What an extraordinary place The World of Cecil Taylor must have seemed, not least to many of his fellow musicians, when this recording first appeared on LP in 1961. Archie Shepp's contribution to two of the five tracks on this album (to wit, "Air" and "Lazy Afternoon") is traditionally alluded to as an illustration of this. While there's no denying that many of the saxophonist's lines give the impression that he's trying to capture some of Taylor's ideas hoop-la fashion, there's also more Sonny Meets Hawk-like mutual respect here than might be apparent. "Air" opens with a typical faux-faux naïf solo from drummer Dennis Charles--his style was to remain unchanged for the next 25 years--which sets the listener up completely for Taylor's strident, uncompromising chromaticism which dominates the music from then on. The two non-Taylor compositions, "This Nearly Was Mine" and "Lazy Afternoon" occasionally blunt the cutting edge, but all told Taylor's third album was and remains essential listening.--Roger Thomas