Jazz Articles about David Murray

David Murray: Gwotet

by Russ Musto
October 20, 2004

David Murray has recorded more albums in a greater variety of settings than any musician of his generation, and he has done so with consistently astounding success. On this ambitious date the outstanding saxophonist displays his remarkable range in the company of Gwo-Ka master drummer/vocalists Francois Ladrezau and Klod Kiavue, guitarists Herve Sambe and Christian Laviso, bassist Jaribu Shahid, drummer Hamid Drake, and a six-piece horn section drawn primarily from his Cuban big band. And, as if all that wasn't ...

David Murray and the Gwo Ka Masters: Gwotet

by Jim Santella
July 2, 2004

Don’t try to pigeonhole David Murray. He communicates in the universal language: music.

Featuring guest tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, Gwotet crosses geographical boundaries to incorporate funk, blues, world beat, Afro-Cuban, and traditional “roots” in Murray’s melting pot. The title track summarizes his intended message, with Sanders and Murray soloing over an enchanting, rhythmic beat, swirling saxophone quartet harmonies, traditional vocal chants, and a contemporary back beat.

Horns and a classical Spanish guitar introduce “O’ léonso,” ...

David Murray & The Gwo Ka Masters: Gwotet

by AAJ Staff
June 19, 2004

David Murray, as well as his partners in the World Saxophone Quartet, have devoted considerable time recently to concept projects, most recently a Latin big band effort and a Hendrix tribute, respectively. Two years ago Justin Time released Yonn-Dé, Murray's original collaboration with the so-called “Gwo-Ka masters" of Guadeloupe.

The new Gwotet represents a (rather vast) extension of the Gwo-Ka masters project, so much so that it left me scratching my head and returning to the archives to ...

David Murray Latin Big Band: Now Is Another Time

by Jim Santella
March 1, 2003

David Murray shares the microphone with two large ensembles here to combine articulate big band arrangements with fiery, Afro-Cuban improvisation. His wall of percussionists and detailed harmonic landscape introduce the leader’s seven compositions. Where one piece moves slowly along sensual borders, the next selection charges headlong into a frenzy of animation. All the while, the composer fills each bar with the cultural colors we identify as Afro-Cuban.

Murray’s “Aerol’s Change” glides swiftly over a syncopated dance floor ...

Kahil El'Zabar: Love Outside Of Dreams

by Kurt Gottschalk
November 1, 2002

Despite more domestic releases in the last decade than ever before in his career, and a higher profile after playing with the likes of Hamiet Bluiett and DD Jackson, percussionist and composer Kahil El'Zabar remains one of the best kept secrets in the Midwest. There are a few possible (if superficial) reasons: the strong Africanism embraced by much of Chicago's AACM (where El'Zabar got his start) doesn't always play in New York; his simple repeated-and-inverted themes are, admittedly, an acquired ...

Kahil El'Zabar Trio: Love Outside Of Dreams

by Mark Corroto
September 1, 2002

African-American music (and African music for that matter) has always been about groove, movement, and that internal mechanism in your chest (perhaps your heart) that undulates and sways to the beat. In jazz, the rhythm catches you. If you explore further, melody and improvisation demands your surrender to this religion.For more than 25 years, percussionist Kahil El’Zabar has worked at the crossroads of jazz and African music providing the groove for AACM creations and his own Ritual and ...

David Murray & The Gwo-Ka Masters: Yonn-De

by Mark Corroto
April 12, 2002

Saxophonist David Murray revisits his Creole project and this time sucessfully negotiating the music of Guadeloupe on Yonn-De. His prior outing, the 1998 Creole, adapted the Caribbean Island’s French, Spanish, African, and South American musical culture to a very recognisable American jazz and blues. This outing, he adapts his sound to the percussion-heavy music of the Gwo-Ka Masters. Gone is the flute, guitar and piano and most traces of our North American sound. Murray’s horn shares equal ...