A Series of Concerts and Films to Honor Cecil Taylor April 10, 2012, 1:00 pm The pianist Cecil Taylor, a fundamental influence in the wilder currents of improvised music since the 1950s, will be the subject of a two-week series of concerts and films in Manhattan and Brooklyn in May, produced jointly by Harlem Stage and Issue Project Room. Information and tickets for the concerts are available through their Web sites. "Cecil Taylor: A Celebration of the Maestro" will include two nights of solo piano programs dedicated to Mr. Taylor by Vijay Iyer, Craig Taborn and Amina Claudine Myers, with a guest appearance by the poet Amiri Baraka, on May 8 and 9 at Harlem Stage Gatehouse; a concert by the pianist Thollem McDonas, the bass clarinetist Arrington de Dionyso and the drummer-bandleader William Hooker on May 16 at Issue Project Room; and two solo performances by Mr. Taylor, on May 17 at Harlem Stage Gatehouse and May 19 at Issue Project Room. On May 22, Anthology Film Archives will present a slate of video footage from Mr. Taylor's past. Mr. Taylor, 83, a longtime Brooklyn resident, has not performed in New York City since 2009, and not in Brooklyn for decades, according to the organizers of the series.