2 Blues for Cecil is a tribute to pianist
Cecil Taylor by a trio who hold cherished musical memories of working with him. Drummer
Andrew Cyrille worked with the pianist from 1964 to 1975, and played on
Unit Structures,
Conquistador!, and
Student Studies. Bassist
William Parker worked with
Taylor from 1980 to 1991, and appears on ten albums including
The Eighth,
In Florescence, and
Olu Iwa.
Enrico Rava played in
Taylor's
Orchestra of Two Continents (recorded as
Cecil Taylor Segments II) on
Winged Serpent (Sliding Quadrants) and in the
Cecil Taylor European Orchestra for
Alms / Tiergarten (Spree) -- both include
Parker as well. This group first performed in tribute to a present
Taylor in 2016. They played again at a French jazz festival in December 2020, and regrouped for these Paris sessions in February 2021. The set is comprised of four group improvisations, two tunes each by
Cyrille and
Rava, one by
Parker, and a standard. This group's innate, perhaps even cellular understanding of
Taylor's theories are illustrated colorfully and energetically, without attempting to match the pianist's fluid intensity.
Album opener "Improvisation No. 1" commences with subdued, rippling rim shots by
Cyrille while
Rava blows percussive bursts of air through the fluegelhorn as
Parker taps, plucks, and slaps the strings of his bass.
Rava offers a four-note phrase,
Parker answers, and they take off.
Cyrille, one of the great free jazz drummers, is also among the most sensitive. He dances across the snare, hi-hat, and ride cymbals as
Parker walks a modal line between those polyrhythms and
Rava's inventive lyricism. The fluegelhornist's "Ballerina" extrapolates bebop onto free terrain with multiple-note flurries that accentuate flailing cymbal and snare work from
Cyrille as
Parker double-times. "Blues for Cecil No. 1" begins with
Parker walking the I-IV-V changes.
Cyrille feints, accents, and fills out the progression.
Rava enters by smattering and smearing his notes, reshaping them to fit the gutbucket proceeding.
Parker stretches the frame to the breaking point, but the rhythmic center holds. "Blues for Cecil No. 2" is a classic jazz-blues. One can hear ghost traces of
Charles Brown and
Jimmy Rushing in the lyric statement. The blues progression carries throughout, though
Rava's solo moves the trio into adventurous terrain.
Parker's "Machu Picchu" is a simmering modal blues. He guides his trio mates through shifting tonal and harmonic terrain; he is at once the bridge and vehicle for the finely wrought interaction between
Cyrille and
Rava.
2 Blues for Cecil concludes with a beautifully restrained reading of "My Funny Valentine."
Cyrille caresses his snare with brushes, whispering under
Parker's haunted, almost impressionist approach to the changes.
Rava responds directly to his bandmates with his most resonantly tender lyricism. This trio may not attempt to imitate
Taylor's approach, but they do reveal the intricate dimensions in his aesthetic, while simultaneously reflecting and celebrating the long reach of his influence. ~ Thom Jurek
