Inamorata has provided us with another treasure - but let's 'hear' it in his own words:
James Newton & David Murray: Solomon's Sons (Circle Records, 1977)
Here we go with the second installment of The Complete James Newton on Circle Records. A discography of Newton's Circle recordings will follow in the last installment.
James Newton & David Murray: Solomon's Sons
Circle Records RK 16177/5
Dedicated to Martin Luther King
James Newton, flute
David Murray, alto & tenor sax
A1. Monk's Notice (James Newton)
A2. The Dean (James Newton) DM out
B1. Theme for the Kidd (David Murray)
B2. 3D Family (David Murray) JN out
B3. Solomon's Sons (James Newton)
Recorded live January 16, 1977 at the Smudge Pot, Claremont, CA by Bruce Bidlack.
Produced by Rudolf Kreis
Circle Records RK 16177/5
One further flute solo track from the same concert, Bobby Bradford's "Woman", is included on "Flutes!" (Circle Records RK 7677/7). This show is remarkable as one of the rare (if not the only) officially documented occasions of David Murray playing the alto sax.
This LP was posted before by Wallofsound on Inconstant Sol (http://inconstantsol.blogspot.com/2007/12/james-newton-and-david-murray-solomons.html), with a very interesting description (also see his remarkable posts on DM at http://wallofsound.wordpress.com/category/david-murray/). The flac links are dead; the mp3 links are still active but the files suffer from considerable digital clipping so this is clearly an upgrade.
As with the Flutes! LP, the transfer was de-rumbled and de-clicked but otherwise unchanged. For audio restoration I use the software written by Brian Davies at www.clickrepair.net which I cannot praise highly enough. However, just as any sharp tool, this has to be used with great care in order to avoid damage.
.
A concert (World première) that Murray has significantly titled:
"Blood Singin' and Stompin' The Blues".
Rec. live at "Teatro Manzoni", Milan, Italy, on January 29, 2012
(mics recording)
David Murray,tenor sax,conductor,arrangements
James Blood Ulmer,electric guitar & voice
Ravi Best/Shareef Clayton/Mario Hernàndez Morejòn,trumpets
Mark Williams/Terry Greene II/Denis Cuni Rodriguez,trombones
Lakecia Benjamin/Tony Kofi,alto saxes
Jay Rodriguez/Irving Acao,tenor saxes
Alex Harding,baritone sax
Mingus Murray,electric guitar
Llorenc Barcelò,Hammond B3
Steve Colson,piano
Jaribu Shahid,double-bass & electric bass
Chris Beck,drums
1. David intro (04:34)
2. Spreadsology [D.Murray] (11:42)
3. Backwater Blues [B.Smith] (13:47)
4. Let's Talk About Jesus [J.B.Ulmer] (10:03)
5. Grinnin' In Your Face [E.J.House Jr.] (13:52)
6. Love Like Them [C.West] (13:02)
7. Interview Suite [J.B.Ulmer/D.Murray] (18:07)
8. Sittin' On Top Of The World [W.Vinson/L.Chatmon] (12:26)
9. Dead Presidents (encore) [W.Dixon/W.R.Emerson] (09:17)
Total Time 1:46:53
excerpt from Sittin' On Top Of The World
David Murray with a Cuban Ensemble plays the music that Nat King
Cole recorded "en español" at the end of the Fifties. Fanciful.
Rec. live at "Teatro Romano", Verona, Italy, on July 1st,
2011 (mics recording)
David Murray,tenor sax,conductor
Ariel Bringuez Ruiz,tenor sax
Roman Filiu Oreilly,alto sax
Mario Morejon,trumpet
Denis Cuni Rodriguez,trombone
Josè "Pepe" Rivero,piano
Reiner Elizarde Ruano,bass
Georvis Pico Milan,drums
1. El Bodeguero [R.Egües](15:02)
2. Tres Palabras [O.Farrés](19:30]
3. Black Nat [D.Murray](10:32)
4. Quizas, Quizas, Quizas [O.Farrés](14:18)
5. No Me Platiques [V.Garrido](16:55)
6. Piel Canela [B.Capó](11:20)
Total Time 1:27:30
Black Nat
Recorded about four months after the "historic" meeting :
M’Boom and World Saxophone Quartet at The Cathedral
of St. John the Divine, N.Y.C., June 26, 1981.
