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Jazz Articles about Andrew Cyrille
Wadada Leo Smith: The Emerald Duets
by Karl Ackermann
The pioneering British photographer/author Val Wilmer said of Wadada Leo Smith, “he no longer relates to the restrictions of scales and chords. To him, music is about two things only: sound and rhythm." Her assessment, from the essential book As Serious As Your Life (Allison & Busby Ltd, 1977), was published in 1977. But in the survey of creative music history, her title could have been a sole perspective on Smith. After being a regular contributor to John ...
Continue ReadingWadada Leo Smith: The Emerald Duets
by Dan McClenaghan
Wadada Leo Smith's music is often celestial, but the man himself is of this Earth—of America, in particular, the progeny of people brought to the Western Hemisphere involuntarily. People who have historically been treated as less than human, for the “sin" of having dark skin. This goes on. The true sin, the flames of racism, are stoked by a former and possibly future (God help us all) president—a cruel, sociopathic, immoral, dishonest racist. Wadada Leo Smith is America. ...
Continue ReadingTwo From TUM
by Maurice Hogue
A true smorgasbord of creative music in this edition of One Man's Jazz. It's all good--American masters Andrew Cyrille and William Parker joined by Enrico Rava, the OGJB Quartet, Joe McPhee, New Orleans poet Don Paul, Tony Malaby & Reggie Workman--European flavours from pianists Joona Toivanen from Finland and Alexander Hawkins from England, Nexus and Rope Trio from Italy, and some French dressing from saxophonist Nicolas Masson. Top it off with some Argentinean spice and it should all be quite ...
Continue ReadingAndrew Cyrille, William Parker & Enrico Rava: 2 Blues For Cecil
by Karl Ackermann
Cecil Taylor's music was not for the faint of heart. The legendary pianist who performed like a combination of poet-percussionist-dancer rests now, but there is little doubt that discoveries from the archives will continue to be unearthed or reissued. In the meantime, tribute albums as eclectic as Taylor himself have been surfacing since he passed in 2018. Among the best was Six Encomiums for Cecil Taylor (Tzadik, 2018) from the Winged Serpents collective that included top pianists Craig Taborn, Kris ...
Continue ReadingCecil Taylor: The Complete, Legendary, Live Return Concert
by Mike Jurkovic
If the title alone The Complete, Legendary, Live Return Concert doesn't blow out those flu-like post-holiday cobwebs in a big hurry, the full, near ninety minute assault on all that was and is holy damn well will. Couple the jittery anticipation of NYC's Town Hall audience pushing up against the cool onstage élan of alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, percussionist Andrew Cyrille and bassist Sirone aka Norris Jones and the air in the hall is highly, nervously charged, all of them ...
Continue ReadingAndrew Cyrille, William Parker & Enrico Rava: 2 Blues For Cecil
by Dan McClenaghan
Finland's TUM Records wrapped up 2021 with a free jazz flourish, releasing trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith's Great Lakes Quartet's stellar box set, The Chicago Symphonies and also Smith's masterful A Love Sonnet For Billie Holiday. The momentum continued in January 2022 with the label's release of The OGJB Quartet's Ode To O and—the subject of this review—2 Blues For Cecil, from drummer Andrew Cyrille, bassist William Parker and trumpeter & flugelhornist Enrico Rava. All three players here are ...
Continue ReadingAndrew Cyrille: The News
by Ian Patterson
There is no denying the significance of Andrew Cyrille's oft-cited association with Cecil Taylor, not to mention his collaborations with other avant-garde luminaries such as Walt Dickerson, Ahmed Abdul Malik and Marion Brown. However, such reductive narratives tend to overlook Cyrille's own, fairly extensive output as a leader, beginning with What About? (BYG Actuel, 1971). Whilst there have sometimes been long gaps between his records, the Brooklyn-born drummer has struck a rich vein of form in his autumnal years on ...
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