Unit Structures cover

Unit Structures

Released

On Taylor’s first of two 1966 recordings for Blue Note, he and his regular partners, alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons and drummer Andrew Cyrille, were joined by two bassists (Henry Grimes and Alan Silva), trumpeter Eddie Gale and multi-reedist Ken McIntyre. These four medium-length pieces, powerfully recorded, are a showcase for Taylor’s dense but comprehensible compositional voice as much as his playing. There are melodies here; the expressionistic solos are natural outgrowths, not mere eruptions; and Cyrille’s furious but precise drumming locks it all in place.

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
Crescent cover

Crescent

John Coltrane Quartet
Super-Sonic Jazz cover

Super-Sonic Jazz

The Sun Ra Arkestra
Caligula cover

Caligula

Lingua Ignota
Tonight We Ride cover

Tonight We Ride

The Scene Is Now
Woodcuts cover

Woodcuts

Paal Nilssen-Love, Peter Brötzmann
Onwards to the Wall cover

Onwards to the Wall

A Place to Bury Strangers
The Soft Machine cover

The Soft Machine

The Soft Machine
The Dark Tree cover

The Dark Tree

Horace Tapscott