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David Murray (jazz musician)
Encyclopedia
David Murray is an American jazz
musician. Murray plays mainly tenor saxophone
and sometimes bass clarinet
. He has recorded prolifically for many record labels since the mid-1970s.
, USA. He was initially influenced by free jazz
musicians such as Albert Ayler
and Archie Shepp
. He gradually evolved a more diverse style in his playing and compositions. Murray set himself apart from most tenor players of his generation by not taking John Coltrane
as his model, choosing instead to incorporate elements of mainstream players Coleman Hawkins
, Ben Webster
and Paul Gonsalves
into his mature style. Despite this, he recorded a tribute to Coltrane, Octet Plays Trane
, in 1999. His 1996 tribute to the Grateful Dead
, Dark Star
, was also critically well received.
Murray was a founding member of the World Saxophone Quartet
with Oliver Lake
, Julius Hemphill
and Hamiet Bluiett
. He has recorded or performed with musicians such as Henry Threadgill
, James Blood Ulmer, Olu Dara
, Tani Tabbal
, Butch Morris
, Donal Fox
, McCoy Tyner
, Elvin Jones
, Ed Blackwell
, Johnny Dyani
, and Steve McCall
. David Murray's use of the circular breathing
technique has enabled him to play astonishingly long phrases.
He is currently living in Sines, Portugal, and participates every year in the FMM festival, a World's Music Festival.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician. Murray plays mainly tenor saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and sometimes bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
. He has recorded prolifically for many record labels since the mid-1970s.
Biography
Murray was born in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, USA. He was initially influenced by free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
musicians such as Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.Ayler was among the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s; critic John Litweiler wrote that "never before or since has there been such naked aggression in jazz" He possessed a deep blistering tone—achieved...
and Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
. He gradually evolved a more diverse style in his playing and compositions. Murray set himself apart from most tenor players of his generation by not taking John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
as his model, choosing instead to incorporate elements of mainstream players Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
, Ben Webster
Ben Webster
Benjamin Francis Webster , a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young...
and Paul Gonsalves
Paul Gonsalves
Paul Gonsalves, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist best known for his association with Duke Ellington. At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves played a 27-chorus solo in the middle of Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue"...
into his mature style. Despite this, he recorded a tribute to Coltrane, Octet Plays Trane
Octet Plays Trane
Octet Plays Trane is an album by the David Murray Octet released on the Justin Time label. Recorded in 1999 and released in 2000 the album and features performances by Murray, Rasul Siddick, Hugh Ragin, Craig Harris, James Spaulding, Ravi Best, D. D. Jackson, Mark Johnson and Jaribu Shahid...
, in 1999. His 1996 tribute to the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
, Dark Star
Dark Star: The Music of the Grateful Dead
Dark Star: The Music of the Grateful Dead is an album by the David Murray Octet released on the Astor Place label. It was released in 1996 and contains Murray's versions of compositions by the Grateful Dead...
, was also critically well received.
Murray was a founding member of the World Saxophone Quartet
World Saxophone Quartet
The World Saxophone Quartet is a jazz ensemble founded in 1977, implementing elements of free funk and African jazz into their musical routines.-History:...
with Oliver Lake
Oliver Lake
Oliver Lake is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer and poet. He is known mainly on alto saxophone but also performs on soprano saxophone and flute....
, Julius Hemphill
Julius Hemphill
Julius Arthur Hemphill was a jazz composer and saxophone player. He performed mainly on alto saxophone; less often soprano and tenor saxophones and flute.-Biography:...
and Hamiet Bluiett
Hamiet Bluiett
Hamiet Bluiett is an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. His primary instrument is the baritone saxophone, and he is considered one of the finest living players of this instrument...
. He has recorded or performed with musicians such as Henry Threadgill
Henry Threadgill
Henry Threadgill is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. Threadgill came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating a range of non-jazz genres....
, James Blood Ulmer, Olu Dara
Olu Dara
Olu Dara Jones is an American cornetist, guitarist and singer.-History:...
, Tani Tabbal
Tani Tabbal
-Biography:By age fourteen Tabbal was playing professionally, performing with Oscar Brown Jr. In his teens he also performed with Phil Cohran and the Sun Ra Arkestra....
, Butch Morris
Butch Morris
Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris is an American jazz cornetist, composer and conductor.-Biography:Before his musical career, Morris served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War....
, Donal Fox
Donal Fox
Donal Fox is an American composer, pianist and improviser in the jazz and classical genres. He has received several awards, including a 1997 Guggenheim Fellowship in music composition and a 1998 Fellowship from the Bogliasco Foundation. He has also been nominated for the CalArts/Alpert Awards in...
, McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
, Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
, Ed Blackwell
Ed Blackwell
Ed Blackwell was an American jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana, known for his extensive work with Ornette Coleman....
, Johnny Dyani
Johnny Dyani
Johnny Mbizo Dyani was a South African jazz double bassist and pianist, who played with such musicians as Don Cherry, Steve Lacy, David Murray and Leo Smith....
, and Steve McCall
Steve McCall (drummer)
Steve McCall was an American jazz drummer.McCall was born in Chicago and began his career there in the 1950s. One of his early gigs was playing behind blues singer Lucky Carmichael. McCall befriended Muhal Richard Abrams in 1961, and went on to be one of the founders of the AACM in 1965...
. David Murray's use of the circular breathing
Circular breathing
Circular breathing is a technique used by players of some wind instruments to produce a continuous tone without interruption. This is accomplished by breathing in through the nose while simultaneously pushing air out through the mouth using air stored in the cheeks.It is used extensively in playing...
technique has enabled him to play astonishingly long phrases.
He is currently living in Sines, Portugal, and participates every year in the FMM festival, a World's Music Festival.
Awards
- In 1980 David Murray was named Village Voice Musician of the Decade
- Murray was honoured with the Bird Award in 1986.
- Awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1989
- David Murray and his band earned a Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in 1989 in the Best Jazz Instrumental Group Performance category for Blues for ColtraneBlues for ColtraneBlues for Coltrane: A Tribute to John Coltrane is a 1987 album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner released on the Impulse! label. It features performances by Tyner, David Murray, Pharoah Sanders, Cecil McBee and Roy Haynes...
: A Tribute to John Coltrane - 1991 honoured with the Danish Jazzpar PrizeJazzpar PrizeThe Jazzpar Prize was an annual Danish prize within jazz founded by Arnvid Meyer. The winner was chosen from five nominees, among internationally recognized performers of jazz. The award used to be 200,000 Danish crowns and a bronze statue by Jørgen Haugen Sørensen...
- NewsdayNewsdayNewsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
named him Musician of the Year in 1993