小简介
Cecil Taylor1929年出生于纽约，是战后先锋爵士的一位巨人，由于其演奏异常剧烈且充满张力，Taylor被拥护为二十世纪最伟大的钢琴演奏家。他对作家John Litweiler谈到：“对我们黑人来讲，钢琴是件打击乐器。我们敲击键盘、试图用力贯穿这件乐器，将力量融入到音乐中去。假如算是误解的话，黑人音乐对我而言就是种尖叫。”
Taylor出生于长岛，五岁时学习钢琴不久又学习打击乐器。他曾在纽约音乐学院和波士顿的新英格兰艺术学院学习进修过，尽管他说自己通过Duke Ellington的唱片学到的也许更多。早期Taylor对欧洲古典作曲家的东西很感兴趣，尤其是Stravinsky，不过对其影响最大的还是爵士乐，诸如Duke Ellington、鼓手Sonny Greer、Chick Webb，以及自Fats Waller、Erroll Garner、Thelonious Monk至Horace Silver的一系列钢琴演奏家。尽管他最初的合作对象是摇摆时代的一些著名乐手，如Oran “Hot Lips”Page，Johnny Hodges和Lawrence Brown，但五十年代中期Cecil Taylor已组建了自己的乐队并为将来音乐上的革新打下了基础。他早期的合作对象包括Buell Neidlinger、Dennis Charles、Steve Lacy和Archie Shepp，第一张专辑就已经表现出惊人的洞察力，有意识地疏远主流爵士风格。六十年代早期，Taylor与Sunny Murray、Alan Silva、Jimmy Lyons（其最长的合作伙伴）等合作，这时所创作的音乐已摆脱了调性的束缚、正规稳定的节奏形式，听上去十分的抽象。然而，随着1959年Ornette Coleman来到纽约演奏他自己版本的“Free Jazz”后，很大程度上削减了其他音乐家在音乐探索方面的成就，而Taylor过于抽象复杂激烈的音乐被公众和传媒所忽视了。不过还是有一小撮的年轻先锋音乐家——最有名的当数Albert Ayler非常热情地拥护Taylor的风格。
整个六十年代Taylor过着困苦的生活，为生计还洗过盘子；慢慢地他的影响力逐渐渗入爵士乐圈，尤其是Blue Note唱片公司1966年出版了两张出色的唱片，两张唱片中都有其长期合作的特色乐手Alan Silva、Jimmy Lyons、Andrew Cyrille和Henry Grimes；另外，《Unit Structures》中还有Ken Mclntyre和Eddie Gale Stevens；《Conquistador》专辑中又Bill Dixon加盟。1968年，Taylor与爵士作曲家大乐团合作了一张专辑，1969年与Jimmy Lyons、Andrew Cyrille、Sam Rivers一起的现场演出在一个法国厂牌Shandar旗下出版，但是总体来讲录音的机会还是很少。七十年代，他开始从事教育工作，在威斯康星大学以及俄亥俄、新泽西等地的学院授课。1973年，Taylor建立了自己的厂牌“Unite Core”，出版了《Indents》和《Spring Of Two Blue-Js》两张专辑。后来出的一系列专辑有包括日本 “Trio”唱片公司的，美国Arista旗下的Freedom唱片公司的，欧洲Enja唱片公司的，这个时期Taylor在集聚自己的能量。到八十年代早期，Taylor就固定为欧洲的“Soul Note”和“Hat Hut”厂牌录音，八十年代后期“Leo”和“FMP”唱片公司也开始支持他的作品出版。
这时他的演奏群体包括固定成员Alan Silva、Jimmy Lyons、Andrew Cyrille，加上Sirone、Ronald Shannon Jackson、小提琴手Ramsey Ameer、Jerome Cooper、William Parker和打击乐手Rashid Bak。乐团的影响效果以乐器急流般的争斗、密不透风的结构、混乱、翻腾、飞舞似的即兴为主要特征，通常可以持续两三个小时而不停顿。Taylor也录制过一系列令人耳晕目眩的独奏专辑，著名的有《Fly!Fly!Fly!Fly!Fly!》以及《The Live Double-set Garden》，显示了Taylor是爵士史上最眩、最有力量的钢琴演奏家之一。另外Taylor还出版过两张令人难忘的双重奏专辑，一张是与Mary Lou Williams合作的《Embraced》；另一张是和Max Roach合作的《Historic Concert》，这些成功的合作进一步提高了他的知名度。1985年，Taylor出版了他的第一张大乐队作品《Winged Serpent》，由Soul Note唱片公司出品。1986年，Jimmy Lyons死于肺癌，Taylor失去了他最亲密、最忠诚的音乐合作伙伴。Taylor充满巨大能量的演奏以及猛烈的气势使得许多听众认为其音乐在结构上没有基础，但是作家Ekkehard Jost在其《Free Jazz》一书中证实Taylor的作品中有些东西是有规律地重复出现的。除了录制唱片以外，Taylor还为一些舞蹈、诗歌配乐，甚至还写了一本名为《黑人音乐地方法论概念》的书。
Cecil Taylor是爵士音乐界第一个使用无调性表达的乐手。其实许多火乐的代表艺人基本上和他也是殊途同归的。尽管，爵士乐在这时有了极大的进步。当时许多现代音乐家仍旧不能把爵士乐认同为一种新音乐的重要形式。Taylor自己曾经把钢琴比喻为“有88个音的鼓”。他把钢琴当作打击乐来玩。他的音乐充满了刺耳的音簇和抽象、跳跃的结构。他的音乐段落太多，初次听他的音乐会有如坠五里雾的感觉。《Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come》是张录音粗糙的唱片，但确是一款具有重大意义的唱片。该专集于1962年录制于哥本哈根，乐队成员除Cecil Taylor外，还有次高音萨克斯手Jimmy Lyons以及鼓手Sunny Murray。音乐初起时，还是充满了感伤主义、松散的结构。30分钟后，这支三重奏乐队便彻底癫狂起来了。
