I saw Cecil Taylor at Grace Cathedral last week, and as expected, it was a towering experience. Yes, it was hard to see Cecil -- but I had the foresight and luck to position myself to the side, where I could actually see his hands on the keyboard. And yes, the sound got hard to take by the end of the hour. The cathedral's seven-second reverb made for a very nice effect, but after a while, I longed for the stillness of plain stacatto notes.

Taylor's hands were incredibly fluid, and the occasional two-handed pounding on the keyboard was done with pinpoint precision. Once or twice, he went for entire palms against the keys, massive megaclusters of notes to accent perticularly intense moments (and to kind of give the audience what they were expecting, I suspect -- no one walked away thinking, 'Gosh, isn't Cecil supposed to be wilder than that?')

During the first of four long pieces, I started noticing what sounded like major-key tonality -- normal classical music, in other words. It was still Taylor splashing around on the keyboard, but these overt classical influences were poking through. I don't know if that was a conscious effort on his part or a hidden aspect of his musical logic that was only made apparent with the delayed reverb of the cathedral. (The latter seems too much to hope for, but wouldn't it be cool?)

I'm not the only one who noticed this; check Richard Scheinin's review for the Mercury News (free registration might be required). There's also a good review from Fo at JazzObserver.com.

After four long pieces, hypnotic in their uninterrupted cascade of notes, Taylor stayed on stage for a very brief encore -- fast playing, giving the audinence one last dose of Cecilness, before abruptly stopping, as if to say, "Aw, screw it, I'm 79 and I'm done!"

Later that weekend, I got to talk briefly to an SF Jazz volunteer who'd been Taylor's chauffeur for the weekend. The guy missed the show but enjoyed being around Taylor, even if some diva behavior was apparent (having to wait an hour for the pianist to get ready to leave, for instance). You know what? Taylor's earned it. Maybe it's a shame that he had to wait until late in life to play these gigs, but then again, jazz has no pension and no 401(k) plan. That some of the old cats like Taylor can make an adequate living (I won't assume it's a cushy one) playing the festival circuit is, hopefully, an ample reward for a lifetime of uncelebrated innovation.

Now, here's a question: If Taylor was just coasting that night, replaying his old styles and ideas, would I even notice? I have to admit, his "coasting" would be so far apart from any other musician's work that it would be worth seeing anyway, at least for me. There's no way of knowing the answer, and I'm happy with the concert regardless, but it's interesting to think about.

Format:
ARTIST -- "TRACK TITLE" -- ALBUM TITLE (LABEL, YEAR)
Horizontal lines denote microphone breaks.

Dom Minasi -- "The Vampire's Revenge" -- The Vampire's Revenge (CDM, 2006)

Previously noted here. Out in NYC tonight, Minasi was doing a rare performance of the whole suite, with a quartet rather than with the whole enormous band.

They Might Be Giants -- "Spider" -- Severe Tire Damage (Restless, 1998)

If you're familiar with this short, weird song that first appeared on Apollo 18, then you'll be as surprised as I was to find out they not only did it live, but put it on this live album. Cool!

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

Charlie Haden and the Liberation Music Orchestra -- "Spiritual" -- Dream Keeper (DIW, 1991)

The LMO is a famous project of Haden's, and I checked out their 1991 disk on the strength of reviews, back when I was first getting into jazz. I have to say it didn't -- and still doesn't -- do much for me. No disrespect to Haden, who's made some important music in his career, but the big band here gets used toward gentle, Sketches of Spain purposes without really reaching the heights of that album. Part of the problem might be my own mental block against Carla Bley -- that's a note I'm saving for another time -- as she does the arranging and wrote the lengthy suite that opens the album; the fact that two other tracks focus on Spanish guitar rather than the whole band might have disappointed me, too.

There's a distinctly Latin flavor throughout, which might reflect the importance of Central America to U.S. foreign policy in the decade previous. (The music was written just before everyone lost their marbles over the Middle East.) "Spiritual" takes a different path. Dedicated to Martin Luther King, Medger Evers, and Malcolm X, it's a piano-led gospel piece, at once uplifting and heart-tugging.

