Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley, Birdland, Neuburg 2011

A remarkable release on the Polish Fundacja Słuchaj label documenting Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley in Germany only seven years before Taylor passed away. It's a reminder once again how remarkable Taylor's sound was, how in alliance with drummer Tony …

Published: 3 Jun 2020. Updated: 2 years.

A remarkable release on the Polish Fundacja Słuchaj label documenting Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley in Germany only seven years before Taylor passed away. It's a reminder once again how remarkable Taylor's sound was, how in alliance with drummer Tony Oxley in a setting that emphasises the power he exerted at the piano and once again how uncompromising his approach was.

Full of an intrepid sense of adventure and a sense of freedom where he can do anything he wants to Taylor teases out the tiniest phrase to expand his improvisations into an infinity and the album has a unity to it, Oxley's free flowing multi-directional style swirling and rising behind him in a thrilling combination.

Tags:

Bruno Heinen Trio, Out of Doors

Bruno Heinen, last heard with the elegant Kino trio, here alternates between piano and Fender Rhodes with Andrea Di Biase (Hidden Seas) on bass and Gene Calderazzo of Partisans on drums. Inspired by Bartók (particularly 8 Improvisations on …

Published: 1 Jun 2020. Updated: 3 years.

Next post

Bruno Heinen, last heard with the elegant Kino trio, here alternates between piano and Fender Rhodes with Andrea Di Biase (Hidden Seas) on bass and Gene Calderazzo of Partisans on drums.

Inspired by Bartók (particularly 8 Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs Op. 20), Duke Ellington, Alice Coltrane, Chick Corea, Ligeti and Ravel on eight movements spread over eight tracks, Heinen has in the past turned his attention to Stockhausen and Vivaldi and established his own presence more broadly speaking within the prism of a post Bill Evans-type impressionistic universe while drawing on classical composers in his work.

Heinen has great imagination at the keyboard and manages to create a world of his own around him. The piano trio format suits him best of all and Calderazzo knows how to inject the drama that Heinen needs while Di Biase has a dreamier role, occasionally breaking free in sometimes desultory fashion to allow Heinen momentarily to settle back. A must for piano trio fans.