Cecil Taylor / Tony Oxley - Being Astral & All Registers: Power Of Two

Release date 2020

A live (first class quality) recording of the duo from 2002 - from the personal archives of Tony Oxley.

"With the turn of the Millennium American pianist Cecil Taylor halted his recording activity almost entirely, but continued to play concerts for another decade or so, many of which were recorded. That last decade of his musical activity is almost completely defined by the performances in a duo setting with the British percussionist Tony Oxley, with whom Taylor had a long-standing collaboration since the 1980s when his activities moved to Europe, some of which were released in the years that followed.

The musical synergy between Taylor and Oxley is one of the most natural and artistically fulfilling manifestations of the "Art of the Duo" idiom. After all these two musicians share many common qualities: they are revolutionaries, pioneers, visionaries and free spirits, who expanded the realms of music perhaps more significantly than is commonly acknowledged. It is not only what they managed to create over the years but also how they did it: boldly, uncompromisingly, and above all consistently.

There are many reasons why Taylor and Oxley fit together so well, speak the same musical language and communicate telepathically. Taylor's playing was always associated with the characteristic percussive polyrhythmic attack on the piano, which is well complemented by the multitude of drumming paraphernalia used by Oxley during his recordings / performances in order to create a kaleidoscope of not only rhythms but notes as well. This "exchange" of roles, i.e. drumming on the piano and playing on the drums is what bonds them so well together.

This album is a perfect continuation to the reissue of the "February Papers" album by Tony Oxley, released earlier this year on Discus Music, bringing some of the most ambitious and significant music on this planet to the connoisseurs, always ready to enjoy it to the last drop."

Adam Baruch, October 2020