Andrew Cyrille Quartet: The News

The quartet's new album, centered around inventive drumming legend Andrew Cyrille, continues the story of its 2016 predecessor, The Declaration of Musical Independence - a recording that Down Beat called "an uninhibited exploration of time, pulse and atmosphere" and further celebrated as: "ambitious yet simple, rich yet stripped-down, challenging yet endlessly satisfying." Bill Frisell and Ben Street remain from the "Declaration" lineup, with David Virelles taking over the piano. Each of the musicians has ample room for improvisational expression - and Frisell and Virelles contribute compositions as well - but ultimately Cyrille's communicative sensibility and what the New York Times called his "alert, fluid pulse" lead this band.