What made me this way...
This
is not the cover that I am familiar with for Cecil Taylor's "Conquistador" - it
must be a reissue of the original Blue Note release I grew up with.
This is a master jazz work from 1966 featuring the brilliant "avant garde" pianist fronting a 6-piece band of consummate soloists and rhythm players. Of particular note are Bill Dixon's trumpet playing and Andrew Cyrille's sparse drum punctuations. Perfectly recorded and elegantly arranged, this is an almost symphonic work.
Worth seeking out also is the 1962 release "Live at the Cafe Montmartre". This trio work displays Taylor's mastery of the keyboard during his more formative years. Careening between thunderous clusters of bass and rapid fire plnky treble notes, the man moves so fast as to sound almost inhuman. I once saw Cecil perform, sitting within a few feet of his hands. I am not kidding: they were a blur.