The fourteenth of Jon Turney’s weekly selection (introduced HERE), features David S Ware getting ready for take-off.

I bought this LP at a memorably powerful gig in Manchester by the quartet. The band blew us all away. They hadn’t more technique than the Brits, necessarily (though Andrew Cyrille had, and has, enough technique for several regular drummers). But they had, attitude, I guess. 

I don’t remember much else about that night, but the record still grips. The writing and the playing are consistently excellent. Cyrille is the most musical of drummers. Ted Daniel on trumpet is a model of post-bop inventiveness. Nick DiGeronimo on bass is vital, too, especially on the 21-minute Spiegelgasse 14.

I love that suite, which still seems quite an achievement of sustained invention – you should listen. But I’ve gone for My Ship, because I have unlimited love for the tune. We hear much less of the others but more (twice) from David S Ware on tenor, tearing in to Kurt Weill’s melody. It’s a great combination.

Cyrille, now an old master, remains at work – here he is at Small’s in New York just a few weeks ago.

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His discography is vast, but I think this one is a highlight, even without it being a personal souvenir.

LINKS: Listen on Spotify
More on this recording on Jon’s Bristol Jazz Log

Read Jon’s introduction to the ’52 tracks’ series

Week Thirteen, Re: Person I Knew, Tony Coe