31-16:59 of “Reinforced Concrete, Part 3” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE), the section from 11:06-22:06 of “Erzulie Maketh Scent Part 2” on ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT, and the track “Pethro Visiting The Abyss” on IN FLORESCENCE, are three performances of the same piece;

2. that the track “Third Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO is a (considerably longer) performance of the piece that appears on IN FLORESCENCE under the name “Charles And Thee”.

I’ll present the information in support of these claims in the form of tables with a list of sections identified by letter-names and timings. Note that these are not intended as analyses of the compositional structures of the pieces; but rather of how the structure of each performance relates to the piece of which it is a version. Were I attempting to analyse the compositions themselves, I would probably have avoided breaking them down into quite so many micro-sections and paid rather more attention to continuities; and I would also have employed the letter-names in a way which would have pointed out connections and resemblances between the various components of the pieces (for instance, the close relation between the K and Q motifs in the first of the two pieces under consideration).

I have noted only the entry point of each thematic component, not where it ends – one should be aware that, in any given instance, each segment may be separated from the next (or indeed subjected to internal interruptions) by improvisation of either a developmental or contrasting nature. In the case of immediate repetitions of a given section, I have noted the times of each successive entry on the same line, separated by a slash. “Extended” means that the final part(s) of a given section are repeated in a tag-like fashion; “expanded” means that repetitions are inserted within the body of the section itself. Only thematic material which appears in more than one performance has been noted, and I have not attempted to track the various reminiscences/distortions of the pieces’ thematic material that occur within the more (apparently) improvised portions of the performances.

ANALYSIS TABLE 1: comparison of 5:31-16:59 of “Reinforced Concrete, Part 3” from IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE), 11:06-22:06 of “Erzulie Maketh Scent Part 2” from ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT, and “Pethro Visiting The Abyss” from IN FLORESCENCE

	REINFORCED CONCRETE, PART 3	ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT PART 2	PETHRO VISITING THE ABYSS
A	5:31	11:06	0:04
B	5:50	11:19	0:32
C	6:44	11:24 / 13:01	0:41
D	6:52 (incomplete)	13:03 (incomplete)	0:50
C	6:56	13:06	0:59
D	7:00	13:09	1:07
C	7:05
D	7:09
E	7:17	13:41	1:16
F	9:24	15:42	1:58
G	9:36	16:04	2:05
F	9:41		2:10
G	9:46		2:25
H		16:31
I	9:48	17:07	2:32
H	10:08		3:00
J	11:21	18:31 / 19:09	4:03
K	11:34 / 11:39 / 11:42	19:14	4:15 / 4:26
L	11:49	20:08 (extended)	4:35
M	11:58	20:45	4:45
L	12:06 (extended)
M	12:22
N	12:26	20:49	4:50
O	12:28	20:51	4:53
P	12:32	20:59 / 21:04	4:58
Q	12:34	21:09 (incomplete)	5:01
B	13:14
J	14:01		5:37
K	14:11		5:47
J	14:16
K	14:27		6:02
J	14:51
K	15:08
L	15:32		6:06 (extended)
M	15:42 / 15:47		6:30
N	15:55 / 15:57		6:34
O	15:58 / 16:03		6:37
P	16:08 / 16:11		6:41
Q	16:15	21:28	6:44

ANALYSIS TABLE 2: comparision of “Charles And Thee” from IN FLORESCENCE and “Third Part” from LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO

	CHARLES AND THEE	LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO THIRD PART
A	0:55	0:00
B	1:10	0:10
A		0:49
C	1:43	1:02
D	2:15	1:24
E	2:29	1:46
F	2:41	1:59
G	2:47	2:10
H	3:00 / 3:05	2:22 / 2:36
I	3:09 / 3:17	2:56 / 3:02
J	3:22 / 3:35	3:12 (incomplete) / 3:25 / 3:41 (incomplete)
K	3:45	18:27 (expanded)
L	4:01 / 4:25	20:11 / 20:41
M	4:45	21:00
N	4:58	21:34
O	5:00	21:40
P	5:06	21:57
N	5:27
O	5:31
P	5:36
Q	5:43 / 6:12	26:09 (expanded)
D		28:58
E		29:11 (incomplete)
D		29:19
E		29:24
F		29:41
G		29:54

Suggestions and requests for which of the other claims from the original list it would be most useful/interesting for me to attempt to explicate next would be very welcome.

REPERTOIRE AND RECURRING PIECES IN THE 1988-91 SOLO AND TRIO MUSIC OF CECIL TAYLOR

UPDATE, September 20 2023 – addition of CT: THE DANCE PROJECT, consequent reappraisal of some tracks on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T, and a more detailed account of the opening section of “Period 2” on THE TREE OF LIFE. All additions in red.

Most of the previous work I’ve done attempting to trace repertoire in the music of Cecil Taylor has concentrated on the period during which he worked with the saxophonist Jimmy Lyons (from 1961 up to Lyons’ death in 1986), and has been heavily reliant on study of the numerous bootlegs (albeit far less numerous than one would wish at several key stages) which document Taylor’s performances throughout that era. By contrast, the period addressed by this current blog post is extensively documented on official releases, and as such renders the information I’ve collated and the claims that I’ll be making potentially more accessible to those Taylor enthusiasts who might not have the willingness to embark on the collecting of unofficial recordings, with its attendant challenges both in terms of tracking down material and the enduring of often far-from-straightforwardly-enjoyable audio quality.

Besides the unusually thorough official documentation of Taylor’s work between 1988 and 1991, another reason for focussing on this era that it spans the existence of the most generally-lauded of Taylor’s post-Jimmy Lyons ensembles, namely The Feel Trio. Scanning most of what has been written about this group, one finds that there seems to be little recognition of the extent to which pre-written material underlay their music (indeed, one sometimes comes across assertions that Taylor’s post-Lyons music was primarily freely improvised, a misconception that this blog post will hopefully go some way towards dispelling). While Taylor was notoriously hostile to what he considered the inaccurate implications of the general usage of the terms “composition” and “improvisation” and the in-his-opinion specious distinctions made between the two, he nonetheless repeatedly made it clear that he wrote pieces which he would then go on to play on multiple occasions (to give just one example, he is explicit about this in both of the episodes of Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz in which he appeared); and any degree of serious study of any period of his music quickly begins to uncover audible examples of him doing so. One should not be misled by the fact that the ways in which Taylor titled his released performances give little clue to (and frequently actively obscure) these instances.

Two marked transformations in Taylor’s approach to repertoire seem to begin in the late 70s and intensify over the course of the 1980s. The first is with regard to the length of time for a which a piece would remain part of his repertoire – prior to around 1978, it appears that Taylor would not keep playing any given piece for longer than a year, and indeed that pieces written for and played repeatedly on one tour would usually never be played again thereafter. The earliest counter-instance I have found to this is the inclusion (under different names, as is invariably the case with Taylor’s recordings) on the 1980 solo album “FLY! FLY! FLY! FLY! FLY!” of two pieces from the repertoire of his 1978 Unit (“Ensaslayi” being a version of “The Eel Pot”, and “The Stele Stolen And Broken Is Reclaimed” a version of “Holiday En Masque”). By the 80s, examples of pieces staying in his repertoire for about 4 years become not uncommon (for instance, the inclusion of “Pemmican” from 1981’s “GARDEN” album in the 1984 Munich Summer Piano Festival performance). The second change is that around 1976-77 the same pieces begin to appear in both his solo and ensemble performances – I have not found any instances of this happening prior to that. Both of these traits are evident in the music of Taylor’s 1988-1991 period.

There are many difficulties involved in the recognition and identifying of recurrent pieces in Taylor’s music, the most basic being the strain placed on one’s faculties of musical memory by the sheer duration of most of his performances. This is particularly the case when, as with the material under examination in this post, there are no obvious events such as unison horn motifs to give a clear indication that a theme is being played. The relatively compact performances found on the studio album “IN FLORESCENCE” and also the famously epigrammatic encores he would append to his solo performances have proved an invaluable entrance point to the current endeavour for me. Another difficulty lies in the way that much of Taylor’s material is embedded in pianistic techniques which are perhaps more immediately striking to the ear than the material itself – for instance, the distinctive locked-hands figures that many have identified as typical late-Taylor motifs are in my opinion not really motifs at all, but personally-developed means of rhythmically articulating groups of pitch structures over the range of the keyboard. It is the groups of pitch structures themselves (as is evident from looking at scores written in Taylor’s personal letter-name notation) which form the compositional material, not Taylor’s distinctive ways of delivering them in performance – but to recognise recurrences of these groups of pitch structures by ear can be far from easy.

