Two Drummers, Fifty-Six Minutes of Pulse
Two percussionists, one long conversation, no melody to hide behind.
Vladimir Tarasov is the collaborator who gives this record its shape. Cyrille is the leader and the name on the cover, but Vladimir Tarasov is the other half of a dialogue that runs through the whole album. The pairing is the point: two drummers working without harmony or bass to lean on, trading phrases and answering each other across the stereo field. Where a conventional drum album would be a showcase for one player, this one is closer to a duet where both sides have to listen hard.
Recorded in 1990 at live concerts and released by Music & Arts in 1991, Galaxies is a long, dense listen, with the material running close to an hour. Those who enjoy solo percussion will find plenty of detail to follow, and it rewards listening track by track rather than as one uninterrupted stretch. The critics were split. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings gave it 3½ stars and called it dense and detailed, while AllMusic reviewer Scott Yanow was far less impressed, saying much of the musical magic is lost on record.
So this is a record for committed percussion listeners, not a starting point for anyone new to Cyrille. Anyone curious about his career will do better with his wider catalogue first. For those who already like the sound of two kits pushing against each other, Galaxies is a serious, if demanding, document of that conversation.
Who's playing
Andrew Cyrilledrums
Vladimir Tarasovdrums
