INTAKT RECORDS – REVIEWS

DAVID MURRAY QUARTET
FRANCESCA

Intakt CD 422 / 2024

DAVID MURRAY QUARTET: FRANCESCA. Intakt CD 422

 

HE was jazz’s prime tenor saxophonist of the post-Sonny Rollins and Wayne Shorter era of the 1970s and ’80s: fiery, passionate and brimming with outstanding musicianship both within and outside the tradition. David Murray is almost a septuagenarian now. “All my old guys, they’re not with us anymore. Here are the young ones of the New York scene,” he announced, introducing pianist Marta Sanchez, bassist Luke Stewart and Russell Carter on drums.

Morning Star Online, November 20, 2023 (EN)


David Murray war mit seinem Tenorsaxophon und der Bassklarinette einer der angesagten Black Saints der New Yorker Jazz-Szene, mit dem World Saxophone Quartet, James Blood Ulmer's Music Revelation Ensemble und als Leader, von Mitte der 70er bis hin zu einer ka­putten Ehe und einer neuen Liebe ab Mitte der 90er in Paris. Ihr, Francesca Cinelli Murray, legt er Francesca (Intakt 422) zu Füßen, als Huldigung im Rückblick seiner nun 69 Jahre.

Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy Newsletter, May 2024 (DE)


Von Paris aus arbeitete er mit Musikern aus Westafrika und der Karibik, er öffnete sich vielen Einflüssen. „Meine Idee war: Wenn ich Weltmusik mache, will ich mit den Besten spielen“, sagt David Mur- ray. Die Rhythmen anderer Kulturen zu

Von Hans-Jürgen Schaal, Jazzthetik Magazine, May/June 2024 (DE)


Marta Sánchez, Benoit Delbecq, Fergus McCreadie, Rob Clearfield & More

Ludovico Granvassu, All About Jazz, June 04 2024 (EN)


Mit allem, was ich tue, bin ich Protest, die Tradition der schwarzen Musik ist der Widerstand. In Afrika waren die Trommeln das Kommunikationsmedium, wir haben die Musik als Widerstandsmedium auf eine neue Stufe gehoben“, antwortete David Murray vor einigen Jahren auf die Frage, ob Jazz als Protestmusik etwas bewirkt hat. Nicht alles, was Murray heute spielt, klingt dabei nach Rebellion. Zumindest wenn man seine Musik seziert wird deutlich, aus welchen Vermächtnissen und Stilistiken sie sich zusammensetzt. Insofern könnte man das Ergebnis auch als traditionell bezeichnen. Die Frage ist nur, wie der aus Kalifornien stammende Saxophonist die verschiedenen kulturellen Aspekte persönlich nutzt, sie mit seiner Individualität und einzigartigen Technik seines Spiels zusammenbringt. Insofern steht Murray in einer Reihe mit den großen Solisten und Improvisatoren des Jazz, die verwerten was musikalisch vorhanden ist, von Gospel, Blues, Swing, Soul, Bop, Afro-Karibik, und die diese Vorgaben ordentlich, einfallsreich und kraftvoll verdichten, entzerren, abstrahieren und sich besonders jungen Musikern gegenüber öffnen.

Jörg Konrad, KultKomplott, May 28 2024 (DE)


Figura incontornável, David Murray vai apresentar-se ao vivo no festival Amadora Jazz, ao leme do seu quarteto (11 de maio). Em antecipação a este concerto, entrevistámos o veterano saxofonista. O saxofonista David Murray (n. 1955, Oakland – Califórnia) é uma figura incontornável na história do jazz. Ao longo do seu longo percurso, Murray tocou e gravou com músicos como Henry Threadgill, James Blood Ulmer, Mal Waldron, Amiri Baraka, McCoy Tyner, Sunny Murray, Aki Takase, Vijay Iyer, Questlove, Omara Portuondo e Jason Moran, entre muitos outros. Um dos seus projetos mais reconhecidos é o World Saxophone Quartet, grupo do qual é membro fundador, com Oliver Lake e os já falecidos Julius Hemphill e Hamiet Bluiett. Murray tem uma ligação especial com Portugal, particularmente com a cidade de Sines, onde viveu, e o festival FMM, onde atuou por diversas vezes. O saxofonista vai agora apresentar-se ao vivo no festival Amadora Jazz (única data em Portugal), ao leme do seu quarteto com Marta Sánchez (piano), Luke Stewart (contrabaixo) e Chris Beck (bateria). Nos Recreios da Amadora, Murray vai apresentar a música do novíssimo disco, “Francesca” (edição Intakt), álbum que está a sair agora. Em antecipação a este concerto, tivemos uma conversa por Zoom com o lendário saxofonista.

Nuno Catarino, Jazz.pt, May 09 2024 (PT)


Saxophonist David Murray is introducing a pretty amazing new band on his latest album: pianist Marta Sanchez, bassist Luke Stewart, and drummer Russell Carter. Francesca, named in honor of Murray’s wife, is a joyous, uptempo collection of bouncing, strutting tunes — the sole exception is “Shenzhen,” a thoughtful ballad on which he switches from tenor to bass clarinet. Murray has always balanced a strong sense of tradition with a willingness to leap face-first into the avant-garde, letting his solos vault into the tenor’s upper register almost without warning but also demonstrating a tremendous sense of swing that’s rooted in R&B and gospel music. Overall, this disc has the happy, vibrant energy of mid ’80s quartet albums like Morning Song and I Want To Talk About You. “Ninno,” which is 10 minutes long on the album, is a tribute to a beloved dog from Paris, the city the Oakland-born Murray calls home.

