Andrew Cyrille

Andrew Cyrille is among the pre-eminent free jazz percussionists to emerge from the 1960s. Initially, he anchored bands led by vibraphonist <a href="spotify:artist:5G13PBpVJroa0g3ciSV3St">Walt Dickerson</a>, and during the '70s, pianist <a href="spotify:artist:5jtGuhEEDh07yaFfm8qHg7">Cecil Taylor</a>. Few vanguard drummers can play with his grace, authority, unflagging energy, and power tempered by a trademark sense of propriety. Cyrille's 1969 debut What About? and 1974's Dialogue of the Drums offer ample proof of his musical strengths: he has released more than 80 albums. His association with Italian labels Soul Note and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Black+Saint%22">Black Saint</a> began on 1979's Nuba with <a href="spotify:artist:7ezPWk4DFf9Fb9tdwg0Ych">Jeanne Lee</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:64y9jPbsfUjjyWtCpuoYNY">Jimmy Lyons</a>. 1982's Life Rays was from a trio with <a href="spotify:artist:5G13PBpVJroa0g3ciSV3St">Dickerson</a> and bassist <a href="spotify:artist:3YE9wTWz5GuAzyZ8c7cEzz">Sirone</a>. Two years later, Pieces of Time with <a href="spotify:artist:7xwlN7fhoOwNgDmRTwYZOa">Kenny Clarke</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:21onGb3BOI7oP9wwNetyyu">Graves</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4ZLbNcNVwDlb8MqDahiF9e">Famoudou Don Moye</a> appeared. In 1993 he began a critically celebrated association with pianist <a href="spotify:artist:5C5IANg1VC3HiKvAsCq9h2">Borah Bergman</a> on The Human Factor. In the 21st century, Cyrille participated in dozens of collaborative recordings, including 2014's Us Free: Fish Stories (with <a href="spotify:artist:1ZSjkZgcJbKs97Porpnhry">Bill McHenry</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:30OxEKhUI8LpORvCp14lr3">Henry Grimes</a>). On 2016's The Declaration of Musical Independence, he led a quartet with <a href="spotify:artist:649VhpjHo5aMtz2RlIlUSR">Ben Street</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3SONlwqLIP2GtaMh9pLYe5">Bill Frisell</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1UbslQWAicLc8cEhEJl1DY">Richard Teitelbaum</a>. In 2018, the trio effort Lebroba included <a href="spotify:artist:3SONlwqLIP2GtaMh9pLYe5">Frisell</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1eE9oB7Z69NzfALiUJYKUm">Wadada Leo Smith</a>. Cyrille's quartet returned with The News in 2021. 2 Blues for Cecil, with <a href="spotify:artist:0NLlZlYs28ClkYXasvqmjy">Enrico Rava</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5r65V3tfKsDc3nHfpIl7D0">William Parker</a>, appeared in 2022. The next year, Cyrille issued the completely solo, Music Delivery/Percussion, followed by 2024's Breaking the Shell with <a href="spotify:artist:3SONlwqLIP2GtaMh9pLYe5">Frisell</a> and pianist <a href="spotify:artist:5KAxF8BtuqO5emnRCjorwk">Kit Downes</a>.

