Cecil Taylor - All the Notes (Documentary)

[pcurrie2]

Could someone tell me who's singin that version of "A Sleepin Bee"? Thanks.

[tommont]

i don't think it is a bong on his piano but a vase but LOL funny post. fantastic vid thanx for posting this anthdb45! so beautiful.

[xxAoakauaxx]

Entire documentary  watch?v=5sfiN9tvcbM

[petezilla]

I love seeing him dance

[aporia23]

A far-out jazz musician's perception of Newton's third law of motion...

Cool.

[zarkoasenov]

love you forever cecil taylor

[willwelsh816]

lol, if you look closely, there is a bong on his piano.

[HendrixClaptonSRV]

@willwelsh816 its just a vase man

[nicodagger]

It makes sense that he completely fails to make any sense in 'explaining" his music....because you can't explain it....if you could in words he wouldn't need music...we need to just listen and get what we can...

[infinitefathom]

great musician , but what the f___ is he talking about? ;)

[y2zgt]

Some great advice here from cecil, he knows what he is saying, he is one of the few we have left from back then. He is talking about what alot of people are afraid too, music has colors and there is more to this planet and the interconnectiveness than we can understand.

Does anyone else ever see colors when they play? What goes out something opposes it, action opposite reaction, interesting stuff here.

[dgpianomusic]

Damn this guy is blazed off his ass

[HugeGene]

I was lucky to meet and hang with Cecil Taylor after a concert and lecture series in Baltimore quite a few years ago. He is one of my musical heroes. He was echanting, charming, and talked openly about his life and history.. a who's who of Jazz. He chain smoked Marlboro lights and let me pour him a glass of wine when I asked him about something he was quoted to have said about Miles Davis. He said" I didn't say that.. Miles did". After he shook my hand, I didn't wash it for a week.

[doronkorecords]

¡ muy bueno !

[eurisko618]

Cecil should tune his piano. 

[OLugs]

The Emperor's New Clothes, in my opinion. Taylor seems mentally disturbed or drunk or something. Is that the hip part? Musically, I have tried to listen to it and "get it" on a few occasions, but it's a sound that is off-putting, to my ear. It is randomness with a good story attached to "explain" what it's supposed to be. He IS a character, for sure - a personality, I guess. The Emperor has no clothes. There, I said it.

[lexo30]

@OLugs Your ear is not just your ear, it's your whole life. Music is tricky. Aged 5, I got the Beatles; at 10, it was Deep Purple; at 14, King Crimson; at 15, Charlie Parker and Bud Powell; at 16, James Brown; at 21, Schoenberg; at 25, Webern; at 30, Coltrane; at 33, Derek Bailey. I didn't begin to hear what Cecil Taylor was doing until 37 or so. It's off-putting now, but it might not be later on. But nobody is insisting that you have to listen to it.

[OLugs]

@lexo30 I'm fifty years old. I've listened to everything my entire life....nature, speaking, music, etc. My opinion is that Cecil Taylor's playing has none of the elements of music that pleases my ear. You can suggest that it's my inadequacy to understand Taylor's complexity that's creating displeasure to my ear, but I don't think so. I think my ear is fine. I think sometimes people look for strange gurus to follow. Here is one.

[lexo30]

@OLugs I'm eleven years younger than you. I don't know about 'guru'; I know Taylor is an intellectual musician (i.e. he's also a writer and thinker) but I haven't read anything he's written. All I'm saying is that there's nothing wrong with my ear either, and I like the sound of his music. It's demanding and complex, but he's not a charlatan. He's the real thing. If you follow the course of his recordings, you can hear the direction he moves in and it makes musical sense.

[OLugs]

@lexo30 Well, then, it's all just subjective. You like it and I don't. Your ears interpret him differently than mine. I think he is most definitely a charlatan. I won't follow the course of his recordings because that would be buying into what I believe to be a deception.

[lexo30]

@OLugs It's your choice, but all I would say is that just because you don't like something, doesn't mean it's bad. It could be that he's doing so many things at once that your ear can't make sense of it. To me, a typical charlatan in music is someone who does something very banal and stupid but comes on like it's incredibly profound and meaningful (e.g. Lou Reed). If you listen to Taylor's earliest stuff (like Jazz Advance), you can hear that he started out as a very advanced jazz player.

