Lagging

Sorry posts have been slow lately. I have been having a lot of projects going which has been pulling myself away from the blog. I just wanted to drop in and posts some interesting tidbits.

Howard Mandel made a great post about Cecil Taylor in honor of his 80th birthday.

Taylor belongs to no school but his own yet has influenced and generated a legion of followers on piano and every other instrument, too. He identifies with the jazz tradition, many of whose most ardent adherents have regarded him since his 1950s debut insultingly, incredulously, quizzically, disdainfully, reluctantly, regretfully or not at all. But he does not limit himself, or his defininition of the jazz tradition: he draws from all music's history and partakes of the whole world's culture.

Part two of Mandel's Cecil Taylor at 80 can be found here.

The latest Wax Poetics is a Jazz issue. I haven't picked a copy up yet but I'm sure it will be nice treat once I do.

Otherwise things have been down for me and I haven't been able to grab some new albums lately. I did have a great listen to Muhal Richard Abram's 1989 Hearinga Suite. I'm normally not attracted to the stylings of big bands or orchestras, but I decided to investigate this one and it was quite enjoyable. Maybe I'll do a full post on it soon. I particularly liked the compositions "Oldfotalk" and "Find It Now."