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We Are Not At The Opera |
| Sunny Murray drums Sabir Mateen alto & tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute |
1. Rejoicing New Dreams (18:46) 2. Musically Correct (18:04) 3. Clandestine, Giant (18:06) 4. Too Many Drummers, Not Enough Time (12:02) |
| Like Baby Dodds and Kenny Clarke before him, Sunny Murray revolutionized the role of the trap drums in jazz. His playing with Ayler and Taylor opened up entirely new expressive realms for the instrument, and his influence on the last thirty-five years of improvised music cannot be overestimated. Long in exile from the American scene, Murray made a rare working visit to the states in the summer of 1998. This live recording from a 27 June Meetinghouse performance in Amherst unites him with an old comrade, the masterful multi-instrumentalist Sabir Mateen (TEST, One World Ensemble), who stimulates some of Murray's most intense playing on record since the classic Jump Up side with Jimmy Lyons. Both men are former citizens of the nation state Philadelphia, PA, and that pitiless city's deep tradition of great black music courses through the set. If action music -- furiously energized and immediate -- is what you dig, this set delivers heavily. | |
