Looking Ahead!

Last updated
Looking Ahead!
Looking Ahead!.jpg
Studio album by
Released1959
RecordedJune 9, 1958
Genre
Length41:47
Label Contemporary
Cecil Taylor chronology
At Newport
(1958)
Looking Ahead!
(1959)
Stereo Drive
(1959)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]

Looking Ahead! is the second studio album by American jazz pianist Cecil Taylor, recorded for Contemporary Records in June 1958 and released the following year. The album features bassist Buell Neidlinger, drummer Denis Charles, and vibraphonist Earl Griffith.

Contents

Reception

The AllMusic review by Brian Olewnick states: "Looking Ahead! does just that while still keeping several toes in the tradition. It's an amazing document of a talent fairly straining at the reins, a meteor about to burst onto the jazz scene and render it forever changed... Looking Ahead! is a vital recording from the nascence of one of the towering geniuses of modern music and belongs in any jazz fan's collection". [4]

The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 3½ stars, commenting: "the most pensive of Taylor's early recordings may be the best place to start in appreciating his music," and noting that "Toll" "embarks on a new journey towards his own territory." [2]

Track listing

All compositions by Cecil Tayor except as indicated
  1. "Luyah! The Glorious Step" - 6:25
  2. "African Violets" (Earl Griffith, Taylor) - 5:12
  3. "Of What" - 8:18
  4. "Wallering" - 5:22
  5. "Toll" - 7:38
  6. "Excursion on a Wobbly Rail" - 9:04
  • Recorded at Nola's Penthouse Studios, New York City, on June 9, 1958

Personnel

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References

  1. AllMusic Review
  2. 1 2 Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1380. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.
  3. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 189. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.
  4. Olewnick, B. AllMusic Review accessed July 9, 2009.

Further reading