| Looking Ahead! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1959 | |||
| Recorded | June 9, 1958 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 41:47 | |||
| Label | Contemporary | |||
| Cecil Taylor chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [2] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide |  [3] |
Looking Ahead! is the second album by pianist Cecil Taylor, recorded for the Contemporary label in June 1958. The album features performances by Taylor with Buell Neidlinger, Denis Charles, and Earl Griffith.
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]
Buell Neidlinger was an American cellist and double bassist. He has worked with a variety of pop and jazz performers, prominently with iconoclastic pianist Cecil Taylor in the 1950s and '60s.
The Jazz Composer's Orchestra is a 1968 album by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra recorded over a period of six months with Michael Mantler as composer, leader and producer. Many of the key figures in avant-garde jazz from the time contributed on the album including Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri, Larry Coryell, Roswell Rudd, and Carla Bley. The album's finale features a two-part concerto for Cecil Taylor and orchestra.
Soprano Sax is the debut album by Steve Lacy which was released on the Prestige label in 1958. It features performances by Lacy, Wynton Kelly, Buell Neidlinger and Dennis Charles.
Reflections is the second album by Steve Lacy which was released on the Prestige label in 1959. It features performances of Thelonious Monk's compositions by Lacy, Mal Waldron, Buell Neidlinger and Elvin Jones.
New York City R&B is a 1961 free jazz album originally recorded at a session by bassist Buell Neidlinger but subsequently reissued under joint names with the pianist Cecil Taylor.
Levels and Degrees of Light is the debut album by Muhal Richard Abrams which was released on the Delmark label in 1968 and features performances of three of Abrams' compositions by Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins, Charles Clark, Gordon Emmanuel, Maurice McIntyre, Thurman Barker and Leonard Jones with vocals by Penelope Taylor and a poetry recitation by David Moore.
Air is an album by Cecil Taylor recorded for the Candid label in October 1960. The album features performances by Taylor with Archie Shepp, Buell Neidlinger, Denis Charles and Sunny Murray on alternate takes of material released on The World of Cecil Taylor (1960).
The World of Cecil Taylor is an album by Cecil Taylor recorded for the Candid label in October 1960. The album features performances by Taylor with Archie Shepp, Buell Neidlinger and Denis Charles. Alternate takes from these sessions were released on Air in 1987. A 1971 reissue of the original album on the Barnaby label was also titled Air.
Cell Walk for Celeste is an album by Cecil Taylor recorded for the Candid label in January 1961 but not released until 1988. The album features performances by Taylor with Archie Shepp, Buell Neidlinger and Denis Charles. Additional recordings from these sessions were released on New York City R&B in 1971 and Jumpin' Punkins in 1987.
Jumpin' Punkins is an album by Cecil Taylor recorded for the Candid label in January 1961 but not issued in the States until 1987. The first release was in Japan by Victor in 1977 as Cecil Taylor All Stars Featuring Buell Neidlinger. The album features performances by Taylor with Archie Shepp, Buell Neidlinger and Denis Charles with Billy Higgins, Clark Terry, Roswell Rudd, Steve Lacy and Charles Davis added on one track. Additional recordings from these sessions were released on New York City R&B in 1971 and Cell Walk for Celeste in 1988.
Jazz Advance is the debut album by pianist Cecil Taylor, recorded for the Transition label in September 1956. The album features performances by Taylor with Buell Neidlinger, Denis Charles and Steve Lacy.
At Newport is a live album by the Gigi Gryce–Donald Byrd Jazz Laboratory and the Cecil Taylor Quartet recorded for the Verve label at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1957. The original LP album featured one side of performances by Taylor with Buell Neidlinger, Denis Charles and Steve Lacy and the other by Gryce, Byrd, Hank Jones, Wendell Marshall, and Osie Johnson.
Love for Sale is an album by the pianist Cecil Taylor, recorded for the United Artists label in April 1959. The album features performances by Taylor with Buell Neidlinger, and Denis Charles with Bill Barron and Ted Curson added on three tracks.
Olu Iwa is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded in Berlin, Germany on April 12, 1986 and released on the Soul Note label. The album features a concert performance by Taylor with Thurman Barker, William Parker and Steve McCall with Earl McIntyre, Peter Brötzmann and Frank Wright added on one track.
Looking Corona is a live album featuring performances by Cecil Taylor with Harald Kimmig, Muneer Abdul Fataah, William Parker and Tony Oxley recorded in Berlin on November 3 & 4, 1989 and released on the FMP label.
Looking The Feel Trio is a live album featuring performances by Cecil Taylor with William Parker and Tony Oxley recorded in Berlin on November 2, 1989 and released on the FMP label.
Sart is the third album by Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek, his second released on the ECM label, and is performed by Garbarek's quintet featuring Bobo Stenson, Terje Rypdal, Arild Andersen and Jon Christensen.
Witchi-Tai-To is an album by the Jan Garbarek-Bobo Stenson Quartet released on the ECM label and performed by Garbarek, Stenson, Palle Danielsson, and Jon Christensen.
Flat-Out Jump Suite is an album by jazz saxophonist Julius Hemphill recorded in 1980 for the Italian Black Saint label.
The Willisau Concert is a live solo piano album by American musician Cecil Taylor. It was recorded on September 3, 2000, at the Jazzfestival Willisau, and was released in 2002 by Intakt Records. On the album, Taylor is heard on a 97-key Bösendorfer Imperial piano.