A further obstacle to recognition comes with the fact that, even in the material whose pre-written basis is more easily audible (e.g. in cases where there is a clearly delivered melody, often in the right hand with an equally clear left hand accompaniment), phrases recur from piece to piece to an extent which makes the larger musical shapes harder to keep in one’s mind than the recurring phrases themselves. A few very specific motifs can be found again and again in the pieces of this period, in a manner which suggests more of a concern for unity than a paucity of imagination (anyone tempted to dismiss them as merely standard Taylor-isms should try to find examples in his solo music from say 1980-1986 – quickly one will discover how specific they are to the late 80s/early 90s era). One is a descending semitone, rhythmically filled in by inner-voice movement in the typical Taylor manner (some listeners have thought of certain instances of this motif as being references to “Tea For Two”). Another is a set of three notes descending chromatically followed by a drop of typically a perfect 4th; and a third is a four-note pattern consisting of a chromatic fall-and-rise ending with a leap of a 3rd (e.g. E-D#-E-G#). One finds these again and again in the pieces of this period, often yoked together within a larger melodic phrase.

Bearing these points in mind, and also taking into account the extreme freedom with which Taylor treats the articulation and frequently even the form of his written material, I have only identified as instances of the same piece those sections of music which exhibit all of the following traits: material appearing at identical pitch and with matching harmonic underpinning (allowing for freedom of treatment with regard to choice of octaves and harmonic inversions), and a significant amount of similarity in terms of the order of presentation of said material. For this latter criteria to be satisfied, obviously a certain minimum quantity of material must be involved – on some occasions, it seems that Taylor interpolates short stand-alone preconceived modules into more improvisational sections*, and where these do not appear in temporal proximity to other matched material on repeated occasions I have not included them in the list below. (“Temporal proximity” is of course a relative term here, since in even the more compact performances Taylor will frequently interpolate between the phrases of his pieces improvised extrapolations or interruptions, which may be only a few seconds long or extend into several minutes. This applies also to the endings of pieces, which are as a result not always easy to establish – where in doubt, I have considered each piece as continuing until the next identifiable appearance of written material which seems likely to belong to a different piece.)
* _{For instance, the matching passages which begin at 16:36 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO and 42:10 of “Period 2” on THE TREE OF LIFE.}

Overall, Taylor’s approach to the form of his performances in this phase appears to be somewhere between an extended medley and a large open-form modular composition. Over the course of the four years being looked at, certain pieces/components can be seen to fall by the wayside, others are added, and still others remain in the repertoire for the entirety of the period. Taylor draws connections between the pieces via attention to the aforementioned motivic similarities and also unities of mood, and on several occasions the way in which several shorter pieces are yoked together makes them sound more like one extended composition – but nowhere in the recordings under examination is the exact same sequence of pieces repeated in two different performances. It should also be noted that my examination of the repeated material in these recordings is limited exclusively to Taylor’s own performance contributions – the drummers in the trio recordings appear to be reacting more or less freely to the rest of the music, and whilst one can hear occasional indications that William Parker has been presented and/or become familiar with the specific pitch materials of the pieces Taylor is playing, there are no identifiable (at least to me) moments where he joins with Taylor in any kind of even loosely set arrangement of the materials in question. (One interesting anomaly, though, is that Parker’s bass solo on CELEBRATED BLAZONS sounds to me distinctly as if he might be playing a written piece by Taylor, and one which furthermore shares significant motivic connections with other material of this period – but I have been unable as yet to match it to a specific other piece found on these recordings.)

Finally, while this list is as in-depth as I have been capable of making it, it will be noted that there are large sections of these performances which I have not accounted for – especially within the first 20-30 minutes of each of the 1988-1989 live recordings. I do not doubt that these sections have just as much compositional underpinning as the rest of the music under consideration, and that it is almost certain that there will have been correspondences in these recordings that I have missed – it should go without saying that any additions to (or disputes with) the identification of recurring pieces presented here would be greatly welcomed.

To present an analytical justification of all the claims of recurring pieces I have made here would be impractical, so the remainder (and primary content) of this blog post is merely a series of lists organised by album – this involves a fair amount of repeated information, but a certain redundancy seemed an acceptable price to pay in the service of clarity and ease of reference. (I have noted occasional appearances of pieces on other albums from the same period when they have come to my attention, but I have only attempted complete accounts of the 5 solo and 4 trio releases from these years.) It is my hope to follow this post up with a few in-depth comparisons of repeated instances of, say, two or three of the pieces listed, which will hopefully provide an representative illustration of the types of correspondences I have been tracing.

IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE)

_{(Note on “Reinforced Concrete, Part 2”: This appears to prefigure material from the piece that appears as 5:31-16:59 of “Reinforced Concrete, Part 3” on the same album, 11:06-22:06 of “Erzulie Maketh Scent Part 2” on ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT, and “Pethro Visiting The Abyss” on IN FLORESCENCE, but does not share enough sequentiality for me to identify it as an actual version of the same piece)}

“Reinforced Concrete, Part 3“:
5:31-16:59 appears as 11:06-22:06 of “Erzulie Maketh Scent Part 2” on ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT, and as “Pethro Visiting The Abyss” on IN FLORESCENCE

“Stone, Part 1” appears as 0:04-1:39 of “In Florescence” on IN FLORESCENCE

“Stone, Part 2” appears as “Stone” on REMEMBRANCE, and as 1:39-3:04 of “In Florescence” on IN FLORESCENCE

“Stone, Part 3” appears as “Stone” on ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT, as “Sirenes 1/3” on IN FLORESCENCE, as 0:47-1:29 of “Section 7” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO, and as 39:44-40:51 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 0:47-1:22 of “Proxumal (Nearest), Pt. 2” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T

“The Old Canal” appears as “The Old Canal” on LEAF PALM HAND

“Stone, Part 4” is based on the closing motif of a piece that appears as “Section 6” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO, as 30:13-31:23 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO, as both 37:19-38:29 and 40:51-42:06 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 35:03-36:24 of “Peat” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T, and as 20:05-21:05 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE

ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT

“Erzulie Maketh Scent Part 2“:
11:06-22:06 appears as 5:31-16:59 of “Reinforced Concrete, Part 3” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE), and as “Pethro Visiting The Abyss” on IN FLORESCENCE

“Water” appears as 27:05-28:44 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO, as 32:22-35:13 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 31:49-32:55 of “Peat” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T, and as 16:29-18:45 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE

“Stone” appears as “Stone, Part 3” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE), as “Sirenes 1/3” on IN FLORESCENCE, as 0:47-1:29 of “Section 7” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO, and as 39:44-40:51 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 0:47-1:22 of “Proxumal (Nearest), Pt. 2” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T

IN FLORESCENCE
_{(Note on this album: in all cases where specific timings are not given, the pieces should be considered as beginning after the spoken introductions.)}

“J.” appears as 0:23-5:10 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE

“Pethro Visiting the Abyss” appears as 5:31-16:59 of “Reinforced Concrete, Part 3” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE), and as 11:06-22:06 of “Erzulie Maketh Scent Part 2” on ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT

“Saita“:
0:14-1:04 plus 1:37-1:42 appears as 26:36-30:14 of “Section 1” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO, and at the start of “Sphere No. 2” on MELANCHOLY

“In Florescence“:
– 0:04-1:39 appears as “Stone, Part 1” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE);
– 1:39-3:04 appears as “Stone, Part 2” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE), and as “Stone” on REMEMBRANCE

“Sirenes 1/3” appears as “Stone, Part 3” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE), as “Stone” on ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT, as 0:47-1:29 of “Section 7” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO, and as 39:44-40:51 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 0:47-1:22 of “Proxumal (Nearest), Pt. 2” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T

“Charles And Thee” appears as “Third Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO

“Leaf Taken Horn“:
– 0:38-3:10 appears as 24:48-46:33 of “(3 in one)/Lords Of The House/Deep Water/Realm of the Wilds/3 in one” on CELEBRATED BLAZONS;
– 3:10-4:37 appears as “Chimes” on LEAF PALM HAND

LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO

“Section 1“:
26:36-30:14 appears as 0:14-1:04 plus 1:37-1:42 of “Saita” on IN FLORESCENCE, and as “Sphere No. 2” on MELANCHOLY

“Section 3” appears as 31:23-32:32 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO

“Section 4” appears as 32:32-36:22 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO

“Section 5” appears as “Second Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO.
_{(The first appearance of this piece is in the “Klook At The Top Of The Stairs” section of the 1985 ONE NIGHT WITH BLUE NOTE “Pontos Cantados” performance.)}

