Olu Iwa

The shorter piece, "Olu Iwa (Lord of Character) is 27 minutes long. There are no horns here--just Parker, Barker, McCall and Taylor. It can be disappointing to describe the particulars of a Cecil Taylor concert. How do you describe a taste or a color? McCall's drumming is wonderfully subtle. Jimmy Lyons, Taylor's alto sax alter ego is present in his absence (he died a month later). Suffice it to say that this music enters every cell of the listener's body. It's like a dream. Cecil Taylor is after Clarity. He pushes his musicians hard; it's as if he's trying to split something open and see what's inside. Inside is energy.