Open Ears
February 2002

Open Ears
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By Laurence Donohue-Greene

The octet of David Murray’s always seems to provide a different angle not only in the leader’s own playing and arranging but in his overall mindset, as well. Having now released near eight recordings (of his over 70 total as a leader) with his Octet of occasionally changing personnel, the mid-40 year old Murray has well established the group, primarily focusing on his own original compositions while only occasionally playing tunes written by other octet members. Rarely, if at all, does he have his octet even perform or record music or standards by well-known (or not so well known) composers of yesteryear.

Perhaps the David Murray Octet’s best recording thus far is their latest, Octet Plays Trane (Justin’ Time, 2000). Obviously an exception to the Octet’s tendency to veer away from other musicians’ and composer’s works as mentioned above, five of the six compositions found on the release are by Trane (the other being the un-Coltrane-like odd inclusion of a Murray original entitled “The Crossing”, which is awkwardly placed in the middle of the recording). From the 15-minute plus rendition of “A Love Supreme: Pt.I Acknowledgement” to the near 9-minute interpretation of Coltrane’s “India” (with tabla), it seems that the David Murray Octet conveniently found a more than suitable challenge through another’s music in reflecting their own respective individuality as musicians and as a collective. Their rendition of “Giant Steps” is one of the tightest and unique re-arrangements of the groundbreaking Coltrane composition ever recorded, not to mention performed live.

The latter was the case on the night of December 13th at New York’s new Iridium location during the Octet’s second set (the previous set having been broadcasted live on W-BGO fm). The present Octet boasts longtime member Craig Harris (trombone), and trumpeter/fluegelhornist Rasul Siddik (who has worked and recorded off and on with the Murray Octet since the late 80’s), and also features Senegalese alto saxophonist, Abdoulaye N’Diaye. Murray frequently visits N’Diaye’s homeland for various projects and recordings, and recently recruited the alto player during one of his many visits to the African country of Senegal. Evidently the alto player originally sought Murray out for lessons. Murray was impressed enough to take him to America for the young alto player’s very first visit to the States, which as a matter of fact, started off with the six-night Iridium residency. The newest member of the Octet, N’Diaye follows in the previous alto playing footsteps of past Octet alto men Henry Threadgill, James Spaulding, and the Julius Hemphill-replacing reedman of the World Saxophone Quartet, John Purcell.

The other horn member of the Octet is trumpeter/fluegelhornist, Omar Kabir, who on several occasions, while playing a non-demanding head or standing aside during others' solos, could be found with a handheld camera catching Murray, in particular, playing his characteristic Albert Ayler and Archie Shepp influenced altissimo flights and glissandi into high frequency and multi-phonic stratospheres. Perhaps the trumpeter was catching the moments as a favor to N'Diaye who surely wanted to take back with him as much as he could, or else he was "star" struck himself!?

The Octet’s rhythm section consists of Baltimore native, Lafayette Gilchrist (piano), Mark Johnson (drums), and Jaribu Shahid (bass), the latter two being members of the Octet Plays Trane release. Gilchrist, who has been playing as a member of Murray’s Octet for over a year, lacked the authority that previous pianists such as Dave Burrell, Anthony Davis, Steve Colson, and most recently D.D. Jackson have contributed to Murray’s various other Octet incarnations. To his defense, though, because of the poor sound levels of the piano in the house mix, much of his more intricate lines seemed to get lost if not played over by the five horns as well as the rest of the Octet. His solo towards the end of the upbeat “Giant Steps” was surprisingly his most noticeable contribution.

The multi-part harmonies actually took over the need for any solos, as the horn quintet played the complicated and intricate Coltrane-penned bop head flawlessly. The tight arrangement of Murray’s is presumably due to his 25-year association with the World Saxophone Quartet who are renowned for playing four-part counterpoint harmonies that interweave incessantly to astonishing musical success. The one tune performed live that night from the Octet’s Coltrane recording featured solos by the leader on tenor sax (to many listeners’ disappointment, Murray unfortunately did not bring his bass clarinet to the club), as well as Siddik on trumpet, altoist N’Diaye (who offered warm sounding Bird-like flights of fancy), trumpeter Kabir, and Harris. The trombonist in Murray-like fashion carried off the melody in midst of his solo while in the highest of his horn’s register.

