''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 biographer ...

. 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 electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

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 ...

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

Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American List of jazz saxophonists, jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano saxophone, soprano and flute. D ...

, trumpeter

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

, pianist Adegoke Steve Colson, and bassist

Reggie Workman Reginald "Reggie" Workman (born June 26, 1937) is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey, in addition to Alice Coltrane, Mal Waldron, Max Roach, Archie Shepp, Tri ...

. "Louis" refers to drummer

Louis Moholo Louis Tebogo Moholo (10 March 1940 – 13 June 2025) was a South African jazz drummer. He was a member of several notable bands, including The Blue Notes, the Brotherhood of Breath and Assagai. Biography Born in Cape Town, Moholo formed The ...

, 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 database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, 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 compact disc, CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions wer ...

'' 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 multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader. Primarily an alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist, and flautist, Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain ...

) – 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

{{Authority control 1992 albums Albums recorded at Power Station Andrew Cyrille albums