Cecil Taylor could be called Freddie Gambrell an alternative to Cecil Taylor when it comes to extending Art Tatum’s legacy into postmodernism. However, most of his peers chose to run and hide as if a reader was confronted by the first half. The combination of mundane and mysterious details that Gambrell experienced during his brief stint in the spotlight would make him even more attractive. Blinded as a teenager, Gambrell mastered enough instruments to humiliate even a multi-instrumentalist from Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. At 11 years old, he learned to play the violin and later recorded the viola. In the early 1950s, Chico Hamilton introduced Gambrell to the public as a pianist who was classified in the blind genius category. He also played the guitar, bass and brass instruments. Gambrell’s rebirth as Federico Cervantes (modern jazz trumpet player) is one of the most bizarre things about Gambrell. This at least makes him a bit like Garth Brooks. It is impossible to examine the discography of Gambrell without looking at four albums that were released under the Federico Cervantes sextet name. These recordings have been praised by many, with some mentioning Latin jazz and country.
