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Andrew Cyrille with Greg Osby: Low Blue Flame
Rarely does Osby resort to the honks and squeals one would expect from this type of encounter, instead using his trademark lacerating tone to plumb the depths of each numberseven by Cyrille and five by Osby, plus Thelonious Monk's rarely performed "Work to its harmonic limits. And he's in particularly fine form on soprano, twirling and spinning his way through Cyrille's odd-metered, 13/4, "The Music in Us, while never once losing sight of his partner.
Yet the album is dominated by Cyrille, even though he lays out completely for a couple of tracks. Long one of jazz's premier percussionists, Cyrille has been working the duo format for years now, recording with artists including saxophonists Jimmy Lyons, Anthony Braxton and Peter Brötzmann, pianist Marilyn Crispell, bassist Peter Kowald and drummers Kenny Clarke and Michael Carvin. Approaching seventy, he's probably more qualified for a tandem disc like this than just about any other skins-man on the planet. Whether shading with an abrupt flurry, coloring with a handclap or propelling with a generous bar of sudden silence, Cyrille's resources are seemingly limitless, his instincts uncanny and his choices startlingly right. He is, in short, magnificent and anyone interested in the varietal possibilities of the drums would do well to check out this disc. In fact, "Roscoe, the album's closer, might be mandatory listening for all budding jazz drummers; an improvised solo Cyrille piece dedicated to saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, it's an abject lesson in the expressive power of quiet space and cunning restraint.
Track Listing
Equalatogram; Work; With You in Mind; Cyrille in Motion; No. 11; Noodle; Striation; With You in Mind; Low Blue Flame; Pop Pop; Concepticus; The Music in Us; Roscoe.
Personnel
Andrew Cyrille
drumsAndrew Cyrille: drums; Greg Osby: alto and soprano saxophones.
Album information
Title: Low Blue Flame | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: TUM Records
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