Andrew Cyrille's Web Site

Andrew Cyrille on Geri Allen's Zodiac Suite: Revisited

Andrew Cyrille is one of the preeminent drummers in modern jazz. After studying at Juilliard, Cyrille found regular gigs in the 1960s with jazz heavyweights Coleman Hawkins, Mary Lou Williams, and Roland Kirk. But it was his eleven-year tenure with jazz piano maverick Cecil Taylor that made him a household name. He developed a musical drumming style based more on texture than straight rhythm keeping, and continued that groundbreaking work with a number of percussion ensembles, and with his composing work, for which he earned a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1999. He’ll revisit his former bandleader Williams’ “Zodiac Suite” with Geri Allen and bassist Kenny Davis on Friday night, April 6, at the Herbst Theatre. 

When Ben Riley was still playing in Thelonious Monk’s mid-’60s quartet, Monk gave the drummer some firm advice: “What I want you do is, I want you to swing, and then swing very hard, and at the last chorus, swing as hard as you can.” Riley, the other half of Friday night’s double bill, heeded the jazz master’s command, and now he’s passing on that legacy with the Monk Legacy Septet.

Memories of T

This piano-less group of some of the finest musicians in New York includes arranger and trumpeter Don Sickler, young saxophonist Bruce Williams (of the World Saxophone Quartet), and bassist Essiet Okon Essiet, who has played with Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton, and Bobby Hutcherson. One of the highlights of Riley’s debut disc with the septet, Memories of T, is the playing of guitarist Freddie Bryant. Equally adept at comping and running Monk’s intricate melodic lines, Bryant has been praised by Kenny Burrell as “a brilliant young guitarist and composer.”

As if Freddy Cole’s piano playing and smoke-tinged vocals weren’t soulful enough, saxman Houston Person, “jazz’s working class hero” (All About Jazz), joins the younger Cole for their Saturday, April 7 show at the Herbst.

Houston Person's To Etta With Love

Person is known for his long working relationship with vocalist Etta Jones, but he has also recorded over 75 albums for storied labels like Prestige, Mercury, and Savoy. A man of eclectic tastes, Person dabbled in gospel, pop, and R&B, but his “huge tone” (Village Voice) sits most comfortably in the hard bop tradition.

The Randy Porter Trio backs up vocalist Madeline Eastman, who opens for Cole Saturday night and also performs a family matinee that afternoon. The Portland Oregonian calls Porter “a musician's musician, a knowledgeable, inventive, and sophisticated player with a remarkable sense of time and gorgeous keyboard facility.” The talented pianist has played with an impressive cast of jazz luminaries including Freddie Hubbard, Anita O’Day, Arturo Sandoval, and Wynton Marsalis. 

In an interview with the San Jose Mercury News, NEA Jazz Master Dave Brubeck discusses growing up in Concord, his “Elementals” suite, and the upcoming Clint Eastwood documentary on his life. The article hits print this Sunday, but you can read it online now. For further reading check out the JazzTimes article about the Clint Eastwood directed Dave Brubeck documentary. Dave Brubeck Quartet & Big Band Sunday, April 15 • 7pm Masonic Center

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