Cyrille began playing drums in a drum and bugle corps at the age of 11. At 15, he played in a trio with guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:7ufZw0wQAJmH6I1OXCtIIe">Eric Gale</a>. For a period in his teens, Cyrille studied chemistry before enrolling in Juilliard School of Music in 1958. In the late '50s and early '60s, he worked with such mainstream jazzers as <a href="spotify:artist:6hrEc1XqVcGLK0Di6zVADR">Mary Lou Williams</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3fz908a7zGtFo2rwggyYl9">Roland Hanna</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7De2eIqeHTw091YeAkkYXV">Roland Kirk</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0JM134st8VY7Ld9T2wQiH0">Coleman Hawkins</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1KTUh4AYegM2fSdac5xqPb">Junior Mance</a>. He recorded with Hawkins and with tenor saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:3odCvforNrM210iWxhbxIc">Bill Barron</a> for the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Savoy%22">Savoy</a> label. Cyrille succeeded <a href="spotify:artist:1sEOsClatR9SKKmELXJVUJ">Sunny Murray</a> as <a href="spotify:artist:5jtGuhEEDh07yaFfm8qHg7">Cecil Taylor</a>'s drummer in 1964. He stayed with the pianist until 1975, during which time he played on many of <a href="spotify:artist:5jtGuhEEDh07yaFfm8qHg7">Taylor</a>'s classic albums. He also played with a good many other top musicians, including <a href="spotify:artist:5OKhN5AURco1pBqba3CbnS">Marion Brown</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5NrnFpBCv4Z43MgMVXfrrY">Grachan Moncur III</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4RncsrNJ1GDGsFBIxI76L6">Jimmy Giuffre</a>. He also served for a time as artist in residence at Antioch College and recorded a solo percussion album, 1969's What About?, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BYG%22">BYG</a>. Cyrille, <a href="spotify:artist:0kXAzHqzGdJH3IGyOc6Srz">Rashied Ali</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:21onGb3BOI7oP9wwNetyyu">Milford Graves</a> collaborated on a series of mid-'70s concerts entitled "Dialogue of the Drums." Beginning in 1975 and lasting into the '80s, Cyrille led his own group called <a href="spotify:artist:5rSN8LVGZ440mfiDfCcJBH">Maono</a>, which included tenor saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:53HPkfQRFqSSicbdJZuitU">David S. Ware</a>, trumpeter Ted Daniel, pianist Sonelius Smith and, at various times, bassists <a href="spotify:artist:1EaKRDdYkNBX8GgqjpdOUk">Lisle Atkinson</a> and Nick DiGeronimo. During this period, Cyrille also played with the Group, a band that included violinist <a href="spotify:artist:1ytHXKB2HiX4Bmz8KhjjD5">Billy Bang</a>, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:3YE9wTWz5GuAzyZ8c7cEzz">Sirone</a>, altoist Brown, and trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:3enn0ul3NUfpxVL8ckc3cC">Ahmed Abdullah</a>. With <a href="spotify:artist:21onGb3BOI7oP9wwNetyyu">Graves</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4ZLbNcNVwDlb8MqDahiF9e">Don Moye</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7xwlN7fhoOwNgDmRTwYZOa">Kenny Clarke</a>, Cyrille recorded the all-percussion album Pieces of Time on Soul Note in 1983. When not leading his own bands, he worked ubiquitously as a sideman with, among others, John Carter, <a href="spotify:artist:0odGsDIsc4dJTZWyeCfBnT">Muhal Richard Abrams</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:64y9jPbsfUjjyWtCpuoYNY">Jimmy Lyons</a>. Cyrille continued as a leading player into the late '90s, recording rather prolifically for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Black+Saint%22">Black Saint</a>/Soul Note, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22FMP%22">FMP</a>, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DIW%22">DIW</a>.

