Pieces of Time (album)

Last updated
Pieces of Time
Pieces of Time album cover.jpg
Studio album by
Kenny Clarke, Andrew Cyrille, Milford Graves, and Famoudou Don Moye
Released1984
RecordedSeptember 16 and 17, 1983
StudioDelta Recordings, New York
Genre jazz, percussion music
Length33:20
Label Soul Note
SN 1078 CD
Producer Giovanni Bonandrini

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. [1] The album, the catalyst for which was Cyrille, [2] 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." [2]

Contents

"Laurent," Kenny Clarke's contribution, is dedicated to his son, and is a 32-bar bebop composition in AABA form. [3] "Nibaldi Isle," by Moye, utilizes a variety of bells, shakers, and sound effects, yielding what Cyrille called "almost like a music of tones that would take you to a certain avenue or place. Some kind of place like Polynesia and/or Indonesia..." [3] According to Cyrille, his "No. 11" is based on the fact that he was born in November, the eleventh month, and involves "a nucleus, a motif of.. eleven sounds. And I could play them any way I wanted but it would be eleven sounds orchestrated with eleven attacks." [3] Graves's "Energy Cycles" is a three-part piece with both structured and free-form sections, and features vocalizations by the composer. [2] "Drum Song For Leadbelly," by Cyrille, is an adaptation of a blues song by Huddie Leadbetter, [3] and was also recorded by Cyrille and saxophonist Bill McHenry for their 2016 album Proximity. [4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [6]

Ron Wynn, writing for AllMusic, called it a "standout session." [1]

The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz wrote: "Klook was the elder statesman at this astonishing confrontation, and he more or less steals the show with a seemingly effortless display that has the younger guys diving into their bags for ever more exotic wrinkles on the same basic sound. Not to all tastes, perhaps, but an intriguing and historic record nevertheless." [5]

In an article for The New York Times , Robert Palmer noted that Kenny Clarke "didn't stop listening to younger players 20 years ago, unlike many players of his generation. He offers some surprises on this album." [7]

The Washington Post's Mike Joyce commented: "A lot of lip service has been paid to 'jazz tradition' in recent years, but this ensemble represents a veritable jazz continuum... The ensemble pieces... are particularly rewarding. Diverse yet remarkably cohesive, they range from the structured essays by Clarke... and Cyrille... and an emphatic free-form exercise by Graves... to the tropical lushness of Moye's familiar domain... The 'drum dialogues' evolve naturally, and with each hearing new facets of these complex performances are revealed." [8]

Track listing

Group performances

  1. "Laurent" (Clarke) – 3:25
  2. "Nibaldi Isle" (Moye) – 10:50
  3. "No. 11" (Cyrille) – 7:47
  4. "Energy Cycles" (Graves) – 8:46
  5. "Drum Song For Leadbelly" (Cyrille) – 2:32

Pieces of Time (Personal Statements)

  2. "By Kenny Clarke" (Clarke) – 2:00
  3. "By Milford Graves" (Graves) – 2:00
  4. "By Famoudou Don Moye" (Moye) – 2:00
  5. "By Andrew Cyrille" (Cyrille) – 2:00

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Cyrille</span> American avant-garde jazz drummer

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."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milford Graves</span> American jazz drummer and percussionist (1941–2021)

Milford Graves was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, Professor Emeritus of Music, researcher/inventor, visual artist/sculptor, gardener/herbalist, and martial artist. Graves was noteworthy for his early avant-garde contributions in the 1960s with Paul Bley, Albert Ayler, and the New York Art Quartet, and is considered to be a free jazz pioneer, liberating percussion from its timekeeping role. The composer and saxophonist John Zorn referred to Graves as "basically a 20th-century shaman."

Tani Tabbal is a jazz drummer who has worked with Roscoe Mitchell, David Murray, and Cassandra Wilson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Moye</span> American drummer

Donald Moye, Jr., known as Famoudou Don Moye, is an American jazz percussionist and drummer. He is most known for his involvement with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and is noted for his mastery of African and Caribbean percussion instruments and rhythmic techniques.

<i>Nice Guys</i> (album) 1979 studio album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago

Nice Guys is an album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, recorded in May 1978 and released on ECM the following year—their debut for the label. The quintet features trumpeter Lester Bowie, saxophinists Joseph Jarman and Roscoe Mitchell and rhythm section Malachi Favors Maghostut and Famoudou Don Moye.

<i>Non-Cognitive Aspects of the City</i> 2006 live album by Art Ensemble of Chicago

Non-Cognitive Aspects of the City: Live at the Iridium is a live album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in April, 2004 at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City and released in 2006 on the Pi Recordings label. It features performances by Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell and Don Moye with trumpeter Corey Wilkes and bassist Jaribu Shahid replacing the late Lester Bowie and Malachi Favors Maghostut.

<i>Sirius Calling</i> 2004 studio album by Art Ensemble of Chicago

Sirius Calling is an album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in April, 2003 in Madison, Wisconsin and released in 2004 on the Pi Recordings label. It features performances by Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell and Don Moye with Malachi Favors Maghostut on what would be the final album before his death. It was recorded on April 24–26, 2003 in Madison, WI.

<i>Survivors</i> (Max Roach album) 1984 studio album by Max Roach

Survivors is an album by American jazz drummer Max Roach recorded in 1984 for the Italian Soul Note label.

<i>Nuba</i> (album) 1979 studio album by Andrew Cyrille, Jeanne Lee & Jimmy Lyons

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.

