1979 · Album
Live in the Black Forest
Recorded June 1978, Kirchzarten, Black Forest, West Germany · MPS · Personnel: Cecil Taylor (piano), Raphe Malik (trumpet), Jimmy Lyons (alto saxophone), Ramsey Ameen (violin), Sirone (bass), Ronald Shannon Jackson (drums)
Cecil Taylor Unbound in the Black Forest
Two sets of Taylor's Unit in full flight, sweeping and relentless, captured live in Germany.
When Cecil Taylor brought his Unit to the SWF-Radio JazzConcert in Kirchzarten that June evening, he was already a decade into his most artistically fearless period. This live recording landed on MPS as a document of a working ensemble in peak form, and DownBeat recognized it immediately as essential — a five-star performance that caught what Taylor's music demanded: presence, spontaneity, the full voltage of collective invention. AllMusic and All About Jazz rated it more cautiously, but even their reservations acknowledged what was unmistakable: Taylor's piano solos were typically sweeping, his band locked and responsive.
What makes this set distinct is its two-performance structure. You hear Taylor's Unit twice over the same evening, each set a different exploration of the same dense, polytonal language. Raphe Malik on trumpet, Jimmy Lyons on alto saxophone, Ramsey Ameen on violin, Sirone on bass, and Ronald Shannon Jackson on drums move through Taylor's compositions with coordinated intensity — no one soloing alone, the whole band pressing forward together. This is Taylor's method at its most collaborative: music that sounds chaotic to the unprepared ear but is actually precisely organized, every player contributing to a unified architecture.
The Black Forest venue, the West German broadcast context, and the MPS label kept this record somewhat peripheral in Taylor's discography for years — harder to find than his American recordings, less discussed in the standard histories. But DownBeat's assessment was correct: this is among his finest live documents, a genuine five-star performance that shows why Taylor's Unit earned devotion from musicians and listeners willing to meet the music on its own terms.
Who's playing
Sironebass
Cecil Taylorpiano
Jimmy Lyonsalto saxophone
Raphe Maliktrumpet
Ronald Shannon Jacksondrums
Ramsey Ameenviolin
Cecil Taylor Unitperformer
Where next?
More by Cecil Taylor
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