“Section 6” appears as 30:13-31:23 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO, as both 37:19-38:29 and 40:51-42:06 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 35:03-36:24 of “Peat” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T, and as 20:05-21:05 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE. (Also see “Stone Part 4” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE))

“Section 7“:
– 0:00-0:47 appears as 38:29-39:44 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 0:00-0:47 of “Proxumal (Nearest), Pt. 2” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T, and as 13:51-15:12 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE;
– 0:47-1:29 appears as “Stone, Part 3” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE), as “Stone” on ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT, as “Sirenes 1/3” on IN FLORESCENCE, and as 39:44-40:51 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 0:47-1:22 of “Proxumal (Nearest), Pt. 2” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T

LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO

“First Part“:
– 27:05-28:44 appears as “Water” on ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT, as 32:22-35:13 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 31:49-32:55 of “Peat” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T, and as 16:29-18:45 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE;
– 28:44-30:13 appears as 35:13-37:19 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 32:55-35:03 of “Peat” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T, and as both 15:12-16:29 and 18:45-20:05 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE;
– 30:13-31:23 appears as “Section 6” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO, as both 37:19-38:29 and 40:51-42:06 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 35:03-36:24 of “Peat” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T, and as 20:05-21:05 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE. (Also see “Stone Part 4” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE));
– 31:23-32:32 appears as “Section 3” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO;
– 32:32-36:22 appears as “Section 4” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO

“Second Part” appears as “Section 5” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO
_{(The first appearance of this piece is in the “Klook At The Top Of The Stairs” section of the 1985 ONE NIGHT WITH BLUE NOTE “Pontos Cantados” performance.)}

“Third Part” appears as “Charles And Thee” on IN FLORESCENCE

CELEBRATED BLAZONS

“(3 in one)/Lords of the house/Deep water/Realm of the wilds/3 in one“:
– 0:58-24:48* appears as “Epicritic (Pertaining To Cutaneous Sensitivity), Pt. 2”, 0:00-28:05 of “Proxumal (Nearest), Pt. 1”, 0:00-31:49 of “Peat” and 45:18-46:07 of “Owele Standing (Small Bird)” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T, and as 7:35-17:06 of “Period 2” on THE TREE OF LIFE
_{(*Note: this piece appears to function much more like a “head” to set off extended improvisation than most of the others from this period, and as a result it is particularly hard to judge where a given performance of it might end. In some instances there is a recapitulation of the opening material after a period of improvisation, but this does not always occur, for instance not in the Celebrated Blazons version. “Owele Standing” is an unusual case, in that the piece is used as an ending theme for a performance which has up to that point been based on other material.})
– 24:48-46:35 appears as 0:38-3:10 of “Leaf Taken Horn” on IN FLORESCENCE;
– 52:02-56:09 appears as 40:34-43:10 of “Proxumal (Nearest), Pt, 1” and 26:57-31:33 of “Tellurian (Pertaining To Earth Or Its Inhabitants)” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T, and 4:12-6:34 of track 1 on DOUBLE HOLY HOUSE

CT: THE DANCE PROJECT

“B: Soul Activities – 3. Feeling” appears as “Epicritic (Pertaining To Cutaneous Sensitivity), Pt. 1” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T, as 5:10-13:51 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE, and as “The Silence Of Trees” on BURNING POLES

“B: Soul Activities – 4. Willing” appears as 29:22-45:18 of “Owele Standing (Small Bird)” and 24:28-43:55 of “Alumo” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T

2 TS FOR A LOVELY T

“Epicritic (Pertaining To Cutaneous Sensitivity), Pt. 1” appears as “B: Soul Activities – 3. Feeling” on CT: THE DANCE PROJECT, as 5:10-13:51 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE, and as “The Silence Of Trees” on BURNING POLES

“Epicritic (Pertaining To Cutaneous Sensitivity), Pt. 2“* also appears as 0:00-28:05 of “Proxumal (Nearest), Pt. 1”, 0:00-31:49 of “Peat” and 45:18-46:07 of “Owele Standing (Small Bird)” on the same album, as 0:58-24:48 of “(3 in one)/Lords Of The House/Deep Water/Realm of the Wilds/3 in one” on CELEBRATED BLAZONS, and as 7:35-17:06 of “Period 2” on THE TREE OF LIFE
* _{see note on CELEBRATED BLAZONS “(3 in one)/Lords Of The House/Deep Water/Realm of the Wilds/3 in one” 0:58-24:48}

“Peduncle (The Support Of An Inflorescence)“:
– 36:00-38:02 also appears as 32:29-35:56 of “Pineal (Black Dot)” and 21:00-24:05 of “Tayassus Pecari” on the same album, and as 33:31-36:49 of “Period 2” on THE TREE OF LIFE;
– 38:02-40:14 also appears as 42:26-43:32 of the same track, 35:56-38:02 of “Pineal (Black Dot)”, and both 27:02-29:12 and 40:02-41:03 of “Tayassus Pecari” on the same album, and as 53:06-54:19 of track 2 on DOUBLE HOLY HOUSE;
– 40:14-42:26 also appears as 38:02-39:54 of “Pineal (Black Dot)” and both 24:05-27:02 and 38:52-40:02 of “Tayassus Pecari” on the same album, and as 4:44-7:27 of track 2 on DOUBLE HOLY HOUSE;
– 42:26-43:32 also appears as 38:02-40:14 of the same track, 35:56-38:02 of “Pineal (Black Dot)”, and both 27:02-29:12 and 40:02-41:03 of “Tayassus Pecari” on the same album, and as 53:06-54:19 of track 2 on DOUBLE HOLY HOUSE 

“Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)“:
– 18:35-32:22 also appears as 0:13-15:04 of “Tellurian (Pertaining To Earth Or Its Inhabitants) on the same album;
– 32:22-35:13 also appears as 31:49-32:55 of “Peat” on the same album, as “Water” on ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT, as 27:05-28:44 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO, and as 16:29-18:45 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE;
– 35:13-37:19 also appears as 32:55-35:03 of “Peat” on the same album, as 28:44-30:13 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO, and as both 15:12-16:29 and 18:45-20:05 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE;
– 37:19-38:29 also appears as 40:51-42:06 of the same track and 35:03-36:24 of “Peat” on the same album, as “Section 6” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO, as 30:13-31:23 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO, and as 20:05-21:19 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE. (Also see “Stone Part 4” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE));
– 38:29-39:44 also appears as 0:00-0:47 of “Proxumal (Nearest), Pt. 2” on the same album, as 0:00-0:47 of “Section 7” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO, and as 13:51-15:12 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE;
– 39:44-40:51 also appears as 0:47-1:22 of “Proxumal (Nearest), Pt. 2” on the same album, as “Stone, Part 3” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE), as “Stone” on ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT, as “Sirenes 1/3” on IN FLORESCENCE, and as 0:47-1:29 of “Section 7” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO;
– 40:51-42:06 also appears as 37:19-38:29 of the same track and 35:03-36:24 of “Peat” on the same album, as “Section 6” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO, as 30:13-31:23 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO, and as 20:05-21:19 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE. (Also see “Stone Part 4” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE))

“Owele Standing (Small Bird)“
– 29:22-45:18 also appears as 24:28-43:55 of “Alumo” on the same album, and as “B: Soul Activities – 4: Willing” on CT: THE DANCE PROJECT
– 45:18-46:07* also appears as ”Epicritic (Pertaining To Cutaneous Sensitivity), Pt. 2”, 0:00-28:05 of “Proxumal, Pt. 1”, and 0:00-31:49 of “Peat” on the same album, as 0:58-24:48 of “(3 in one)/Lords Of The House/Deep Water/Realm of the Wilds/3 in one” on CELEBRATED BLAZONS, and as 7:35-17:06 of “Period 2” on THE TREE OF LIFE
* _{see note on CELEBRATED BLAZONS “(3 in one)/Lords Of The House/Deep Water/Realm of the Wilds/3 in one” 0:58-24:48}

“Pineal (Black Dot)“:
– 32:29-35:56 also appears as 36:00-38:02 of “Peduncle (The Support Of An Inflorescence)” and 21:00-24:05 of “Tayassus Pecari” on the same album, and as 33:31-36:49 of “Period 2” on THE TREE OF LIFE;
– 35:56-38:02 also appears as both 38:02-40:14 and 42:26-43:32 of “Peduncle (The Support Of An Inflorescence)” and both 27:02-29:12 and 40:02-41:03 of “Tayassus Pecari” on the same album, and as 53:06-54:19 of track 2 on DOUBLE HOLY HOUSE;
– 38:02-39:54 also appears as 40:14-42:26 of “Peduncle (The Support Of An Inflorescence)” and both 24:05-27:02 and 38:52-40:02 of “Tayassus Pecari” on the same album, and as 4:44-7:27 of track 2 on DOUBLE HOLY HOUSE