Phil Freeman, Stereogum, May 22 2024 (EN)


David Murray Quartet: Francesca (Intakt Records 2024) Modern cazın özgün tavırlı öncülerinden David Murray ve onun yeni dörtlüsü, “Francesca” adlı albümleri için ilk defa bir araya geldiler. Özgür caza değer veren bağımsız plak şirketi Intakt Records etiketiyle 10 Mayıs’ta piyasaya sürülen bu albüm, Murray’nin 100’den fazla albümdeki tecrübesini yansıtıyor. Avrupa turnelerinin ardından, dörtlü, Zürih’in 20 kilometre dışındaki Hardstudios’a giderek albüm kayıtlarını gerçekleştirdi. Stüdyonun sakin atmosferi, lezzetli yemekleri ve telaşsız çalışma ortamı, sanatçılara kafa toparlama ve eserlerine tam anlamıyla odaklanma imkanı tanıdı.

Burak Sülünbaz, Dark Blue Notes, May 22 2024 (TR/EN)


Nul doute que David Murray a trouvé chez Intakt la compagnie qui lui permet de poursuivre sa riche et longue carrière dans les meilleures conditions. Après quelques invitations et un disque en trio (avec Brad Jones et Hamid Drake), il se présente en quartette, comme il l’a si souvent fait pour le meilleur. Pour cela il s’entoure d’une paire rythmique de Washington et d’une pianiste madrilène (qui vient d’enregistrer à son tour pour Intakt).

Jean Buzelin, Culture Jazz, 11 June 2024 (FR)


Wer liebt nicht den US-Saxer David Murray mit seinem mächtigen Sound und seiner Spielfreude? Mit dem neuen Quartett ist nun die junge Generation am Drücker: Marta Sanchez (Piano), Luke Stewart (Bass) und Russell Carter (Drums). Das Album ist Murrays Frau Francesca ge-widmet, holt die Jazztradition ins Jetzt und überblendet sie mit afrokaribischen, bluesi-gen, auch avantgardistischen Einflüssen. Die Musik packt mit Swing und Freigeist.

Pirmin Bossart, Kulturtipp Magazine, Switzerland, 2024 (DE)


自己規制をせず、自由に演奏してよい，とマレイがメンバーに伝えたバンドの運営方法と，サウンド全体のバランス感覚を全員が体得しているからこそ、この成果に繋がったのだろう。1曲を除くすべてを自作で固めたマレイは来年、古希を迎える年齢などまったく関係ないとばかりに、これまで同様の最高音域を連発しながらエネルギッシュにブロウ。先般、やはりIntaktからのトリオ・リーダー作で進境著しい才人ぶりを発揮したサンチェスが充実のプレイで、⑥の作曲者ドン・プーレンを想起させる④も興味深い。強力作だ。（杉田）

Hiroki Sugita, Jaz.In Magazine, Japan, July 2024 (JP)


David Murray’s playing has always contained a dialogue between jazz’s vanguard and its canon, but as befits an artist who has sustained a music career since the 1970s, he’s not immune to the lure of practicality. These impulses converge in this quartet, which includes drummer Russell Carter, pianist Marta Sanchez and bassist Luke Stewart. It’s capable of containing moments of combustion within a framework sufficiently swinging that you could book the band into the Village Vanguard. The material is mostly original, save a waltzing interpretation of Don Pullen’s “Richard’s Tune” that contrasts the popping ebullience of the leader’s bass clarinet against Sanchez’s sumptuous piano, and if you have followed Murray in recent times, you’ve heard some of them elsewhere. Thus the record becomes a chance to appreciate Murray’s bold tenor sax tone and full-to-bursting phrasing within an idiomatic context.

Bill Meyer, dusted magazine, June 28 2024 (EN)


NO OTHER saxophonist has so mastered the jazz tradition, while simultaneously playing out of it with such musical freedom, as David Murray. Born in Oakland, California, in 1955 he became a nonpareil of jazz saxophone within the post-John Coltrane, post-Sonny Rollins generation and, as he approaches his 70th year, he is still making wondrous sounds of fire, compassion and verve, as his newest album Francesca testifies.

Morning Star Online, August 07 2024 (EN)


Co w jazzie piszczy [sezon 2 odcinek 25]

Krzysztof Komorek, Donos kulturalny, July 10 2024 (PL)


FRANCESCA / Francesca. Ninno. Shenzhen. Come and Go. Am Gone Get Some. Free Mingus. Cycles and Seasons (David Murray). Richard’s Tune (Don Pullen) / David Murray, t-sax/bs-cl; Marta Sanchez, pno; Luke Stewart, bs; Russell Carter, dm / Intakt CD 422 David Murray is, in my estimation, the most diversely talented of the members of the former World Saxophone Quartet; at least, I can tell you that I have more recordings by Murray in my collection that me made after he left that group than any of the others, good as they were. And the reason is that he is, quite simply, a much more creative and interesting jazz composer than the others. I was first hooked on his music many years ago, in another century, when I heard his album 3D Family, and I’ve been a Murray fan ever since.

Lynn René Bayley, The Art Music Lounge, July 12 2024 (EN)


 

 

 

 

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