‘You can’t rehearse the unknown’ – it’s attributed to Wayne Shorter but it was also a credo for Miles during his peak years of 1957-1970, calling on his players to do their ‘woodshedding’ on the stage rather than in the practice room.

Listening to Fragments, the blistering new Cecil Taylor Unit two-CD/three-LP set recorded live in a Paris concert hall on 3 November 1969, you might assume that the legendary pianist also embraced that ethos.

But apparently not – in the extensive liner notes, drummer Andrew Cyrille reports that the band rehearsed regularly in Taylor’s loft. This was no pick-up group.

(Cyrille also reports that Taylor’s instructions to him during rehearsal were very rare but incisive: ‘Play three against five’ and ‘Do what drummers do’!)

Still, Fragments – also featuring Jimmy Lyons on alto, Sam Rivers on tenor, and no bassist – is well named. This band play ferocious blocks of sound, usually ‘initiated’ by a short melodic phrase which is never revisited.

Listeners/readers who are sometimes turned off by ‘free jazz’ may be surprised at the ferociousness of this music, despite Lyons’ sweet tone. Phil Freeman’s excellent liner notes report that the Taylor Unit frequently played in ‘rock’ venues during 1969, including a Fillmore East gig supporting The Yardbirds.

And though Taylor’s piano playing is relentlessly playful (‘I’m a dancer’, he reminded interviewer Robert L Doerschuk in the brilliant book ‘88: The Giants Of Jazz Piano’), he could never completely shake off his major influences: Ellington, Fats Waller and Monk.

In 1969, he was coming off the back of two famous Blue Note albums, but his heady musical brew still turned off a lot of people – particularly Miles. But it’s interesting to compare Miles and Taylor’s output during 1969, and perhaps their approaches weren’t so far apart, with ‘coded phrases’ leading to extensive improvisations that could last well over half an hour.

Fragments is a wonderful package – with good sound quality and featuring extensive interviews with Lyons’ daughter, Jack DeJohnette and Matthew Shipp – which will hopefully bring Taylor’s unique soundworld to a new audience.