Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Andrew Cyrille: Music Delivery / Percussion

Andrew Cyrille: Music Delivery / Percussion

By Mark Corroto
August 7, 2023
View read count

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.

Track Listing

Thruway; Bernard Albert Wilkinson; La Ibkey (Don't Cry); Metallic Resonance; Jumping In The Sugar Bowl; Water Water Water; Cowbell Ecstasy; Enter From The East; Tambourine Cocktail; Threading A Needle; For Girls Dancing.

Personnel

Andrew Cyrille

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Andrew Cyrille: Drums, Percussion

Album information

Title: Music Delivery / Percussion | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Intakt Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Fabrizio Bosso & Julian Oliver Mazza...
< Previous

Fay Victor, Tyshawn Sorey, Matthew S...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.