A solo piano recording by English pianist John Taylor, The Bauer Session was recorded in September 2014 at Bauer Studios in Ludwigsburg, Germany. That took place less than a year before Taylor died suddenly.
The release adds a further document to Taylor’s recorded legacy and presents him in the most direct format: alone at the piano.
John Taylor (1942–2015) was a central figure in European jazz for several decades. His influence can be strongly felt still on several pianists still including Richard Fairhurst, John Turville and Pablo Held to name but a few.
His work ranged from solo performance to long-standing collaborations, including projects with Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone and Steve Swallow.
Taylor was widely recognised for a harmonic language that drew on modern jazz as well as elements associated with European classical traditions.
The Bauer Session is relatively brief. It runs for roughly thirty-seven minutes and contains eight tracks. These are the tracks:
- Sophie – Take 1
- Impro 6/8
- Phrygian
- Three
- Sophie – Take 2
- Fifteen
- Deer on the Moon
- Intro Sophie
The programme mixes Taylor compositions with pieces associated with Wheeler.
The versions of ‘Sophie’ suggest a studio environment in which the pianist was working through different approaches to the same material.
Other tracks appear to be improvised studies or brief thematic pieces rather than fully developed compositions.
The recording setting is Bauer Studios, a venue used for numerous European jazz sessions.
The sound places the piano clearly in the room with limited processing, consistent with many recordings produced there.
The result is a close, unembellished presentation of the instrument.
Musically, the material reflects aspects commonly associated with Taylor’s playing.
The improvisations move between tonal centres and modal areas, with voicings that emphasise colour and internal movement.
Titles such as ‘Phrygian’ point to an interest in modal structures.
Rhythmically the playing remains flexible, often moving between pulse and freer phrasing.
Several tracks function almost as short explorations of ideas rather than extended performances.
‘Impro 6/8’ suggests a metric framework used as a starting point for development.
‘Three’ and ‘Fifteen’ are brief studies built from small motifs.
Because the recording predates Taylor’s death by about a year, the album sits alongside other late-period documents that show the pianist continuing to work in small and solo settings.
In this respect the session provides a view of his working process. Improvisations unfold without extensive editing.
For listeners familiar with Taylor’s work, it offers additional insight into his solo playing and compositional thinking.
In these recordings the detail of his harmonic approach and touch at the piano can be heard without ensemble context.
