Acclaimed and veteran saxophonist and composer David Murray follows his 2022 release of the well-received Seriana Promethea via his Brave New World Trio with this new quartet album, Francesca, on Intakt Records. The new members are leading voices in the creative scene. Pianist Marta Sanchez hails from Spain and has released five albums as a leader, including her brilliant recent trio album, Perpetual Void, on the same label. Bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Russell Carter hail from D.C., and the former was the subject of a recent New York Times feature detailing his work with several of his bands and, importantly, his Silt Trio, which just released the excellent Unknown Rivers. Murray, playing both tenor and bass clarinet here, has played for over five decades in just about every conceivable configuration, yielding well over a hundred albums and names that span from Elvin Jones to the Grateful Dead.
This new project was recorded on the outskirts of Zurich, Switzerland, post-tour when the group, formed several years ago, was at its musical peak. In the long-held jazz tradition of the elder passing it down, Murray sees himself as a mentor to these musicians, who have already dug an impressive foothold. Only a master such as Murray can create a deep groove that allows this music to run rather seamlessly across funk, Latin Rhythms, R&B, and free. He did this decades ago as co-founder and co-leader of the famed World Saxophone Quartet, and he is still doing it, arguably with even more gusto. Murray has long been considered an avant player, but his versatility and approach don’t lend themselves to easy categorization. To him, it’s all music, and the genres are blurred. Derek Schilling, in the liners, sums up his essay this way, “Turn down the lights, set everything aside, and ready yourself for the sound of surprise.”
Opening with the title track in waltz time, this warm tune nods to the jewel tie designer Dr. Francesca Cinelli-Murray, his steady companion, as expressed through his emotive tenor as his rhythm mates ebb and flow under his melodic statements that grow increasingly fierce for over five minutes before yielding to his talented rhythm mates before returning with a stunning coda. Carter sets up the lightly syncopated, samba-tinged “Ninno,“ a fond ode to the family dog who brightened the lives of many in their friends’ neighborhood where the Murrays reside. Murray’s fluid clusters are a thing of beauty, even with sudden leaps to screeching notes in the upper registers. The rhythms are a natural fit for Sanchez, who delivers a luminous turn, as well as an extended workout on the kit from Carter. The drummer shifts to mallets and Murray to bass clarinet for “Shenzhen,” a bluesy and chromatic salute to this city north of Hong Kong. The East-meets-West vibe shifts to a Cuban-tinge, led by Stewart’s robust bass with another potent piano spot from Sanchez.
Murray lets loose with an unrestrained blistering tenor excursion in 5/4 time on “Come and Go” before an extended rendering of “Am Gone Get Some,” recorded on Seriana Promethea with Brad Jones and Hamid Drake. This swinging version highlights both Murray and Sanchez while trading with Carter on the fours. While listening to that piece, Sanchez’s piano evoked Don Pullen. Hence, it comes naturally, and maybe coincidentally, that Murray would honor the great Mingus pianist’s own homage to A.A.C.M. founder Muhal Richard Abrams in the angular, jagged “Richard’s Tune” where Sanchez is simply brilliant, and Murray is again on bass clarinet. Stewart and Carter get their say with a vigorous dialogue in the latter half. “Free Mingus” acknowledges the free-spirited son of Charles Mingus, the latter to whom Murray was compared to for his own wide-ranging work, especially in the ‘80s. Stewart, as is appropriate, shines here. The closing “Cycles and Seasons” is a wry commentary on these turbulent times, nature and otherwise, as it moves from a rollicking 7/4 to a strutting 4/4. If it sounds off-kilter, it’s meant to. Each member gets a chance to stretch out, revealing for a final time Stewart’s deep bass grooves and Carter’s balance of creativity and precision.
Once hailed as “the great new tenor” over four decades ago, Murray remains undiminished in his virtuosity. That should come as no surprise.
