This is an audience recording of the Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, William Parker and Tony Oxley concert given in Reggio Emilia, Italy, on 31st October, 2007. The sound is good, not great, but the quality of the music comes through very strongly. It reminds me strongly of the London concert in July that I attended, but the quartet's music in particular seems to have evolved further since then - particularly Cecil Taylor's piano, which is much more lyrical, and Braxton's reeds, which are bitingly incisive. All the more strange that this concert ended abruptly.
Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, William Parker, Tony Oxley
Tetro Valli, Reggio Emilia; 13th October, 2007
1. Cecil Taylor & Tony Oxley Duo
2. William Parker Solo
3. Anthony Braxton Solo
4. Cecil Taylor Solo
5. Quartet
6. Quartet
Cecil Taylor (piano, voice)
Anthony Braxton (alto, soprano,sopranino saxes, contrabass clarinet)
William Parker (bass, flute)
Tony Oxley (drums)
Many thanks to the original taper!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletehmmm... intriguing post dudes >>>>
ReplyDeletecoupla pointers:
#1: the 13.10.07 Reggio Emilia date was NOT the one that end ed with the walk-off by CT, that was the 12.10.07 set, featuring CT/Brax/WP
http://www.aaa-angelica.com/next.asp
#2: is all this goddam FLAC nonsense really neccessary?
..lookin' forward to hearin' this hi-fi rip, ahem
Hey, I tried to post a comment earlier and wasn't allowed due to a Google server error - whatever the hell that is.
ReplyDeleteKK's comments interested me less because of the FLAC thing than his point about CT leaving the stage. And Tantris indicated an abrupt ending. SOOO...What was that about? Anybody know or care to comment?
This is another WINNER. Thanks Tantris! I'll download either version even IF I am unable to tell FLACs from 320s on these audience recordings. MAINLY, I'm just grateful that you are sharing these
incredible live shows. THANK YOU!!!
hmm..!
ReplyDeleteat the risk of repeating myself here, i have to agree with kk - flacs for this? really?
seem to be several versions of this recording doing the rounds, then... personally i didn't think so much of the quartet pieces, though i really will need to listen to them again... but for me, brax's solo was the clear highlight of the set. now, one might assume that i am a mite prejudiced there, but in truth it was above all the quartet pieces i was looking forward to hearing...
KK - thanks for the correction on the date - I wasn't sure as I wasn't there.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think of the music?
If anyone is going to post a mp3 that would be great if not let me know as it is going to be time consuming loading this and I have to alot time for it
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, old chap, I posted a DIFFERENT recording of this show yesterday, here:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/2brbqq
..you are very welcome to visit. [mp3 format, click & download each track] ...watch out for the nasty edit in #6 tho' . .
ahem.
Thanks KK.
ReplyDeleteTwo questions, if I may:
(1) Which is the better of the two recordings, sound-wise? If Tantris' version is better, I shall politely ask him to consider posting an mp3 version. Six downloads (and 6x90 mins waiting in-between) plus flac for a mere audience recording is a full day's work!
(2) I understood the band played in Bologna on 12 October. So is it correct that they played two full concerts in RE on 13th?? One trio without Oxley, one quartet. Given the age and fading stamina of several of the players, I have difficulty accepting that.
I found a blog that will supply bailey needs to the full extent experimentaletc.blogspot.com .Recording dates for the previous Kaoru Abe posts is Live @ Station 70 Shibuyo Tokyo July 9 1970
ReplyDeleteFor those FLAC-less fanatics, below are the MP3 versions of the concert.
ReplyDeletehttp://rapidshare.com/files/95076249/Cecil_Taylor_-_Reggio_Emilia__Italy_2007_1.zip.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/95235306/Cecil_Taylor_-_Reggio_Emilia__Italy_2007_2.zip.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/95240586/Cecil_Taylor_-_Reggio_Emilia__Italy_2007_3.zip.html
Having had a cursory listen, there are some spots of interesting music on this outing. Unfortunately the sound lets it down a little but, beggars and choosers, and I'm thankful for those efforts in getting it onto my cerebral cortex; though I particularly like the whispering of the couple between the tracks - feels like you're there!
Some thoughts:
- CT/TO duo: If you like CT chanting over Oxley's pounding drums - then this is for you. Probably better to see live - doesn't work for me.
