The Legend Continues: Andrew Cyrille at UMass

There are lots of fabulous jazz drummers working today, some of them legendary. I can name 50 greats before coming up for air. But the number of percussionists who can hold an audience for an entire solo concert is much smaller.

Andrew Cyrille, who turns 80 years old next month, is both legendary and a riveting soloist. On Friday, September 27, the applause of 90 patrons went on and on and on, as he filled the New Africa House Theater at UMass with melody, anecdotes and of course, rhythm.

The concert was co-produced by Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares and the UMass Fine Arts Center’s Augusta Savage Gallery. Cyrille’s concert was the culminating event in the Gallery’s fabulous week of live performances curated by Terry Jenoure.

The Brooklyn-born icon has a long history of drum-only endeavors. His 1969 debut recording, What About? (BYG), is a solo effort. His second album, Dialogue of the Drums (IPS, 1974), is a duet with fellow percussionist Milford Graves. The very first Solos & Duos Series concert I produced at UMass in 2002 was Cyrille alone.

Cyrille made opening remarks in front of his kit, then began to play the instrument from that side, hitting bass drum, hardware and then the rest of it, as he slowly made his way around to his throne.

Over the course of his 70-minute recital, he paid tribute to past masters Kenny Clarke and Max Roach. Clarke, who was the house drummer at Minton’s in the 1940s, is one of the unsung architects of bebop. On “Laurent,” written by Klook as he was known, Cyrille played squarely in the jazz tradition, sizzling on his ride cymbals. His original, “Drum Song for Leadbelly,” played mostly on snare and rims, was an extroverted composition that marched and danced with an early 20th century nod. Both songs are found on Pieces of Time (Soul Note, 1994), a project Cyrille put together with Famadou Don Moye, Milford Graves and Kenny Clarke.

The evening consisted of discreet compositions, each with distinct rhythmic and melodic intent. The riffs and phrases that defined each piece were full of groove and melody, and allowed us to marvel at all the tangents and variations he spun. He played a brand-new Ludwig kit, with two rack toms, donated by the company; Bob Weiner lent us extra cymbals, putting five at his disposal. Cyrille took advantage of it all.

The drummer is at a very good point in his career. His lifetime of achievement was marked at the Vision Festival in June, where he joined with Wadada Leo Smith, Peter Brötzmann, Kidd Jordan, Tomeka Reid, Brandon Ross, Milford Graves, Lisa Sokolov, along with poets, dancers and visual artists, in eight different ensembles over one evening. He is now recording for ECM, one of the last major jazz labels still standing. His two recent well-received releases, The Declaration of Musical Independence (2016) and Lebroba (2018), both featuring Bill Frisell, has introduced him to new audiences. He is getting good gigs and still enjoys teaching at the New School (Benny Woodard from South Hadley was one of his more serious students.)

Cyrille, who had extensive dealings with Nigerian percussionist Babatunde Olatunji, ended the evening with “For Girls Dancing,” an original inspired by his study of African music. True to its name, it was buoyant, infectious and life affirming, ending the concert on the highest of notes.

Genius Emerging: Ingrid Laubrock Quartet in Easthampton

Just like the miracle of the human body, where countless complex processes have to work in order to survive, lots has to go right to produce a successful concert. That almost didn’t happen on Wednesday, September 25, as Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares began its 8th season at the 121 Club in Easthampton. Arriving a little late, we scrambled to set-up the room, only to discover we were short a music stand. Then we realized we had a broken hi-hat stand. Finally, our guitar amp turned up fritzy. Each time, with increasing sheepishness, we walked downstairs at Eastworks to ask a stranger: musician/engineer Jon Carroll for help. Carroll, who runs a fully equipped music studio, obliged without question.

Once the wracked nerves calmed, we were able to enjoy the immense amount of music given us by the Ingrid Laubrock Quartet: Brandon Seabrook, guitar, Michael Formanek, bass and Tom Rainey, drums, with the leader on tenor and soprano saxophones. Their 70-minute set, shared with 80 attentive listeners, was as intricate and extraordinary as any immune system.

With one exception, Laubrock’s compositions were new, being molded in anticipation of recording two days later at Firehouse 12 in New Haven. The contour of the music was oblique, evasive, circuitous. But when I wanted to “understand” what was going on at any given point in time, I would focus on Tom Rainey, who, with little fanfare and lots of flare, gave the music its shape. Rainey, who is Laubrock’s life partner, seemed to anticipate the music’s bends; his accents pointed the way for me. He responded nimbly to the other improvisers, and his movement (dance?) behind the kit also rooted me in the music.

The buzz after the concert centered around Seabrook, in part because, unlike his bandmates, he is a lesser known entity in western Mass. This was his second visit to the Valley, having performed with Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double last March in Greenfield. There was post-concert talk of bringing his string trio to the area. His variety of textures, produced with pedals, tape recorder and prodigious technique and imagination, provided enough variation for even the most restless listener. At one point, with Rainey scraping cymbals, Laubrock playing sans mouthpiece, Formanek producing harmonics with his bow and Seabrook doing his thing, I could not link an instrument to a particular sound.

