This 4-disc collection gathers together the complete recordings that Cecil Taylor laid down for Candid, a subsidiary label to Archie Bleyer's Cadence imprint, which was formed in 1960 as a way of releasing recordings from some of the most radical players of the period. With four albums under his belt, Taylor's reputation as an innovator was already well established, a fact that was not lost on the young Archie Shepp – whose presence during these sessions looms large – and the host of important new players who joined Taylor on these sessions, nearly all of whom would go on to map out their own direction in the jazz world. Equally important to the mood and rhythm here is bass player Buell Neidlinger, whose highly complex and energetic playing style mirrors perfectly the near Nancarrow-styled player piano effects that Taylor is managing to summon up from his instrument.

Jazz is at the heart of this music – the theatre, modern art, dance, drugs of the time fired the compositions but the players involved are also creatively pushing in another direction. Over 50 years later and it still sounds vibrant, joyfully new and sparking with a dangerous electric undercurrent. This was the new wave of modern music in the 1960s and it still sounds incredible today. Dive in. For those still wary of taking the plunge, the single disc The World Of Cecil Taylor is a worthy sampler (of sorts) to the Complete box set. Featuring the mega line-up of Taylor, Shepp, Neidlinger and drummers Dennis Charles and Sunny Murray, the laid back velocity that explodes out of tracks like ‘Air’ and ‘Port Of Call’ continues to amaze.