| Melancholy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | 1999 | |||
| Recorded | September 30, 1990 | |||
| Genre | Free jazz | |||
| Length | 70:07 | |||
| Label | FMP | |||
| Producer | Jost Gebers | |||
| Cecil Taylor chronology | ||||
| ||||
Melancholy is a live album by Cecil Taylor's Workshop Ensemble featuring Evan Parker, Barry Guy and Tony Oxley recorded on September 30, 1990, at the Bechstein Concert Hall in Berlin and released on the FMP label. [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |  [3] |
The Allmusic review by Steven Loewy states "Taylor is unquestionably more effective as an arranger in the small group (and solo) contexts to which he is accustomed. With the ensemble, there is a sense that ideas are not always fully realized, although, to be sure, there are remarkable moments throughout. Whether charges of incomplete or confusing rehearsals are accurate is immaterial. What matters is that the results, while good, probably could have been better. Regardless, Taylor aficionados will want to own this one because of the players in the band and because of the extraordinary moments". [2]
The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings wrote: "it is... enough to have other composers and arrangers slack-jawed, with three pieces that put an evolving structure through complex changes and developments. If the middle section, 'Sphere No. 2', seems like a bonding of improvisors, then 'Sphere No. 3' expands to a glorious reconciliation of free solos and composed and implicit structures." [3]
Evan Shaw Parker is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
Barry John Guy is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras in the UK and Europe. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music under Buxton Orr, and later taught there.
Harri Sjöström is a saxophonist who specializes in the soprano saxophone.
Winged Serpent (Sliding Quadrants) is an album by Cecil Taylor recorded in Milan, Italy on October 22–24, 1984 and released on the Soul Note label. The album features performances by Taylor with Jimmy Lyons, Enrico Rava, Tomasz Stanko, Frank Wright, John Tchicai, Gunter Hampel, Karen Borca, Andre Martinez, William Parker and Rashid Bakr who are billed as The Orchestra of Two Continents.
Nailed is a live album by Cecil Taylor, Evan Parker, Barry Guy and Tony Oxley recorded on September 26, 1990 at the Bechstein Concert Hall in Berlin and released on the FMP label.
The Hearth is a live album featuring a performance by Cecil Taylor with Tristan Honsinger and Evan Parker recorded in Berlin on June 30, 1988, as part of month-long series of concerts by Taylor and released on the FMP label.
Alms/Tiergarten (Spree) is a live album by Cecil Taylor with the Cecil Taylor European Orchestra recorded in Berlin on July 2, 1988, as part of month-long series of concerts by Taylor and released on the FMP label.
Legba Crossing is a live album featuring a performance by Cecil Taylor's Workshop Ensemble recorded in Berlin on July 15, 1988 as part of month-long series of concerts by Taylor and released on the FMP label. Taylor did not play the piano on this album, but instead directed the ensemble and contributed vocalizations.
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.
Toward the Margins is an album by the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble, recorded in 1996 and released on the ECM New Series the following year.
Drawn Inward is an album by the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble recorded in December 1998 and released on ECM the following year.
The Redwood Session is an album by saxophonist Evan Parker with bassist Barry Guy and drummer Paul Lytton recorded in 1995 which was the first release on the CIMP label.
Ode is an album by the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra composed by bassist Barry Guy and conducted by his teacher, Buxton Orr. It was recorded as part of the English Bach Festival at the Oxford Town Hall in 1972 and first released as a double album on the Incus label then as a double CD on Intakt in 1996 with additional material.
Song for Someone is the second album led by trumpeter and composer Kenny Wheeler which was recorded in 1973 and released on the Incus label. The album was rereleased on CD on Psi Records in 2004.
50th Birthday Concert is a double CD live album by British saxophonist and improviser Evan Parker recorded at Dingwalls in 1993 and released on the English Leo label.
Inscape–Tableaux is an album by bassist Barry Guy. It was recorded on May 18 and 19, 2000, at Rote Fabrik in Zürich, Switzerland, and was released in 2001 by Intakt Records. On the album, which features a seven-part composition by Guy, he plays bass and directs members of his New Orchestra: Evan Parker and Mats Gustafsson on saxophone, Hans Koch on saxophone and clarinet, Herb Robertson on trumpet, Johannes Bauer on trombone, Per Åke Holmlander on tuba, Marilyn Crispell on piano, and Paul Lytton and Raymond Strid on percussion.
After Appleby is a double-CD album by the members of the Evan Parker Trio, with guest pianist Marilyn Crispell. One CD was recorded on June 28, 1999, at Gateway Studio in London, while the other was recorded live the following day at the Vortex Jazz Club in London. The recordings took place immediately after the Appleby Jazz Festival, where the musicians performed in a variety of combinations. The album was released in 2000 by Leo Records.
Alan Silva & the Sound Visions Orchestra is a live album by multi-instrumentalist Alan Silva. It was recorded in May 1999 at St. Nicholas of Myra Church in New York City during the annual Vision Festival, and was released in 2001 by Eremite Records. On the album, Silva is joined by a large ensemble known as the Sound Visions Orchestra.
Sequences 72 & 73 is an album by trombonist Paul Rutherford and the group known as Iskra 1912. It was recorded during 1972–1974 in London, and was released in 1997 by Emanem Records. The album features studio recordings of two ensemble works composed and conducted by Rutherford, plus a live recording of a solo trombone piece.
Ichnos is an album by English musician Tony Oxley. Released in 1971 by RCA Victor, it features Oxley on percussion, Evan Parker on saxophone, Kenny Wheeler on trumpet and flugelhorn, Paul Rutherford on trombone, Derek Bailey on electric guitar, and Barry Guy on double bass. The musicians are heard in varying combinations: two sextets, two quartets, and a percussion solo.
