AMG Review of New York City R&B

Scott Yanow
All Music Guide

The contents of this rather brief CD, originally released under bassist Buell Neidlinger's name, have since been reissued in the Cecil Taylor/Buell Neidlinger Mosaic box set. Two selections feature a trio with pianist Taylor, bassist Neidlinger and drummer Billy Higgins and one performance adds the young tenor Archie Shepp (and has Dennis Charles in Higgins's place). This music is quite advanced for the period although more accessible to the average listener than Taylor's later recordings; at least one can hear (even in abstract form) his connection to the bebop tradition and to Duke Ellington. Speaking of the latter, the most intriguing selection is a version of "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" that not only has Taylor, Neidlinger, Higgins and Shepp but Steve Lacy on soprano, baritonist Charles Davis, trombonist Roswell Rudd and trumpeter Clark Terry, making for a very interesting mixture of styles.