“Proxumal (Nearest), Pt. 1“:
– 0:00-28:05* also appears as “Epicritic (Pertaining To Cutaneous Sensitivity), Pt. 2”, 0:00-31:49 of “Peat” and 45:18-46:07 of “Owele Standing (Small Bird)” on the same album, as 0:58-24:48 of “(3 in one)/Lords Of The House/Deep Water/Realm of the Wilds/3 in one” on CELEBRATED BLAZONS, and as 7:35-17:06 of “Period 2” on THE TREE OF LIFE;
– 28:05-40:34 also appears as 15:04-26:57 of “Tellurian (Pertaining To Earth Or Its Inhabitants)”;
– 40:34-43:10 also appears as 26:57-31:33 of “Tellurian (Pertaining To Earth Or Its Inhabitants)” on the same album, as 52:02-56:09 of “(3 in one)/Lords of the house/Deep Water/Realm of the wilds/3 in one” on CELEBRATED BLAZONS, and as 4:12-6:34 of track 1 on DOUBLE HOLY HOUSE
* _{see note on CELEBRATED BLAZONS “(3 in one)/Lords Of The House/Deep Water/Realm of the Wilds/3 in one” 0:58-24:48}

“Proxumal, (Nearest), Pt. 2“:
– 0:00-0:47 also appears as 38:29-39:44 of “Loguzo Scampers (Tortoise)” on the same album, as 0:00-0:47 of “Section 7” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO, and as 13:51-15:12 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE;
– 0:47-1:22 also appears as 39:44-40:51 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” on the same album, as “Stone, Part 3” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE), as “Stone” on ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT, as “Sirenes 1/3” on IN FLORESCENCE, and as 0:47-1:29 of “Section 7” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO

“Tellurian (Pertaining To Earth Or Its Inhabitants)“:
– 0:13-15:04 also appears as 18:35-32:22 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” on the same album;
– 15:04-26:57 also appears as 28:05-40:34 of “Proxumal (Nearest), Pt. 1” on the same album;
– 26:57-31:33 also appears as 40:34-43:10 of “Proxumal (Nearest), Pt. 1” on the same album, as 52:02-56:09 of “(3 in one)/Lords of the house/Deep Water/Realm of the wilds/3 in one” on CELEBRATED BLAZONS, and as 4:12-6:34 of track 1 on DOUBLE HOLY HOUSE

“Alumo”
– 24:28-43:55 also appears as 29:22-45:18 of “Owele Standing (Small Bird)” on the same album, and as “B: Soul Activities – 4: Willing” on CT: THE DANCE PROJECT

“Tayassus Pecari”:
– 21:00-24:05 also appears as 36:00-38:02 of “Peduncle (The Support Of An Inflorescence)” and 32:29-35:56 of “Pineal (Black Dot)” on the same album, and as 33:31-36:49 of “Period 2” on THE TREE OF LIFE;
– 24:05-27:02 also appears as 38:52-40:02 of the same track, 40:14-42:26 of “Peduncle (The Support Of An Inflorescence)” and 38:02-39:54 of “Pineal (Black Dot)” on the same album, and as 4:44-7:27 of track 2 on DOUBLE HOLY HOUSE;
– 27:02-29:12 also appears as 40:02-41:03 of the same track, both 38:02-40:14 and 42:26-43:32 of “Peduncle (The Support Of An Inflorescence)”, and 35:56-38:02 of “Pineal (Black Dot)” on the same album, and as 53:06-54:19 of track 2 on DOUBLE HOLY HOUSE;
– 38:52-40:02 also appears as 24:05-27:02 of the same track, 40:14-42:26 of “Peduncle (The Support Of An Inflorescence)” and 38:02-39:54 of “Pineal (Black Dot)” on the same album, and as 4:44-7:27 of track 2 on DOUBLE HOLY HOUSE
– 40:02-41:03 also appears as 27:02-29:12 of the same track, both 38:02-40:14 and 42:26-43:32 of “Peduncle (The Support Of An Inflorescence)”, and 35:56-38:02 of “Pineal (Black Dot)” on the same album, and as 53:06-54:19 of track 2 on DOUBLE HOLY HOUSE

“Peat”:
– 0:00-31:49* also appears as ”Epicritic (Pertaining To Cutaneous Sensitivity), Pt. 2”, 0:00-28:05 of “Proxumal (Nearest), Pt. 1” and 45:18-46:07 of “Owele Standing (Small Bird)” on the same album, as 0:58-24:48 of “(3 in one)/Lords Of The House/Deep Water/Realm of the Wilds/3 in one” on CELEBRATED BLAZONS, and as 7:35-17:06 of “Period 2” on THE TREE OF LIFE;
– 31:49-32:55 also appears as 32:22-35:13 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” on the same album, as “Water” on ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT, as 27:05-28:44 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO, and as 16:29-18:45 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE;
– 32:55-35:03 also appears as 35:13-37:19 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” on the same album, as 28:44-30:13 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO, and as both 15:12-16:29 and 18:45-20:05 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE;
– 35:03-36:24 also appears as both 37:19-38:29 and 40:51-42:06 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” on the same album, as “Section 6” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO, as 30:13-31:23 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO, and as 20:05-21:19 of “Period 3” on THE TREE OF LIFE. (Also see “Stone Part 4” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE))
* _{see note on CELEBRATED BLAZONS “(3 in one)/Lords Of The House/Deep Water/Realm of the Wilds/3 in one” 0:58-24:48}

DOUBLE HOLY HOUSE

Track 1:
– 0:00-4:12 appears as 17:06-19:36 of “Period 2” on THE TREE OF LIFE;
– 4:12-6:34 appears as 52:02-56:09 of “(3 in one)/Lords of the house/Deep water/Realm of the wilds/3 in one” on CELEBRATED BLAZONS, and as 40:34-43:10 of “Proxumal (Nearest), Pt, 1” and 26:57-31:33 of “Tellurian (Pertaining To Earth Or Its Inhabitants)” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T

Track 2:
– 4:44-7:27 appears as 40:14-42:26 of “Peduncle (The Support Of An Inflorescence)”, 38:02-39:54 of “Pineal (Black Dot)”, and both 24:05-27:02 and 38:52-40:02 of “Tayassus Pecari” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T;
– 53:06-54:19 appears as both 38:02-40:14 and 42:26-43:32 of “Peduncle (The Support Of An Inflorescence)”, 35:56-38:02 of “Pineal (Black Dot)”, and both 27:02-29:12 and 40:02-41:03 of “Tayassus Pecari” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T

THE TREE OF LIFE

“Period 2”:
– 0:00-0:40 also appears as 3:48-4:02 and 43:59-44:22 of the same track;
– 0:40-3:31 also appears as 4:02-5:43 of the same track;
– 3:48-4:02 also appears as 0:00-0:40 and 43:59-44:22 of the same track;
– 4:02-5:43 also appears as 0:40-3:31 of the same track;
– 7:35-17:06* appears as 0:58-24:48 of”(3 in one)/Lords of the house/Deep water/Realm of the wilds/3 in one” on CELEBRATED BLAZONS, and as “Epicritic (Pertaining To Cutaneous Sensitivity), Pt. 2”, 0:00-28:05 of “Proxumal, Pt. 1”, 0:00-31:49 of “Peat” and 45:18-46:07 of “Owele Standing (Small Bird)” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T;
– 17:06-19:36 appears as 0:00-4:12 of track 1 on DOUBLE HOLY HOUSE;
– 33:31-36:49 appears as 36:00-38:02 of “Peduncle (The Support Of An Inflorescence”, as 32:29-35:56 of “Pineal (Black Dot)” and as 21:00-24:05 of “Tayassus Pecari” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T;
– 43:59-44:22 also appears as 0:00-0:40 and 3:48-4:02 of the same track
* _{see note on CELEBRATED BLAZONS “(3 in one)/Lords Of The House/Deep Water/Realm of the Wilds/3 in one” 0:58-24:48}

