Andrew Cyrille: Music Delivery / Percussion

If Andrew Cyrille were a painter, he'd be Georges Seurat. If he were a poet, E. E. Cummings; a Tour de France Champion, Jacque Anqutiel; or a writer, Ian McEwan. The above masters are mentioned because Cyrille shares a command of colors, efficiency, grace, and language with his instrument equal to doyens in other disciplines. His solo outing Music Delivery / Percussion is not his first solo drums and percussion disc. He released What About? (BYG Records, 1960) and The Loop (Ictus Records, 1978). Then, there are the evergreen duo recordings with Anthony Braxton Duo Palindrome 2002. Vol. 1 & 2 (Intakt, 2004). Now in his eighties, Cyrille draws upon his associations with the legends of jazz such as Cecil Taylor, Wadada Leo Smith, David Murray, Marilyn Crispell, Muhal Richard Abrams, Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, Jimmy Lyons. The list goes on and on.

These eleven brief compositions were recorded in 2022. Nine originals, plus "Jumping In The Sugar Bowl" by Amina Claudine Myers and "Enter From The East" by John Carter. The Myers piece performed at his drum kit swings a 4/4 pulse with sticks dancing on drumheads, metal frames, and cymbals before chanting the title. Elsewhere, Cyrille dubs hand drumming over his bass drum "La Ibkey (Don't Cry)," mines call and response rhythms on "Water Water Water," and performs on multiple cowbells on "Cowbell Ecstacy." His mallet work on Carter's "Enter From The East" is an elegant cortège, as is "Threading A Needle" featuring some delicate brushwork that sounds like a series of whispered rumors. The final track, "For Girls Dancing" harkens back to the drummer's work with dance choreographers and it is filled with subtle and sly accelerations.

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