mfs@mhuxr.UUCP (SIMON) (04/17/85)
David Murray opened last night at Sweet Basil in New York. He brought with him a slightly revided octet: Hamiet Bluiett, Baikida Carroll, Olu Dara, Craig Harris, Wilbur Morris, Steve Colson and Ralph Peterson. Bluiett had evidently been brought in at the last minute, because Murray called for a mini rehearsal before the show started so Hamiet could get used to the tunes. Any uncertainty vanished when the set started. Things opened with one of Murray's patented tunes, the ones that deftly cross gutbucket blues tonalities with avant-garde untransposed pitch. David jumped in with about a dozen choruses blown white hot. Having thus laid down the gauntlet, he then challenged the others. Which led to some brilliant blowing throughout the set. Carroll was especially on, setting down hot embers, but in ordered rows and columns. Murray's writing is increasingly acquiring Southwestern blues overtones. He often has the band riff insistently behind a soloist, with the kicker that the riffing crosses bar and chorus lines. The result sounds incredibly like the Count Basie band at full cry, or more appropriately, like the similarly sized Mingus groups. Since Murray does not transpose, the voicings do not sound unison, but preserve individuality. It is clear to me that Murray is one of the brightest voices in a group of musicians that see the entire century of jazz experience as their foundation to build upon, and do not limit themselves to any single "school". They have completely mastered the technical issues, and are always ready, in John McLaughlin's phrase, to "forget it all before starting to play" Anything Murray plays these days is worth hearing, and his octet work is at the apex of his body of work. It is not to be missed. Marcel Simon
wjhe@hlexa.UUCP (Bill Hery) (04/25/85)
> > It is clear to me that Murray is one of the brightest voices in a group of > musicians that see the entire century of jazz experience as their foundation > to build upon, and do not limit themselves to any single "school". They > have completely mastered the technical issues, and are always ready, in John > McLaughlin's phrase, to "forget it all before starting to play" Anything > Murray plays these days is worth hearing, and his octet work is at the apex > of his body of work. It is not to be missed. > > > Marcel Simon I'll second Marcel's praise of David Murray. I saw them again last Thursday evening--for the third time in the last six months, and they keep getting better. David Murray can be heard in a very different musical setting at Sweet Basil's in two weeks: the World Saxophone Quartet, consisting of Murray, Bluett, Junius Hemphil and Oliver Lake. They each play various saxes (and sometimes clarinets), with no other instruments. Bill Hery