CiTR

This recording was the second album recorded in 1966 for Blue Note by the iconoclastic pianist/composer Cecil Taylor. Taylor's music has always posed a challenge to the listener as his music is dense and often seems arrhythmic. His ensembles or bands that he calls "Units" pose even more of a challenge. Not only does the listener have to hear Taylor's always busy playing but one has to hear the bassists and drummers as well as the horns that weave in and out and solo at length. This recording features members of his working unit. The wonderful alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons is heard to good advantage here. Lyons was to Taylor what Charlie Rouse was to Thelonious Monk. Trumpeter Bill Dixon, who along with Taylor was one of the movers and shakers of so-called avant-guard Jazz was not a regular Unit member but he fit so well with Lyons in the ensemble passages and solos very effectively. Two bassists work hand in glove with Alan Silva playing mostly arco (bowed) and Henry Grimes plucking the bottom lines. Drummer Andrew Cyrille understands Taylor's unique rhythmic sence. Taylor many years before this recording had abandoned 4/4 time and other Jazz signatures and yet his music pulses with rhythms. "Conquistador" IS a challenge but if you listen to Taylor's music with the same intensity that he delivers it you will be amply rewarded. There is lyricism and beauty in this recording and all it need is your ears. Taylor was 81 on March 15,2010 and he is still creating and performing....Happy Birthday Cecil!