[OLugs]

@lexo30 My opinion of his music and persona is not intended to change your (or anyone else's) opinion. But I find this facet of art to be like an unappealing sideshow. It insinuates that the 'music' sounds the way it does due to its complexity. I disagree. I think it sounds that way because he's drunk. His mismatched stockings, etc.....It makes me smirk, but not much more. I'm not a Lou reed fan, either lol! Ornette is more my speed.

[lexo30]

@OLugs As far as I know, Cecil Taylor is not a big drinker. He is, however, 81 years old and I don't especially care whether his stockings match or not. (My socks tend not to match, either.) This is also not a good video to watch in order to see what he can do. Most of it seems to be him playing exercises or working out sequences - if he can be said to play sequences. I'm glad you like Ornette, anyway.

[OLugs]

@lexo30 I have been told he likes to drink quite a bit. He sure sounds drunk, in my opinion. The comment about the stockings was to make the point that, I think he presents himself as a "jester" type of character. And like a jester, he seems to be beyond ridicule. But, I don't buy it. I don't believe in it. I think it's a hoax.

[lexo30]

@OLugs If this is the only Cecil Taylor you're going on, then you could be forgiven for not getting why he is a great musician. This video does not present his music at all well. If you have actually listened to a good deal of his stuff - there's quite a lot down the side of the screen there - and you still think that he is for some reason hoaxing everyone, and that a lot of intelligent listeners have been taken in - then you are just plain wrong. I'd post a link but youtube won't let me.

[OLugs]

@lexo30 But, see, I don't need to be forgiven for anything. He is a "great musician" to you, not to me. I don't need to study the guy's entire history and try to uncover any missing links if whatever it might have sounded like led him to this point. And, if I fall outside of all the "intelligent listener" range because of my opinion, then please accept the fact that what you may consider as being my ignorance of Taylor's "music" is actually my bliss. :)

[coolwafferman]

The hell is wrong with this dude playing them fucked up chord? Then its the guy on guitar. It sounds like someone trying to tune a piano.

[lexo30]

@coolwafferman That's Cecil Taylor. He's probably the most brilliant and innovative improvising musician alive today. You owe him respect, and if he says somebody is good then it's his opinion that's worth listening to.

[Superphilipp]

Why are so many free jazz musicians batshit crazy?

[lexo30]

@Superphilipp It's not that. It's that mainstream jazz musicians are, for the most part, fucking boring.

[Superphilipp]

@lexo30 I can't agree with you there. If there are parts of "mainstream jazz" that are boring, it is due to artists who don't evolve or only parrot the ideas of others. And you get plenty of those on either side of the avant-garde.

And most of the really innovative "mainstream" jazzers were completely crazy too (Mingus, Monk, Miles, Powell, Rollins, ...)

[lexo30]

@Superphilipp The innovators in jazz, people like the ones you mention, are people who moved the music along. What I have a problem with in jazz is the idea, very common in jazz education, that there's a more or less fixed body of work that you become the master of, and methods that you can use to play jazz the way it should be played - that's teaching jazz the way people are taught to play classical music, and it kils jazz. Mingus, Monk, Miles, Powell and Rollins invented new ways of playing.

[lexo30]

@Superphilipp Also, Mingus may have had a vicious temper, Monk was definitely eccentric and Powell was arguably mentally ill, but Miles wasn't and Rollins isn't 'completely crazy'. Sure, Rollins served time for theft but that's because he was a junkie at one point. Miles was just a prick, or liked it to be thought that he was. (Don't get me wrong, I think that Miles is the second-greatest bandleader in jazz after Ellington.)

[Ohflautistpleaze]

This brings back distant memories...of me being three and slamming on the keyboard. Perhaps if I stuck with that I would be famous too.

[blackrocknutt]

Love the shot@4'33 --How he's talking about 'Derek being so individual' towards the orange and black banded furry tutu thangy on the barrel while wearing the one orange, one black sock. CT is as Free, Funky and Stylish as he wants to be.

