Conquistador!

{{Infobox album

| name = Conquistador!

| type = studio

| cover = Conquistador!albumcover.png|border=yes

| alt =

| released = March 1968[https://books.google.com/books?id=DUUEAAAAMBAJ&dq=mobley+Voltage&pg=PA50 Billboard Mar 9, 1968]

| recorded = October 6, 1966

| venue =

| studio = Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

| genre = Free jazz

| length = 37:14

| label = Blue Note

| producer = Alfred Lion

| prev_title = Unit Structures

| prev_year = 1966

| next_title = Student Studies

| next_year = 1966

}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = All About Jazz

| rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/conquistador-cecil-taylor-blue-note-records-review-by-colin-fleming.php|title=Cecil Taylor: Conquistador!|work=All About Jazz|first=Colin|last=Fleming|date=October 17, 2004|accessdate=July 29, 2019}}

| rev2 = AllMusic

| rev2score = {{rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/conquistador%21-mw0000199214|title=Conquistador! - Cecil Taylor|work=AllMusic|first=Scott|last=Yanow|author-link=Scott Yanow|accessdate=July 29, 2019}}

| rev3 = The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide

| rev3score = {{rating|5|5}}{{cite book|editor-first=John|editor-last=Swenson|year=1985|title=The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide|publisher=Random House/Rolling Stone|location=USA|isbn=0-394-72643-X|pages=189}}

|rev4 = The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings

|rev4score = {{Rating|4|4}}{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |authorlink1=Richard Cook (journalist) |last2=Morton |first2=Brian |authorlink2=Brian Morton (Scottish writer) |title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |year=2008 |edition=9th |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-141-03401-0 |page=1381}}

}}

Conquistador! is a 1968 studio album recorded in 1966 by free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor, released by Blue Note Records.{{cite web|url=https://www.clashmusic.com/news/free-jazz-innovator-cecil-taylor-has-died|title=Free Jazz Innovator Cecil Taylor Has Died|work=Clash|first=Robin|last=Murray|date=April 6, 2018|accessdate=July 29, 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406151330/https://www.clashmusic.com/news/free-jazz-innovator-cecil-taylor-has-died|archivedate=April 6, 2018|url-status=live}}

Critical reception

Writing for AllMusic, Scott Yanow gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars, stating that "During the two lengthy pieces, [Jimmy] Lyons' passionate solos contrast with [Bill] Dixon's quieter ruminations while the music in general is unremittingly intense."

The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 4 stars, calling it "an all but flawless record," and commenting: "Dark, difficult, unique, yet operating at an artful tangent to some of the other 'difficult' Blue Note music of the period, this is Taylor at his most devious."

Writing for Vinyl Me Please, Brian Josephs stated: "Conquistador!... swerves away from Unit Structures' fire and evokes the coolness of its cover, which features a turtlenecked Taylor slightly out of focus, hiding behind shades as he mysteriously stares into the distance. The musical elements don’t combust as much as they melt into each other: Horns swell shrilly at the borders to add haunted textures, while Andrew Cyrille's amorphous rhythms tie the masterwork together. Even without Unit Structures as its contrast, Conquistador! still stands as a great testament to this sui generis collective."{{cite web |url=https://www.vinylmeplease.com/blogs/magazine/cecil-taylor-primer |title=A Cecil Taylor Primer |last=Josephs |first=Brian |date=September 12, 2018 |website=Vinyl Me Please |access-date=February 2, 2022}}

In 2008, The New Yorker placed it at number 87 on the "100 Essential Jazz Albums" list.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/05/19/100-essential-jazz-albums|title=100 Essential Jazz Albums|magazine=The New Yorker|first=David|last=Remnick|date=May 19, 2008|accessdate=July 29, 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905074649/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/05/19/100-essential-jazz-albums|archivedate=September 5, 2014|url-status=live}}