Cecil Taylor was born in Long Island City in March of 1929. His mother played violin and was a friend of drummer Sonny Greer. And his uncle performed on piano, drums, and violin. His father, a chef by trade, would sing the blues. From the age of five Cecil studied piano, and percussion with a classical tutor.

From 1951-1955 Cecil Taylor attended The New England Conservatory of Music. It was here he discovered the atonalists Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern. And more modern masters such as Bartok and Stravinsky. Also during this period he was listening to Dave Brubeck and Lennie Tristano. Young Cecil learned his lesson well.  

By the mid 1950's Taylor was leading his own small groups with musicians Buell Niedlinger, Steve Lacy, and Archie Shepp. In 1957 he played the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island, and New York's Great South Bay Jazz Festival in 1958. And in 1966 Blue Note released two outstanding sessions: Unit Structures and Conquistador (with Bill Dixon on trumpet). Taylor, along with Bill Dixon, was one of the organizers of the Jazz Composers' Guild in 1964-65.

In 1973 he ran his own record label, Unit Core. Releasing Indents (Mysteries) and Spring of Two Blue-Js. Around 1980 his career began to gather momentum with the help from releases in Japan and Europe. He was elected by the critics to the Downbeat Hall of Fame in 1975. Taylor was finally starting to get the recognition he deserved.

As always seems to be the case with "dense and intense" jazz, Taylor's music appealed to, and was more readily accepted overseas. And in 1986 he received a very high honor. He was invited to a "Cecil Taylor Week" sponsored by the Berlin Free Jazz Society. All the sessions were recorded by Free Music Production and are available on an eleven CD box set. Taylor has also been voted number one pianist in the Downbeat Magazine international Critics Poll for nine consecutive years.

Adapted from Richard Bianchino, Jazzline.com