Album Review: Andrew Cyrille, Kit Downes and Bill Frisell- Breaking the Shell

The church services I regularly attend conclude with informal five-minute pipe organ recitals. I relish the post-worship sounds as less music-conscious congregants head for the exits. When they’re feeling inspired, the organists occasionally push the limits of their instruments.

Kit Downes takes the pipe organ at St. Luke in the Fields’ to even further extremes on Breaking the Shell. Much of the 2022 recording sounds as if the ghost of Johanne Sebastian Bach is informed by the most forward-thinking jazz and classical music of the new millennium.

Guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Andrew Cyrille respond to Downes’ unconventional organ tones with their usual finesse. An album trailer provides valuable insights. The sole downside of Breaking the Shell is the realization that the post-service organ recitals I relish will now be slightly less enthralling.

January 2022 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer of The Face of Another by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums (released in January)

1. The Weeknd- Dawn FM

My podcast analysis.

2. Andrew Cyrille, William Parker and Enrico Rava- 2 Blues for Cecil

My review.

3. Earl Sweatshirt- Sick!

My review.

4. Tony Malaby’s Sabino- The Cave of Winds

My review.

5. Silvana Estrada- Marchita

Not unlike peak k.d. lang.

6. Modern Nature- Island of Noise

Jazz-stained freak-folk.

7. Lise Davidsen and Leif Ove Andsnes- Edvard Grieg

My review.

8. John Mellencamp- Strictly a One-Eyed Jack

My review.

9. Pan Daijing- Tissues

Industrial opera.

10. FKA twigs- Caprisongs

Peculiar pop.

Top Ten Songs (released in January)

1. The Smile- "You Will Never Work in Television Again"

Static.

2. Big Boss Vette- "Heavy"

The weight.

3. Christina Aguilera- "La Reina"

I knew she had it in her.

4. Barbara Hannigan- "Youkali"

Well done Weill.

5. Che Noir- "Split the Bread"

Food for thought.

6. The Streets- "Wrong Answers Only"

“I am a God: I can turn wine into vomit.”

7. Banda Los Recoditos- "Me Siento a Todo Dar"

Drinking and dancing.

8. Love Regenerator featuring Sananda Maitreya- "Lonely"

Terence Trent D’Arby!

9. Sebastián Yatra featuring Rosario and Jorge Celedón- "Dharma"

Dance, laugh, cry.

10. Benny the Butcher and J. Cole- “Johnny P’s Caddy”

The Butcher arrives.

Top Ten Movies, Television Broadcasts and Streaming Programming (viewed for the first time in January, in lieu of live music)

1. The Face of Another/他人の顔 (1966)

Freaky Japanese psychological thriller.

2. Jeopardy! (2022)

Amy Schneider’s remarkable 40-game streak ends.

3. Handsome Serge/Le Beau Serge (1958)

Très barbare.

4. Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs (2022)

The NFL is made for TV.

5. Mary Lou Williams and Carline Ray- At Les Mouches (1978)

My associated review.

6. The Lost Daughter (2021)

Grief in Greece.

7. The Royal College of Music’s Die Zauberflöte (2021)

My review.

8. The Catered Affair (1956)

Ernest Borgnine, Bette Davis and Gore Vidal.

9. Winter JazzFest (2022)

A handful of the virtual performances are stunning.

10. From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2022

Life goal.

Links to previous monthly surveys begin here.

Album Review: Andrew Cyrille, William Parker and Enrico Rava- 2 Blues for Cecil

Forgoing live music as part of an interminable effort to avoid the virus hasn’t been all bad.  I’ve hunkered down with books in recent weeks.  Many of the biographies and novels I spend hours reading every evening conclude with end-of-life reflections about lessons learned and meanings gleaned.

Similar ruminations dominate 2 Blues for Cecil.  A trio of avant-garde elders- drummer Andrew Cyrille, 82, bassist William Parker, 70, and trumpeter Enrico Rava, 82- brood over the legacy of the late iconoclast Cecil Taylor on the album recorded 11 months ago in Paris.

More than a meditation on loss, 2 Blues for Cecil is a profound exploration of the essence of time and space. Yet tracks like "Ballerina" don’t function as background music. Reading is impossible even during the most serene moments of the riveting 2 Blues for Cecil.