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.
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