Unit Structures

One of the leading proponents of the controversial and groundbreaking Free Jazz movement, Cecil Taylor with his first album for the legendary Blue Note records channels the sound popularized by Ornette Coleman in expected fashion. Compositions that do away with conventional melodies and hooks the lengthy tracks here cram unorthodox patterns around a tenous semblance of structure. Whether conveying by sound the chaos of rush hour traffic or a scene from a cartoon episode the instruments alternate between relentless assault or uncertain reflections or combine both resulting in music of discordance bordering on the barely noticeable. The result is one mess of a blur.

While interesting enough for the musically adventurous to keep it from being background music this can test even the open minded. Experimental to the core "Unit Structures" strains the boundaries of conventional music. The Velvet Underground and Captain Beefheart are among the luminaries who used its freewheeling style in their own innovative sound and the album's presence can still be heard and felt in the jagged stentorian sounds of contemporary music.