- WP solo: I have a lot of WP's solo work, and this isn't up there. Unfortunately the sound has let this down too much. An infinite problem for DBists.
- AB solo: Had already heard this from Centrifuge's blog. Braxton solo cuts it for me a lot of the time and this is no exception. If you're a Brax-nut, then grab Dr C's version as it is much higher quality.
- CT solo: Hello Debussy. Where's Cecil and what have you done with his fingers?? This is the most interesting of the solo spots for me as it is unlike so much of CT's solo work. Huge, huge amounts of space (for him).
- Quartet I/II: In the fine words of Mr A. Powers: 'toight'. The playing is up there, any suggestions that they were not cohesive should be dispelled, but, again - and sorry to bang on like Oxley in Track 1 - but the sound works against the playing.
Question of which version to download:
- For completists, both. Because you're addicted and it's time you admitted it.
- For selectivists, KK's version. Because although a little hollow in places, the bottom end is not so muddy.
-RN
Thanks for the careful research, RN!
ReplyDeletecracking stuff RN ... c.t.'s solo begins with pretty much a straight blues cadence, found that a bit of an eyebrow-raiser - but i must admit i still don't feel i understand taylor very well. sometimes his music lights me up and sometimes it doesn't, but piano isn't my main sound i guess. (or not at this time)
ReplyDeletethe thing about the quartets, which really have their very strong moments, is that taylor reminds us who's leading this band, as if such a grouping could have a leader, and in a southern climate of all places... i really don't understand why the group could not simply be a cooperative meeting. parker is the young upstart, and how many thousands of miles does he have on his clock? the others - ok, so they're younger than c.t. but for god's sake, why the need for hierarchy in this instance?
so the others are a bit stifled before they even start - or that's how i can't help hearing it.
In a word, Cent, I think the answer is simple. Egos. Taylor toiled for over 30 years before getting much recognition (the 1988 Berlin concerts), Braxton got it fast after "For Alto", twenty years earlier.
ReplyDeleteSadly KK seems to be out of bandwidth, his downloads are no longer available.
glmlr >>>
ReplyDeleteyeah I noticed the bandwidth problem (it comes & goes), so I've posted the concert as 2 rapidshare files as well..
http://kingkennytone.blogspot.com
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
Thanks KK. Appreciated!
ReplyDeleteThx for the input R.N one thing I can't take is Cecil Taylor chanting and carrying on , I own approx 35 Taylor discs And have tried to stay away from that .
ReplyDeleteJazzme - singing from the same score there. I generally skip the first 7 minuets of Tzotzil-Mummers-Tzotzil (and all the talk of astral plains...) and get into the music.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the only time I've ever been intrigued by opening vocals/chanting is Joe Maneri's on Tales of Rohnlief. The guy sounds like he speaking in tongues, and I haven't heard that since playing Black Sabbath albums backwards.
-RN
heh :)
ReplyDeleteyes, egos would seem the likely explanation wouldn't it... shame though. but i guess in taylor's case at least it's one of the cases where everyone accepts a certain amount of prima-donna-ness on the grounds that he's (so obviously) a genius.
i listened to the main quartet again yesterday afternoon, and kept wondering for most of it whether i was going to be taking back anything i'd said; couldn't find much wrong with it for the most part, but then that's one (rather nasty) critical approach in itself, ie looking for faults, and i'm trying to get out of it..!
it remains the case that i didn't remember much about it afterwards - i don't think it's really allowed to go too far, maybe..? i dunno - something is missing i think... then taylor does take it over for stretches, fair enough since he's already asserted himself as the leader but... oh i don't know.
of course they gel - how could they not? only if someone was deliberately sabotaging it (entirely possible with this grouping, by the sound of it - but not on this occasion)... the question is, where do they go, what places do they explore?, and i'm not left with any very vivid pictures of the trip.
of course that was (more or less) said of the rfh gig last year, by some: the actual first meeting, which those of us who saw it recall as being fantastic (in the end), but which wasn't necessarily enjoyed to the same extent by those who only heard the recording(s). i myself haven't listened to it in months (though you'd better believe i have vivid memories of that one!) but i do remember the overall form of the music played quite well (i think) and certainly the peaks were extremely powerful and sustained very impressively by the whole group - there was a real desire to explore in all of them, which allowed for this. the poor minidisc recording, proudly proclaiming its status in the second row stalls, was totally overloaded whenever the four really got going - this wasn't just a matter of amplification either, more intensity (that's my story and i'm sticking to it!!).
i must admit i was very grateful for the (very well mixed) bbc recording of that one, though not so much for the actual presentation of it by jez and his media chums {{mwah!}}
After the Reggio Emilia concert, my ITunes goes straight on to the RFH concert, which brought back some very powerful memories of July last year. The quartet music is extraordinary and very memorable, and is more interesting than the solo/duo pieces, imho. It produces a quite different range of colours than Braxton's GTM (in fact, even Yoshi's and Iridium are noticeably different).
