Jazz Advance

1957 studio album by Cecil Taylor

Jazz Advance

Studio album by

Cecil Taylor

Released| 1957
Recorded| September 14, 1956, Boston
Genre| Jazz
Label| Transition
Producer| Tom Wilson
Cecil Taylor chronology
|  | Jazz Advance
(1957)  | At Newport
(1958)

|
|

Jazz Advance is the debut album by pianist Cecil Taylor, recorded for the Transition label in September 1956. The album features performances by Taylor with Buell Neidlinger, Denis Charles and Steve Lacy.

## Music

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The album contains three Taylor originals, three standards, and one standard-to-be, Thelonious Monk's "Bemsha Swing," first recorded only four years before Taylor's version. This track is played "cryptically and succinctly, the lines breaking up into jagged fragments and jutting chords." "Charge 'Em Blues" is in 4/4 time. The chords and light treble playing towards the beginning of "Azure" are similar to the sound of Abdullah Ibrahim, but then "the cross-rhythmic improvised piano patterns clattering chords typical of later Taylor emerge."[1]

## Reception

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Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings| [3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide| [4]

The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected the album as part of its suggested "Core Collection," stating "Taylor's first record remains one of the most extraordinary debuts in jazz, and for 1956 it's an incredible effort."[3] The AllMusic review by Michael G. Nastos states "Though many did not understand his approach at the time, the passing years temper scathing criticism, and you can easily appreciate what he is accomplishing... With Jazz Advance, the revolution commenced, Taylor was setting the pace, and the improvised music world has never been the same. For challenged listeners, this CD has to be high on your must-have list."[5] The album was identified by Chris Kelsey in his AllMusic essay "Free Jazz: A Subjective History" as one of the 20 Essential Free Jazz Albums.[6]

## Track listing

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All compositions by Cecil Taylor except as indicated

1. "Bemsha Swing" (Denzil Best, Thelonious Monk) – 7:29
2. "Charge 'Em Blues" – 11:07
3. "Azure" (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills) – 7:29
4. "Song" – 5:21
5. "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" (Cole Porter) – 9:18
6. "Rick Kick Shaw" – 6:06
7. "Sweet and Lovely" (Gus Arnheim, Jules LeMare, Harry Tobias) – 6:36

Recorded in Boston on September 14, 1956

## Personnel

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* Cecil Taylor – piano
* Buell Neidlinger – bass
* Denis Charles – drums
* Steve Lacy – soprano saxophone (tracks 2 & 4)

## References

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1. ^ Fordham, John (July 11, 2008) "Cecil Taylor, Jazz Advance" The Guardian.
2. ^ AllMusic Review
3. ^ a b Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. pp. 1379–80\. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
4. ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. pp. 692–693.
5. ^ Nastos, M. G. AllMusic Review accessed July 9, 2009.
6. ^ Kelsey, Chris. "Free Jazz: A Subjective History". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 7, 2010. Retrieved May 15, 2020.

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Cecil Taylor

Discography

Studio albums|

* Jazz Advance
* Looking Ahead!
* Stereo Drive
* Love for Sale
* The World of Cecil Taylor
* Air
* Cell Walk for Celeste
* Jumpin' Punkins
* New York City R&B
* Unit Structures
* Conquistador!
* Cecil Taylor Unit
* 3 Phasis
* Winged Serpent (Sliding Quadrants)
* Chinampas
* In Florescence
* Momentum Space

Live albums|

* At Newport
* Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come
* Student Studies
* Praxis
* The Great Concert of Cecil Taylor
* Indent
* Akisakila
* Solo
* Spring of Two Blue J's
* Silent Tongues
* Dark to Themselves
* Air Above Mountains
* Live in the Black Forest
* One Too Many Salty Swift and Not Goodbye
* Historic Concerts
* It Is in the Brewing Luminous
* Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly!
* The Eighth
* Garden
* Iwontunwonsi
* Amewa
* For Olim
* Olu Iwa
* Live in Bologna
* Live in Vienna
* Tzotzil/Mummers/Tzotzil
* In East Berlin
* Regalia
* The Hearth
* Alms/Tiergarten (Spree)
* Remembrance
* Pleistozaen Mit Wasser
* Spots, Circles, and Fantasy
* Legba Crossing
* Erzulie Maketh Scent
* Leaf Palm Hand
* Looking (Berlin Version) Solo
* Looking (Berlin Version) The Feel Trio
* Looking (Berlin Version) Corona
* Celebrated Blazons
* 2 Ts for a Lovely T
* CT: The Dance Project
* Double Holy House
* Nailed
* Melancholy
* The Tree of Life
* Always a Pleasure
* The Light of Corona
* Almeda
* Qu'a: Live at the Iridium, Vol. 1
* Qu'a Yuba: Live at the Iridium, Vol. 2
* Lifting the Bandstand
* Algonquin
* Incarnation
* The Willisau Concert
* The Owner of the River Bank
* All the Notes
* Taylor/Dixon/Oxley
* The Last Dance

Compilations|

* Mixed

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

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