[blackrocknutt]

@todonne. when i was about 16 i asked myself same question-- 52 now. spent two months that summer listening to nothing but CT's AIR ABOVE MOUNTAINS-- eventually had a couple epiphanies: Cecil's music is dense but full of melody. He's improvising symphonies on one instrument every time he plays. so imagine strings,brass,reeds, percussion etc. his stamina,integrity, intellect, idiosyncrasy,self-determinatio­n move me too. A truly free Black man liberates all.

U must see him LIVE too.The Drama!

[spaceprophetdogon]

All of you dissing Cecil,wtf do you know bout him?You think he's crazy because he choses to put his mind in a dream sequence all the time. This is why his music is so far out. What did you expect? a man with atie talking about bank investments. God,grow up,the man is a genuine artist and a legend. And his style is evolving, But like any musician he has his distinguive tones and sticks to them. Leave Cecil alone,fools.

[iandragon]

he was stoned

[todonne3]

can someone explain why people love his music so much? The music seems hard to play but it just seems like a barrage of notes. I can't appreciate it, I don't get it. I love music and I like Jazz and I want to understand this. Can someone explain why this music is appealing?

[kr7437a]

@todonne3 it's liberating, free of the traditional conventions of experience. jazz is about a person telling a story, their story. and his story is not for everyone. it's a story about removing paradigms constructed by experience, and describing experience independent of concepts that arise as a result of what's experienced.

[loren1283]

Everthing hes saying is cool but, sucks how they edited this makes what hes saying seem disjointed.

[brabazon10]

Air Above Mountains?

[hellofromchieko]

I felt kind of relieved to see this clip, because Taylor's music is just so advanced, and almost inhumanly genius, but here, although rather eccentric, he is as human and approachable as my music teacher. So in a way, this kind of clip that shows his domestic side is a nice accompaniment to the surreal and otherworldly world of his music. Made me laugh that he was singing and dancing to the sweet sentimental songs that he would never, ever, play on his piano!

[blackrocknutt]

@hellofromchieko actually Cecil's first albums feature him playing sentimental songs ie 'standards' --check out JAZZ ADVANCE, LOOKING AHEAD, A.I.R. and NYC R&B. he abandoned that repertoire by '63 but was no stranger to ballads and bop changes . whrere he was always headed though was towards becoming an improviser whose imagination demanded the freedom of symphonies and jazz drumming

[SidewalkFrequencies]

BAT SHIT CRAZY !!!

Love your old stuff Cecil.

[artjamz2]

I heard Cecil play be-bop II-IV cycling changes while soloing over them at an incredible speed, faster than anyone I've ever heard, back in the late 70's in Boston. Incredible chops

[artjamz2]

I've been playing music for almost 50 years and Cecil Taylor is the most advanced musician on the planet. I would love to meet him before he makes the great transition that we all must make someday.

[artjamz2]

It comes with age and wisdom, and a feeling of freedom from everything while you learn to FEEL creativity.  And to do that you must be open to the emotions given off by everything, not just people, but every animal, plant and everything on the planet.

[artjamz2]

Cecil is out there! I would love to meet him and just talk to him. A lot of you out there may think he's crazy or eccentric, but I understand what he's saying.

[iplaymusc]

2:27!!!!! LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!

[shadden1107]

love his music but what the fuck is he talking about?

[c15art]

Now here´s a genius !!!

[kekilicious11]

was watchin this in my jazz class at WOLFSON MDC.. this dude is CRAZY lol

[malacoda25]

wow Kendell campus student here, just looking through my old jazz and pop music book, and decided to look him up.

[kekilicious11]

big up to MDC students!! but Cecil taylor is still crazy lol

[freejazzfree]

i think one issue is the associations people have.. in listening to cecil's music there is no direct association to any genre. a kneejerk would be jazz.. but this isnt jazz.  inspired by but not it.

its his music.

and this is a great clip because you can see hes not improvising. all of this music is written down. although he's abandoned conventional staff notation. he writes down note names and places them in vertical relationship to each other to establish range.

[bridog6996]

Haha, I dig Taylor, but seeing him dance in capri pants just made me giggle uncontrollably

[jazz1bro]

It's inresting how Cecil quotes folks that played more in the "box "as his inspirations are heroes (yin/yang?). He had to find a way to be recognized as all the greats did because cloning wasn't cool at all then like it apparently is now. He's is no more strange then the masses of clones who'll almost will believe anything you tell or feed them.

