| recorded 10 october, 2003, nyc; 9 october, 2003, amherst; 7 june, 2002, amherst
sunny murray's talent is bigger than any category you could use to describe it. he's one of the most original musical minds of the past 50 years, a genuine innovator, the liberator of the drum kit, and an artist of uncompromising honesty. murray's playing in the 1960s with albert ayler, cecil taylor, archie shepp, & others opened up entirely new expressive realms for the drums in jazz. murray's act of liberation --to free drummers from their strict time keeping role-- still outrages many listeners, and his militant individuality, his obstinate adherence to his artistic vision over the years, still make him something of an outlaw presence in jazz. it should come as no shock to his listeners, then, that the music on this c/d and its companion volume, recorded on brief visits to the u.s. from murray's home base in paris, is full of fire and surprise, ornery as hell, charming and urbane, and totally, unstintingly true to his free- spirited aesthetic. |