Search - Cecil Taylor :: Erzulie Maketh Scent

Cecil bangs the Bosendorfer

Joe Pierre | Los Angeles, CA United States | 12/17/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Erzulie Maketh Scent is the one solo concert from Cecil's extended and heavily recorded residence in Berlin for the Improvised Music festival in 1988. Cecil was at his best throughout and the performance captured here on the penultimate night of his stay in Berlin is an excellent and fairly representative solo work. The bulk of the concert is the three part title track in which Cecil explores various themes with playing ranging from spare and explorative to dense and feverish. There are also two brief encores ('Water,' lasting only one minute and then 'Stone,' for just 30 seconds) at the end that delight the audience (for a total of nearly 75 minutes of music). The only thing missing is any poetic recitation -- Cecil keeps his mouth shut and sticks to banging on the keys all the way through (perhaps an advantage for some, though I miss it). Overall, I'd say this is slightly more meditative and light-hearted than some of his other soloing (though, remember we're talking about Cecil Taylor here, not Bill Evans, and I said slightly), but this concert still ranks right up there with his best solo works -- Garden, Reinforced Concrete (from the in East Berlin discs), and the more recent Willisau Concert. The selling points of these somewhat pricey and scarce FMP discs (you can always find them at Cadence) is that they contain a lot of music, the recording quality is consistently excellent, and Cecil plays his preferred concert instrument (the Bosendorfer piano, noted for its extra 9 lower register keys that he always puts to good use) throughout. No Cecil Taylor collection is complete without some discs from the Berlin '88 concerts, and you can't go wrong with this one, particularly if you find yourself distracted or perturbed by his ensemble work."