Ten Fingers, One Voice
ASIN: B00000HX7Q
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Because of his tireless work as a jazz educator, author, and TV correspondent, it's easy to overlook the fact that Dr. Billy Taylor is one of today's most comprehensive pianists, as this brilliant and buoyant solo recording--only the second of his more-than-50-year career--shows. In this invigorating mix of bop tunes, ballads, and original compositions, Taylor's septuagenarian swing marvelously encapsulates an encyclopedic range of jazz pianisms into his own personal idiom. On the standards, "Wrap Your Troubles in My Dreams," "Tea for Two," "Laura," and "My Heart Stood Still," Taylor's dedication to melody is only surpassed by his intricate and articulate solos that sing as well as swing. His take on Cole Porter's "Night and Day," and his own offering, "Easy Like," show off his rock-steady, stride-influenced left hand. His other tunes--the Bud Powell-paced "Early Bird," the reflective "Solo," and the willowy "Can You Tell by Looking at Me?"--are more like spontaneous compositions than simple improvisations. With this CD, one can get a first-rate education in America's classical music, thanks to Dr. Taylor's pianistic prowess. --Eugene Holley Jr.
Product Description
This recording is another jazz surprise â€" an exhilarating one! Liberated from all constraints, Billy plays with a joy of self-discovery on the swing tunes that is infectious... Moreover, on ballads here, he plays with a subtle, gently probling romanticism that is never sentimental and thereby is all the more penetrating. In mobile space that is all his own, he swings with more ease, liveliness, and resilience than ever before. He makes the standard songs in the set sound as if he were playing them for the first time. For this listener, the Billy Taylor that emerges here was a surprise â€" a daring risk-taker who has absorbed the entire jazz tradition but now breaks through as an immediately identifiable personal force.
As for his playing -often in a trio context- it is unerringly logical, unfailing coherent, and always cohesive. But, as I’ve discovered in this solo album, there is another startling dimension to Billy’s music when he is free to plumb the improvisational depths of his imagination in conversation with himself. -From the liner notes by Nat Hentoff
Ten Fingers, One Voice
Ten Fingers, One Voice,Billy Taylor,Arkadia Jazz,Bop,Hard Bop,Jazz,Jazz Music,Pop,Swing
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Ten Fingers, One Voice
Billy Taylor Manufacturer: Arkadia Jazz ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  Bebop General
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ASIN: B00000HX7Q Release Date: 1999-01-26 |
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Amazon.com
Because of his tireless work as a jazz educator, author, and TV correspondent, it's easy to overlook the fact that Dr. Billy Taylor is one of today's most comprehensive pianists, as this brilliant and buoyant solo recording--only the second of his more-than-50-year career--shows. In this invigorating mix of bop tunes, ballads, and original compositions, Taylor's septuagenarian swing marvelously encapsulates an encyclopedic range of jazz pianisms into his own personal idiom. On the standards, "Wrap Your Troubles in My Dreams," "Tea for Two," "Laura," and "My Heart Stood Still," Taylor's dedication to melody is only surpassed by his intricate and articulate solos that sing as well as swing. His take on Cole Porter's "Night and Day," and his own offering, "Easy Like," show off his rock-steady, stride-influenced left hand. His other tunes--the Bud Powell-paced "Early Bird," the reflective "Solo," and the willowy "Can You Tell by Looking at Me?"--are more like spontaneous compositions than simple improvisations. With this CD, one can get a first-rate education in America's classical music, thanks to Dr. Taylor's pianistic prowess. --Eugene Holley Jr.Album Description
This recording is another jazz surprise â€" an exhilarating one! Liberated from all constraints, Billy plays with a joy of self-discovery on the swing tunes that is infectious... Moreover, on ballads here, he plays with a subtle, gently probling romanticism that is never sentimental and thereby is all the more penetrating. In mobile space that is all his own, he swings with more ease, liveliness, and resilience than ever before. He makes the standard songs in the set sound as if he were playing them for the first time. For this listener, the Billy Taylor that emerges here was a surprise â€" a daring risk-taker who has absorbed the entire jazz tradition but now breaks through as an immediately identifiable personal force.As for his playing -often in a trio context- it is unerringly logical, unfailing coherent, and always cohesive. But, as I’ve discovered in this solo album, there is another startling dimension to Billy’s music when he is free to plumb the improvisational depths of his imagination in conversation with himself. -From the liner notes by Nat Hentoff
Customer Reviews:
Melts in your mouth!.......2007-01-08
Mellow.......2001-04-07
Billy Taylor is always a wonderful performer.......1999-02-01
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