That activity continued well into the 21st century. In 2000, he released the trio date C/D/E in collaboration with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:27ldRlliqXbfwsKNwWrodV">Mark Dresser</a> and saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:0xGR4aZBobtGGGCMBeGHbg">Marty Ehrlich</a>. In 2002 he played duo concerts with <a href="spotify:artist:3UXq4fckDmcPmleixlrl6i">Anthony Braxton</a>, which were released in two volumes on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Intact%22">Intact</a> as Duo Palindrome 2002. Two years later he was part of the Mary Lou Williams Collective with pianist <a href="spotify:artist:0jqAOYfo9ipclW7ATXPhHg">Geri Allen</a>, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:0pSoLnWrkv4lvm0CBl526G">Buster Williams</a>, and fellow drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5DFipPOMNcZT3XMGx59s5I">Billy Hart</a> for the album Zodiac Suite: Revisited. That same year, he issued Blue Flame in duet with saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:1O62I5mxJcYBXcIzY6IMYT">Greg Osby</a> and the trio date Witch's Scream with <a href="spotify:artist:3zPUfW3hRI4NIvhtr6UjH1">John Tchicai</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3mBoT9nTZ12JQPfrOrwD3p">Reggie Workman</a>, both issued on TUM. Between 2008 and 2011 he issued two recordings with pianist <a href="spotify:artist:67zNxzGIa3U7uBv4duiHNm">David Haney</a> on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22CIMP%22">CIMP</a>, and three trio offerings with Danish pianist <a href="spotify:artist:23MyxT26Dy9izULpCmtIkN">Søren Kjærgaard</a> and bassist <a href="spotify:artist:649VhpjHo5aMtz2RlIlUSR">Ben Street</a> for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ILK%22">ILK</a>. With <a href="spotify:artist:5ElMqnHWxDT7rA7WuwDFs3">Eric Revis</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3Noi5BtszygxpaGkmvSNGv">Kris Davis</a>, he released 2013's City of Asylum for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Clean+Feed%22">Clean Feed</a> before revisiting the <a href="spotify:artist:649VhpjHo5aMtz2RlIlUSR">Street</a>-<a href="spotify:artist:23MyxT26Dy9izULpCmtIkN">Kjærgaard</a> trio for Syvmileskridt. Cyrille, ever the picture of musical diversity, played in a trio with saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:1ZSjkZgcJbKs97Porpnhry">Bill McHenry</a> and bassist <a href="spotify:artist:30OxEKhUI8LpORvCp14lr3">Henry Grimes</a> for 2014's Us Free: Fish Stories on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Fresh+Sound+New+Talent%22">Fresh Sound New Talent</a>, and the following year with saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:4HWtSGcRzJwM9qj21ODsIj">Mikko Innanen</a> and bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5r65V3tfKsDc3nHfpIl7D0">William Parker</a> on the double-length set Song for a New Decade for TUM. In 2016 he debuted the Andrew Cyrille Quartet on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM%22">ECM</a> with <a href="spotify:artist:649VhpjHo5aMtz2RlIlUSR">Street</a>, guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:3SONlwqLIP2GtaMh9pLYe5">Bill Frisell</a>, and pianist <a href="spotify:artist:1UbslQWAicLc8cEhEJl1DY">Richard Teitelbaum</a> for the critically acclaimed Declaration of Musical Independence. Cyrille returned to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22CIMP%22">CIMP</a> in May of 2018 for another two recordings with <a href="spotify:artist:67zNxzGIa3U7uBv4duiHNm">Haney</a>: the duo offering Clandestine and a trio set that included bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5nc3GB6ZTbhGdUAerChmp5">Dominic Duval</a> titled Conspiracy a Go Go. Later that year, Cyrille released his sophomore leader date for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM%22">ECM</a>. Titled Lebroba, the drummer's collaborators included <a href="spotify:artist:3SONlwqLIP2GtaMh9pLYe5">Frisell</a> and trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:1eE9oB7Z69NzfALiUJYKUm">Wadada Leo Smith</a>.

In 2020, Cyrille and <a href="spotify:artist:6PkSULcbxFKkxdgrmPGAvn">Cécile McLorin Salvant</a> were the jazz artists who received the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Awards. It marked the first time the institution upped its recipient total from six artists to eight -- the others were from the worlds of theater and dance. In August of 2021, Cyrille released his second quartet offering for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM%22">ECM</a>, The News. In January 2022, he, trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:0NLlZlYs28ClkYXasvqmjy">Enrico Rava</a>, and bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5r65V3tfKsDc3nHfpIl7D0">William Parker</a> issued 2 Blues for Cecil on Finland's TUM label. That year he also played on the trio sessions for Evocation with <a href="spotify:artist:1UbslQWAicLc8cEhEJl1DY">Teitelbaum</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:17PS6mukckWnUN4DwilBBs">Elliott Sharp</a>, and joined trumpEter <a href="spotify:artist:1eE9oB7Z69NzfALiUJYKUm">Smith</a> and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:3HMjcIM1vwBifTgdYZlv6D">Qasim Naqvi</a> on Two Centuries.

The following year Cyrille released the completely solo

Music Delivery/Percussion for Germany's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Intakt+Records%22">Intakt Records</a> and played shows with various ensembles and soloists. In 2024, with saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:55s215dZWZMrrd8mqYpcFg">Ivo Perelman</a> and bassist <a href="spotify:artist:3mBoT9nTZ12JQPfrOrwD3p">Reggie Workman</a>, he collaborated on Embracing the Unknown for Arkansas' independent <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mahakala+Music%22">Mahakala Music</a>. He also reteamed with <a href="spotify:artist:3SONlwqLIP2GtaMh9pLYe5">Frisell</a> and enlisted pianist/keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:5KAxF8BtuqO5emnRCjorwk">Kit Downes</a> for Breaking the Shell on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Red+Hook+Records%22">Red Hook Records</a>. ~ Chris Kelsey & Thom Jurek, Rovi