''My Friend Louis'' is an album by drummer

Andrew Cyrille Andrew Charles Cyrille (born November 10, 1939) 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 biographe ...

. It was recorded in November 1991 at

Power Station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

in New York City, and was released by

DIW Records DIW Records is a Japanese record label specializing in avant-garde jazz. It is a subsidiary of Disk Union. Kazunori Sugiyama was an executive producer for the label before starting Tzadik Records with John Zorn. DIW's name stands for "Discs in t ...

in 1992. On the album, Cyrille is joined by saxophonist

Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano and flute. During the 1960s, Lake worked with the Black Art ...

, trumpeter

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

, pianist Adegoke Steve Colson, and bassist

Reggie Workman Reginald "Reggie" Workman (born June 26, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey. Career Early in his career, Workman worke ...

. "Louis" refers to drummer

Louis Moholo Louis Tebogo Moholo (born 10 March 1940), is a South African jazz drummer. He has been a member of several notable bands, including The Blue Notes, the Brotherhood of Breath and Assagai. Biography Born in Cape Town, Moholo formed The Blue ...

, to whom the album is dedicated.

Reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Ron Wynn wrote: "Fiery, rampaging session with drummer Andrew Cyrille anchoring a stirring set featuring the dynamic Oliver Lake on alto and soprano saxophone. This is uncompromising, exciting material, far from sedate standards or derivative hard bop recitations." The authors of the ''

Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' wrote: "''My Friend Louis'' is dedicated to the South African Louis Moholo and explores a shared pool of atavistic dialects, free jazz confronting the most basic communicative rhythms... Workman is his usual cavernous self, and the recording is as full and intense as anyone might wish."

Track listing

# "Soul Brother (Dedicated To Malcolm X)" (Lokumbe) – 9:25 # "South Of The Border Serenade" (Colson) – 6:43 # "The Prophet" (

Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist and flautist. On a few occasions, he also played the clarinet and piccolo. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gai ...

) – 6:32 # "Shell" (Cyrille) – 8:35 # "Kiss On The Bridge" (Lokumbe) – 8:01 # "Tap Dancer" (Lake) – 5:55 # "Where's Nine" (Workman) – 3:34 # "My Friend Louis (Dedicated To Louis Moholo)" (Cyrille) – 14:02

Personnel

– drums *

– alto saxophone, soprano saxophone *

– trumpet * Adegoke Steve Colson – piano *

– bass

References

{{Reflist 1992 albums Andrew Cyrille albums