Rec. live at "Teatro dell'Opera", Rome, Italy, on October 28,
1981 (mics recording)
Hamiet Bluiett,baritone sax,clarinet (-09)
Julius Hemphill,alto & soprano sax (-09)
Oliver Lake,alto sax (-09)
David Murray,tenor sax,bass clarinet (-09)
+
Max Roach,drums (09-14)
01. Sundance [H.Bluiett] (01:39)
02. Plainsong [J.Hemphill] (06:42)
03. Revue [J.Hemphill] (14:13)
04. Bordertown [J.Hemphill] (08:07)
05. My First Winter [J.Hemphill] (08:31)
06. Hymn For The Old Year [O.Lake] (07:22)
07. Stick [J.Hemphill] (10:20)
08. Ming [D.Murray] (07:43)
09. Max Solo [M.Roach] (20:14)
10. Hattie Wall [H.Bluiett] (03:55)
11. Funny Paper [J.Hemphill] (04:16)
12. Touchic [J.Hemphill] (05:08)
13. I Heard That [H.Bluiett] (04:35)
14. Fast Life [D.Murray] (03:44)
Total Time 1:46:34
The full version of a concert already published by Moers Music
and now OOP (i think). Two tracks and about 24 more minutes.
Rec. live at "The 8th Moers Festival", Moers, Germany,
on June 3, 1979 (mics recording)
David Murray,tenor sax,bass clarinet
Malachi Favors,bass,percussion
Sunny Murray,drums
Cheikh Tidiane Fall,congas
1. Unknown (10:06)
2. Tree Tops (08:00)
3. Happiness Tears (16:12)
4. Sweet Lovely (11:43)
5. German Dilemma (17:19)
6. Unknown Encore (07:22)
Total Time 1:10:45
An extemporary trio, even if in those years, the collaboration between
the two Murray was rather frequent.
Maybe Wallofsound (the greatest living authority about D.Murray)
can give an help for naming the unknown tracks.
Rec. live in Alassio, Italy, on September 9, 1979
(mics recording)
David Murray,tenor sax
Wilbur Morris,bass
Sunny Murray,drums
1. German Dilemma (22:13)
2. Unknown (12:46)
3. Unknown (07:08)
4. Unknown (11:28)
5. Sweet Lovely (07:35)
Total Time 1:01:12
Dave Burrell and David Murray Daybreak
Gazell GJCD 4002
1. Daybreak (Dave Burrell) 12:03
2. Sketch #1 (David Murray) 9:49
3. Blue Hour (Dave Burrell) 13:45
4. Qasbah Rendezvous (Dave Burrell) 8:21
Recorded March 30th 1989 at Morning Star Studio, Springhouse, PA, USA
Produced by Sam Charters
Dave Burrell (p)
David Murray (ts, bcl)
I always think that Dave And David are an unlikely pairing. Burrell’s piano playing is angular and spiky, and he likes abstraction and high-end trills; while Murray’s sax and clarinet style is full-throttle gospel-soaked emotion with a strong attachment to melody. But they are both rooted in the tradition of black jazz. This record features a great collection of duets, and reveals a long-term partnership in which they developed a love for each other’s playing, and a distinctive approach to the music which allows each personality to prosper in the company of the other.
They actually recorded over 14 LPs together, including the other duo performances on Brother to Brother, Windward Passages, and In Concert, and the classic DIW quartet recordings Spirituals, Deep River, Lovers, and Ballads. I think they play notably differently together, than when compared with their performances apart. I think they play notably differently together, than when compared with their performances apart.
I think this is something to do with that respect and interest in the jazz tradition. While this record is far from the sorts of investigation of earlier styles of jazz that both musicians had explored, it is deeply rooted in the emotional practices of those traditions. Murray’s sax seems to soar above Burrell’s piano, to reach ecstatic heights. Once you know that Burrell has a fascination with the music of Jelly Roll Morton and James P. Johnson, and the early influences of blues and gospel on jazz you can hear it in his playing, and you can start to understand why he makes such a satisfactory foil for Murray’s gospel-free-swing style. Burrell’s a much more expansive player than Murray, and as Murray takes the emotive line it allows Burrell to be more acerbic.
It’s Dave Burrell’s composing skills that dominate here, and he produces some lovely themes for the recording date which ebb and flow in the performances. Murray seems much more at home once the playing settles into some form of organisation, but he’s more than happy to match the piano player’s complex lines in duals like the one that opens 'Blue Hour'.
