In tribute to late free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor, the West Coast/Vancouver trio of guitarist Henry Kaiser, alto saxophonist John Oswald and vibraphonist Paul Plimley explore the intention of Taylor's singular style in six anagrammatically titled improvisations, with Chicago violinist Tracy Silverman joining for the massive "Oceans Felons Salad", and Scott Amendola joing for "fir loom".
"The three leaders, on At One Time, Henry Kaiser, John Oswald, and Paul Plimley, have all worked with Cecil Taylor, both in performance and in workshops. Here, they share their love of the late master Taylor's music with a celebration of language and narrative strategies that were discovered/pioneered by the great piano maestro.
Two special guests join them to make quartets on two tracks. Scott Amendola joins in on drums and Tracy Sliverman brings his 6-string electric fiddle to the party. Unusually, pianist Paul Plimly chose to entire play vibes on this album. Oswald plays alto sax, as is usual. Kaiser plays electric and acoustic guitars + electric bass.
Kaiser, Oswald, and Plimley have been collaborating together for well more than 40 years; this project is also a celebration of their friendship and love of improvising together, recorded during tough COVID times."-Metalanguage