1981 · Album
Garden 2
Recorded November 16, 1981, Basel, Switzerland · Hat Hut · Produced by Not specified in available documentation
Solo at the Keyboard in Basel
Taylor alone with a Bösendorfer, no net, mapping the piano's geography in real time.
On November 16, 1981, Cecil Taylor sat down at a Bösendorfer grand piano in Basel, Switzerland, with no band, no safety net, and no predetermined material. What emerged was seven performances of pure invention — the sound of a pianist thinking at the speed of his fingers, translating abstract shapes and harmonic territories into sound. This was Taylor doing what he'd spent decades perfecting: treating the piano as a full orchestra, both a percussion instrument and a melodic voice, capable of producing textures that had nothing to do with stride, swing, or the blues changes that bound most jazz pianists to convention.
These solo recitals capture Taylor at a point in his career when he'd already redefined what a jazz pianist could be — dense, modernist, fiercely intellectual, but never cold. Alone, there's no rhythm section to push against, no horns to engage in dialogue. Instead, Taylor creates his own momentum, building architectures of sound that shift and collapse and rebuild themselves. The performances are unpredictable in their arc; a piece might open with delicate, almost fragmentary gestures before accelerating into passages of controlled fury. AllMusic reviewer gave the music a 4.5/5 rating, recognizing the sustained intensity and inventiveness across the session.
Released initially as a double LP in 1982 and later split into two CDs, these recordings stand as a document of Taylor's uncompromising vision — not a greatest hits or a distillation of his style, but a raw account of what happened when he entered that room and played.
Who's playing
Cecil Taylorpiano
Where next?
More by Cecil Taylor
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