“Suki Suki Now”, for which two very distinct recent versions and instrumentations can be heard via Murray’s Like A Kiss That Never Ends (Justin’ Time, 2001) and the World Saxophone Quartet’s 25th Anniversary: The New Chapter (Justin’ Time, 2001), was given yet another distinct treatment this time around by the Murray Octet. The leader took the first solo, flying over the fluegelhorns of Siddik and Kabir, and proving yet again that he is truly one of the masters of controllably playing out of control with still a sense for the underlying melody. Harris, who also soloed, exploited and never quite left the samba-flavored rhythms.

From Dark Star: The Music of the Grateful Dead (Astor Place, 1996), the Octet went into the Dead’s “Shakedown Street”. Generally a disappointing recording, as much of the Grateful Dead’s non-live albums are as well, Murray’s Octet entertainingly played the funky hip-shaking tune the Dead originally recorded as the title track to their 1978 release. With two trumpets and Harris, the Octet’s rendition was actually a bit too brass heavy. Gilchrist took a Professor Longhair-like solo before Murray worked in the utmost register of his horn, remaining musical as only a rare few can.

Other than the more than memorable rendition of “Giant Steps” (too bad no other Coltrane tunes were in the book for that set), “Dewey’s Circle” provided the evening’s musical highlight. Murray mentioned in his introduction of the tune, “We’re going to go way back”, which was indeed the understatement! From Murray’s debut recording as a young 21 year-old leader of a trio featuring Fred Hopkins and Phillip Wilson (Low Class Conspiracy, 1976), the energy-packed original Murray composition can also be found on Murray’s Octet debut recording (Ming, 1980), and a few years later on his big band release, Live at Sweet Basil, Vol.2 (1984).

Mark Johnson, whose general overpowering contributions that evening offered only hints of his more subtle and musical capability (documented ideally on the Octet Plays Trane release, mind you), was given a rare drum solo spotlight during “Dewey’s Circle”. The old Murray time-withstanding chestnut also offered some of the best solos of the night by the other Octet members, including Kabir (on metal plunger muted trumpet), N’Diaye (whose influence of Murray was no greater at any other moment that night than during his solo), Harris (whose pace-slowing blues-inspired solo opened up a totally new dimension to the Murray tune), as well as the extended and unaccompanied bass solo of Shahid’s.

The instrumentation of the David Murray Octet has, for the most part, remained the same over the last two decades, though as previously mentioned the exclusion of Murray’s bass clarinet at least for that night was sorely missed. The previous element of the doubling flute performances of alto players Threadgill and Spaulding offered unique variables within previous Murray Octets, which unfortunately does not presently exist. However, the trumpet and fluegelhorn playing duo of Siddik and Kabir combined to create alternating bright and warm textures within the horn section, as Murray effectively mixed the combination of both being on the same horn, on different horns, and even change from trumpet to fluegelhorn within the same composition.

It looks and sounds like the David Murray Octet is certainly up to something, and that something just may be a concept that serves as a thread to bringing the group's sound into focus once again. As Murray continues to use Octet veterans and colleagues alongside newcomers, maybe future Octet recordings and performances might bring into play some of the older Octet material in conjunction with suitable re-arranged compositions not too dissimilar in style to those chosen for the Octet Plays Trane release, the David Murray Octet's latest ideal vehicle.

In either case, you won’t want to pass up the opportunity to see the David Murray Octet next time they come around your neighborhood. It’s only so often that they do, even in New York City.

In the meantime, keep your ears open to the music!

Upcoming concerts for the New Year of 2002 at the Iridium in New York include: Mose Allison (with Bob Malach) 1/15/-1/20; Pat Martino (1/22-1/27); Gonzalo Rubalcaba (1/29-2/3); and of course every Monday is the legendary Les Paul! Or visit their website at http://www.iridiumjazzclub.com.