Best of 2016 #16: Cyro Baptista – “BlueFly” (Tzadik)

What began as an impromptu recording session between percussionist extraordinaire Cyro Baptista, cellist Vincent Segal, bassist Ira Coleman and percussionist Tim Keiper eventually grew into the expansive BlueFly, an album that includes upwards of twenty guest musicians and instruments as diverse as shahi baaja, Fender Rhodes, surdos, samples, clarinet, Kamale ngoni, mandolin, cello and laptop.  That initial recording session, which happened during a tour stopover, became the core of the album.  From that starting point, Baptista sent out requests to musicians to perform something with the initial pieces.  Baptista added and edited and made his collage of music contributions.  This process, in combination with his nature to incorporate folk musics from around the world and let them bleed into a jazz framework led to this fascinating, unclassifiable 2016 release. Percussion is always going to be where Baptista is going to lay the groundwork for a project, but the crafting of melodies on BlueFly and how they flow into the dialog of the rhythm is what leads to many of the jaw-dropping moments of beauty.

Jazz from NYC.

Read more about the album on Bird is the Worm (LINK).