Mike Taylor Quartet

The jazz world is set to celebrate one of its most intriguing and visionary figures with the reissue of Pendulum, the groundbreaking album by the Mike Taylor Quartet. Originally released in 1966 on Columbia Records, Pendulum captures the restless creativity and uncompromising spirit of pianist and composer Mike Taylor, whose brief but influential career left an enduring mark on modern jazz in Britain.  

Featuring an exceptional lineup with Mike Taylor (piano), Dave Tomlin (soprano saxophone), Tony Reeves (bass), and Jon Hiseman (drums), the album distills the quartet’s unique blend of freedom and form. While steeped in the jazz tradition, Pendulum breaks ahead of its time, embracing daring harmonic structures, angular improvisations, and rhythmic experimentation that foreshadowed directions British jazz would take in the coming decades. Though Mike Taylor’s life was tragically short, a mystique surrounds his work, revered by musicians for its originality and spirit of adventure. Pendulum is often cited as his artistic statement, a record that bridges post-bop vitality with a more forward-leaning sensibility, making it a landmark in the development of the UK jazz avant-garde.  

This new edition of Pendulum offers listeners both a chance to rediscover Taylor’s lost genius and to hear the album in its finest form to date. Accompanied by newly written liner notes, rare archival material, and restored audio, the re-release is both a tribute and an invitation—a way to reclaim this vital piece of jazz history.