This collection of some 40 pieces brought together by writer, translator, and filmmaker Valente offers up an eclectic, daunting overview of the life and career of the singular free-jazz composer, performer, and poet Cecil Taylor. As Gary Giddins puts it in his fine essay, “The Avant-Gardist Who Came in From the Cold,” Taylor inherited a tradition of “unending discovery.” Marc Edwards contributes a personal piece on his “transformative experience” playing drums with Taylor. John Bruschini describes Taylor’s music as “always controversial, groundbreaking, and revolutionary.” Valente himself provides a thoughtful piece on Taylor’s many drummers. The collection then shifts to Taylor’s poetry. In “Cecil Taylor and the Commitment to Poetry” David Grundy writes that poetry was “where he theorized his artistic conception”—and, perhaps, it was where he artistically dealt with his homosexuality and his blackness: “When asked if he was gay, Taylor responded, ‘Do you think a three-letter word defines the complexity of my humanity? I avoid the trap of easy definition.” Taylor never published a book in his lifetime. Some commentary appeared as simple liner notes. He often read with the distinguished poet Amiri Baraka. Grundy believes that Taylor’s poetry was “part of a total way of living, devotional and expansive.” Valente also includes a handy biblio-discography of Taylor’s writings that fans will greatly appreciate. Will Alexander collects a number of Taylor-esque poems about Taylor written by others, including one by Anne Waldman. Mark Miller’s two essays are accessible windows into the Taylor world and mind. A piece on Taylor’s highly unusual “alphabet notation” and dance is especially illuminating, as is Matthew Goodheart’s “The Foundation of Taylor’s Music.” The issue of the relationship between his written and improvised material is nicely handled by Alex Ward. Ted Panken’s closing interviews with Taylor and other musicians provide insights into the thinking of this “master pianist and meta-musician-poet-dancer.”