This album features Murray’s most ‘out’ playing of the 1980s, and it is interesting to note that he recorded this at the same time as Ming’s Samba for Columbia, and while he was releasing music for Bob Thiele’s Red Barron; all of the latter tended to the mainstream of the ‘jazz revival’ of the late 80s and early 90s. The production credits go to Sam Charters, who discogs.com suggests is jazz and blues historian Samuel B. Charters. This is probably correct because (if my memory serves me correctly) in the 1990s Gazell, while originally a Scandinavian label, was owned by Sonet (which was previously owned by Charters).
David Murray Big Band featuring James Newton plays 'The Obscure Works of Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn'
Jazzfest ñ Haus der Kulturen der Welt, November 7th 1998.
African Flower 19:03
Such Sweet Thunder 7:53
Chelsea Bridge 7:36
Love You Madly 7:51
Bloodcount 6:18
Wig Wise 11:11
Praise God 4:21
Warm Valley 12:10
Blue Pepper (Far East Of The Blues) 6:02
Carmen Bradford (vocals)
David Murray (tenor sax, bass clarinet, conductor)
Ricky Ford (tenor sax)
James Newton (flute, conductor)
James Spaulding (alto sax, flute)
John Purcell (saxello, clarinet)
Pablo Calogero (baritone sax)
Craig Harris (trombone)
Frank Lacy (trombone)
Gary Valente (trombone)
Ravi Best (trumpet)
Hugh Ragin (trumpet)
DD Jackson (piano)
Jeff Chambers (bass)
Andrew Cyrille (drums)
Klod Kiavue (percussion)
"James Newton and myself are interested in bringing to light some of Ellington's obscure extended works, while at the same time realizing Billy Strayhorn's influence on Ellington and unveiling the uniqueness of their collaboration" David Murray (http://www.festwochen.de/jazzfest/2002/archiv/jazzfest98.html)
I am in debt to LYM for a copy of the recording.
The first indication of Murray's interest in Ellington in the former's recordings came when Come Sunday appeared on one of the the saxophonist's solo albums, Conceptual Saxophone, in 1978. Given Murray's gospel background the choice may have been connected to the opportunity that the theme gave to Murray to explore his interest in the ecstatic.
There are, though, indications that Murray's interest in Ellington preceded this recording, and goes someway back into Murray's musical origins. Murray grew up in California, and studied on Stanley Crouch’s Black Studies programme at Pomono College and, according to Brian Case's sleeve notes to Conceptual Saxophone, Murray originally came to New York on a research trip for a thesis on Jazz saxophone. According to an interview in the Washington Post with Hollie I West he says specifically the paper was on changes in Saxophone playing since 1959. Case’s sleeve notes also cite Murray’s interest in Paul Gonsalves – Ellington’s long time tenor player – as an influence, and Gonsalves would certainly have been one of the key players in influencing post-1959 players. Many of Murray's later works signaled an interest in Gonsalves, Murray even gave a composition on his 1991 big band recording the title 'Paul Gonsalves'.
Murray went on to record 13 Ellington and seven Billy Strayhorn compositions with his own bands or the WSQ, and many more pieces from the Ellington band book. 'In A Sentimental Mood' gets four outings with different bands. Gary Giddins has suggested other Gonsalves-inspired thinking beyond the debt in muscular tone, when he notes that Murray's solo on Ellington's 'Take the Coltrane' is 27 choruses long, the same length as Gonsalves' solo insertion in the famous Newport performance of 'Diminuendo and Cresendo in Blue'.
Murray also seems to owe a debt to Ellington in his bag band work. Although large ensembles had been a key feature of the California new jazz scene in the early 1970s, and many of Murray's earliest New York appearances were in large bands, his big band recordings always seem (to me at least) to have much of the majesty of Ellington's classic performances.
In this context it's not surprising that Murray would get round to a detailed investigation of the Ellington oeuvre. And this is it: 'The Obscure Works of Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn'
I'm not sure why Murray titled the whole performance 'The Obscure Works' because most of the compositions will be well known to Ellington fans, and a number have standard status. This project has clearly been in development for some time, and Murray used the basic idea many times. Giddins refers to a performance of the project in 1997 in Paris with big band plus string orchestra. He also suggested that the concert was recorded, edited and released in 1998, but I haven't been able to track down a copy, let alone another mention of the record. Giddins doesn't give a recording label, like he does for every record release in the book, so I'm even less sure how to find it (if it exists). There is clearly a recording, though because Giddins discusses it over several pages of the book. The band and set seem to be very similar as this one.