[bradh57]

Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, were considered pretty "out" in their time. Not like Cecil was, but still, people who were into swing were put off by bebop.

[PauloNideck]

Honestly.

Cecil Taylor if you consider time is oooooold scholl!

I don't think it would be anyone like him. In this 50's he was already waaaaaay beyond his time. And still he is.

[jlevinson6]

I do understand it. If you were to write his solos down I'm sure there wouldn't be much difference, one to the next. I always enjoyed his spirit and I love his compositions but his solo piano is so repetitive.

[otnohc]

So many of the comments here are the definition of outrecuidance. One thing the obviously highly sophisticated naysayers should ask themselves is why almost all the great musicians hold him in the highest esteem. And why Max Roach, Elvin Jones and Art Blakey (to name a few) were always eager to play with him. Listen again to his music, with a more elevated mind (if possible) and try to contemplate what these other great musical minds were hearing -- that so many seem to be incapable of.

[jlevinson6]

I'll say again....listen to the music. He repeats the same ideas over and over and over again. Listen to the stuff on the blue note record and the early records where he was still attempting to say something and say it with integrity and originality. Amazing. Last 30 years too many people saying how great he is and he listened.

[MrGanyan]

jlevinson6, i dont understand how can you be against Taylor or criticising his latest works. I mean, we know many jazz piano players still touring and doing S.O.S. (Same-Old-Shit) for years and years, same standards, same ideas on the solos (saving some notes) etc etc. What I think is that you are just not able to understand it and thats why you say that, thats normal, I didn't liked some musicians first time I listened them, but I listened again and again and read about to understand their art!

[vihtorik]

you can not dismiss that, when the 5 year old child playing the piano

[ThePilsnerX]

Here we have a great master of Western, African-American music who has been honored with many high awards, and then there's "jlevinson6" who's a completely unqualified critic. Cecil isn't a young man any more, and he's seen (and been part of, and has created) a great deal of modern musical history, Disrespect toward one's elders is a nasty sentiment, "jlevinson6." Get it? Now shut up, or do better than Cecil has... you toad.

[jlevinson6]

Rather than call me names why don't you actually dispute my claim...listen to his music...he starts off the music with the same riff...over and over and over. HE was great in the late 50's and I still like his tunes and his poetry and his persona, but musically he's done nothing but repeat himself over and over. Could have been great had critics really listened and forced him to play.

[booksteve]

Cecil is an amazing player and composer. I don't understand where you are coming from with your remark, "Could have been great had critics really listened and forced him to play". Are you kidding? Critics only listen to each other talking. Talking about "forcing him to play", that is just some adolescent nonsense.

How do you justify having an opinion about Taylor's music? Back up, young man.

[jlevinson6]

Cecil been playing the same shit over and over and over and ya'll been buying into it. What a bunch of suckers.

[theroyalpriest]

I have watched over 20 of his vids on here and I have yet to hear him play any real music. Was he good at one time or something? If so, does anyone have anyone footage of that?

[freejazzfree]

its not cecil that needs to change for you.. you have to change for cecil. and then it will make sense. a deeper sense of inquiry is needed.

[musictflo]

Rotation of the Earth with waving hands-well...The guy can friggin' outplay anybody. I guess he can spout artful verbal bombast-he has earned the right.

[theoryjoe]

He seems a little messed up, but I like him. I think his playing is super cool.

[Leraoul]

WHAT-THEFUCK-EVER!!!!

Bi-polar disorder is no laughing matter....he needs to be put on lithium!

[mahoose6]

he's such a joker

[jayhay116]

You're missing out

[timmo1963]

Cecil Taylor has every right to play what he does, and I have every right NOT to listen to it.

[AlannahBabalon156]

What a beautiful, truly wonderful musician and human being. I cant get enough of him or his music, a truly individual voice.

[smilingcow77]

Sure some of Cecils shit may be out there, taking a lot of patience to listen to, but anyone claiming that he just bangs on keys is absolutely ignorant...just Google Cecil Taylor, and learn more about this amazing musician...listen to what other great jazz musicians have to say about him

[wteo340]

Cheech Marin!!!

[XxDariax]

I love his music ... he's more than human :)

does any one have an mp3 of 'Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come' that could send me? One of the most original pieces I've ever heard!

