David Murray is a giant on tenor sax and bass clarinet, and one of the more adventurous, most iconic jazz musicians of his generation. He is returning to Groningen, the city where he made his European debut.
He was only 21 when he made his first appearance on European soil in Vera in Groningen. Despite his young age, the name of David Murray, from Berkeley, California, has been around for a while.
In New York, where he had only arrived the year before, he quickly became a pioneer of loft jazz, a scene that was as adventurous as it was self-motivated and that quite easily caused playing spots of its own. Just at home, if necessary (‘loft’ is an attic or attic apartment).
So back to October 24, 1976. David Murray played in Vera with trumpeter Olu Dara (mainly relevant outside jazz as the father of rapper Nas) and drummer Phillip Wilson. The regular bassist had stayed home ‘presumably for budgetary reasons’, the reviewer noted Newspaper of the North .
Great amount of energy
He praised Murray’s tenor playing, he has a beautiful tone, a highly developed sense of logic and first-class timing. Plus a tremendous amount of energy that he knows how to dose correctly.’
That was the start of a stormy career, which took him frequently to the Northern stages. Often in contexts invented by the Groningen guitarist Jan Kuiper. Artistically, the 1980s were his decade. The albums of his octet, debut Ming at the forefront, are still true cornerstones in jazz history, but also in smaller and larger line-ups (such as his sometimes somewhat ragged, but all the more vital-sounding big band) he hit the mark every time. And still.
That jazz history is his greatest source of inspiration. From that loft jazz, which itself relied heavily on the free jazz of the previous decade, he picked influences from decades of great predecessors, up to and including old heroes such as Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster.
John Coltrane
As one of the few tenorists of his time, he withdrew from the dominance of John Coltrane as a role model – and with his octet he filled an album with his pieces ( Octet Plays Trane ).
But an album with music from the ultimate psychedelic band Grateful Dead is just as possible. Just like forays into funk, Latin, African, gospel, you name it or he finds his way in it with his expressively ripping tenor sax or his slightly more romantic grunting bass clarinet.
Murray has always been very productive, sometimes with nine albums a year under his own name. The storm in his production and his playing has hardly subsided in recent years, as recent albums such as The Recursive Tree (a kind of tribute to free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor), Plumb (with drummer Questlove from hip-hop group The Roots) and Sun/Moon (solo and mother soul alone), all three from last year.
Murray comes to Groningen with his new, youthful quartet: Marta Sanchez on piano, Luke Stewart on bass and Chris Beck on drums.
Concert: May 1, Oosterpoort Groningen
Tags: storm playing tenor saxophonist David Murray Groningen European debut years