The project had several performances including:
Paris 1997
Carmen Bradford (vocals)
David Murray (tenor sax, bass clarinet, conductor)
Ricky Ford (tenor sax)
Hamiet Bluiett (sax)
Arthur Blythe (sax)
James Newton (flute, conductor)
James Spaulding (alto sax, flute)
John Purcell (saxello, clarinet)
Charles Ownes (sax)
Craig Harris (trombone)
George Lewis (trombone)
Ray Anderson (trombone)
Bobby Bradford (trumpet)
DD Jackson (piano)
Art Davis (bass)
Andrew Cyrille (drums)
JazzFest Berlin 98, Saturday 7th November 10:30 pm Auditorium
Carmen Bradford (vocals)
David Murray (tenor sax, bass clarinet, conductor)
Ricky Ford (tenor sax)
James Newton (flute, conductor)
James Spaulding (alto sax, flute)
John Purcell (saxello, clarinet)
Pablo Calogero (baritone sax)
Craig Harris (trombone)
Joe Bowie (trombone)
Gary Valente (trombone)
Bobby Bradford (trumpet)
Ravi Best (trumpet)
Hugh Ragin (trumpet)
DD Jackson (piano)
Art Davis (bass)
Andrew Cyrille (drums)
Klod Kiavue (percussion)
Brecon Jazz Festival, August 1999
Hugh Ragin
Rassul Siddik,
Nathan Breedlove (t)
Craig Harris
Gary Valente
Joe Bowie (tb)
James Newton
John Purcell
James Spaulding
Ricky Ford
Hammiet Bluiett (rds)
Hilton Ruiz (p)
Jaribu
Shahid (b)
Andrew Cyrille (d)
Klod Kiavue (perc)
Carmen Bradford (vo)
A scaled down version of this group played the North Sea Jazz Festival in July 1999 consisting of Murray with, Ragin, Harris, Newton, Purcell, Bluiett, Ruiz, Shahid and Cyrille and possibly one other (http://johnjazz.homestead.com/davidmurray.html).
I would be very interested to find out any further information, hear other performances of the project, and track down a copy of the record Giddins mentions.
David Murray & Milford Graves: Real Deal
DIW 867
David Murray (tenor saxophone on 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8, bass clarinet on 4 and 7),
Milford Graves (drums and percussion)
1. Stated With Peace (David Murray) 7:50
2. The Third Day (David Murray) 8:50
3. Luxor (David Murray) 8:29
4. Under & Over (Milford Graves) 6:03
5. Moving About (Milford Graves) 11:08
6. Ultimate High Priest (Milford Graves) 6:27
7. Essential Soul (Milford Graves) 10:49
8. Continuity (David Murray) 4:10
Recorded November 3, 1991, at Power Station, NYC
This album came 11 records into Murray's tenure with DIW records and, as would be suggested by a duo performance with Milford Graves, it probably has more in common with Murray's earlier performances than with his other work of that time. During most of October and early 1991 Murray seemed to have been locked in the Power Station recording studio in New York City, and with nothing else to do he embarked on a mammoth recording session with a wide array of different musicians. This duo performance was the last of a run that included a quartet with James Blood Ulmer, Murray's then concert quartet with Bradford Marsalis added on two tracks, and a beautiful quartet/quintet recording with some of his earlier collaborators including Bobby Bradford, Dave Burrell, and Fred Hopkins.
'Moving About' is perhaps the most imaginative and satisfactory of the tracks as a collaboration. While elsewhere the sax and drums sometimes sound like they a running on parallel lines, here the drum textures seem to offer Murray something to work with, and his playing is ecstatic but rooted. Nevertheless my favourite track is 'Essential Soul'. Perhaps because I favour Murray over Graves, and I always feel that this period is the strongest for Murray's Bass Clarinet playing. Here Murray's playing might be more independent, but Graves is more restrained, and he follows Murray's lead even though this is the percussionist's composition. I just adore Murray's exposition. Others may find it meandering, and it doesn't seem to have any sense of direction, or any musical resolution; it's just one of those beautiful Murray journeys. I don't really care where it is going. 'Under & Over' is almost jolly, and there is some real interaction as Murray takes a much more percussive role on Bass Clarinet, and produces some of his best squeals and squarks, in a uncanny copy of his tenor saxophone playing. This was a real instrumental master at work. Luxor investigates the tumultuous side of Murray, and 'The Third Day' is almost middle eastern to my untrained ear, with lots of busy traps playing from Graves.