Previously noted here. Haden was part of the Keith Jarrett quartet that's the inspiration for this disk, and the music had an appropriately nice feeling that followed up the LMO track well.

* Kris Davis -- "Prairie Eyes" -- Rye Eclipse (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2008)

Previously noted here.

While this album does get into delicate, quieter playing, particularly at the start of Part 2, this track dives right into total shredding. Bailey goes nuts on electric guitar, touching on metal territory here and there, and Bennik flips some tight, tactful drum rolls during his solos while also hammering the heck out of things.

Previously noted here. The trio of Scott Amendola (drums), Devin Hoff (bass), and Ben Goldberg (clarinet) is finally headed for KZSU rotation, probably in a week or two. I gave them some spins today in honor of an upcoming show at the suddenly jazz-friendly Uptown in Oakland. (Check out Avant Garde Tuesdays!)

* Plays Monk -- "Boo Boo's Birthday" -- Plays Monk (Long Song, 2007)

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

* Frank Rothkamm -- "Digital Feedback OR Highland" -- LAX (self-released, 2008)

Analog-synth experiments, quite the retro avant-garde sound, harkening back to early computer music. I picture a guy standing in front of a Moog or similar instrument with a patch panel on it, cables slung over his shoulder as he plugs and unplugs things to create different sounds. (The picture on the Web site suggests otherwise.)

Every track on this album has two titles separated by "OR," because ... aw, heck, I have no idea.

Previously noted here.

Really abrasive noise, usually starting with sax or percussion as a sound source, then distorting it to oversaturated nails-on-chalkboard levels. "Sing Like This" is particularly spastic, and "Home of the Railsplitters" turns harsh sax bleats into something harsher, like the clanging of giant metal plates. "Something Sensational in Every Issue" starts with percussive bells, loud and obnoxious, and quiets down for a variety of percussive electronics passages. "Millions of Yeah" goes for the all-out assault and some blankets of white noise. Final verdict: Cool! But boy, will your roommates be mad.

Noted here.

Jon Raskin Quartet -- "Bleckner" -- Jon Raskin Quartet (Rastascan, 2007)

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

* Carla Kihlstedt, Gino Robair, Matthew Sperry -- "Sonarchy Two" [excerpt] -- Sonarchy 1998 (Majmua, 2008)

Previously noted here.

Greg Goodman, Mats Gustafsson, George Cremaschi -- "Mov" -- They Were Gentle and Pretty Pigs (The Beak Doctor, 2002)

A recording from Woody Woodman's Finger Palace, a Berkeley establishment that put on some fantastic shows with the likes of Evan Parker during the '80s and '90s. Woody's revived the Finger Palace for a few shows in October and November, so I've been trying to play some of those artists (Evan Parker, for instance).

A long shimmering electronics/noise drone, plus samples of some journalist (or pretend-journo blogger) getting kicked out of some or other event.

An old-timey kind of song with gypsy-jazz tones. Kind of reminded me of Brock Mumford, the Matt Munisteri-led band I saw in New York last year -- not just for its old-fashioned sound, but for the airy vocals. My understanding is that the rest of this album gets more blues/rock-oriented, though; I'll have to give it a listen.

Previously noted here.

Georg Graewe, Ernst Reijseger, Gerry Hemingway -- "Muss Musik Nun Erklingen" -- Zwei Naechte in Berlin (Sound Aspect, 1994)

A sparkling trio improvisation where Graewe displays some impressive straight-jazz chops while still crafting an open-minded creative improvisation. Graewe will be in the Bay Area for a week, although it's questionable whether I'll actually get to catch his shows. I've seen him before -- 10 years ago, at Beanbender's (on Dec. 6, 1998, apparently).

Previously noted here.

* = Item in KZSU rotation
! = Pop anomaly
? = Item not in KZSU library

-- Go back to Memory Select playlists.
-- Bay Area free/improv music calendar: http://www.bayimproviser.com.