Jazz Articles about Andrew Cyrille

About Andrew Cyrille

Album Review

David Virelles: Creative Inspirations

Read "Creative Inspirations" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
September 20, 2026

Though we can likely assume that any music brought to life by pianist David Virelles, with his uncanny ability to make even the most jagged improvisation sound like yesteryear's standard, bassist Reggie Workman, who at eighty-eight still plays like the young turk afire alongside John Coltrane at the Village Vanguard, and drummer Andrew Cyrille who, at eighty-six, still epitomizes free jazz drumming, to move about freely through space and time and go where it will. Creative Inspirations comes at you ...

Album Review

Cecil Taylor: Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts

Read "Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
May 12, 2026

Another insanely good Record Store Day release from Elemental Music, Fragments, The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts, is available as a limited-edition, 180-gram, 3-LP gatefold set or as your standard 2-CD version, but truth be told and told plainly, any version will serve one well. Talk about rumble in the jungle. Fragments, The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts pushes at you like a gang fight on the 49-minute “Fragments of a Dedication to Duke Ellington Evening Set Version." ...

Album Review

Cecil Taylor: Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts

Read "Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts" reviewed by Jack Kenny

by Jack Kenny
May 2, 2026

Hosting a recording by Cecil Taylor represents a new departure for producer Zev Feldman. He is candid about the challenge: “Words fail me to describe the great genius of Cecil Taylor and I could never do him justice, but luckily we have Phil Freeman's erudite words." Freeman contributes a substantial essay to the release. Even after fifty years, Taylor's music remains dense, unrelenting, forceful, and challenging. Time has not diminished its impact. The glorious vivacity is undimmed.

Album Review

Cecil Taylor: Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts

Read "Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts" reviewed by Joshua Weiner

by Joshua Weiner
April 26, 2026

"On one level you can look at him as one of the grandfathers of the free jazz tradition," says pianist Matthew Shipp of Cecil Taylor in the generous booklet included with Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts, a three-LP set released by Elemental Music for Record Store Day 2026 (CD and digital releases will also follow). “But on the other hand...(h)e was very insistent that he came out of a certain tradition, and he talked about Ellington, Monk, and ...

Album Review

Cecil Taylor Unit: Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts

Read "Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
April 18, 2026

Cecil Taylor, a pioneer of free jazz, pared down his Cecil Taylor Unit ensemble for a trip through Europe to partake in a 15-date tour in late 1969, in support of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and the Miles Davis Quintet. This foray was billed as the Newport Jazz Festival In Europe. Taylor's Unit of the day--Taylor on piano, Sam Rivers on reeds, Jimmy Lyons on alto sax and Andrew Cyrille in the drummer's chair--sounded nothing like the elegance and swing ...

Album Review

James Newton Quartet: Live in Willisau

Read "Live in Willisau" reviewed by Giuseppe Segala

by Giuseppe Segala
April 13, 2026

Ecco una pubblicazione molto opportuna, a favore di un musicista il cui lavoro è assai poco documentato. Ne fotografa un momento iniziale, immerso nel campo del jazz, dentro un percorso che, nell'arco di oltre cinquant'anni, ha successivamente toccato tappe di molteplice orientamento, sviluppandosi nella musica accademica contemporanea, per orchestra e da camera, per balletto e danza moderna, senza mai perdere il legame con le radici afroamericane e l'interesse per l'improvvisazione nelle sue varie declinazioni. Autentico virtuoso del ...

Album Review

Adegoke Steve Colson: GLOW: Music for Trio...Add Voice

Read "GLOW: Music for Trio...Add Voice" reviewed by Marco Iacoboni

by Marco Iacoboni
February 11, 2026

L'incandescenza richiamata dal titolo riverbera nella musica di ogni traccia di questo progetto, una narrazione figlia di oltre cinquant'anni di attività musicale e impegno sociale e di contributi alla storia del jazz. Al centro di Glow ci sono il pianista e compositore Adegoke Steve Colson e la cantante Iqua Colson, membri storici e pilastri della seconda generazione dell'AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians di Chicago). A dare sostegno ai Colson troviamo una sezione ritmica costituita da ...