ReplyDeleteI also have a recording of the CT/TO duo Modena concert, which I have not yet had time to listen to. It's in FLAC, so I assume that I should not post it here ;-).
Cent: In a nutshell, (I like nutshells), I think the quartet allowed their egos to blow the occasion of last year's tour entirely. The pieces by the full quartet were uniformly good, the solo/duets etc. were pretty forgettable. They should have played more together, not separately.
ReplyDeleteTantris: The first CD of the Modena concert (c. 60 mins. ) is very good. The second opens with 6-7 mins. of CT's squawking vocals, continues with some 10-15 mins. of the duo, and then crashes with an Italian radio announcer talking ad infinitum over the remainder of the music. 25 mins in total. I only burned CD1 to disc and abandoned the rest.
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI'm just rediscovering Braxton, after what seemed like a long silence (well, I live in a small town in England, so the GTM stuff was invisible/inaudible). And CT as well...
To find this site and the Centrifuge postings has helped to open my ears up.
Cheers.
Many thanks. Would it be possible to post the complete Modena concert?
ReplyDeleteIs it impolitic to make mention of the Radio Broadcast version of this show that now seems to be around?
ReplyDeleteA friend forwarded this to me this morning, and the whole thing sounds sensational, with great sound throughout, but NO announcer's babble either before, during or after.
I've just read (above) from various posters
"Unfortunately the sound lets it down a little"
"seem to be several versions of this recording doing the rounds"
"..lookin' forward to hearin' this hi-fi rip, ahem" ETC ETC
So this version, or K.Kennytone's version, CANT be what I'm listening to atm... (I figure) - which is fantastic sound-wise.
But i figure that more seasoned individuals on this blog would know about this radio recording..... which they maybe do and have updated the link or somesuch.
I've grabbed neither this here, nor KK's version to compare against[for my own bandwidth reasons] - so maybe i'm confused or deluded
Anyway, thought I'd mention it. I could be confused or something
But if anyone would like this gig in a great radio broadcast quality version, and none of you other guys have it [ which I find hard to believe :o) ] - then I could up it to RS or wherever, if folks wanted.
On the other hand, critical responses above suggest that it may not be one of those indispensable gigs that is going to be desired in "it's a keeper" sound quality.
I like this concert better perhaps than any of you guys here, though I still have more listening to do.
Broadly, I think centrifuge's comments are pretty much on the money, though I think you're selling the ensemble music a bit short, AB's solo thing has a fair bit of slack in it - *as well* as some incredible and riveting passages & sequences.
Some of CT's improvising is quite incandescent too, though in a rather different way.
No-one ever seems to have a good word for poor old Cecil's "chanting and carrying on". (Could there be folks though who, contrary to everyone else, get to the gig early, dig all the chanting and carrying on, and then go home, before all the boring piano stuff begins? Just a thought..)
On this particular Oxley / Taylor spoken word travail, I was reduced to laughter by the repeated phrase "with a double pair of fins"
In parts of this CT's speaking voice *even sounds like* Don Van Vliet.....
:o)
Yell out if anyone wants the broadcast version of this - and hasn't already been furnished with it.
Oh, and can anyone answer glmlr's question ? I'd find the answer interesting too
ReplyDeleteglmlr: "I understood the band played in Bologna on 12 October. So is it correct that they played two full concerts in RE on 13th?? One trio without Oxley, one quartet. Given the age and fading stamina of several of the players, I have difficulty accepting that."
Someone must be following this sort of detail with the fanatical enthusiasm of a trainspotter?
I'm yelling for any radio broadcast of Cecil Taylor. I saw him thursday in Gent, great concert.
ReplyDeleteserviceton...
ReplyDeleteplease i need the broadcast.
