The Great Paris Concert

By the time of his Paris concert, Cecil Taylor's quartet had reached a particularly high level of musical communication. Not only did altoist Jimmy Lyons (whose sound but not choice of notes was sometimes close to Charlie Parker's) find a place for himself in the dense ensembles, but one can hear him and the pianist/leader echoing each other's phrases in spots. The greatly underrated Alan Silva (on the evidence of this record) was one of Taylor's strongest bassists, at times bowing with the ferocity of a horn; in addition, the flexible drummer Andrew Cyrille "battles" Taylor quite successfully. Most surprising is the use of space during the first part of "Student Studies" and the various sounds utilized on "Amplitude," predating the innovations of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. A very interesting set, recommended for the open-eared.