“Period 3“:
– 0:23-5:10 appears as “J.” on IN FLORESCENCE;
– 5:10-13:51 appears as “Epicritic (Pertaining To Cutaneous Sensitivity), Pt. 1” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T, as “B: Soul Activities – 3. Feeling” on CT: THE DANCE PROJECT, and as “The Silence Of Trees” on BURNING POLES;
– 13:51-15:12 appears as 0:00-0:47 of “Section 7” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO, and as 38:29-39:44 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 0:00-0:47 of “Proxumal (Nearest), Pt. 2” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T;
– 15:12-16:29 also appears as 18:45-20:05 of the same track, as 28:44-30:13 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO, and as 35:13-37:19 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 32:55-35:03 of “Peat” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T;
– 16:29-18:45 appears as “Water” on ERZULIE MAKETH SCENT, as 27:05-28:44 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO, and as 32:22-35:13 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 31:49-32:55 of “Peat” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T;
– 18:45-20:05 also appears as 15:12-16:29 of the same track, as 28:44-30:13 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO, and as 35:13-37:19 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 32:55-35:03 of “Peat” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T;
– 20:05-21:05 appears as “Section 6” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) SOLO, as 30:13-31:23 of “First Part” on LOOKING (BERLIN VERSION) THE FEEL TRIO, and as both 37:19-38:29 and 40:51-42:06 of “Logozo Scampers (Tortoise)” and 35:03-36:24 of “Peat” on 2 TS FOR A LOVELY T. (Also see “Stone Part 4” on IN EAST BERLIN (DISC ONE))

THE QUESTION/B EE BA NGANGA BAN’A EEE!

Recently Jeff Crompton drew attention to this blog on the Organissimo Jazz Forums (many thanks Jeff!) in a post which included the following:

“This bit caught my eye:

1985, One Night With Blue Note: “PONTOS CANTADOS”
= 1986, For Olim: “THE QUESTION”
= 1986, April 10th, Workshop Freie Musik, Academie Der Künste, Berlin, Germany: piece 1
= 1986, Olu Iwa: “B EE BA NGANGA BAN’A EEE!”

so I listened to the three released pieces mentioned. The second part of “Pontos Cantados,” subtitled “Point Two: Question,” does indeed seem to be the same piece as “The Question.” I’m less sure about “B Ee Ba Nganga Ban’a Eee” – the context of this septet performance is so different from the two piano solos that it’s hard to tell, although I do hear similarities in the melodic material.”

I planned to respond to this on the forum itself – but having been waiting almost a month now for my registration to be approved I’ve somewhat given up… So I thought I’d just make a quick post here to list the main thematic correspondences I’ve noted between “The Question” and “B Ee Ba Nganga Ban’a Eee!” which have led me to identify them as the same composition:

A: “THE QUESTION” 0:00 = “B EE BA…” 0:54
B: “THE QUESTION” 0:41 = “B EE BA…” 9:06 (a development of this also occurs at 23:56)
C: “THE QUESTION” 1:46 = “B EE BA… ” 32:43 and also 46:31
D (variant of B): “THE QUESTION” 2:09 = “B EE BA…” 33:10 and also 46:59
E (transposed variant of C): “THE QUESTION” 2:25 = “B EE BA…” 33:38 and also 47:20

(Also, at the 37:36 mark of “B Ee Ba…”, Taylor plays and develops at length the main recurring theme from the first part (“Point One: Klook At The Top Of The Stairs”) of the One Night With Blue Note “Pontos Cantados” performance. This theme does not occur in the For Olim version of “The Question”.)

As can be seen, although the order in which the motifs occur is basically consistent between these two performances, the presentation of them in the Olu Iwa version is vastly more spread out. This way that a given composition can be treated either as a concise quasi-song form with motifs leading directly to each other, or extended into a set-length performance with those motifs potentially separated by several minutes of improvisation, seems to me to be of key importance to the relationship between composition and improvisation in Taylor’s later work.

The Unreleased 1976-77 Cecil Taylor Unit Compositions

Having put this together for my own study purposes, I thought I’d share it on YouTube (and here) for anyone else who might be interested – a compilation of just the ensemble composed passages or “heads” (though that word seems somewhat inappropriate given the length and complexity of some of them) from the 1976/77 Cecil Taylor Unit unofficial concert recordings in my possession. I’ve only included single versions of any compositions which I’ve identified as being performed at multiple concerts, and I also don’t believe that any of these are the same as the piece featured on Dark To Themselves. In some cases, I’ve kept in brief solo or improvised passages where they seem to me to function as bridges between different motifs of an integral thematic statement (by “brief”, I mean up to a few minutes – in a typical set by this band, each of the horns takes one main solo of between 10-15 minutes duration, in addition to which Taylor solos at length at least once). Obviously this is not the proper form in which to experience this Unit’s music – it’s particularly galling not to have included any of Jimmy Lyons’s solos, which especially at the Montreal and Hamburg concerts are about as great as any playing I’ve heard by him – but hopefully it sheds some light on the sheer quantity of music Taylor composed for this band and how little of it is represented on their one official album. So for those of you who like the sound of such a thing, here’s an hour and a quarter’s worth of CT-the-composer in 1976/77. (Note: these are in chronological order, and for those with a low tolerance for lo-fi the concerts from Hamburg onwards are considerably better recorded. So if you find yourself struggling with the sonic quality of the first few tracks, maybe consider skipping forward to track 6 rather than giving up entirely.) Go to it on YouTube for full track source info and indexes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-90KZQjjr90

List of recurring compositions 1962-1986

In lieu of having had the time to write another full analysis post for this blog, I’m posting a list of all instances I’ve noticed to date of recurring compositions in performances by Cecil Taylor (solo or with his Units) during the era in which he worked with Jimmy Lyons. Some of the early examples may seem too obvious to be worth mentioning, but it should be said that not every instance of a recurring title corresponds to an identical composition – for instance, I do not think the two sides of “Spring Of Two Blue-Js” are versions of the same piece, and in my opinion the attribution of the first two pieces from CT’s 1965 Newport Jazz Festival performance as versions of “Steps” and “Unit Structures” is completely mistaken (although I have come to regard the closing piano trio piece as being correctly identified as a version of “Tales (8 Whisps)”).

I have omitted any consideration of the 1984 Orchestra Of Two Continents tour, as I’ve come to the conclusion that the material used on that tour was not broken down into specific compositions, but rather that the themes and riffs in the ensemble’s repertoire could be combined at will, with the way they are arranged on the album “Winged Serpent” being only one form which was not typically repeated in concert.

In many cases, where two performances share some material in common but also feature other clearly composed sections occurring in only one of the performances, it is hard to know whether this is due to an incomplete recording, a decision to perform only one part of an extended piece, a seemingly integral performance actually being a medley of several compositions, or a piece being extended compositionally between performances (for instance, chronological listening to the surviving recordings of “Fragments Of A Dedication To Duke Ellington” from 1969 seems to reveal a higher proportion of evidently composed material in each successive performance, suggesting that the piece was being worked on/extended over the course of the tour). So the correspondences are nowhere near as exact as my use of “=” might seem to imply – but in every case I’ve noted, there is enough shared material of an audibly composed nature to justify referring to them as the same composition to my mind.

In referring to performances captured on bootleg recordings, I have taken as piece divisions only those clear instances where the music stops followed by audience applause, rather than any breaks due to tape switching, or composition divisions in an extended medley (which to refer to with any certainty at this stage would be putting the cart before the horse, in terms of the research I’m attempting). Typically (though not always) by this yardstick each set is one piece. Where bootleg recordings can be easily streamed on the internet, I have included links.

