Christopher Felver Cecil Taylor: All the Notes
Christopher Felver Cecil Taylor: All the Notes
Documentary Screening
Cecil Taylor is the grand master of free jazz piano. All the Notes captures, in breezy fashion, the unconventional stance of this media-shy modern musical genius, who is regarded as one of the true giants of post-war music. Taylor is first seen musing over Santiago Calatrava’s fleecy architecture—a typical sign of the pianist’s famed eclectic interests, which extend from soloing to combo and small orchestra work, as well as spoken word performance.
Seated at the beloved and battered piano in his Brooklyn brownstone, the maestro holds court with frequent stentorian pronouncements on life, art, and music, while demonstrating the technique and views which infuse his super-clustered playing. Students at Mills College, where Taylor has a regular teaching gig, devise an avant-garde “free composition” under his generous tutelage. Taylor plays at Yoshi’s in Oakland, and Lincoln Center and the Iridium in New York, with his large ensemble Orchestra Humane Big Band.
Since the 50s, Taylor has steadfastly represented jazz’s avant-garde, a fact reinforced by notable commentators Elvin Jones, Amiri Baraka, Nathaniel Mackey, and Al Young. The recording of the UCLA Royce Hall solo performance is an example of his astounding mastery of complex musical constructions. All the Notes is an intimate portrait of a consummate musician and sound thinker in triumphant maturity, bringing out Taylor’s nobility, devotion and belief in a truth that can only be found after a lifetime of invention.
