Andrew Cyrille

Who is Andrew Cyrille?

Andrew Charles Cyrille is an avant-garde jazz drummer.

Cyrille was born in Brooklyn, New York into a family with a mother from Haiti. He began studying science at St. John's University, but was already playing jazz in the evenings and switched his studies to the Juilliard School.

His first professional engagement was as an accompanist of singer Nellie Lutcher and he had an early recording session with Coleman Hawkins. Trumpeter Ted Curson introduced him to pianist Cecil Taylor when Cyrille was 18.

He joined the Cecil Taylor unit in 1964 and stayed for about 10 years and eventually performed drum duos with Milford Graves. In addition to recording as a bandleader, he has recorded and/or performed with musicians such as David Murray, Irène Schweizer, Marilyn Crispell, Carla Bley, Butch Morris and Reggie Workman among others.