Andrew Cyrille
b. 10 November 1939, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Cyrille graduated from the Juilliard School in 1958 and studied drums with Philly Joe Jones in the same year. In the early '60s he worked with the risqué nightclub singer Nellie Lutcher and tenor saxophonists Coleman Hawkins and Illinois Jacquet. In 1965 he started a 15-year association with Cecil Taylor, also working with musicians in the soul jazz camp such as Stanley Turrentine and Junior Mance. In 1969 he recorded WHAT ABOUT? in Paris for BYG, one of the few completely successful solo drum records. In 1971 he formed Dialogue Of The Drums with Milford Graves and Rashied Ali. In the '70s he was artist-in-residence at Antioch College, Ohio. Cyrille is capable of playing time, free and everything in between, contributing rhythmic clarity to Taylor's music and supplying a flexible rhythmic base to the compositions of Muhal Richard Abrams and John Carter. In 1977 he toured Europe with Carla Bley and in the '80s he recorded several albums with his group Manao, which often featured trumpeter Ted Daniel, saxophonist David S. Ware and bassist Nick de Geronimo. He also recorded two duo albums with his Cecil Taylor Unit colleague, Jimmy Lyons and a trio album with Lyons and Jeanne Lee. In recent years, Cyrille has worked with the Reggie Workman Ensemble, played live duets with Marilyn Crispell and recorded with a wide range of artists, from Horace Tapscott and Geri Allen to Anthony Braxton and Billy Bang. In 1990 he toured the UK with a trio that featured free improviser Paul Rogerson bass and ex- Lou Reed guitarist Mark Hewins playing everything from John Coltrane to power psychedelia. Cyrille's open-minded attitude complements his consummate musicality.