Looking Ahead!
| Looking Ahead! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1959 | |||
| Recorded | June 9, 1958 | |||
| Genres | ||||
| Length | 41:47 | |||
| Label | Contemporary | |||
| Cecil Taylor chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [2] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide |  [3] |
Looking Ahead! is the second studio album by American jazz pianist Cecil Taylor, recorded for Contemporary Records in June 1958 and released the following year. The album features bassist Buell Neidlinger, drummer Denis Charles, and vibraphonist Earl Griffith.
Reception
The AllMusic review by Brian Olewnick calls Looking Ahead! "an amazing document of a talent fairly straining at the reins, a meteor about to burst onto the jazz scene and render it forever changed...a vital recording from the nascence of one of the towering geniuses of modern music [that] belongs in any jazz fan's collection".[4]
The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz deemed it "the most pensive of Taylor's early recordings" and "the best place to start in appreciating his music," noting that "Toll" "embarks on a new journey towards his own territory."[2]
While a student at Syracuse University, Lou Reed hosted a radio show on WAER titled "Excursions on a Wobbly Rail" after the track "Excursion on a Wobbly Rail".[5]
Track listing
- All compositions by Cecil Tayor except as indicated
- "Luyah! The Glorious Step" - 6:25
- "African Violets" (Earl Griffith, Taylor) - 5:12
- "Of What" - 8:18
- "Wallering" - 5:22
- "Toll" - 7:38
- "Excursion on a Wobbly Rail" - 9:04
- Recorded at Nola's Penthouse Studios, New York City, on June 9, 1958
Personnel
- Cecil Taylor - piano
- Buell Neidlinger - double bass
- Denis Charles - drums
- Earl Griffith - vibraphone
References
- ↑ AllMusic Review
- 1 2 Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1380. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
- ↑ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 189. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- ↑ Olewnick, B. AllMusic Review accessed July 9, 2009.
- ↑ Segelbaum, Dylan; van Rheenan, Erik (November 4, 2013). "'Excursions on a Wobbly Rail': Alumna remembers Lou Reed's time at WAER". The Daily Orange. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2022.