Nuba | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1979 | |||
Recorded | June 1979 | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Length | 45:23 | |||
Label | Black Saint | |||
Producer | Giacomo Pellicciotti | |||
Andrew Cyrille chronology | ||||
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Nuba is an album by American jazz drummer Andrew Cyrille, vocalist Jeanne Lee, and saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, recorded in 1979 for the Italian Black Saint label. [1]
The two versions of "Nuba" are based on Jeanne Lee's poem "Nuba", written in June 1979 and dedicated to Lyons and Cyrille. "In These Last Days" is a setting of Lee's 1973 poem of the same name, from her collection "The Valley of Astonishment and Bewilderment." The texts of both poems are included in the liner notes, and the opening lines of "Nuba" appear on the album cover preceding the title. [2]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [4] |
The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide | [5] |
Tom Hull – on the Web | B+ [6] |
The AllMusic review by Ron Wynn stated: "Those seeking a standard trio or straight jazz date are advised to look elsewhere; there was nothing conventional or predictable about this one". [3] The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings awarded the album 4 stars, and wrote: "this highly lyrical album is almost a miniature opera, developing the ideas on Cyrille's astonishing solo record, What About?, which finds him vocalizing – albeit without words – the pain and frustration of the black experience in America. Lyons's calm and stoical approach is the perfect conduit for this music, and both men seem to be working at the opposite extreme from the fierce abstraction of the [Cecil] Taylor group." [4]
In his article "Jeanne Lee's Voice," writer Eric Porter analyzes Lee's poetry and performance in "In These Last Days," placing it in the context of her commitment to social change. He acknowledges that analysis of the poem's text is incomplete without taking into account "how Lee improvises the poem in performance, for it is her intonation, her repetition and elongation of words and syllables, her screams and nonlinguistic utterances, and her interactions with the other instrumentalists on the piece that allow us to better understand how her improvising voice and body may also have been engaged in a less evident kind of tactical work both in its social moment and in relation to the wider system of meanings embedded in improvisational practices." [7] Porter notes that the first half of the poem expresses an urgency that situates the text within the social crises and struggles that occurred in the United States during the 1960s and 70s, but recognizes the optimism of the closing lines, which may be read as a statement of Lee's ongoing focus on family and on using music to initiate social transformation: "There is great joy / in being / Naima's Mother / and unassailable strength in being on the Way." [8]
Andrew Charles Cyrille is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographer Chris Kelsey wrote: "Few free-jazz drummers play with a tenth of Cyrille's grace and authority. His energy is unflagging, his power absolute, tempered only by an ever-present sense of propriety."
Barry Altschul is a free jazz and hard bop drummer who first came to notice in the late 1960s for performing with pianists Paul Bley and Chick Corea.
Jimmy Lyons was an American alto saxophone player. He is best known for his long tenure in the Cecil Taylor Unit. Lyons was the only constant member of the band from the mid-1960s until his death. Taylor never worked with another musician as frequently as he did with Lyons. Lyons' playing, influenced by Charlie Parker, kept Taylor's avant-garde music tethered to the jazz tradition.
Conquistador! is a 1968 studio album recorded in 1966 by free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor, released by Blue Note Records.
The soundtrack of the 1999 Jim Jarmusch film Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai features an original score by RZA and also features hip-hop songs by such artists as Wu-Tang Clan, Killah Priest, and Public Enemy. Two soundtrack albums were released, one internationally and another in Japan, each with different song mixes, some of which do not appear in the film. There are many songs, however, that can be heard in the film that appear on neither soundtrack album. It is the first of RZA's fully scored film works.
Jeanne Lee was an American jazz singer, poet and composer. Best known for a wide range of vocal styles she mastered, Lee collaborated with numerous distinguished composers and performers who included Gunter Hampel, Andrew Cyrille, Ran Blake, Carla Bley, Anthony Braxton, Marion Brown, Archie Shepp, Mal Waldron, Mark Whitecage and many others.
Blues Forever is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams, released by the Italian label Black Saint in 1982 and featuring performances of seven Abrams compositions by an eleven-member big band.
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The Navigator is an album by American jazz drummer Andrew Cyrille, recorded in 1982 for the Italian Soul Note label.
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Other Afternoons is an album by American jazz saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, recorded in 1969 and released in 1970 on the BYG label as part of their Actuel series. His first recording as leader, it features Lyons on alto saxophone along with trumpeter Lester Bowie, bassist Alan Silva, and drummer Andrew Cyrille.
Burnt Offering is a live album by American jazz saxophonist Jimmy Lyons and American jazz drummer Andrew Cyrille. It was recorded in May 1982 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and released by the Black Saint label in 1991.
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Pieces of Time is an album by jazz drummers Kenny Clarke, Andrew Cyrille, Milford Graves, and Famoudou Don Moye. It was recorded in September 1983, and was released by the Soul Note label in 1984. The album, the catalyst for which was Cyrille, presents compositions by all four musicians, along with four two-minute "personal statements." Liner notes were provided by Max Roach, who wrote: "This idea of four percussionists, using sounds as their premise in creating a work as profound as Pieces of Time, is pure artistic design."
Homage to Africa is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray. It was recorded in Paris in August 1969, and released on the BYG Actuel label in 1970. On the album, Murray is joined by saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell, Archie Shepp and Kenneth Terroade, trumpeter Lester Bowie, cornetist Clifford Thornton, trombonist Grachan Moncur III, vocalist Jeanne Lee, pianist Dave Burrell, bassist Alan Silva, and percussionists Malachi Favors, Earl Freeman, and Arthur Jones.
X Man is an album by drummer Andrew Cyrille. It was recorded in May 1993 at Sear Sound in New York City, and was released by Soul Note in 1994. On the album, Cyrille is joined by flutist James Newton, guitarist Alix Pascal, and bassist Anthony Cox.
What About? is a solo percussion album by drummer Andrew Cyrille, his first recording under his own name. It was recorded in Paris in August 1969, and released on the BYG Actuel label later that year.
My Friend Louis is an album by drummer Andrew Cyrille. It was recorded in November 1991 at Power Station in New York City, and was released by DIW Records in 1992. On the album, Cyrille is joined by saxophonist Oliver Lake, trumpeter Hannibal, pianist Adegoke Steve Colson, and bassist Reggie Workman. "Louis" refers to drummer Louis Moholo, to whom the album is dedicated.
Celebration is an album by drummer Andrew Cyrille. It was recorded in February and May 1975 at Ali's Alley Studio 77 in New York City, and was released later that year by the Institute of Percussive Studies. On the album, Cyrille is joined by members of the band Māōnō: saxophonist David S. Ware, trumpeter Ted Daniel, vocalist Jeanne Lee, synthesizer player Romulus Franceschini, pianist Donald Smith, bassist Stafford James, and percussionist Alphonse Cimber. The musicians are joined by poet Elouise Loftin.
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