David Dalle
Thursday February 23rd, 2023 with David Dalle
Black History Month. Cecil Taylor in concert part III: Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley in Berlin; one of this final outings. Music of Julius Eastman.
Today we finish the trilogy looking at pianist Cecil Taylor in concert recordings. Taylor's long career saw a number of recordings in the 21st century, and five of his six recordings, from 2002-2011, were with the English drummer Tony Oxley. Taylor and Oxley had been performing together since the 80's, and it proved a long-lasting and satisfying collaboration. This recording is one of his last, recorded in Berlin in 2008, when Taylor was 79 years old. It's astonishing that age had not diminished his fire, his intensity, his imagination, his extraordinary facility on the piano. This is exciting, visceral, astonishing music.
| Berlin Conversations 1 Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley - Conversations with Tony Oxley - Jazzwerkstatt |
| Berlin Conversations 2 Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley - Conversations with Tony Oxley - Jazzwerkstatt |
| Berlin Conversations 3 Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley - Conversations with Tony Oxley - Jazzwerkstatt |
| Berlin Conversations 4 Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley - Conversations with Tony Oxley - Jazzwerkstatt |
| Cecil Taylor once responded to a reporter "someone once asked me if I was gay. I said, 'Do you think a three-letter word defines the complexity of my humanity?' I avoid the trap of easy definition." This strikes me as a very contemporary comment, but Cecil Taylor's whole life was lived ahead of this time. We will conclude this show with another large piano piece (in for a penny in for a pound!) from another brilliant, iconoclastic, Black American pianist, Julius Eastman. Like Taylor, Eastman never pursued what was easy in life, never compromised his unique artistic vision. For this, as well as being a proud Black, openly gay man in the world of contemporary classical music, Eastman was largely overlooked, forgotten, almost erased from music history. Thankfully this has been changing in the past decade, because his compositions are magnificent, unique, and often searing in their power, rage, and grandeur. This piece is a favourite of mine, composed for four pianos, it is a mighty fortress of music. It builds to breathtaking heights, music that personifies resilience, pride, courage. |
| Gay Guerrilla Julius Eastman/Lutoslawski Piano Duo-Emilia Sitarz, Bartek Wasik with Joanna Duda, Mischa Kozlowski - Unchained - Dux |
| You can listen on-demand to my three part look at the music of Julius Eastman from 2019:
Julius Eastman Part I: "What I am trying to achieve is to be what I am to the fullest--Black to the fullest, a musician to the fullest, a homosexual to the fullest" https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/105/41649.html Julius Eastman Part II: The Buffalo years 1968-76. https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/105/41770.html Julius Eastman Part III: Julius alone. https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/105/41880.html |
| Fayda Kora Jazz Trio - Part IV - Giro Music |
Subscribe to David Dalle
"someone once asked me if I was gay. I said, 'Do you think a three-letter word defines the complexity of my humanity?' I avoid the trap of easy definition." What a powerful and power filled quote! Beautifully simple yet complex noises today. Not for everyone for sure, at least not without some work. Deep listening, but sooooo worth it. But then there's always commercial radio (barf :o
3:56 PM, February 23rd, 2023