If any of the instances I’ve noted strike anyone as particularly interesting and/or contentious, I would very glad to hear and to attempt to prioritise making those the focus of my next published analysis – and of course I would also be very interested to hear of any instances anyone has noticed which I have omitted. (One feature which is of particular interest to me is the phenomenon of the same compositions being used in both solo and Unit performances – as far as I can tell this practice begins in CT’s performances around 1977, but there could well be earlier instances which have escaped me.) List below:

1962, Live At The Cafe Montmartre: “CALL”
= 1962, Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come: “CALL (Second Version)”

1962, Live At The Cafe Montmartre: “LENA”
= 1962, Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come: “LENA (2nd Variation)”

1962, Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come: “NEFERTITI, THE BEAUTIFUL ONE HAS COME (1st Variation)”
= 1962, Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come: “NEFERTITI, THE BEAUTIFUL ONE HAS COME (2nd Variation)”

1965, July 2nd, Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI, USA: “TALES (8 WHISPS)”
= 1966, Unit Structures: “TALES (8 WHISPS)”

1966, Unit Structures: “ENTER , EVENING (SOFT LINE STRUCTURE”
= 1966, Unit Structures: “ENTER, EVENING (alternate take)”

1966, Conquistador: “CONQUISTADOR”
= 1966, October 16th, Sendesaal Villa Berg, Stuttgart, Germany: “CONQUISTADOR”

1966, Conquistador: “WITH (EXIT)”
= 1966, Conquistador: “WITH (EXIT) (alternate take)”
= 1966, November 30th, Salle 105, Maison de la ORTF, Paris, France: “BREAD, WINE, LOVER AND LOVE” (aka “BRIGHT LIGHT, LOVER AND LOVE”)

1969, January 18th, Antioch College, Kelly Hall, Yellow Springs, Ohio, USA: piece 1
= 1969, February 8th, Grinell College, Grinell, Iowa, USA: piece 1

1969, November 3rd, Salle Pleyel, Paris, France: “NEVER MIND”
= 1969, November 5th, “Newport Jazz Festival”, Folkets Hus, Stockholm, Sweden: “FRAGMENTS OF A DEDICATION TO DUKE ELLINGTON”
= 1969, November 6th, Berlin Jazz Festival, Berlin, Germany: “FRAGMENTS OF A DEDICATION TO DUKE ELLINGTON”
= 1969, November 9th, De Doelen Concert Hall, Rotterdam, The Netherlands: “FRAGMENTS OF A DEDICATION TO DUKE ELLINGTON”
= 1969, November 10th, Liederhalle, Mozartsaal, Stuttgart, Germany: “FRAGMENTS OF A DEDICATION TO DUKE ELLINGTON”

1973, Indent: “INDENT (FIRST LAYER)”
= 1973, Solo: “ASAPK IN AME”

*UPDATE*: 1975, July 25th, Juan les Pins, Jazz Festival, Antibes, France: piece 1
= 1975, July 30th, Umbria Jazz Festival, Gubbio, Italy: piece 1

1976, April 15th, The Power Center, Michigan State University at Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA: “PETALS”
= 1976, June 30th, Onkel Pö, Hamburg, Germany: “THE DUMPING PETAL POINT AND SUNFLOWERS” / “DON’T SEND ME NO PEBBLES FROM GEORGIA” / “FIRST WORD I – II” (see also previous post “Cecil Taylor 1976 – “Petals” and the Hamburg Onkel Pö concert“)

1976, April 12th, Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada: piece 1
= 1977, December 12th, Großer Sendesaal des WDR, Köln, Germany: piece 1

1976, April 12th, Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada: piece 2
= 1977, June 18th, Bimhuis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: piece 1

1976, July 24th or 25th, Juan les Pins, Jazz Festival, Antibes, France: piece 1
1976, Air Above Mountains < Buildings Within >: “AIR ABOVE MOUNTAINS (BUILDINGS WITHIN) Part One” / “AIR ABOVE MOUNTAINS (BUILDINGS WITHIN) Part Two”

1977, December 12th, Großer Sendesaal des WDR, Köln, Germany: piece 2 (first section – “CHORUS DE SUD”)
= 1978, July 22nd, Juan les Pins, Jazz Festival, Antibes, France: piece 1 (last section – “CHORUS DE SUD/PASSAGES”)

1977, December 12th, Großer Sendesaal des WDR, Köln, Germany: piece 2 (last section)
= 1978, Cecil Taylor Unit: “SERDAB”

1978, Cecil Taylor Unit: “HOLIDAY EN MASQUE”
= 1978, June 10th, Grosser Sendesaal, Funkhaus, Cologne, Germany: “THIRD WORLDS MAKING” (jump to 23:25)
= 1980, Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly!: “THE STELE STOLEN AND BROKEN IS RECLAIMED”

1978, 3 Phasis: “3 PHASIS” (opening section)
= 1978, May 20th, Saalfelden Jazz Festival, Saalfelden, Austria: piece 1
= 1978, June 4th, Schloss Freiberg Jazz Festival, Gleisdorf, Germany: piece 1
= 1978, June 9th, Quartier Latin, Berlin, Germany: piece 1 (Lyons/Malik duet)

1978, 3 Phasis: “3 PHASIS” (middle section)
= 1978, Live In The Black Forest: “SPERICHILL ON CALLING”
= 1978, June 10th, Grosser Sendesaal, Funkhaus, Cologne, Germany: “THIRD PART OF ONE”
= 1978, June 9th, Quartier Latin, Berlin, Germany: piece 6 (final ensemble piece)

1978, Live In The Black Forest: “THE EEL POT”
= 1980, Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly!: “ENSASLAYI”

1980, Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly!: “T (BEAUTIFUL YOUNG’N)”
= 1980, Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly!: “I (SISTER YOUNG’N)”
= 1980, Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly!: “CORN IN SUN + T (MOON)”
= 1980, December 20th, Blues Alley, Washington. DC, USA.: piece 1 (final section)

1980, December 17th, Blues Alley, Washington. DC, USA.: piece 1
= 1981, Garden: “PEMMICAN”
= 1984, From the Munich Summer Piano Festival, 1984: piece 1 (second section)

1981, November 7th, International Jazz Festival Zürich, Volkshaus, Zürich, Switzerland: “AHIDE”
= 1981, The Eighth: “CALLING IT THE EIGHTH”
= 1981, Garden: “STEPPING ON STARS”

1981, The Eighth: “CALLING IT THE NINTH”
= 1981, Garden: “POINTS”

1981, Garden: “GARDEN I”
= 1981, Garden: “GARDEN II”

1981, December 19th, Lush Life, New York, NY, USA: piece 1
= 1981, August 1st (or possibly December ? or January 8th), Lush Life, New York, NY, USA: piece 1/piece 1 continued

1983, August 27th, Willisau Jazz Festival, Festhalle, Willisau, Switzerland (Nicaragua: No Parasan): pieces 1&2
= 1983, September 4th, Jazzfestival Saalfelden, Tage Jazz 3, Saalfelden, Austria: pieces 1/2/3
= 1983, October 30th, Total Music Meeting ’83, Berlin Philharmonic, Berlin, Germany: piece 1
= 1983, November 16th, Stadttheater, Foyer, Basel, Switzerland: piece 1

1984, From the Munich Summer Piano Festival, 1984: piece 2
= 1986, For Olim: “MIRROR AND WATER GAZING”
= = 1986, April 10th, Workshop Freie Musik, Academie Der Künste, Berlin, Germany: piece 2 (final section)

1985, One Night With Blue Note: “PONTOS CANTADOS”
= 1986, For Olim: “THE QUESTION”
= 1986, April 10th, Workshop Freie Musik, Academie Der Künste, Berlin, Germany: piece 1
= 1986, Olu Iwa: “B EE BA NGANGA BAN’A EEE!”

Cecil Taylor 1976 – “Petals” and the Hamburg Onkel Pö concert

Of the tours undertaken by the various Cecil Taylor Units up until the death of Jimmy Lyons in 1986, the one from 1976 is both one of the most fascinating in terms of repertoire and among the most tantalising in terms of documentation, in that the recorded evidence we have of it is of considerable quantity, but also frustratingly fragmentary and muddled. For instance, the circulating 3 hour version of the June 30th Hamburg Onkel Pö concert, on the face of it one of the most comprehensive documents of what might happen in a typical full show by the group, is in fact a complete mess, featuring as it does a questionable track order, unacknowledged mid-track edits, missing material (including one passage which is included on the other shorter circulating version), and one section which is duplicated identically in two different tracks. The order in which this material was actually performed is inevitably a matter of speculation – however, my personal opinion is that it can be broken down into performances of two compositions, probably as separate sets although there is no way of knowing which was first and which was second. One of the compositions is the piece which appears in an earlier version under the name “Petals” on the Ann Arbor Michigan recording from April 15th; the other is (as far as I know) otherwise unrecorded. (Rick Lopez’s assertion in his David S. Ware Sessionography that the Hamburg concert develops material from “Streams and Chorus Of Seed” from DARK TO THEMSELVES is not correct in my opinion). The “Petals” performance from Hamburg is scattered in completely disordered chunks amongst all 3 titles on the circulating “full” recording; but familiarity with what appears to have been Taylor’s standard practice on this tour of having the first ensemble passage within a performance comprise a statement of the full (often quite lengthy) composed “head”, with shorter excerpts later repeated as bridge passages between solos (DARK TO THEMSELVES for instance follows this pattern), allows one to put together a reconstructed version which I feel confident is a lot closer to what actually happened.

