Cecil Taylor - Not on the money....

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

"A man was put in handcuffs, the other night in New York, and accused of stealing nearly half a million dollars from Cecil Taylor. The famous jazz pianist, acclaimed by critics, won the Kyoto Prize , which involves a reward of 50 million yen ($ 492,722.55).

The Kyoto Prize was created on the initiative of the Inamori Foundation and is awarded to people who have “contributed significantly to the improvement of scientific, cultural and spiritual development of humanity.”

The authorities say that Noel Muir, a close friend of Taylor, had taken possession of the money. Muir, in essence, emptied Taylor’s bank account."

I thing he was Cecil's builder.

BN.

[Serial_Apologist]

When Cecil Taylor came and performed in Bristol, (I can't remember when, late '80s maybe), afterwards, Keith Tippett, who had been in the audience, was asking where he had been taken for the post-gig meal. Why, we all wanted to know? "Well, ten years ago he lent me a fiver, and I want to pay it back".

With inflation, maybe he could do with that £5 now!

[Ian Thumwood]

Wasn't it Cecil Taylor who made a comment about Miles Davis not playing bad trumpet for a millionaire?

Strange to associate jazz musicians as being millionaires but I would suspect that a fair few have probably done alright out of the music and, perversely, I would have guessed that these would have been some of the greatest performers such as Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny, Oscar Peterson, Miles, Ellington, etc, etc. I can't believe that many of the band leaders from the 30's and 40's would have lacked for readies either despite the likes of Woody Herman being fleeced in a horrific fashion. I suppose you associate substantial incomes with a deterioration in the quality of music yet I don't think this probably applies to the greats of jazz who have earned their crust. Maybe someone like Kenny G is an exception.

The thing worth picking up on is that the prize awarded to Taylor originated from Japan. I wasn't aware that Cecil Taylor was particularly appreciated in Japan where I always had imagined that the audience for jazz seemed to be built around Blue Note fanatics. It's also intriguing how Taylor now seems to be a figure being drawn in to the mainstream with his piano playing style now cropping up in performances that might be considered quite mainstream. A good example is someone like Chucho valdes who is similarly bionic when it comes to technique and can through in some Cecil-isms amongst a pulsating Latin groove with out sounding the least incongruous. If you like, Cecil Taylor's approach is now as part of the establishment as Coltrane, Miles or Ornette.

[Serial_Apologist]

I can't say where, because it was a long time ago, but I remember reading somewhere that only two jazz musicians had ever reached millionaire status, and they were Duke Ellington and Miles Davis. But a million quid that was worth a lot, once, is as common as muck nowadays.

[Ian Thumwood]

I was listening to Taylor's "conquistador" the other week and was struck at just how brilliant this record still is. I'm almost inclined to consider it to be Blue Note's finest achievement and it is certainly the bravest album they ever released. Taylor can be a bit hit and miss for me , compelling one moment and irritating the next. "Conquistador" is something of a revelation and the music does seem far more considered that a lot of the free jazz of that era which was full or sound and fury although not necessarily that structured.

[Serial_Apologist]

I'm almost inclined to consider it to be Blue Note's finest achievement and it is certainly the bravest album they ever released.

"Unit Structures"?

[Jazzrook]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zpU7Q32L58

[eighthobstruction]

Ah what ever became of that scat character from the BBC boreds....Rooooosta Sings....Cecil....<such vocal dexterity>

....poor ol'Cecil ....is he senile?

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

[eighthobstruction]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sISWPzEqHLQ

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

"According to Associated Press, Taylor
did not want to talk about the case
during his time in court, instead musing
on the “quality of trees on the train ride
between Tokyo and Kyoto, the Kabuki
dancers he had once seen in a
Balanchine ballet, and the conductor
Pierre Boulez”." - Guardian.



BN.