Search - Roy Haynes :: Cymbalism

"Cymbal" of Quality

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 09/19/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm always delighted to see that the folks at OJC still have some good sessions left in their vaults. One such album that had remained unissued until last year was drummer Roy Haynes' "Cymbalism," originally made for the New Jazz label and recorded by Rudy Van Gelder at his Englewood Cliffs, NJ studio on September 10, 1963. Haynes always had a knack for partnering up with an adventurous saxman, whether it was Roland Kirk on "Out of the Afternoon", Booker Ervin on "Cracklin" or Frank Strozier here, performing on both alto sax and flute. Two of Strozier's compositions, "Modette" and "La Palomeinding," are the album's most interesting, cast in a modern, Dolphy-esque mode. The remainder of the album -- the standard "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You," pianist Ronnie Matthews' predictable "Go 'N' Git It!" and the pedestrian medley of Strozier's "Hag," the drum-solo title-track, and Sonny Rollins' "Oleo" -- is pretty much standard fare, and I wonder how much more interesting this session would have been had Haynes given equal billing (and creative license) to Strozier as he did to Ervin on "Cracklin'." As is, the band is solid (I failed to mention above that Larry Ridley plays bass), and "Cymbalism" is quite enjoyable, if not essential."