Cecil Taylor - Unit Structures FLAC download

I don't have a bad word to say about quality of the Blue Note's 75th Anniversary vinyl series in general. All of the EU pressings I've purchased have been top notch quality. Well, the US pressings are whole different story and what you get in the package varies a lot. What Amazon DE did send me was the US pressing with a little bit of surface noise and cracks and pops here and there. However, proper cleaning with liquid did the magic and now I hold the somehow enjoyable piece of listening. I'm still keeping one eye open for EU pressing (or NM 60's copy). So when in doubt: wash your records.

After several years off records, pianist Cecil Taylor finally had an opportunity to document his music of the mid-'60s on two Blue Note albums (the other one was Conquistador). Taylor's high-energy atonalism fit in well with the free jazz of the period but he was actually leading the way rather than being part of a movement. In fact, this septet outing with trumpeter Eddie Gale, altoist Jimmy Lyons, Ken McIntyre (alternating between alto, oboe and bass clarinet), both Henry Grimes and Alan Silva on basses, and drummer Andrew Cyrille is quite stunning and very intense. In fact, it could be safely argued that no jazz music of the era approached the ferocity and intensity of Cecil Taylor's.