Aug 16, 2011

David Murray - Lovers


barabara sounds sez:
David Murray laid down not four but five [see comments] albums with the same band in the same series of sessions in New York in January 1988 for the Disk Union (DIW) label. This was the second of them — the others were Deep River, Spirituals, Ballads and Tenors — and probably the most overlooked. 
AMG likes Spirituals best — maybe because it's the least 'out there'. It also rates Ballards but doesn't even bother to write up Lovers. There's very little else out there on the web about these albums either, but the review of Ballards pretty much sums this one up too. As the man sez, these were some of his best albums of the decade. Excellent sound quality too. 

amg (Stephen Cook) sez:
Ballards is oneof David Murray's finest records. Like the three [sic] other excellent DIW releases that came from the same productive New York Sessions of January 1988 (Spirituals, Deep River, and Lovers), it contains a mix of originals by Murray, pianist Dave Burrell and drummer Ralph Peterson Jr., and it also includes fine bass work by Fred Hopkins. The rapport these players have on this record is stunning. They effortlessly move through a program of cool yet smart after-hours explorations that, in spite of the multi-layered arrangements, come out sounding almost artless... Murray displays his usual inventiveness of phrasing and tone... but thankfully suppresses his penchant for gratuitous outbursts, keeping his solos flowing. This sort of studied, yet loose playing is heard from all the quartet members, including Peterson, who, like Murray, also has the tendency to eat up the scenery...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://www.mediafire.com/?b0t29huf5ij6l9q

Anonymous said...

Thank you for uploading this. Not easy to follow up changing careers of David Murray.
Recently, I got his "3D familly" and "Wilber force live". If you are interested in them, I can introduce to you.

-Otto- said...

Actually, there were not only four but five LPs (and later on CDs) of these January 1988 recording sessions.

Here are the titles and CD catalog #s with years of release:

Lovers [DIW-814] released 1988
Deep River [DIW-830] released 1989
Ballads [DIW-840] released 1990
Spirituals [DIW-841] released 1990

and

Tenors [DIW-881] released 1993

Tracks on the TENORS CD are standards of some kind or another:

1. Equinox (Coltrane)
2. Ghosts (Ayler)
3. Over Time (Dave Burrell) - a rag dedicated to the tradition of Jazz saxophones and adapted from a theme by Punaluu Peter
4. Perfection (Coleman)
5. Chelsea Bridge (Strayhorn)
6. St. Thomas (Rollins)

I think that completes the set (of five).
At least those are all the releases I know of from the January 1988 date(s) with the same personnel.

And my favorite ballad on the present posting of LOVERS is the last track: Nalungo, featuring a wonderful bass solo by Fred Hopkins.

Thanks, barabara sounds!

taro nombei said...

@ Eric
many thanks for bringing me up to speed on Tenors. I think I need to track down that version of Ghosts without delay.

I've amended my post accordingly — much appreciated!

TN

taro nombei said...

@ anon
I agree, David Murray has been prodigious in his recordings.
I know the live Wilber Force album, but not the 3D. Wanna drop a link in the comments? ;-)
cheers
TN

taro nombei said...

@ -Otto-
just looking back through the comments here... and got to say sorry for addressing my answer to 'eric'.
especially since you posted such a useful comment.
anyway, again much appreciated -Otto-
:-)