Here is my account of what one finds on the circulating 3-hour version of this concert:

1. THE DUMPING PETAL POINT AND SUNFLOWERS (OPENING):

• The first 8:09 of this track belong to the composition which also comprises DON’T SEND ME NO PEBBLES FROM GEORGIA and FIRST WORD – I – II. In my opinion, this passage is the last part of the performance of this composition (or at least the last part of it for which the recording has survived).
• At 8:09 there is an edit (not an obvious one, but close listening makes it evident), and the rest of the track is from a performance of a different composition.

2. THE DUMPING PETAL POINT AND SUNFLOWERS (CONCLUSION):

•  This track continues on from the previous one (editing from 40:08 of “(OPENING)” to 0:00 of “(CONCLUSION)” renders them seamless). It is unclear how much more of this piece was played after the fade of this track, or indeed whether the 8:10 point of “(OPENING)” was the start of the performance – these two lengthy chunks are all we have of the Hamburg performance of this piece.

3. DON’T SEND ME NO PEBBLES FROM GEORGIA:

• The first 19:19 of this track are the opening of the composition which was also performed under the name “Petals” at the Ann Arbor concert. At 19:19 there is an edit to a section which is duplicated in FIRST WORD – I – II, and which does not belong at this point in my opinion.

4. FIRST WORD – I – II:

• The opening 32:23 of this track are a continuation of the same composition, and in my opinion should follow on from the 19:19 point of DON’T SEND ME NO PEBBLES FROM GEORGIA (although I believe there is about 20 seconds of music missing between the two – more on this later). At 32:23, there is an edit to the same passage which occurred at 19:19 on DON’T SEND ME… – in my opinion this is the correct place for this passage, although unfortunately the FIRST WORD has a slightly mangled start and is also about a minute-and-a-half shorter.

As I have said, there is a passage included in the other circulating version of this concert (taken from a radio broadcast) which is not present in the 3-hour version – therefore, to attempt an as-complete-as-possible reconstruction of the concert one needs both versions. However, there is an added complication in that they do not run at the same speed – the broadcast version is just under a semitone higher than the 3-hour version. It is hard to say which is closer to the genuine pitch – if we can assume that the piano was tuned to A440, then neither are quite right. For my personal edit of this concert, I chose to slow down the broadcast version by about 60 cents.

Here is how to reconstruct the two compositions played in this concert – I’ve put the “Petals” composition first for convenience, though it is impossible to know which way round they were actually performed:

COMPOSITION 1 (“Petals”):
– Segment 1: 0:00-19:19 of DON’T SEND ME NO PEBBLES FROM GEORGIA (from the 3-hour version)
– Segment 2: 0:00-32:23 of FIRST WORD – I – II.
– Segment 3: The entirety of the broadcast version of DON’T SEND ME NO PEBBLES FROM GEORGIA (once the speed discrepancy issue has been dealt with – for me, that took this track from its original length of 29:50 up to about 31 minutes). If you do not have the broadcast version, then the best substitute is 19:19-44:52 of the track DON’T SEND ME… on the 3-hour version. The broadcast version has an extra 5 minutes of material at the end which is not found anywhere on the 3-hour version, but is still seemingly not quite contiguous with what I believe to be the following section.
– Segment 4: 0:00-8:09 of THE DUMPING PETAL POINT AND SUNFLOWERS (OPENING)

COMPOSITION 2 (unknown):
– Segment 1: 8:09-40:08 of THE DUMPING PETAL POINT AND SUNFLOWERS (OPENING)
– Segment 2: 0:00-29:49 of THE DUMPING PETAL POINT AND SUNFLOWERS (CONCLUSION)

This is the simplest way to reconstruct the concert – however, those whose copy of the 3-hour version of this concert is the one recently circulating on Dimeadozen.org will also want to substitute in as much as possible from the rest of the broadcast version, as large stretches of the 3-hour version are disfigured by interference noise (which sounds like the result of a corrupted CD-R – I do not know whether previously circulating versions of the 3-hour version are also afflicted by this problem). For those who want to do this, the track on the broadcast version called “THE DUMPING PETAL POINT AND SUNFLOWERS PART 1” corresponds to 0:00-16:06 of “…(CONCLUSION)” and the track called “THE DUMPING PETAL POINT AND SUNFLOWERS PART 2” corresponds to 16:22-22:08.

In the analysis below, all references to track titles and timings are based on the 3-hour version.

PETALS – The composition.

The composition “PETALS” is built of a series of motifs played by the 3 horns, some played in unison or octaves, some antiphonally, and some in a loose overlapping counterpoint (which might lead to brief semi-improvised developments). Several of these are immediately repeated, and larger phrases can often be broken down into smaller repeated sub-motifs. In a linear statement of the “head” such as occurs at the beginning of both the Ann Arbor and Hamburg performances, none of the phrases are returned to once left, although they will reappear later in the performance, and a lot of the motifs are closely enough related to remind one strongly of each other. Assigning letter names to phrases, the head at the start of the Ann Arbor performance (comprising about the first 5:30) can be broken down as follows:
A A B B C C D D E F G H I J K K L
and comparison with the opening of the Hamburg performance (found at the start of “DON’T SEND ME NO PEBBLES FROM GEORGIA”) shows that this was fixed. The only structural difference up to and including phrase L is that in Hamburg, there is no piano intro and phrase A is only played once – this might indicate that the start of the recording is missing, but possibly not, as I will address later. Here for comparison is a breakdown by time of when the phrases appear in the Ann Arbor and Hamburg performances (note: if one is referring to the YouTube clip above, the performance actually starts at 0:20 following Taylor’s verbal instruction ‘Petals, just once through – Petals‘, so all timings below should be adjusted accordingly):

Phrase               Ann Arbor:      Hamburg:
(Piano intro)     0:00
A                         0:15
A                         0:39                     0:00
B                         1:02                     0:23
B                         1:25                     0:47
C                         1:44                     1:13
C                         2:00                     1:29
D                         2:16                     1:45
D                         2:37                     2:08
E                         3:00                     2:28
F                         3:17                     2:42
G                        3:40                     3:04
H                        3:57                     3:18
I                         4:17                      3:32
J                         4:35                      3:50
K                        4:43                     3:57
K                        4:55                     4:10
L                        5:08                     4:23

Following phrase L, the two performances diverge significantly for the first time, as while the Ann Arbor performance develops into a collective improvisation, the Hamburg version continues with further composed material which does not appear in the Ann Arbor recording (although it is impossible to know whether this material was added to the composition between April and June, or whether it was played later in the Ann Arbor performance at some point after the prematurely faded ending of the surviving recording). This material can be designated as follows:

Phrase            Hamburg:
M                      4:42
N                      5:04

This leads into an extended piano/drums duet – the standard practice in 1976 seems to have been that each composition would feature in some order a piano/drums duet and a feature for each of trumpet, alto sax and tenor sax in turn, all of these sections being a minimum of ten minutes long and often closer to twenty. These features would be separated by ensemble statements of composed material and/or begin with the soloist alluding to one of the composed motifs. In Taylor’s own playing, the relationship between composition and improvisation is much harder to entangle as they are so inextricably linked in his piano language, but at 12:15 in this piece he makes an unusually clear reference to phrase A in the midst of his duet with Edwards.

At 18:33, the horns re-enter and begin another run-through of the “Petals” head. Phrase A is again only played once, and phrase B also occurs just once before the erroneous edit at 19:19. Taking up from there with “FIRST WORD – I – II”, we have phrases C to L played in the same order as before from 0:00-3:20, with C, D and K repeated as expected. I am inclined to suspect that phrase B was also played twice and the first statement of it is missing from the recording, as there seems to be a somewhat abrupt lift in intensity at the start of “FIRST WORD” implying that the two sections of the recording are not quite contiguous. If this is true, and all the phrases are repeated here as in Ann Arbor apart from phrase A, then it could well be the case that the singular phrase A at the start of “DON’T SEND ME…” is not due to the opening of the recording being cut off, but that the composition had been modified since April to omit the phrase A repeat. This can only be speculation, however.

At 3:20, Lyons starts to play phrase M, but Ware moves into improvisation, leading to a brief collective passage which turns into an extended feature for Ware. After nearly twenty minutes of trio improvisation, Ware drops out at 23:18, and then the texture drops further to solo piano at 24:10. This is the precursor to the reentry of the horns at 24:33, where for the first time composed material from a later part of the “Petals” head is played separately from the opening. The passage from 24:33-25:28 consists of phrases J-K-K-L, and then after a brief piano-drums interlude Malik enters for his feature at 25:29.