Formanek and Rainey, both in their early sixties, are the veterans in the band, with the resumes to prove it. Formanek’s early career includes substantial experience with Stan Getz, Joe Henderson, Fred Hersch and Art Pepper, and, like Rainey, extensive later work with Tim Berne. Formanek has been recording under his own name for 30 years. (Rainey has released six records as a leader since his debut in 2010.) Formanek was an anchoring force, with unerring time and intonation. His even keel added stability to a volatile soundscape.

Although Ingrid Laubrock did not have benefit of a mic or an amp, she was easily heard above the fray. She was forceful and sure-footed, and her writing gave her bandmates every opportunity to flex their chops. Her talent is matched by musical ambition. After the concert, she laid two CDs on me: a free-wheeling duet with Rainey that highlighted her skill as an improviser, and an orchestral work that showed off her compositional and conceptual range. Her last area appearance was with Mary Halvorson in Tom Rainey’s Trio two years ago. Over dinner, the band celebrated the previous day’s announcement that Halvorson had been named a MacArthur Fellow. Can Laubrock be far behind?

Ending On a High Note: David Murray/Kahil El’Zabar Duo at New Africa House

The one hundred people crammed into the New Africa House Theater on the University of Massachusetts campus on June 12 were filled with anticipation. David Murray and Kahil El’Zabar, two towering figures in creative music, had not been through these parts in over 15 years, and many in the crowd understood how special an event this promised to be. The concert coincided with the annual meeting of Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares, which just completed its seventh season presenting some of the finest improvisers on the planet.

Tenor saxophonist and bass clarinetist David Murray has been a major figure since he burst on the scene in the late 1970s. Along with Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, Steve Coleman and Joe Lovano, Murray is one finger on the hand of the most influential living saxophonists. After decades living in Paris – which might as well be Mars for the average American jazz fan – Murray has moved back to New York and is re-establishing a State-side presence.

There are few artists with a greater gap between importance and recognition than percussionist Kahil El’Zabar. Coming up he performed in the bands of Dizzy Gillespie, Stevie Wonder, Cannonball Adderley, and Nina Simone (for whom he also designed clothes.) He scored and starred in numerous independent and feature films, and was chosen to do the arranging for the stage performance of The Lion King. He is the subject of Dwayne Johnson-Cochran’s complex and celebrated film, Be Known-The Mystery of Kahil El’Zabar. He was knighted by the French government in 2014, when he received the Medal of the Knights of Arts & Letters.

El’Zabar has dedicated his life to his community in Chicago. He was nurtured by, and later served as president of the most important musician-led organization in jazz history: Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Music (AACM.) His Chicago roots are entwined with some of the most important musicians in the city: Malachi Favors, Ernest Dawkins, Ari Brown, Edward Wilkerson and Fred Hopkins. He was named “Chicagoan of the Year” in 2004 by the Chicago Tribune for his efforts as a musician, educator, and community leader.

El’Zabar rotated between trap drums, cajón, (a box drum used throughout Latin America,) and mbira (an African thumb piano, also called kalimba or sanza.) Murray played tenor saxophone and bass clarinet. They took us on a ride.

They began in 5th gear, tearing into an original at an impossible tempo, throwing down the gauntlet: they meant business. Despite a 500-mile drive from Pittsburgh where they played the night before, and being in their mid-60s, their energy kept us elevated over two sets of spiritual uplift.

They gave us a transcendent performance of “Summertime” (featuring tenor and mbira.) Jazz Shares charter member Jonny King told me he tired of the song a long time ago, but on Wednesday he heard the Gershwin classic as if for the first time. Murray and El’Zabar grounded it in the blues, and imbued the piece with slow release gravitas.

They covered Monk’s lesser known, “Let’s Cool One,” with Murray exposing the rich, reedy underbelly of his bass clarinet and El’Zabar creating buzz with ankle rattles and snare-like effects on his cajón. They were able to anticipate each other’s shifts in mood and tempo, and decided in an instant to stop on a dime. All made possible by their shared 30-year history.

El’Zabar’s vocals provided a special dimension throughout the concert. He sung lyrics of love and cooperation on “One World Family,” he unleashed a rubbery yodeled scat that produced smiles and raised eyebrows, and he moaned and exhorted whenever the spirit moved him.

The cumulative effect was a deep opening of the soul, with all the possibilities that creates. It is inspiring to know that Murray and El’Zabar are spreading that magic day after day, in city after city, during a packed, no-frills tour that will take them throughout North America. Many musicians half their age have neither the stamina nor the drive to consistently deliver those goods. El’Zabar told me he has taken his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble on the road for 46 consecutive years. They are gods in my book, with the whole world of music in their hands.

Coda: Thanks to Jason Robinson and Bob Weiner, who on short notice, put a producer’s mind at ease by agreeing to play some music. As the clock passed 5:00pm and I hadn’t heard from David and Kahil, my vivid imagination got the best of me and I asked Jason and Bob to be on stand-by. Of course, they improvised beautifully on tenor saxophone and drums, while our late arriving guests stretched their legs and caught their breath.