| recorded 11 october, 2003, boston; 12 october, 2003, wilmington
it needs to be said that the volume II designation of this disc does not mean the music is in any way inferior to the music on volume I. there's enough great music from sunny murray's 2003 northeast tour to fill yet another volume. the designation is dictated partly by chronology --this material comes from the later part of the tour-- and partly by an aesthetic decision to program the music to show off the diversity and contrasts in murray's handling of the different ensembles he worked with on the tour. at 66, murray is a different drummer than he was forty years ago when he first made jazz history with cecil taylor & albert ayler. partly that's because it's harder at his age to physically sustain the intense high energy of previous decades. partly, it's a matter of artistic growth, development, and change. murray's drumming on these discs is unfailingly musical. his unerring touch, sensitivity to sound and color, his relaxation and swing, are the mark of a mature talent who knows exactly what he's doing. as he approaches 70 years of age, murray's creativity, wit, and power are at a mature peak and no aspect of improvised music is beyond this most individual --and still radical-- drummer. |