Legba Crossing
Legba Crossing | ||||
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FMP | ||||
Producer | Jost Gebers | |||
Cecil Taylor chronology | ||||
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Legba Crossing is a
On the album, Taylor guided a group of 13 musicians through his challenging score, yielding "such a music that at every instant a oneness, a shifting feeling of coherence remains distinct that, especially in the processes of free jazz, is so easily abandoned in favour of a destructive type of playing or solo eruptions, or grating conversations, or minimalistic 'coasting'."[2] Saxophonist Biggi Vinkeloe, a participant in the session, recalled: "I know that many people thought that it was organized chaos... It was extremely precise, and he had incredible ears."[3]
Reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz | [6] |
The
Steve Vickery, writing for Coda, commented: "The ensemble's performance of Legba Crossing makes for an interesting test of young players' abilities to adapt to a score that is only partly fleshed out, and requires that their interpretive skills be finely tuned. All in all, they make a good reading of a tough piece, with the soloists and ensemble members featured in the recording making use of the same techniques that Taylor employs in the European Orchestra arrangements. This is not a student recital piece written for the half holiday parents' visit! The devices that this score calls for are demanding to the most seasoned players and the finished piece represented here is very strong. Voice work, performers dividing the responsibilities of free and composed sections of the score, soloist / ensemble settings of complex tonal / rhythmic parts, and the use of unconventional instrumental techniques are among the demands that this score made. A substantial performance."[7]
In an article for Pitchfork, Seth Colter Walls wrote: "There are passages of collective squall here, but in its best moments, you can hear a sense of dawning discovery, as subsections of the group try out Taylor's serpentine motifs and steadily gain control over them before individual players dare to contribute fluttering improvisations. The takeaway here is that, in contrast with his often lightning-fast pianist playing, Taylor the chamber-music composer has a taste for long, sustained tones, which might entice fans of drone artists like David First (who actually spent some time playing in one of Taylor’s early '70s groups)."[8]
Track listing
- Composition by Cecil Taylor.
- "Legba Crossing" - 48:15
- Recorded in Berlin on July 15, 1988
Personnel
- voice
- Sabine Kopf: flute
- Daniel Werts: oboe
- Brigitte Vinkeloe : alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute
- Joachim Gies: alto saxophone
- Ove Volquartz : soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet
- Heinz-Erich Godecke : trombone
- Harald Kimmig : violin
- Alexander Frangenheim , Uwe Martin, Georg Wolf : bass
- Paul Plimley: piano
- Lukas Lindenmaier , Peeter Uuskyla : drums
- Trudy Morse: voice
References
- ^ Cecil Taylor sessionography accessed 3 September 2009
- ^ Burde, Wolfgang (1989). Legba Crossing (liner notes). Cecil Taylor. FMP. CD 0.
- ^ Ham, Robert (April 13, 2018). "In Memoriam: Cecil Taylor". DownBeat. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
- ^ a b Allmusic Review
- ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
- ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2004). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz. Virgin Books. p. 846.
- ^ Vickery, Steve (September 1991). "Cecil Taylor: Legba Crossing". Coda. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
- ^ Walls, Seth Colter (May 19, 2015). "The Complete Cecil Taylor in Berlin '88". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 26, 2021.