Cecil Taylor: "A Celebration of the Maestro"

Avant-jazz & free jazz

Issue Project Room

Until Sat May 19 2012

Cecil Taylor Photograph: Peter Gannushkin/Dow

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Time Out says

Tue May 1 2012

It was starting to feel like we’d seen the last of Cecil Taylor, avant-jazz piano’s most mercurial magus. Recent sightings in New York City have been sporadic; a monthlong Le Poisson Rouge residency scheduled for last June was canceled, as was a fleeting impetus to make his Fort Greene home a museum. Of course, at 83, Taylor has nothing left to prove: He’s a MacArthur Foundation “genius,” a past Guggenheim fellow and an NEA Jazz Master, among sundry accolades. Still, he remains an outlier among jazz lions, an inimitable maverick and a live performer who routinely scales heights unglimpsed by most mortals.

With “A Celebration of the Maestro,” Harlem Stage and Brooklyn’s Issue Project Room join forces to honor Taylor’s living legacy—and happily, the honoree is scheduled to participate. The series starts uptown on Tuesday 8 and Wednesday 9 with performances by firebrand poet Amiri Baraka and three younger pianists who’ve internalized Taylor’s lessons: Vijay Iyer, Craig Taborn and Amina Claudine Myers.

The action moves to Issue on May 16 for a concert by free-spirited pianist Thollem McDonas and elemental percussionist William Hooker. The series hits its twin peaks on May 17 and 19, when Taylor presents a solo recital in each venue. And in a valedictory offering, Anthology Film Archives screens an evening of rare filmed footage from vintage Taylor performances on May 22.—Steve Smith

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Venue details

Address:
Issue Project Room 110 Livingston St
Dumbo
Brooklyn

Cross Street:
at Boerum Pl
Venue phone:
718-330-0313
Venue website:
issueprojectroom.org
Transport:
Subway: A, C, F, R to Jay St–MetroTech; 4, 5 to Borough Hall
Map
1. Issue Project Room
  - 110 Livingston St
    Dumbo
    Brooklyn
  - 718-330-0313
  - issueprojectroom.org

Event website:
harlemstage.org

Categories:
Music. Jazz & Experimental. Avant-jazz & free jazz
Good for:
Wow factor. Big name talent. Experimental. Lively scene. Local flavor. Local talent. Mood. Escapism

Date Time Price information
Wed May 16 2012

8:00pm

May 8, 9 $10; May 16 $15; May 17 $45; May 19 $55, VIP $150

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Cecil Taylor: "A Celebration of the Maestro"

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Time Out says

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