320kbs would be very fine indeed.
ive dowloaded both this and the kk version.
interesting audio documents at best.
william parker is completely lost on both, its very difficult to hear the subtle nuances in the ensemble interactions.
midrande monotone just doesnt cut it, for either cecil or brax.
but its the rythm section who suffer most.
oxleys delicate cymbal rustle and shimmer is the most beautiful percussive tone ..in this existence(0f mine) it hurts to have only the faintest intimation of those tiny microsounds.
id love to be able to make up my own mind about the durability of this performance based on clear sound.
i confess my total ignorance of streaming podcasts, and burning them to disc.
so please... servy ..dont make me beg!!
corrections
ReplyDelete'midrange monotone'
'rthymn'
I'd also be really interested in a clean radio broadcast. The CT/TO duo concert I listened to this morning, and thought it was very good - I will post that here when I get a chance.
ReplyDeleteOK - here is the radio recording of the Cecil Taylor / Tony Oxley duo concert from 11th October, 2007, at the Teatro Comunale in Modena;
ReplyDeleteMP3@320
http://rapidshare.com/files/96371591/CTTO_Oct07.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/96374852/CTTO_Oct07.part2.rar
I think it's excellent - interested in your views.
tantris / sotise - "interesting audio documents" indeed!! Ahhhh !
ReplyDeleteI've just heard a sample from the mp3s kindly provided by KK - underwhelming is barely the word for it.... (I mean sound quality, and sound quality only).
Believe me, you NEED this radio version - It Is Different Music !
(well it's not really, it's the same music - that was just me getting all portentous.. )
What I'm trying to convey is that it sounds like real, present, living music - and you might even feel differently about this music having heard it (dare i say it) 'properly'...
So where's my links to it then?
Look, if any of you guys can assist with any crafty tips or tricks re. free file hosts, I'd be grateful.
Just am slightly dismayed that (apparently), it's going to take 7+ hours to get this thing up to RapidShare (Part1 is uploading now).
Yes I am doing FLACS (no, I don't want to talk about it), and yes I do live in a place where "Broadband" from most ISPs means quick DL speeds, but throttled-slow uploads.
On the other hand, if this sort of mileage is what you guys experience all the time in upping so many fine posts, so frequently, then damnit, a Whole New level of Respect to ya !!!
I have 4 100MB parts, and a 24MB part 5. Apparently, this will finally be up on RS some time tomorrow. I hope.
Thank you tantris, for the Taylor Oxley Modena duo - look forward to it!
ReplyDeleteLooks like I have Bologna (oct 12th) here too if anyone needs that too.
Cecil spoken intro, Cecil poetry, Braxton solo, Parker solo, Cecil solo, Taylor&Braxton&Parker ensemble.
Note: No Oxley.
Sound is excellent
If anyone interested, might have to wait a bit, as the other bloody thing will take until easter to upload...
serviceton; your upload times sound excessive by any standards. It takes me about 20 minutes to load a 100mb file - the real problem, however, is that the success rate is about 2 out of 3, so there is a lot of faffing about.
ReplyDeleteIf all else fails, but you are able to burn a disc, you could always send me a disc by snail mail and I could upload and post them here.
Many thanks for the Taylor/Oxley concert Tantris. I find it a great concert, soundwise too. A joy!
ReplyDeleteOK, done.
ReplyDeleteDamn that took a long time to upload! Tantris, I might take you up on your offer next time..
To recap: it's
Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, William Parker and Tony Oxley - Reggio Emilia -31st October 2007.
Radio Broadcast
The sound is great
FLAC
Part 1 http://rapidshare.com/files/96402740/Taylor_Braxton20071013ReggioEmilia_RAI.part1.rar.html
Part 2
http://rapidshare.com/files/96447438/Taylor_Braxton20071013ReggioEmilia_RAI.part2.rar.html
Part 3
http://rapidshare.com/files/96471086/Taylor_Braxton20071013ReggioEmilia_RAI.part3.rar.html
Part 4
http://rapidshare.com/files/96494636/Taylor_Braxton20071013ReggioEmilia_RAI.part4.rar.html
Part 5
http://rapidshare.com/files/96563462/Taylor_Braxton20071013ReggioEmilia_RAI.part5.rar.html
Hope some of you guys enjoy this.
I am, still.
PS - i was going to put up mp3s too but ran out of puff on my crappy connection, as the above lot took 7 hrs to upload. So, if there's a need, maybe someone else could do that mp3 conversion thing.
