Cecil Taylor - Conquistador!

A Blue Note essential, The Ultimate is part of the Blue Note 75 anniversary vinyl reissue campaign, featuring 100 titles; key to the initiative is high-quality audio at affordable prices.

For the second of Cecil Taylor's two Blue Note albums (following Unit Structures), the innovative pianist utilized a sextet comprised of trumpeter Bill Dixon, altoist Jimmy Lyons, both Henry Grimes and Alan Silva on bass, and drumer Andrew Cyrille. During the two lengthy pieces, Lyons' passionate solos contrast with Dixon's quieter ruminations while the music in general is unremittingly intense. Both of the Taylor Blue Notes are quite historic and near-classics but, despite this important documentation, Cecil Taylor (other than a pair of Paris concerts) would not appear on records again until 1973.

Musicians:
Cecil Taylor, piano
Bill Dixon, trumpet
Jimmy Lyons, saxophone
Henry Grimes, bass
Alan Silver, bass
Andrew Cyrille, drums