Solo Cecil No Other Place to Hear, SIX Stars
scarecrow | Chicago, Illinois United States | 02/17/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"this is from August 20, 1976 Moosham Castle,open air festival in Austria someplace, Two Parts here the first 44'22 and Part Two a mere 31'53. Part One I though built too fast, wonderful middle register ideas, sputtering out,gently coaxing the temporalities of things, condensed, compacted spaces, sapces with un-freedom yet free to be a voice, his music are fragments of declamations, shards of speaking, we don't need his Words to hear his music, his Words are a distraction sometimes, from what he has to say with the piano.Not even 10 minutes into Part One and he begins his meta-ripplings up and down the keys, landed always one the bottom, I like the use of octaves here in the first ten minutes, bluesy thoughts yet abandoned afraid to go beyond, great timbre of the piano a Boesendorfer Grand, it has more a bass constitution than other piano, I think somewaht darker. this holds the bass ideas quite poerful stuff, like it anchors the rest down all that rippling(s). . . ,and he lands on Fifths Chords, a like a stopping point for Cecil never really stops.The Words here in the CD Jacket has some nice things to say, that the musician is the process, he'she creates by doing, and doing all the time incessantly,filling up the air above the mountains. . . Part Two is more serious,weighted even more an octave idea,alone lonely piano but then like INDENT builds foments,scats,projects,bellows within the basso regions,there are more reflective thoughts here, like asking questions no one can answer, like what's my music going to be now and now-then. . . I like when he lands at the middle register after the bass on a major second, the bass idea always returns, again it weighgs things down, allowing the flights-ripplings to get OFF, the octaves almost sound out of tune within the context of what is being played here,like our ears get accustom acclimitizes to cluster, fistfulls of notes, when a pure octave sounds, it sounds unusual, Weird is not the Word, perhaps like octaves are the "Other" like tones from another globe within another context I guess. We get down again in Part Two to usual fair violent scourings but he holds this down keeps a lid on the register,more clusters than Part One. should we always say Cecil Solo is better than all else, even though the drummers and bass players he has had stay with him, and foment re-create what he is doing.Come One Listen! There is great clarity as well in the recording, enough to know this is a Boesendorfer piano Grand."
Faster Than Time
David J. Nichols | 01/12/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Air Above Mountains" is an exploration of the entire piano. Despite the furious and amazing magical tempos,this composition brings a great feeling of peace. It creates a time of its own."
Track Listings (2) - Disc #1