''Regalia'' is a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in comple ...

and

Paul Lovens Paul Lovens (born 6 June 1949) is a German musician. He plays drums, percussion, singing saw, and cymbals. He has performed with the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra and Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra. He was born in Aachen, Germany. In the early ...

recorded in Berlin on June 26, 1988 as part of month-long series of concerts by Taylor and released on the FMP label. In his liner notes,

Alexander von Schlippenbach Alexander von Schlippenbach (born 7 April 1938) is a German jazz pianist and composer. He came to prominence in the 1960s playing free jazz in a trio with saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Paul Lovens, and as a member of the Globe Unity Orch ...

wrote: "Among Lovens' most striking qualities is a special sensitivity and flexibility for grasping what's going on as a pre-condition for his extraordinary quick-wittedness and expertise, which he is prepared to use in each and every way. Also in other respects, being so well-equipped, he can just slide into the playing, pushing, in the way he follows Taylor, allowing the pianist, in his turn to catch hold, and make use of what Lovens has diverted from his own (Taylor's) previous offerings."

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

review by Thom Jurek states "The most interesting thing about this pairing is the contrast in styles... Lovens is a drummer of nuance and often subtlety. His percussive methodology is based on mannerism and intricate execution to offer color, shape, and depth to whomever he's accompanying... What this meant for Taylor... is that Taylor has to adjust his own playing for this to work... By Lovens' articulation of speed and softness, Taylor realigns his own playing and, as a result, a spaciousness not normally present on his recordings appears in the middle of the mix. In that space is a percussive lyricism so beautiful and so pronounced that it's hard to believe everybody doesn't play this way. ''Regalia'' is a rare find for Taylor aficionados, and a true showcase of the genius two men can display when they are open to change musically and personally.

Track listing

:''All compositions by Cecil Taylor & Paul Lovens.'' # "Snake Charm" - 42:08 # "Regalia" (dedicated to Paul's Garden and Kitchen Tools) - 32:04 :*Recorded in Berlin on June 26, 1988

Personnel

* Cecil Taylor –

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

* Paul Lovens –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

References

{{Cecil Taylor 1988 live albums 1988 collaborative albums Cecil Taylor live albums FMP Records live albums