Cecil Taylor in conversation with Bill Smith

Posted on | May 3, 2009 | No Comments

by Brian Nation

When soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy visited Vancouver in March 1976 for his solo performance at the Western Front, we spent an afternoon eating, drinking, and talking at a little restaurant on Robson St. He was one of the brightest, most erudite and articulate men I’d ever met. So it meant something to me when, among many other things, he mentioned that he thought CODA Magazine was the one of the best music magazines in the world. (This was 33 years ago. The magazine has gone through some changes since then.) He went on to say that Bill Smith’s interview with Cecil Taylor, published in the magazine a year earlier, was the best interview with a musician he’d ever read. (I still have my copy of that issue.)

I’ve urged Smith to add that interview to his ever-growing online archive of interviews, articles, and reviews, Imagine the Sound. It’s now available here: