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Unit Structures

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Work

Unit Structures was released in October 1966 on Blue Note and was Cecil Taylor's first album for that label. Later that same year he recorded Conquistador! with a similar line-up, which did not come out until 1968. The record came with an essay by Taylor himself, about sound and structure.

The music is free jazz in a particularly intense form. A Pitchfork reviewer called it one of the most ferocious early free jazz albums and wrote that the atonality does not let up. Yet the group of seven players finds beautiful spaces. Free jazz here means not only improvising freely, but also devising your own musical worlds and rules. The album received five stars from AllMusic and in 2017 appeared on Pitchfork's list of the two hundred best albums of the 1960s.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Steps and notice how the players sound all through one another. Don't look for a melody, but for energy and colour.

Track list

  1. 1Steps10:18Apple Music ↗
  2. 2Enter, Evening (Soft Line Structure)11:06Apple Music ↗
  3. 3Unit Structure / As of a Now / Section17:45Apple Music ↗
  4. 4Tales (8 Whisps)7:11Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗

Categories: Albums and songs