Neil Ardley: Mike Taylor Remembered (Vinyl LP)
Trunk
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Originally recorded in 1972, as part of the long-standing Lansdowne Jazz series, this remarkable session was shelved and never issued. Recorded over two days in these famous studios, with a sublime line-up of top musicians, this represents a stunning but forgotten tribute to one of the UK's great lost jazz artists, Mike Taylor. Little is really known about Mike Taylor: an inspiring, unpredictable piano player, he recorded two super-rare albums for EMI Columbia, and later some of his compositions were recorded by Cream on their Wheels of Fire album. Taylor's music is like no one else's. It has a strange mystery, a strong and prescient feel - full of darkness, light and poetic jazz phrasing. Mike Taylor's 1965 trio would find themselves banned from London jazz venues, and their live shows were extraordinary, LSD-fueled affairs, unlike anything else on the scene at the time. Taylor enjoyed and experimented heavily with drugs, and succumbed to mental illness in the latter half of the 1960s. Homeless and broke, he deteriorated quickly, and his body was washed ashore in the Thames Estuary in late January 1969. He left behind a number of musical manuscripts he'd thrown away, rescued by a good friend from the bin. It's these compositions that form the basis of this album. Issued on vinyl for the very first time, featuring the cream of progressive British jazz artists of the late 1960s, early 1970s period: Neil Ardley, Ian Carr, Dave Gelly, Jon Hiseman, Henry Lowther, Barbara Thompson, Norma Winstone and more.
Originally recorded in 1972, as part of the long-standing Lansdowne Jazz series, this remarkable session was shelved and never issued. Recorded over two days in these famous studios, with a sublime line-up of top musicians, this represents a stunning but forgotten tribute to one of the UK's great lost jazz artists, Mike Taylor. Little is really known about Mike Taylor: an inspiring, unpredictable piano player, he recorded two super-rare albums for EMI Columbia, and later some of his compositions were recorded by Cream on their Wheels of Fire album. Taylor's music is like no one else's. It has a strange mystery, a strong and prescient feel - full of darkness, light and poetic jazz phrasing. Mike Taylor's 1965 trio would find themselves banned from London jazz venues, and their live shows were extraordinary, LSD-fueled affairs, unlike anything else on the scene at the time. Taylor enjoyed and experimented heavily with drugs, and succumbed to mental illness in the latter half of the 1960s. Homeless and broke, he deteriorated quickly, and his body was washed ashore in the Thames Estuary in late January 1969. He left behind a number of musical manuscripts he'd thrown away, rescued by a good friend from the bin. It's these compositions that form the basis of this album. Issued on vinyl for the very first time, featuring the cream of progressive British jazz artists of the late 1960s, early 1970s period: Neil Ardley, Ian Carr, Dave Gelly, Jon Hiseman, Henry Lowther, Barbara Thompson, Norma Winstone and more.