Graves is venerated as much, I feel, because his recordings are a rare commodity, and yet he is striking even amongst free drummers. He certainly became enamored of complex timbres and his playing is often more musical than rhythmic in the jazz swing sense. In the New York Art Quartet started out as a conventional traps drummer in a strong and idealist group, joining Albert Ayler for Holy Ghost and Love Cry (where he seems toitally dominated), he then appeared intermittently on disk with a range of his own groups and in small scale settings. I do love his work on Nommo with Don Pullen, in a combination of jangle and cavernous percussion with dark piano clusters that shouldn't work, but does. This is real textual stuff, in which who is the percussionist and who the melodist seems a stupid question. I would be interested to find out who had the idea of pairing him with Murray. It isn't that there wasn't a precedent. Murray seemed to like percussive percussionists, and had played with Sunny Murray, Philip Wilson, and Andrew Cyrille within three years of arriving in New York. he then went on to work with some of the best drummers in jazz, followed by experiments with Kahil El'Zabar from the late 1980s into the 1990s. later Murray would explore a whole wider world of percussion in collaborations with African and Caribbean percussionists.
Although it is possible to still buy a new copy of this recording for as little as $18, and a second hand one for as much as $80, it does seem to be out of print. I don't hold this in the top pile of Murray work, but for those willing to spend a little time acclimatising, and especially if they are willing to suspend their belief that music has to have a purpose beyond the moment, this is exactly the real deal.
Wilber Morris / David Murray / Dennis Charles: Wilber Force
DIW 809
Wilber Morris (b)
David Murray (ts 1-4 6,bcl 5)
Dennis Charles (d)
1. Randy (Wilver Morris) 12:55
2. P.C.O.P. #1 (Wilver Morris) 10:00
3. Miss Mack (Wilver Morris) 9:05
4. West Indian Folk Song (Dennis Charles) 8:40
5. Afro-Amer. Ind (Wilver Morris) 10:20
6. P.C.O.P. #2 (Wilver Morris) 11:35
Recorded live at February 6, 1983 at Kwame, NYC
This seems to be the second recording for Wilber Morris’ sometime bass-drums-sax trio. This one features the young (but long-time Morris associate) David Murray, and recent partner in rhythm (but fixture of the New York scene) Dennis Charles. Morris and Murray were both part of the tide of West Coast musicians setting up in New York in the mid 1970s to play in the loft scene, while Charles had been the powerhouse behind some of the key experimental musicians of New York’s avant guard since the early 1950s.
I bought this as part of my obsessive David Murray collecting, but it is now far from a completists addition. The bassist is clearly the leader here, composing all the themes with short names ( West Indian Folk Song is Charles’), and giving all the numbers their drive and shape. Murray is particularly effective in a trio, and the Morris themes seem to push him to some very different performances. Although I tend to think Murray can do no wrong, even I’d have to admit that he hardly ever subsumes himself into the setting he finds himself. In ‘Afro-Amer.Ind’, though, features his plaintive bass clarinet weaving through Morris’ bass figures and Charles’ choppy cymbal work. A bass and vocal chant leads to a long Murray solo, subsides into a bass solo with a intermittent gentle tap and brushed backing from Charles, before Murray and Charles burst back in stretch to the end. Meditative is probably the adjective. By contrast Charles’ jolly theme suits Murray well, and brings out a strong tight drums and bass performance.
‘Miss Mack’ is more subdued sax and Charles’ lovely drum textures. This one repays repeated listening. It’s remarkable how much is going on amongst the three musicians. The longest track, ‘Randy’, has one of those quirky rhythm-melody themes, and some constant changes of pace driven by bass and drum with Murray holding on for dear life! He does get to squeal a little here, though. there are two ‘PCOP’s, though I’m not clear what they are. A lovely theme set out by sax and bass with cracking physical playing from Charles. There’s a lot of unfocused meandering, but journey’s don’t have to be purposeful if there’s lots to hear on the way, and here the textures are just wonderful. This really is music for the moment that allows you to forget where you’ve come from, and care little about where your heading.
