Sunny Murray

Sunny Murray ( born September 21, 1936 in Idabel, Oklahoma as James Marcellus Arthur Murray ) is an American jazz drummer. In the early 1960s, Murray developed a metrenfreien drumming style, " which corresponded to the needs of Free Jazz " and other genres such as the drummer Steve McCall, Don Moye or Phillip Wilson " way forward" was.

Life and work

Murray, who comes from a musical family in Philadelphia, began with nine years on the drums. In 1956 he played after moving to New York City with Willie "The Lion" Smith and Henry " Red" Allen. After working a short time in the bebop scene in Jackie McLean, Ted Curson and Rocky Boyd, he worked from 1959 to 1965 in various formations with Cecil Taylor together. Thanks to its innovative game with Taylor ( Live At The Cafe Montmartre, 1962) and also with Albert Ayler (Spiritual Unity and Bells ) he established himself as one of the leading drummers of free jazz; he also worked with the New York Contemporary Five by Archie Shepp, John Tchicai and Don Cherry.

In 1966 he was honored in Kritikerpoll the downbeat as the leading drum talent that deserved further attention and could be a first album as a band leader with Jacques Coursil and Byard Lancaster import. In 1968, he first went temporarily to France and played in 1969 three albums with primarily American musicians, but was also involved in an album by François Tusques. Once a part of the 1970s he was in Philadelphia, he returned in 1979 with his group Untouchable Factor, were among the such diverse musicians as Byard Lancaster, Khan Jamal or Monnette Sudler, back to Europe, where he also said a high-profile appearance on Moers Festival with the then young David Murray (no relation ) had. After another European festival appearances in different constellations he founded in 1981 in New York with the drum colleague Ed Blackwell, Dennis Charles and Steve McCall, the ensemble Drums Inter- Actual; then he was, inter alia, on recordings by Billy Bang ( with Frank Lowe ) with. In 1986, he introduced himself after temporary retreat back in Europe - about the German Jazz Festival Frankfurt - before. He then lived in Paris and participated with Alexander von Schlippenbach ( Smoke, 1989) on. Next he played with Alan Silva, Sabir Mateen, Aki Takase, Tchangodei and Assif Tsahar.

Importance

Murray, playing on a minimally equipped drum kit alone with bass drum, snare, cymbals, and (rarely benutztem ) Hi -Hat, already renounced Cecil Taylor on the typical time -keeping in favor of a constantly rising and falling rhythm fabric of continuous Beck game and accents on the bass drum. It thus provides a swinging pulse in rhythm arches and no longer emphasizes the clock units. Characteristic of him is a particularly resilient game.

With this innovative game creates Murray " space, color and movement ," said his colleague Jack DeJohnette. The Jazz Author ( and former drummer ) Stanley Crouch placed him on a par with Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis: " He can play a sound so full of music, because it is exactly the right place played with just the right touch. "

Despite its stylistic Neuerertums Murray emphasized a hierarchical division of labor of the band and saw the function as a sideman as the "main task" of the drummer.

Disco printing specifications

' * Sunny Murray, 1966

  • Homage to Africa, with Archie Shepp, Alan Silva, Grachan Moncur III, Lester Bowie, Clifford Thornton, Roscoe Mitchell, Kenneth Terroade, Jeanne Lee, ( BYG Actel, 1969)
  • An Even Break, 1969
  • Sunshine, with Archie Shepp, Alan Silva, Arthur Jones, Lester Bowie, Roscoe Mitchell, Kenneth Terroade, Malachi Favors, 1969
  • Wildflowers - The New York Loft Jazz Sessions, 1976
  • Indelicacy: Live in Germany 1987
  • 13 Steps on Glass with Wayne Dockery and Odean Pope, ( Enja, 1994)
  • Illumination, 1995
  • Aki Takase: Clapping Music, with Reggie Workman, 1996
  • Sunny's Time Now, 1999
  • Perles Noires vol. I, Sabir Mateen with Dave Burrell, Alan Silva, Louis Belogenis, 2003
  • Perles Noires vol. II, Sabir Mateen with John Blum, Oluyemi Thomas, 2003
  • Schlippenbach Plays Monk, with Alexander von Schlippenbach, Nobuyoshi Ino, 2004

Filmography

  • Sunny's Time Now - Portrait of drummer Sunny Murray

Lexigraphic entries

  • Wolf Kampmann: Reclam Jazz Encyclopedia Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-15-010528-5
  • Martin Kunzler: Jazz Encyclopedia Vol 2 Reinbek 2002 ISBN 3-499-16513-9
Meter (music) Steve McCall (drummer) Phillip Wilson (drummer) Don Cherry (trumpeter) Down Beat David Murray (saxophonist) Deutsches Jazzfestival Snare drum BYG Actuel Arthur Jones (musician) Enja Records Leonard Feather JazzTimes Integrated Authority File
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