Andrew Cyrille Quartet, The Declaration Of Musical Independence (ECM)
Andrew Cyrille, a bold drummer, long since established his audacity and the independence underscored in the album title. This collection is notable for subtlety and daring in equal measure. Cyrille’s quartet includes the electronic explorer Richard Teitelbaum on synthesizer and piano, the steadfast bassist Ben Street and composer-guitarist Bill Frisell—quiet and inventive in both his roles. It’s an avant garde venture in which Cyrille carries aspects of the Roy Haynes snap-crackle-pop branch of drumming into the
twenty-first century. His introduction to the opening “Coltrane Time†is a spare, almost military, statement of snare drum strokes and cymbal splashes. The quartet delves deeply and quietly into Frisell’s “Kaddish†and “Begin.†The musicians spontaneously invented “Sanctuary,†“Dazzling (Perchordially Yours)†and “Manfred.†Their close listening to one another and their absorption of musical suggestions and signals make the pieces seem composed.