ReplyDeleteserviceton ,thanks for the gargantuan effort!!!!!
ReplyDeleteyou may find that your fire wall needs tweeking to speed up y'r upload speed.
im no expert but in the early days of this blog i was having a difficult time, my connection is slow anyway 560, so it takes me about 70 minutes to upload a 95 meg file at 27 kbs per sec.
if you have a fast broadband connection, you shoulld be doing a lot better than me.
my very first files were uploaded at 9 to 14 kbs a sec, taking upto 3 hours per 95 meg file.
the main reason i paid for a rapidshare premium account was to speed up the upload and that helped too.
if you have no objection ill put this out on the main page.
my dl speed is about 12 minutes per file!!
btw/TANTRIS ,thanks for the ct oxley duet, its lovely!!
ReplyDeleteserviceton, thanks so much for the hard work. I've been following this thread from the start, debating whether to endure the poor sound quality. I can't wait to hear your version.
ReplyDeleteserviceton
ReplyDeletehi ,just a coda to your post.
i had some initial problems unpacking the files ,because (i think) of the length of the file name.
should anyone encounter similar problems, the best stratergy is to rename the rar's 1 2 3 .... etc
so rename part 1 , 1 part 2 ,2 and so on.
when creating rar archives ,its best to keep the title of the archive fairly short.
serviceton - great - thanks!
ReplyDelete... and this just in from the have-your-cake-and-eat-it dept: am i too late to request the mp3s of this radio broadcast? otherwise - cos i appreciate the amount of hassle involved (really, i do) in uploading etc - can someone publish the details of the radio broadcast, if it's still available online to stream/record?
ReplyDeletethis is the 13th i'm talking about (or the 31st if you prefer..!) - reggio emilia
sotise, i don't agree with you - as you know. one might as well say that the (braxton archives) news from the 70s cd is not worth getting - the sound is primitive to say the least. but the music really rewards the effort - and in my experience the effort only needs to be paid early on, i.e. once i am committed to listening the "internal equaliser" goes to work very fast and the ear accommodates. brax's solo alto tone in particular is so penetrating that it cuts straight across the divide caused by the years and the poor sound.
on the other hand, the quartet piece is not the easiest listen and the ears have to do a lot more work - ! so yeah, if there is a radio version i will gladly hear it, and i'll be interested to see whether i respond differently.
nice one, anyway - for the whole discussion i mean - and thanks to everyone who has posted sound files or into from this little "tourette" (seems an appropriate term somehow!)
sorry, that's info, not "into" in that last sentence...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNew link:
ReplyDeleteAdrive
This version has seven tracks as against six tracks in the original post, but I believe the content is the same. It certainly matches the sequencing in the original post.
Looking through the comments section, it has some of the characters from the old BBC Radio 3 jazz messageboard, now long gone. Ah, those were the days ...
ReplyDeleteand our chum glmlr. Nothing here now but the writings ...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteI read the 2008 comments. Roches Noires commented, after several comments expressing the usual impatience with CT's vocals (which I share):
"I suppose the only time I've ever been intrigued by opening vocals/chanting is Joe Maneri's on Tales of Rohnlief. The guy sounds like he speaking in tongues"
Probably some of you (maybe most of you) know that Joe Maneri is speaking in his made-up language. It does sound different, and compelling and fascinating (to me).
thanks all you guys for keeping the fire burning...
ReplyDeleteI didnt even know of this concert till now and I will check it out now.
Santos Curser
(if cecil would take the chanting more seriously rather than so subjectively he might have gone somewhere with it... John Cage had a similar flaw when he jammed with Sun Ra... how do u like that criticism Cecil? ... I was smoking reefer with you in that that crowd of gawkergroupies in that little room next to the crappy sound stage with the big window behind it at Haverford(or was it swarthmore had that bad sounding stage with the great window behind it? everything sound tinny due to the window being the sound reflector), remember ... u gave me the pissed look cause u couldnt breathe, like twenty of us jammed with you in that little room that would be crowded with four people. yet i was the one actually holding the door open to let some air in ... way back in like 1980 or so.... ah the good ol days lol)
... i should clarify this, i did not jam with cecil, me and a crowd of gawkergroupie types all packed into a little room to the side of the stage at Haverford (or was it Bryn Mawr?) college... long ago i was usually high as a kite, reefers were being passed around and cecil did take a puff.... call the tabloids
ReplyDelete