I can't find it anywhere :'(

Promise I'll the album when some money appears..

[kaschte]

Who's that motherfucker? He can't play shit!

[mexicancockfight]

you're obviously retarded.

[jazztrumpet87]

I think was kaschte means is he CHOOSES to play "shit".

He knows the history of the music really well, he plays with technical skill, and a great sense of time.

You just object to what he plays, because you don't understand why it doesn't song like a pop tune.

[urheadonastick]

Shallow minds wont comprehend deep music- move on kaschte.

[Abaddon2005]

god what a master.

[therofal]

angle of incidence,and: gland gland gland... looking corona - corona hypnotic... his mom gave him schopenhauer to read when he was eleven...

[TokenRah]

At 11, huh? That´s a trip man. That´s why he´s so warped. It´s a good thing, though.

[ziziva]

The world needs people like Cecil. Don't misunderstand my comments- I love the man. But he's so full of it.

[logenisti]

At the very least, Cecil Taylor is a guy who comes up with distinctive sounds and concepts despite his eccentricities.

[therofal]

a horse eating rain in space

orracle bells give

a perpendicular pentamorphic childsmile at edge

[ziziva]

precisely.

[cavaleer]

Don't let Taylor's eccentric style and mannerisms fool you. He knows EXACTLY what he's talking about. What he said about James Brown was the first time I hear someone really understand why Brown's music was so significant and different. Also what he said about the unseen colors of music...listen up.

[ziziva]

no man- the dude is off his face. sure, he's far out, but he's full of shit, man. yeah, yeah- sound has color... but 6? wtf? why not 7? (the rainbow) also, "only some" people can experience these colors? bullshit. he's banging, not only on the keys- but on your head too.

[Onderstekop]

It is true that a number of people experience sound as color. Look on wikipedia for the term synesthesia.

[TokenRah]

Thanks for displaying your ignorance. You obviously haven´t read much about it.

[ziziva]

What would you recommend we read?

[jonnybeatnic]

does he know his cigarette isn't lit? Am i missing an important piece of information or is he just really tripping out?

[cavaleer]

He's always tripping out but he's tripping out with a purpose. The cigarette is just a stylistic prop for him, whether it's lit or not.

[jasonmusic99]

Thanks for posting this.

Where did you get this video? where can I find the rest of it?

[cengizkan91]

hehe

my tits are SO sore right now!!! :( FI

[alduffy2009]

it's a very rare occasion that Cecil would allow this to take place in his APT,Brownstone(Blackstone)insi­de joke in Fort Greene. FELVER you are so Lucky???

[opinioninflicting]

Cecil Taylor is insane, thank God. He's probably gay, too, does he know? I hope he gets ass.

[travnic11]

Its awesome to still have some of the legends still kicking. Not many people will bring to the table what Cecil did.

[HottRatt]

I'm a happy man as Cecil!

[loftymercury]

supertalentedindividual

[ADURG1]

nice. thanks for posting and sharing!

[edcerc]

i dont have enought of a character count to possibly scratch the surface of how inspiring and awsome this is.

[cadrizzay]

da fuck is he talkin about?? a bunch of b.s. in my opinion. i guess he doesnt beleive in looking nice or takin shower n stuff.

[johnoliverescreet]

Cecil is a genius and a badass! Where can I see the rest of this documentary?

[takauya]

He is cute!

[jthemump]

I officially want to hang with Cecil Taylor.

[nemastoma]

Wonderful clip! Everything Cecil Taylor said makes so much sense. Wonderful!

[athruzathruz]

yah! to a dog!

[ProteusQ71]

I wish I could see that sheet music...

[clawsbeatskin]

it's like he's channelling Bette Davis

around 2:00 !

[Soamsey]

I love Cecil Taylor's playing. I think I've just lucked out so far that the times I've seen him live have not ever involved poetry, philosophy, endless chanting and groaning, dance, gay sex, or karate.

[athruzathruz]

really cause that's the only that I would want to see, I can do without the playing.

[domlash]

Better than five stars!

[anstromm]

I'm gonna have to steal his dance moves.

[rhythmking10]

LOL this is f***in hilarious, CT comic shaman !

[dreadtodred]

great box player cecil is

[RichardJ60]

beautiful shaman