Cecil Taylor
Birthday: 1933-03-15 Place of Birth: New York, New York, U.S.A.
Synopsis
Cecil Percival Taylor (March 15, 1929 – April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained, and is generally acknowledged as having been one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex improvised sounds which frequently involve tone clusters and intricate polyrhythms. His piano technique has been likened to percussion — referring to the number of keys on a standard piano, Val Wilmer used the phrase "eighty-eight tuned drums" to describe Taylor's pianism. He has also been described as "like Art Tatum with contemporary-classical leanings". (Wikipedia)
Acting
Sunny's Time Now
Retracing the longstanding career of avant-garde drummer Sunny Murray, one of the most influential figures of the Free jazz revolution. Through a series of interviews with key time witnesses as well as historic and contemporary concert footage, it reassesses the relationship between the libertarian music movement and the political events of the 1960s, whose social claims it so intimately reflected. By doing so, it also recounts how the most radical forms of musical expression were excluded from the major production and distribution networks as the libertarian ideal went out of fashion. Beyond its historical approach, the film follows Sunny Murray on current gigs, showing his daily struggle to perpetuate a musical genre which is still widely ignored by the general public. In doing so, Sunny's time now also dwells on the near-clandestine community of aficionados who continue to worship the gods of their musical coming of age, and whose unfaltering support has permitted free ...