Malik’s feature contains some oddities, which might be cited as counter-evidence to the separation of the two compositions I argued for earlier on. He begins with a composed phrase, but not one from “Petals” – rather one which first appears played by the ensemble at 12:03 of “THE DUMPING PETAL POINT AND SUNFLOWERS (OPENING)”. Then at 28:52, Taylor clearly refers to the harmonies which underly the phrase that will occur at 12:49 in this piece. Whether this indicates that the two compositions were considered as related by Taylor, and what it implies about the order of the performances (are these allusions to something that will happen later, or that happened earlier? Either way, a gap of at least three-quarters-of-an-hour separated this trio improvised passage from the ensemble composed material it appears to reference…)

Malik’s feature is followed by Jimmy Lyons’s (at 37:12 in “FIRST WORD”, or 24:14 in “DON’T SEND ME NO PEBBLES FROM GEORGIA”, as it falls within the duplicated passage.) Lyons also begins by referring to a composed phrase, but this time it is from the “Petals” head – the first 35 seconds of his feature are a statement and looser paraphrase of phrase F.

While the preceding sections have often been bridged by about 45 seconds of piano and drums, after Lyons’s feature there is a 5 minute section of Taylor and Edwards before the reentry of the horns. When they enter (at 53:19 (“FIRST WORD”) / 40:31 (“DSMNPFG”)) it is with the phrase sequence M-N, which now detaches itself from the rest of the “Petals” head to become the main theme of the rest of the piece. These two phrases are here played twice in a row, which then leads into a full ensemble improvisation.

Moving to “THE DUMPING PETAL POINT AND SUNFLOWERS” there is a reduction in texture, moving through solo piano – tenor/piano duet – tenor/piano/drums trio – tenor/drums duet – piano/drums duet over the course of the first 6 minutes. At 6:07, the horns enter once again with phrase M, followed by N at 6:36, leading to a semi-improvised development which swells and then winds down to the end at 8:09.

The material from the edit at 8:09 onwards, though it starts in a similar harmonic area, is not I think motivically related to the “Petals” head, and as stated earlier my opinion is that it makes most sense to regard the remainder of the recording as a separate composition (while acknowledging the questions raised by the allusions in Malik’s earlier feature). This starts in more balladic territory, coalescing into an ensemble “head” from 12:03-14:02, which then, after features for Malik, Lyons, Ware and Taylor, begins to be repeated at 29:32 of “TDPPAS (CONCLUSION)” just before the fade-out.

Sperichill On Calling and its relationship to 3 Phasis

This is my first follow-up post on the 1978 Cecil Taylor recordings: a broad-strokes analysis of the relationship between “Sperichill On Calling” (from Live At The Black Forest) and “3 Phasis”. Track divisions and timings for 3 Phasis are based on the CD issue.

The opening part of “Sperichill On Calling” is a version of “3 Phasis (Track Four)”. The entry of instruments is slightly different – the ballad theme played by the ensemble at the start of the 3 Phasis track is played by solo piano on “Sperichill On Calling”; and then when the subsequent “shuffle” version of the same material begins on “Sperichill” the horns enter with the theme at 0:35, whereas at the equivalent point on “3 Phasis (Track Four)” (0:45) having played the theme already they move to a contrapuntal development. In both cases however, this quickly develops into a feature for Jimmy Lyons, with Taylor sticking for some time to the chord sequence of the original theme, though Lyons doesn’t ‘blow on the changes’ in any conventional sense, and Ramsey Ameen in particular seemingly plays in a deliberately contradictory manner (both tonally and rhythmically) on both versions. The new theme which enters at 7:58 on “3 Phasis (Track Four”) and which then alternates with further developments of the previous material does not appear in “Sperichill”, which instead proceeds to a feature for Raphe Malik (at 8:17), the beginning of which sounds as if it might derive from composed elements but which I have been unable to trace to any passage from “3 Phasis”.

Following Malik’s trumpet feature, at 13:33 and then again in slightly varied form at 13:41 Taylor plays a descending 3-note octave figure, which occurs in an earlier section (Track Two) of 3 Phasis at 2:19 as the introduction to another distinctive ballad theme. This theme is not played here (yet) – rather its opening harmony forms the initial basis for a feature for Ameen (again, I cannot specifically relate what he plays here to any part of “3 Phasis”). However, “3 Phasis (Track Two)” does turn out to be the basis for the rest of “Sperichill”, as the ensemble passage from 20:36-23:44 develops identical motifs to those found in the “3 Phasis” track from the 4:25 mark onwards (although the order of their initial appearance is different – the motif heard at 20:25 in “Sperichill” first appears in “3 Phasis (Track Two)” at 5:06, whereas the motif that opens the 3 Phasis passage at 4:25 isn’t played in “Sperichill” until 20:49.) Finally, at 23:44 of “Sperichill”, the ballad theme from 2:19 of “3 Phasis (Track Two)” which was hinted at at 13:33 appears in full.

Cecil Taylor – tour repertoire (introduction)

This and the following post were originally posted at the Cecil Taylor Facebook Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/6087846947/).

Over the last few years I’ve been trying to increase my understanding of the relationship between composition and improvisation in the Jimmy Lyons-era music of Cecil Taylor, particularly by studying the recordings from those years when a CT Unit featuring two or more horn players embarked on a (comparatively) well-documented tour (primarily 1969, 1976, 1978 and 1984), in an attempt to establish what constituted “repertoire” on these tours. (I’m starting with the multi-horn Units because the presence of clear unison lines provides very useful indicators of the recurrence of composed material, and hopefully this will also yield clues as to how to analyse the construction of the ‘70s/‘80s trio/quartet music, which seems on the face of it a much more difficult proposition – the recordings from the 1983 tour where Brenda Bakr’s voice took on a horn-like role may well prove to be an essential bridge between these undertakings). 1978 and 1984 are particularly revealing, since in those years the touring unit also recorded in the studio (the 1966 bootlegs are also invaluable as they feature live recordings of both the compositions from “Conquistador”, albeit by a much smaller Unit than on the album.) I’ve currently been giving close attention to the 1978 recordings, and might write a more in-depth analysis of what I think’s happening on them at some point in the future – but in the meantime, here’s my basic assessment of the material underlying the live recordings from this year:

1) Saalfelden, May 20th 1978 (bootleg): this continuous 90-minute performance is based on the opening section of “3 Phasis”

2) “The Eel Pot” (Live In The Black Forest side 1, Kirchzarten, June 3rd 1978): this composition is not on any of the studio albums, but appears to be closely related to or perhaps a re-arrangement of the piece played by the 1976 band under the name “Petals”.(see footnote)

3) “Sperichill On Calling” (Live In The Black Forest side 2, place/date as above): this is based on various other themes from “3 Phasis” (not in the same order as on the studio recording).

4) “Third Part Of One” (Cologne, June 10th 1978, radio broadcast/bootleg): based on the same part of “3 Phasis” as the opening of “Sperichill On Calling”.

5) “Third Worlds Making” (place/date as above, radio broadcast/bootleg): based on a section of “Holiday En Masque” from the Cecil Taylor Unit album. As the performance is incomplete, it’s uncertain whether the recording is excerpted from a complete version of that composition, or whether (as seems to be the case with “3 Phasis”) the different sections/themes from “Holiday En Masque” could be treated as separate pieces. (“Third Part Of One” appears to be a complete performance, most likely an encore.)

6) One Too Many Salty Swift And Not Goodbye (Stuttgart, June 14th 1978): despite the close resemblance of one of the recurring themes to a line from “Holiday En Masque”, this performance is not a version of that piece nor (as far as I can tell) of any of the studio-recorded compositions, but an otherwise unrecorded piece.

I’d be very interested to hear from anyone who has an alternate interpretation of what’s being played in these performances, or is in possession of any other recordings from this year besides the ones I’ve listed…

Footnote to 2): Since the original post I’ve changed my mind on this. I don’t now think “The Eel Pot” is a version of “Petals” – there are certainly melodic similarities, but those abound throughout CT”s work as favourite intervals, motifs and harmonies get reworked, and an attempt to trace them would be a huge and not I think enormously informative task. I definitely believe that there is a distinction to be made between reminiscence or even straight reuse of melodic/harmonic material in different compositions and instances where two performances can actually be said to be of the same composition, and it is the latter I’m primarily concerned with at this point.

Blog begun

Welcome to this newly set up blog site. The purposes to which it is put may change or expand along the way – I imagine that at some point I’ll be using it to post things having to do with my own music in one way or another – but the initial impetus for setting it up and the likely focus of the first few posts is to share ideas and analysis stemming from my personal research into the music of Cecil Taylor.