The album documents an event billed as Taylor's "return" to New York City following a period of several years spent teaching at the University of Wisconsin and Antioch College.[3] "Spring of Two Blue-J's" parts 1 and 2 were originally released as an LP in 1974 by Taylor's Unit Core label in limited quantities, and were reissued in 2021 by Oblivion Records.[3] "Autumn/Parade" was previously unreleased, as its length (88 minutes) prevented it from being considered as a commercially viable issue.[4][3]
The music was recorded by Fred Seibert, one of the founders of Oblivion Records, who was a Columbia University student at the time, and who used borrowed equipment for the recording. He recalled: "I felt like I was under Niagara Falls with every sound coming at me from 360 degrees and fighting for space in my head."[5] Seibert elected to release the album in digital format in order to avoid the physical limitations of CDs and LPs, and to bypass the difficulties associated with traditional album distribution.[5]
In an article for The New York Times, Alan Scherstuhl called the album "exhilarating," and commented: "the music gushes as if it were an uncapped fireplug... the relentless 88-minute track 'Autumn/Parade' catches the inexhaustible Cecil Taylor Unit in the grip of one revelation after another, playing free jazz... in the purest definition of free... what's most immediately striking on the new release is the Unit's restless, driving polyrhythms, pulsing clots of tones and beats."[5]
Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Martin Johnson noted that the album "showcases a master reaching his peak. Taylor's music doesn't aim to entertain its listeners; it seeks to excite or even exhilarate them. It requires devoted attention, however, lest one get lost in the overwhelming cascades of sound." Johnson described "Autumn/Parade" as "a stunner," and "one of the most remarkable performances of his band... it displays Taylor's distinctive approach coming to fruition."[9]
In a review for DownBeat, Martin Longley wrote: "The Unit produces a rush of highly defined kinetic energy that doesn't let up, mostly careening, but also teeming with precise detail. The rapport between Taylor and Lyons is particularly stunning, as they both contort, entwine and pull apart, their convergence often sounding like radical examples of happenstance."[8]
Thom Jurek, in an article for AllMusic, stated: "The Cecil Taylor Unit performed that evening as if they had broken through all bonds of time and space, abandoning all notions of time keeping... The Complete, Legendary, Live Return Concert offers a staggering aural portrait of Taylor embracing the full dictates of the artistic freedom he would go on to display in so many different settings for the rest of his life, in stellar sound quality... this offering showcases the hyper dimensionality of Taylor's music and his quartet's potential for extending it... a must for any Taylor fan."[6]
In a review for Jazz Journal, Andy Hamilton commented: "It's a raw, visceral musical experience, one of the finest albums of free jazz; the recording quality, for a live event, is excellent. The participants were inspired to white heat... An essential release."[10]
Writing for All About Jazz, Mike Jurkovic remarked: "If the title alone... doesn't blow out those flu-like post-holiday cobwebs in a big hurry, the full, near ninety minute assault on all that was and is holy damn well will... After five years, Cecil Taylor took to his piano... and all hell broke loose! It was a moment in the lives of all those participating that they could instantly equate with, say, where they were when Kennedy was shot. Or Martin. Or Lennon. Or when men thought bigger than assassination and strode the moon. Created vaccines. Conquered fascist powers... 'Autumn/Parade' is impenetrable, hypnotic, impossible to hold, but never look away. Never turn a blind ear to its chaotic perplexities or pass lurid judgement on its more accessible moments. Taylor is unhinged and that can only mean the world will be a much different place when he is done... Adding Lyons, Cyrille, and Sirone makes 'Autumn/Parade' unstoppable, a frenetic, riotous, visionary invention gratefully, gleefully heard here completely for the first time. And it sounds awesome too."[7]
An article at WBGO called the album "a fresh revelation," and noted that "Autumn/Parade" "shows Taylor in unbridled form, with an endurance and energy flow that outpaces even his formidable band members."[11]
David Luhrssen, writing for Shepherd Express, described Taylor's performances: "Grand designs emerged from fragmentary segments, complete with knotty stops and starts. On several tracks, he plays more violently — and faster — than any hardcore punk band."[12]
Writing for Glide Magazine, Jim Hynes commented: "Taylor and his bandmates unleash their pent-up energy on the highly intrigued and ultimately mind-blown audience for almost ninety minutes. These folks endured the weather equivalent of a ferocious hurricane or a dam breaking. One can only imagine them trying to describe what they had just witnessed – a musical event unlike anything they had likely heard. Its unbounded energy, unreal spontaneity, sheer stamina, and its fervent commitment to never letting up speaks to everything and more about Taylor's legendary status as intense, unfettered by convention, and all-be-damned mission of embracing freedom... You owe yourself a listen to this entire performance. It will assuredly be unforgettable."[13]
Cecil Percival Taylor was an American pianist and poet.
Andrew Charles Cyrille is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographer Chris Kelsey wrote: "Few free-jazz drummers play with a tenth of Cyrille's grace and authority. His energy is unflagging, his power absolute, tempered only by an ever-present sense of propriety."
Jimmy Lyons was an American alto saxophone player. He is best known for his long tenure in the Cecil Taylor Unit. Lyons was the only constant member of the band from the mid-1960s until his death. Taylor never worked with another musician as frequently as he did with Lyons. Lyons' playing, influenced by Charlie Parker, kept Taylor's avant-garde music tethered to the jazz tradition.
Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come is an album by the Cecil Taylor Unit, recorded live at the Café Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark on November 23, 1962. This concert is nearly all he recorded from 1962 to 1966.
Conquistador! is a 1968 studio album recorded in 1966 by free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor, released by Blue Note Records.
Norris Jones, better known as Sirone was an American jazz bassist, trombonist, and composer.
Student Studies is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded in November 1966 and released on the Japanese BYG label as an untitled 2-LP set in 1973. It features a performance by Taylor with Jimmy Lyons, Alan Silva and Andrew Cyrille. The album was first released on CD by the Affinity label as Student Studies, later rereleased on the Black Lion label as The Great Paris Concert, and then reissued a third time as Student Studies by Fuel 2000. None of the three CD issues use the original LP cover artwork.
Spring of Two Blue-J's is a 1974 live album by Cecil Taylor, the second set of a "return concert" recorded at The Town Hall in New York City in November 1973. Originally released on Taylor's Unit Core label, bootlegged on European CDs, it was legitimately reissued for the first time in 2022 on global streaming platforms by its original producer, Fred Seibert's Oblivion Records. The LP features one side-long solo performance by Taylor and one side-long quartet performance with Jimmy Lyons, Sirone, and Andrew Cyrille.
Cecil Taylor Unit is an album by Cecil Taylor recorded in April 1978 and released on the New World label. The album features three performances by Taylor on piano with alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, trumpeter Raphe Malik, violinist Ramsey Ameen, bassist Sirone and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson. The album was recorded during the same sessions that produced 3 Phasis. Taylor is heard on a 96-key Bösendorfer piano about which he commented: it "will stop you cold if you're not ready."
3 Phasis is an album by Cecil Taylor recorded in April 1978 and released on the New World label. The album features three performances by Taylor with Raphe Malik, Jimmy Lyons, Ramsey Ameen, Sirone and Ronald Shannon Jackson. The album was recorded during the same sessions that produced the Cecil Taylor Unit.
Live in the Black Forest is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded in June 1978 at the SWF-Radio JazzConcert in Kirchzarten, Black Forest, West Germany, and released on the MPS label. The album features two performances by Taylor with Raphe Malik, Jimmy Lyons, Ramsey Ameen, Sirone and Ronald Shannon Jackson.
One Too Many Salty Swift and Not Goodbye is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded in Stuttgart, Germany, on June 14, 1978 and released on the Hat Hut label. The album features performances by Taylor with Raphe Malik, Jimmy Lyons, Ramsey Ameen, Sirone and Ronald Shannon Jackson. The album was originally released as a triple LP featuring the Cecil Taylor Unit performances then rereleased as a double CD with duets by Lyons & Malik and Ameen & Sirone and a solo by Shannon Jackson added and the titles changed to the performers for each track.
The Great Concert of Cecil Taylor is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded in St. Paul de Vence, Nice, on July 29, 1969, and released on the Prestige label in 1977 as a 3-LP set. The album was originally released as Nuits de la Fondation Maeght on the French Shandar label as a box set, consisting of three separate LPs in 1971. It features a performance by Taylor with Jimmy Lyons, Sam Rivers and Andrew Cyrille.
Always a Pleasure is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded during the Workshop Freie Musik at the Akademie der Kunste, Berlin on April 8, 1993, and released in 1996 on the FMP label. The album features a concert performance by Taylor with Longineu Parsons, Harri Sjöström, Charles Gayle, Tristan Honsinger, Sirone and Rashid Bakr.
Oblivion Records is an independent American record label that focuses on under recorded blues and jazz musicians. The company was originally based in Huntington, New York and the WKCR-FM studios at Columbia University in New York City, with a post office box in Roslyn Heights, New York from 1972–1976. It now operates out of Los Angeles. After almost 50 years, Oblivion announced a new release in November 2021.
Incarnation is a live album by American pianist Cecil Taylor. It was recorded on November 4, 1999 during the "Total Music Meeting" at the "Podewil" in Berlin, and was released in 2004 by FMP. On the album, Taylor is joined by guitarist Franky Douglas, cellist Tristan Honsinger, and drummer Andrew Cyrille.
Burnt Offering is a live album by American jazz saxophonist Jimmy Lyons and American jazz drummer Andrew Cyrille. It was recorded in May 1982 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and released by the Black Saint label in 1991.
Something in Return is an album by American jazz saxophonist Jimmy Lyons and American jazz drummer Andrew Cyrille. It was recorded in February 1981 at Soundscape, New York City, and released by the Black Saint label in 1988.
2 Blues for Cecil is an album by drummer Andrew Cyrille, bassist William Parker, and trumpeter Enrico Rava. It was recorded in February 2021 at Studios Ferber in Paris, France, and was released by TUM Records in January 2022. The album is a tribute to pianist Cecil Taylor, with whom all three musicians played; despite this, it does not feature a piano, and does not "attempt to reanimate or imitate Cecil Taylor's style of playing."
Live is a live album by the cooperative jazz ensemble known as The Group, featuring saxophonist Marion Brown, trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah, violinist Billy Bang, bassists Sirone and Fred Hopkins, and drummer Andrew Cyrille. The band's sole release, it was recorded on September 13, 1986, at the Jazz Center of New York in New York City, and was issued on LP and CD by NoBusiness Records in 2012, over 25 years after the concert.
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