As far as I am aware this was the first time Murray was on a DIW recording, and a decade later this was going to be his main channel for releases. There’s a pattern in Murray’s history where he records as a sideman for a project and seems to establish a relationship that blossoms into a recording contract later on. This was also a bit of a return to small group recordings after septet and octet experiments (usually featuring Morris and his younger brother, Butch) interspersed with quartet recordings.
Although this had a CD release, it wasn't widely available outside Japan, and it doesn't seem to be currently available. Along with Collective Improvisations (featuring Denis Charles and saxophonist Charles Tyler for Bleu Regard in 1981) this is an enjoyable record in its own terms, and a key point in Murray’s career that isn’t that well known.
David Murray Flowers For Albert
India Navigation IN 1026
Recorded live on June 26 1976 at Ladies’ Fort, NYC
David Murray (ts)
Olu Dara (tp)
Fred Hopkins (b)
Phillip Wilson (d)
CD1
1. Flowers For Albert (Murray) (14:18)
2. Santa Barbara and Crenshaw Follies (Murray) (15:53)*
3. Joanne’s Satin Green Dress (Lawrence “Butch” Morris) (12:56)
4. After All This (Murray) (13:59)*
CD2
1. Roscoe (Murray) (9:05)
2. The Hill (Murray) (17:55)*
3. Ballad For A Decomposed Beauty (Murray) (9:18)
* not on original LP.
My second new contribution to the India Navigation fest taking place at http://indianavigation.blogspot.com is David Murray's debut solo release. The original record was made up of parts of a live concert by his then quartet in one of New York’s famous 70s Jazz lofts, the Ladies’ Fort.
Clarinet Summit
In Concert at the Public Theater Vol. I/II
India Navigation 1062CD 1991
compiles both volumes released on vinyl as:
India Navigation 1062 (LP - 1984)
India Navigation 1067 (LP - 1985)
Recorded live in Spring 1981 at the Public Theatre, NY
Alvin Batiste (B flat clarinet),
John Carter (B flat clarinet),
Jimmy Hamilton (B flat clarinet),
David Murray (bass clarinet)
1.Introduction
2. Groovin' High 2:33
3. The Jeep's Blues 5:14
4. Mood Indigo (Duke Ellington) 2:06
5. Night Mist Blue (Jimmy Hamilton) 2:06
6. Waltz A Minute (Jimmy Hamilton) 1:11
7. Creole Love Call (Duke Ellington) 2:58
8. Honeysuckle Rose 7:48
9. Sweet Lovely (Murray) 5:59
10. Sticks and Bones 6:40
11. Solo and Ballad for Four Clarinets (John Carter) 12:45
12. The Washington Square Park Episode 6:52
13. Clariflavours (Alvin Batiste) 16:28
also on the vol. II LP (and not on the CD, or this post) 'Satin Doll' (Duke Ellington) 2:40
As a contribution to the new discography blog for India Navigation I thought I'd post this great CD which combines volumes I and II of Clarinet Summit. This is pretty much a clarinet version of the saxophone quartets which were in vogue in the 1980s. Led by John Carter, a featuring Ellington alumnus Jimmy Hamilton, in/out player Alvin Batiste, and David Murray who had taken up bass clarinet few years before.
The programme is an interesting mixture of original compositions from the group members and Ellington originals. The CD features sleeve notes by Stanley Crouch (doing a bit of historical contextualisation) and John Carter (explaining how the date came about). Crouch empaphasises the New Orleans origins of jazz clarinet, evoking Bechet and Barney Bigard as precursors, and rightly says that the music chosen owes much to the success of the performances. Honeysuckle Rose highlights Batiste and Hamilton, and Murray solos on his own Sweet Lovely. The lengthier tracks show John Carter's writing and arranging off to great effect, and are excellent examples of why I rate him as one of the master's of jazz.
Given the long careers of the other three, the much younger Murray acquits himself superbly, and without hesitation. The group practiced for three days before, but they sound completely at ease with each other. This inter-genreational approach was to be a common feature of Murray's later bands.
The recording stands up well after over 25 years, and it is one of the reasons India Navigation was such a collectable label. You'll find a full discographic listing of the label at http://indianavigation.blogspot.com/