''Push Pull'' is a three-LP live album by

Jimmy Lyons Jimmy Lyons (December 1, 1931 – May 19, 1986) was an American alto saxophone player. He is best known for his long tenure in the Cecil Taylor Unit. Lyons was the only constant member of the band from the mid-1960s until his death. Taylor never ...

. It was recorded on May 6, 1978, at the

Collective for Living Cinema The Collective for Living Cinema was an outpost of avant-garde cinema located on White Street in Lower Manhattan in the United States of America. It regularly presented work by filmmakers such as Ken Jacobs, Nick Zedd, Johan van der Keuken, Yvon ...

in New York City, and was released by

Hat Hut Records Hathut Records is a Swiss record company and label founded by Werner Xavier Uehlinger in 1974 that specializes in jazz and classical music. The name of the label comes from the artwork of Klaus Baumgartner. Hathut encompasses the labels hat ART, ...

in 1979. The album was reissued as a double-CD package in 2016 by Corbett vs. Dempsey. On the album, Lyons is joined by bassoonist

Karen Borca Karen Borca (born September 5, 1948 in Green Bay, Wisconsin) is an American avant-garde jazz and free jazz bassoonist. Early life and education Borca studied music at the University of Wisconsin with John Barrows and Arthur Weisberg, gradua ...

, cellist Munner Bernard Fennell, bassist Hayes Burnett, and drummer

Roger Blank Roger Blank (born December 19, 1938, New York City) is an American jazz drummer. Blank's grandfather played saxophone and his father William Blank was a trumpeter who had performed with Cootie Williams. Blank worked with Hank Mobley in Harlem for ...

Reception

In a review for ''

Jazzwise ''Jazzwise'', launched in 1997, is the UK jazz monthly magazine. ''Jazzwise'' has a broad sub-genre coverage, from jazz, improv, hard bop, and jazz-rock to bebop and classic jazz, and also covers jazz crossover, including jazz-funk, jazz hip-ho ...

'', Mike Hobart wrote: "The under-recorded Lyons remains best known for being the fiery sideman with a human touch who graced Cecil Taylor's early recordings. Here his passion, commitment and rich fruity tone are undiminished on a set of melodic, launching-point themes... Lyons' melodic flare, helter-skelter fluency and bursts of phonics standout, while Roger Blank of Sun Ra, Andrew Hill and Albert Ayler fame, is an energetic and sensitive drummer. But with bassoon adding the occasional classical veneer, and bowed cello and double bass a spiritual cry, the music never flags and keeps you engaged throughout." Peter Margasak of the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by ...

'' called Lyons's solo albums "dynamic accomplishments fueled by a rhythmic dexterity rooted in bebop but liberated from that style’s harmonic demands," and stated: "''Push Pull''... captures Lyons at his best, displaying his bobbing-and-weaving flow with deft support from a highly empathetic, agile band." Writing for ''Dusted Magazine'', Derek Taylor called the album "a valuable and illuminating document."

Track listing

All compositions by Jimmy Lyons. # "Mary Mary" – 32:42 # "After You Left" – 23:04 # "Tortuga" – 17:52 # "Push Pull" – 14:49 # "Breakout" – 21:26

Personnel

– alto saxophone *

– bassoon * Munner Bernard Fennell – cello * Hayes Burnett – bass *

– drums

References

{{Reflist 1979 live albums Jimmy Lyons live albums Hathut Records live albums