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Jazz Articles about Bryan Murray

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Album Review

Bryan Murray & Jon Lundbom: Beats by Balto! Vol. 2

Read "Beats by Balto! Vol. 2" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Spinning Beats by Balto Vol. 2 in the midst of a global pandemic brings to mind a quote from Zack de la Rocha: “Fear is your only god on the radio." The Rage Against The Machine frontman is begging you to turn off your radio, but somehow you just can't turn off Balto!'s beats. The brain-child of guitarist Jon Lundbom and Bryan Murray (Bryan And The Haggards, Big Five Chord), the spine-tingling essence of this music confirms what ...

Album Review

Bryan and the Haggards: Still Alive and Kickin' Down the Walls

Read "Still Alive and Kickin' Down the Walls" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff


Torna la country-free-jazz band più divertente e fracassona di Hollywood. Brian and the Haggards, vale a dire il sassofonista Bryan Murray alla testa del suo improbabile quintetto di cowboy metropolitani: Jon Irabagon alle ance, Moppa Elliott al contrabbasso (metà dei Mostly Other People Do the Killing), il batterista Danny Fischer e il chitarrista Jon Lundbom (quello dei Big Five Chord, stessa formazione e stessa etichetta: la Hot Cup Records). Still Alive and Kickin' Down the Walls ricomincia dove si era ...

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Album Review

Bryan and the Haggards: Still Alive And Kickin' Down The Walls

Read "Still Alive And Kickin' Down The Walls" reviewed by Dave Wayne


With the music of country music legends Merle Haggard and Bob Wills as a starting point, tenor saxophonist Bryan Murray and his band have been creating fresh, iconoclastic, and somewhat noisy modern jazz for a few years. The Haggards' second CD, Still Alive And Kickin' Down The Walls, picks up where their stunning debut, Pretend It's the End of the World (Hot Cup, 2010), left off. Murray and his band are clearly having a lot of fun with Haggard's music. ...

108
Album Review

Bryan and the Haggards: Still Alive and Kickin' Down the Walls

Read "Still Alive and Kickin' Down the Walls" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Still Alive and Kickin' Down the Walls is the second foray into an unlikely marriage of free jazz and the Bakersfield, California, country sound of the legendary Merle Haggard, a follow-up to the pairing's raucous honeymoon, Pretend It's the End of the World (Hot Cup Records, 2010). Saxophonist Bryan Murray leads this outfit, a rowdy, rough around the edges quintet comprised of two reeds in front of a guitar-driven rhythm section.Opening with Haggard's “Ramblin' Fever," the music sounds ...

126
Album Review

Bryan and the Haggards: Pretend It's The End of the World

Read "Pretend It's The End of the World" reviewed by William Carey


Is it too late for a “best of 2010" list? This 2010 release, by Bryan and the Haggards, has made several of these lists; while it would be easy to approach these jazz renditions of Merle Haggard tunes as some sort of novelty, that couldn't be farther from what tenor saxophonist Bryan Murray and his quintet have accomplished with this set of country ditties. The band's namesake, singer/songwriter Merle Haggard, remains a fascinating character in the history ...

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Album Review

Bryan and the Haggards: Pretend It's The End of the World

Read "Pretend It's The End of the World" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose


The legend of Merle Haggard is probably as large as the life of the folk music star. Only Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash have a larger legend than Haggard. The writer of “Okie from Muskogee" is the star of this album, Pretend It's The End of the World by this ensemble led by tenor saxophonist, Bryan Murray. Haggard's music has always been earnest and soulful and like the best contemporary music, was in fact, somewhat ...

Album Review

Bryan and the Haggards: Pretend It's the End of the World

Read "Pretend It's the End of the World" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff


Le vicende artistiche e umane della leggenda del country Merle Haggard hanno seguito un percorso comune a molti grandi della musica. Un'infanzia difficile, una vita condita da detenzioni e umiliazioni, la musica come unico momento di riscatto, il riconoscimento tardivo del proprio talento e della propria arte. Ma cosa possono avere in comune un musicista country ed un manipolo di ribelli del jazz, di dissacratori conclamati come Mattew Moppa Elliott e Jon Irabagon o un sassofonista versatile come Bryan Murray? ...


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