| Tzotzil/Mummers/Tzotzil | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | 1988 | |||
| Recorded | November 13, 16 & 17, 1987 | |||
| Genre | Free jazz | |||
| Length | 55:42 | |||
| Label | Leo | |||
| Cecil Taylor chronology | ||||
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Tzotzil/Mummers/Tzotzil is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded in Paris on November 13, 1987 with overdubbed poetry recorded in London on November 16 & 17. It was released on the Leo label and the concert performance features Taylor with Thurman Barker, William Parker, Carlos Ward and Leroy Jenkins.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek states "This is perhaps one of the oddest recordings that Cecil Taylor did for Leo. It begins, simply enough, with him reading his oblique, nearly totally incomprehensible poetry — which doesn't make it bad — then his band enters and he takes it out with some of the rhythm section accompanying him as he reads some more. Simple enough right? All except for the fact that the music was recorded three days before any of the vocals were, and in a different country. The poetry was recorded England and the music three days earlier in Paris. Ok, weirdness aside (and it is weird hearing Taylor's voice multi-tracked), the band is stellar... Taylor is leading the charge and all of these players know how to follow him, down an improvisatory highway that leads straight into a darkness beyond language. And perhaps, as he re-enters with his poetry at the very end of the work, that's what it's about anyway, going beyond language, ever beyond the place where it occurs to the place where it is conceived in spoken word and in music, which is but an extension of the human voice". [1]
William Parker is an American free jazz double bassist, multi-instrumentalist, poet and composer. Beginning in the 1980s, Parker played with Cecil Taylor for over a decade, and he has led the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra since 1981. The Village Voice named him "the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time" and DownBeat has called him "one of the most adventurous and prolific bandleaders in jazz".
Evan Shaw Parker is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
Leroy Jenkins was an American composer and violinist/violist.
Alan Silva is an American free jazz double bassist and keyboard player.
For Alto is a jazz double-LP by composer/multi-reedist Anthony Braxton, recorded in 1969 and released on Delmark Records in 1971. The tracks on this album are performed by Braxton on alto saxophone, with no additional instrumentation or musicians and no overdubbing.
Carlos Ward is a funk and jazz alto saxophonist and flautist. He is best known as a member of the Funk and disco band BT Express as well as a jazz sideman.
Thurman Barker is an American jazz drummer.
Steve McCall was an American jazz drummer.
Jerome Cooper was an American free jazz musician. In addition to trap drums, Cooper played balafon, chirimia and various electronic instruments, and referred to himself as a "multi-dimensional drummer," meaning that his playing involved "layers of sounds and rhythms". He was born in Chicago, Illinois and died in Brooklyn, New York. Allmusic reviewer Ron Wynn called him "A sparkling drummer and percussionist... An excellent accompanist". Another Allmusic reviewer stated that "in the truest sense this drummer is a magician, adept at transformation and the creation of sacred space".
Norris Jones, better known as Sirone was an American jazz bassist and composer.
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.
James Emery is an American jazz guitarist. He grew up in Willoughby, Ohio and Shaker Heights, Ohio. Emery plays archtop guitar, semi-acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and soprano guitar.
Anthony Braxton is an album by Anthony Braxton released in 1969 on the BYG Actuel label. It features performances by Braxton, Leroy Jenkins, Leo Smith and Steve McCall.
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.
Live in Bologna is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded in Bologna on November 3, 1987 and released on the Leo label. The album features a concert performance by Taylor with Thurman Barker, William Parker, Carlos Ward and Leroy Jenkins.
Live in Vienna is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded in Vienna on November 7, 1987 and released on the Leo label. The album features a concert performance by Taylor with Thurman Barker, William Parker, Carlos Ward and Leroy Jenkins.
Chinampas is a spoken word album by avant-garde jazz pianist Cecil Taylor on which he reads his poetry accompanied by the sound of bells, tympani, and small percussion. Taylor performed all of the vocal and instrumental parts, which are overdubbed.
In Florescence is an album by Cecil Taylor recorded in New York City on June 8, 1989 featuring performance by Taylor, Gregg Bendian and William Parker and released on the A&M label.
Sweet Basil was a jazz club in New York City's Greenwich Village, located at 88 7th Avenue South. Founded in 1974 by Sharif Esmat, it was considered among the most prominent jazz clubs in New York. Many jazz albums were recorded live at Sweet Basil, including Cecil Taylor's Iwontunwonsi, McCoy Tyner's Live at Sweet Basil (1989) and Solar: Live at Sweet Basil, and the Jean-Michel Pilc Trio's Together: Live at Sweet Basil. From 1981 to 1992 the club was owned by Phyllis Litoff and her husband Mel Litoff.
In the 1970s in jazz, jazz become increasingly influenced by Latin jazz, combining rhythms from African and Latin American countries, often played on instruments such as conga, timbale, güiro, and claves, with jazz and classical harmonies played on typical jazz instruments. Artists such as Chick Corea, John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola increasingly influenced the genre with jazz fusion, a hybrid form of jazz-rock fusion which was developed by combining jazz improvisation with rock rhythms, electric instruments, and the highly amplified stage sound of rock musicians such as Jimi Hendrix. All Music Guide states that "..until around 1967, the worlds of jazz and rock were nearly completely separate." However, "...as rock became more creative and its musicianship improved, and as some in the jazz world became bored with hard bop and did not want to play strictly avant-garde music, the two different idioms began to trade ideas and occasionally combine forces." On June 16, 1972 the New York Jazz Museum opened in New York City at 125 West 55th Street in a one and one-half story building. It became the most important institution for jazz in the world with a 25,000 item archive, free concerts, exhibits, film programs, etc.