Cecil Taylor – Unit Structures

Great sound on this one, especially the drums. My pressing is alright, side A is dead silent but there's some crackle and very faint zips of stitching on side B. Nothing egregious though.

Great recording and pressing. But for the love of God, please make this noise stop!
Yes, I agree with you, i'm a dork who doesn't get it. But this hurts my jazz soul to it's core.

I'm not a fan of free jazz, and certainly not someone who could comment on it. Still, I play it occasionally. This album is only the second Taylor album in my collection. Before listening to it, I underwent thorough preparation. First, a few times on Youtube...My The World of Cecil Taylor didn't help me with that at all because it's a completely different "song". I have to say that my collection of 20th century new wave classical music helped me more. Even Ravel or Debussy. After two or three sessions, I like its atmosphere and cleanliness. There aren't many moments of interaction between the musicians on the album, but on closer listening, there are, especially on the second side of the record. Surprisingly, between Taylor and Cyrille. Cecil is buried inside the bunch but sporadically bangs, when he can be heard. But in my opinion, the album is not about Taylor at all, but about the whole, which suits me thanks to the great sound. Additionally, the record is very quiet, which enhances the experience of quieter passages.It also has a calming effect on me with the inner beauty and perfect cover of R.Miles. I don't know if it's an essential record within the genre, but it's a historical and timeless artistic document of how it dramatically evolved.

Not for squares, man. Pretty cool that Blue Note released this along with like minded albums from Don Cherry, Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman and others around the same period. This is perhaps the most free and out there as anything the label ever released. Despite this, Unit Structures is frequently listed as one of the top BN albums ever. It is comparable to Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica in that it can be viewed by some as high art and others as utter noise. And yet, both descriptions seem appropriate. It definitely demands your attention and refuses to be relegated to background listening. Imagine a Blue Note virgin buying this along with their copy of Somethin' Else or Moanin'?

My copy is basically flawless and sounds superb. I have mainly had very good experiences with the Classic series and am grateful that they keep putting out new titles, including the more avant garde stuff. Let Unit Structures take over your mind.

I wish we could get more Cecil Taylor in the Blue Note Classic Vinyl series. Free jazz is criminally underrepresented, that would be a way to start to remedy that. Pressing is gorgeous sounding and dead flat.

This is the avant garde if there ever was. There is something so unique and otherworldly about this music. The jagged rhythms, abrupt changes, it sounds like a 100 songs put in one. There are so many special moments, this is one to sit down and really listen to. I really love how this group gives so much room for all the players to be heard. It's not probably the easiest stuff for a casual jazz fan but if you give it a chance prepare to have your mind blown. My copy is perfect and this is the way to hear it for sure. I've had the CD for years but this is a new experience hearing it from a great vinyl pressing as this.

Bright and crispy sounds over and here and there. Interesting stereo details but overall result it could be better ...

Optimal is still up to their same tricks, which means your chances of getting a "good" copy of this are probably around 50/50. The first copy I received was badly dished. Second copy largely fine.

As for this music it's great and I'm glad to have this on KG mastered vinyl to supplement my old CD version. Myopic Blue Note fans and folks new to jazz might have a hard time with this one...

perfectly flat pressing of this one, no flaws whatsoever.. this record is super "out there", not for the new listener lol..

RVG did well to balance all the divergent instrumentation here. The palate of chaos is handled better here, than say a similar album of its time, Love & Peace.