 Cecil
Taylor began piano lessons at age 5. In the 1950's he chose to study music
formally at the New England Conservatory of Music. Taylor was a big Duke
Ellington fan and had read that Ellington believed the next generation of
jazz musicians would need to be "conservatory trained." As with Ornette
Coleman, Taylor's abilities received high critical acclaim, but the public-at-large
was not very supportive of his music. Though he had difficulty finding steady
employment in the late 1950's and '60's, by the mid-1970's he was finding
more work as a performer. Throughout his career, his music and playing style
has remained intense, percussive, controversial, and always demanding on
the listener. |