Soon after he first emerged in the mid-50s, pianist Cecil Taylor was the most advanced improviser in jazz; five decades later he is still the most radical. Although in his early days he used some standards as vehicles for improvisation, since the early 60s Taylor has stuck exclusively to originals. To simplify describing his style, one could say that Taylors intense atonal percussive approach involves playing the piano as if it were a set of drums. He generally emphasizes dense clusters of sound played with remarkable technique and endurance, often during marathon performances. Suffice it to say that Cecil Taylors music is not for everyone.
Taylor started piano lessons from the age of six, and attended the New York College of Music and the New England Conservatory. Taylors early influences included Duke Ellington and Dave Brubeck, but from the start he sounded original. Early gigs included work with groups led by Johnny Hodges and Hot Lips Page, but, after forming his quartet in the mid-50s (which originally included Steve Lacy on soprano, bassist Buell Neidlinger, and drummer Dennis Charles), Taylor was never a sideman again. The group played at the Five Spot Cafe in 1956 for six weeks and performed at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival (which was recorded by Verve), but, despite occasional records, work was scarce. In 1960, Taylor recorded extensively for Candid under Neidlingers name (by then the quartet featured Archie Shepp on tenor) and the following year he sometimes substituted in the play The Connection. By 1962, Taylors quartet featured his longtime associate Jimmy Lyons on alto and drummer Sunny Murray. He spent six months in Europe (Albert Ayler worked with Taylors group for a time although no recordings resulted) but upon his return to the U.S., Taylor did not work again for almost a year. Even with the rise of free jazz, his music was considered too advanced. In 1964, Taylor was one of the founders of the Jazz Composers Guild and, in 1968, he was featured on a record by the Jazz Composers Orchestra. In the mid-60s, Taylor recorded two very advanced sets for Blue Note but it was generally a lean decade.
Things greatly improved starting in the 1970s. Taylor taught for a time at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Antioch College, and Glassboro State College, he recorded more frequently with his Unit, and European tours became common. After being awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1973, the pianists financial difficulties were eased a bit; he even performed at the White House (during Jimmy Carters administration) in 1979. A piano duet concert with Mary Lou Williams was a fiasco but a collaboration with drummer Max Roach was quite successful. Taylor started incorporating some of his eccentric poetry into his performances and, unlike most musicians, he has not mellowed with age. The death of Jimmy Lyons in 1986 was a major blow, but Cecil Taylor has remained quite active up until the present day, never compromising his musical vision. His forbidding music is still decades ahead of its time.