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| The Cecil Taylor Trio At Iridium Thursday & Friday October 26 & 27 the Iridium Jazz Club, NYC, will present The Cecil Taylor Trio in an historic reuniting with bassist Henry Grimes, performing with Cecil for the first time in 40 years (Henry plays bass on the legendary Taylor recordings Conquistador and Unit Structures and drummer Phreeroan akLaff. Cecil Taylor is the embodiment of free expression and iconoclasm, he has been free of convention since the late 1950s. Blessed with an enormous, near-overwhelmingly orchestral facility on the piano, he is one of the most uncompromisingly gifted pianists in jazz history. Throughout his career he has not lacked for important collaborators, including John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, Steve Lacy, Sam Rivers, Max Roach, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and a host of European and Scandinavian musicians. In 1990 he was recognized as a NEA Jazz Master. Reunited on the bandstand with Cecil Taylor after 4O years, master bassist Henry Grimes has made a great comeback. Between 1957 and '67, the Philadelphia-born, Juilliard-educated musician played brilliantly on some 5O albums with Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Haynes, Lee Konitz, Steve Lacy, Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan, Sunny Murray, Sonny Rollins, Roswell Rudd, Pharoah Sanders, and Cecil Taylor. But in 1967, Henry left New York for San Francisco to work with Jon Hendricks, Al Jarreau, and Archie Shepp, then headed to Los Angeles, and soon after turned in his bass for repairs he was unable to pay for and disappeared entirely from the music world. 3O years later, he emerged to begin playing music again. These days, Henry lives, works, and teaches in New York City and tours extensively, working with Marshall Allen, Fred Anderson, Marilyn Crispell, Andrew Cyrille, Bill Dixon, Hamid Drake, Joe Lovano, David Murray, William Parker, Marc Ribot, Roswell Rudd, Cecil Taylor, and many more. Drummer Pheeroan akLaff was born in Detroit, moved to New York City in 1978 to study with Rashied Ali and Billy Hart, and has since studied, played, and taught in many places around the globe, including Cte D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Egypt, India, Japan, Korea, Malawi, and Peru. He has played and / or recorded with Geri Allen, Amiri Baraka, Anthony Braxton, Baikida Carroll, Ravi Coltrane, Anthony Davis, Marty Ehrlich, Henry Grimes, Andrew Hill, Oliver Lake, Mixashawn, David Murray, James Newton, Vernon Reid, Sam Rivers, Sonny Sharrock, Wadada Leo Smith, Liu Sola, Cecil Taylor, Henry Threadgill, Mal Waldron, Carlos Ward, Reggie Workman, Yosuke Yamashita, and more. Theatre collaborations have included the Joseph Papp Public Theater, LaMaMa, and the Manhattan Theatre Club. Pheeroan presently teaches music at Wesleyan University. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |