Search - Cecil Taylor, Bill Dixon, Tony Oxley :: Taylor / Dixon / Oxley

A landmark recording

Charles Wilson | San Diego, CA USA | 11/19/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sometimes I think the audience for this music is as conservative in their tastes and expectations as the audience for, say, the current Rolling Stones tour. Those who complain that Cecil Taylor isn't playing "fast and loud" on this disc are no different than those at a Stones concert who would complain that they didn't play "Satisfaction."This particular concert was widely criticized by those who prefer to approach Free Jazz and Free Improvisation as genres with sharply defined boundaries; and by those who seem to have a personal vendetta against Bill Dixon. Despite what the 1-star review may imply, neither Dixon's ego nor his "cult of admiring students" are audible on this disc.The music on this disc is as challenging to the sensibilities of those familiar with Cecil Taylor's music as it is to those unfamiliar with it. I would not presume to know what Taylor or Dixon or Oxley are "supposed" to do, and they defy expectations at every turn. Cecil uses tension and space in a way he's never displayed on record before (except possibly on "Student Studies"); Dixon's use of delay and reverb is simultaneously frightening and engaging; Oxley, for his part, still plays overtly WITH Taylor at times ("catching" things and repeating some of Taylor's phrases), a long-outdated approach frustratingly still siezed-upon by multitudes of "free-improv" musicians. However, it should be noted that Oxley does spend a fair amount of time working against the grain. Dixon's refusal to play what has already been firmly established as standard trumpet vocabulary produces incredibly vibrant music, filled with a great deal of tension. I guarantee you have never heard these sounds come out of a trumpet before. It's not an easy listen, but nothing this rewarding ever is.I highly recommend this disc for those who are tired of the standard-issue "Free Jazz" and "Free Improvisation" phrasing and approach. Reading the criticisms of this concert, I was reminded of something Nat Hentoff once said:"Critics are sometimes extraordinarily obtuse. They claim to want to hear new things, but new things bother them because they can't categorize them.""

Landmarks and Disasters

gordon allen | Guelph, Ontario, Canada | 02/14/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Just a quick note from someone who was AT this performance, to put other reviews in perspective. First, Bill Dixon played on ONE of Cecil Taylor's records: Conquistador. He has performed and recorded with many musicians, not all of whom are his students. (William Parker and Jimmy Garrison come to mind)...
As for those who pine for "loud and fast" playing, do some homework: Taylor has been quiet in the past (Garden vols 1 & 2) and Oxley is KNOWN for quietness! As for Dixon's "indifference to line and form": lines become circles, which become spheres, etc. And form is a verb.And dialogue isn't the only form of communication: sound is another realm entirely!
While I wouldn't label this a "Landmark" (the music doesn't NEED my endorsement as a listener OR as a student of Dixon), I wouldn't dismiss it by citing complaints (expectations) I'd heard second hand--I would listen instead to the MUSIC iteself, and hope to come to terms with some of the INTENT within."