Burnt Offering (album) explained

Burnt Offering
Type:live
Artist:Jimmy Lyons and Andrew Cyrille
Cover:Lyons_Cyrille_Burnt_Offering.jpg
Released:1991
Recorded:May 15, 1982
Venue:IMPROVCO concert, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Genre:Jazz
Length:49:38
Label:Black Saint
120 130-1
Producer:Giovanni Bonandrini
Chronology:Jimmy Lyons
Prev Title:Something in Return
Prev Year:1988
Next Title:Wee Sneezawee
Next Year:1983

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.

In an interview for JazzTimes, when asked about the recording, Cyrille stated: "Jimmy was coming out of Charlie Parker. He sounds almost exactly like Charlie Parker in tone. And I was coming out of Max and Roy Haynes and what all those guys had done with Bird too, see, because I was really into all that."[1]

Reception

The AllMusic review awarded the album 4 stars.

The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 3½ stars, and wrote: "Among the most fruitful encounters of Lyons's sadly under-documented career were his duos with Cyrille, a fellow-alumnus of Cecil Taylor Academy. Cyrille is a one-man orchestra, conjuring layered energies... 'Exotique'... is a wonderfully structured and emotionally committed performance... superb examples of two masters in flight."

Writing for Audiophile Audition, Doug Simpson commented: "Throughout the 48 minutes, Lyons blows nimble, sometimes slashing notes, knotty phrases, and now and then steps out to yield space for Cyrille's percussive lashes... 'Popp-A' is brash and budges with staccato bursts of sax and drums... 'Exotique' has an Asiatic percussive trait, while Lyons' themes are relatively more harmonious than the rest of the set list. The concert's apex is the almost 24-minute title track where Lyons and Cyrille prod each other, commingle percussive elements, and Lyons intermittently slips in refrains which mirror conventional jazz choruses, while accommodating an articulate inventiveness."[2]

Track listing

  1. "Popp-A" (Andrew Cyrille) – 15:03
  2. "Exotique" (Andrew Cyrille) – 9:47
  3. "Burnt Offering" (Jimmy Lyons) – 23:48

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Andrew Cyrille: Art Science, Part 2 . Fragman . Dominic . April 26, 2019 . JazzTimes . January 22, 2022.
  2. Web site: Jimmy Lyons – The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint and Soul Note [TrackList follows] – Black Saint/ Soul Note Records/Cam Jazz (5 CDs) ]. Simpson . Doug . January 5, 2015 . Audiophile Audition . January 22, 2022.