<i>The Navigator</i> (Andrew Cyrille album) 1982 studio album by Andrew Cyrille

The Navigator is an album by American jazz drummer Andrew Cyrille, recorded in 1982 for the Italian Soul Note label.

<i>Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions</i> 1977 live album by Various

Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions is a series of five albums recorded May 14–23, 1976 at Studio Rivbea, a loft jazz space in New York City, run by Sam Rivers and his wife Bea. The albums include performances by groups led by musicians such as Hamiet Bluiett, Anthony Braxton, Marion Brown, Dave Burrell, Andrew Cyrille, Oliver Lake, Jimmy Lyons, Ken McIntyre, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, Roscoe Mitchell, David Murray, Sunny Murray, Sam Rivers, Leo Smith, Henry Threadgill, and Randy Weston. The recordings were originally released in 1977 on the Douglas and Casablanca labels as five separate LPs, and were reissued in 1999 by Knit Classics as a 3-CD set.

<i>More</i> (Giuseppi Logan album) 1966 studio album by Giuseppi Logan

More is the second album by American jazz saxophonist Giuseppi Logan, recorded in May 1965 and released in 1966 by the ESP-Disk label. The album features Logan on alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute, and piano along with pianist Don Pullen, bassists Eddie Gómez and Reggie Johnson, and drummer Milford Graves.

<i>Dialogue of the Drums</i> 1974 live album by Andrew Cyrille and Milford Graves

Dialogue of the Drums is a live album by American percussionists Andrew Cyrille and Milford Graves, recorded in January 1974 and released later that year by Cyrille's and Graves's Institute of Percussive Studies.

<i>Bäbi</i> (album) 1977 live album by Milford Graves

Bäbi is a live album by American percussionist Milford Graves, recorded in March 1976 and released in 1977 by the Institute of Percussive Studies, a label owned and run by Graves and Andrew Cyrille. The album features Graves on drums and percussion, along with reed players Arthur Doyle and Hugh Glover.

<i>Proximity</i> (album) 2016 studio album by Andrew Cyrille and Bill McHenry

Proximity is an album by drummer Andrew Cyrille and saxophonist Bill McHenry. It was recorded in November 2014 at Brooklyn Recording in Brooklyn, NY, and was released by Sunnyside Records in 2016.

<i>The African Tapes</i> 1987 live album by Famoudou Don Moye, John Tchicai, and Hartmut Geerken

The African Tapes, Volumes 1 and 2, is a pair of live albums by percussionist Famoudou Don Moye, saxophonist John Tchicai, and percussionist Hartmut Geerken. The albums were recorded in April 1985 at various locations in West Africa, and were released on LP by the Praxis label in 1987 and 1988. In 2001, Leo Records reissued the recordings as a double-CD set as part of their Golden Years of New Jazz series.

<i>Afrikan Song</i> 1996 studio album by Moye and Williamson

Afrikan Song is an album by percussionists Famoudou Don Moye and Enoch Williamson. It was recorded in 1995 and 1996 at Sparrow Sound Design in Chicago, Illinois, and was released on CD in 1996 by AECO Records, a label founded by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and Southport Records. On the album, Moye and Williamson are joined by members of a group called Sun Percussion Summit & More.

<i>A Symphony of Cities</i> 2002 studio album by Famoudou Don Moye and Tatsu Aoki

A Symphony of Cities is an album by percussionist Famoudou Don Moye and bassist Tatsu Aoki. It was recorded in 2000 at Sparrow Sound Design in Chicago, Illinois, and was released on CD in 2002 by Southport Records. On the album, Moye and Aoki are joined by saxophonist Francis Wong and flutist Joel Brandon.

<i>Cassava Balls</i> 1985 live album by Hartmut Geerken, Famoudou Don Moye, and John Tchicai

Cassava Balls is a live album by percussionists Hartmut Geerken and Famoudou Don Moye and saxophonist John Tchicai. It was recorded in May 1985 at the Praxis '85 Festival at the Orpheus Theater in Athens, Greece, and was released on LP by the Praxis label later that year. In 1999, Leo Records reissued the recording on CD with three extra tracks as part of their Golden Years of New Jazz series.

<i>Jam for Your Life!</i> 1985 studio album by Famoudou Don Moye

Jam for Your Life! is an album by percussionist Famoudou Don Moye. It was recorded at Sparrow Sound Design and North Shore Studios in Chicago, Illinois. An initial version, with material recorded in September 1985, was released on cassette later that year by AECO Records, a label founded by the Art Ensemble of Chicago. In 1991, AECO reissued the album, with material recorded during 1983–1991, on CD with a different track order and an additional track. On the album, Moye is joined by multi-instrumentalist Ari Brown, vocalist Luba Raashiek, and nearly a dozen additional musicians.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wynn, Ron. "Kenny Clarke: Pieces of Time". AllMusic. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Roach, Max (1984). Pieces of Time (liner notes). Kenny Clarke, Andrew Cyrille, Milford Graves, and Famoudou Don Moye. Soul Note. SN 1078 CD.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Fragman, Dominic (April 26, 2019). "Andrew Cyrille: Art Science, Part 2". JazzTimes. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Andrew Cyrille / Bill McHenry: Proximity". AllMusic. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2006). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. Penguin Books. p. 240.
  6. ↑ Swenson, John, ed. (1999). The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide. Random House. p. 185.
  7. ↑ Palmer, Robert (June 20, 1984). "The Pop Life; Disks by Young Jazz Festival Artists". New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  8. ↑ Joyce, Mike (June 14, 1984). "Adventures in Jazz". Washington Post. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.