Browse by Artist: MURRAY, SUNNY

Artist:	MURRAY, SUNNY
Title:	Hommage To Africa
Label:	BYG RECORDS
Format:	LP
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	BYG 303LP

Third volume in the BYG Actuel series; gatefold sleeve, 180 gram vinyl. "After three years as a member of Albert Ayler's band (1964-1967), avant-garde jazz drummer Sunny Murray traveled to France where he recorded for Affinity and BYG. The amazing Homage to Africa was recorded on August 15, 1969 for BYG and features Archie Shepp, Alan Silva, Grachan Moncur III, Lester Bowie, Clifford Thornton, Roscoe Mitchell, Kenneth Terroade and Jeanne Lee."

Artist:	MURRAY, SUNNY
Title:	An Even Break (Never Give A Sucker)
Label:	BYG RECORDS
Format:	LP
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	BYG 332LP

32nd volume in the BYG Actuel series; gatefold sleeve, 180 gram vinyl. "Avant-garde jazz drummer Sunny Murray was a major player in the experimental jazz community throughout the 1960s. After three years as a member of Albert Ayler's band (1964-1967), Murray traveled to France where, after releasing two LPs on the BYG label, he recorded An Even Break, (recorded on November 22, 1969) for Affinity. Although his first release for the Affinity label, this was Murray's third release of the year! Featuring Byard Lancaster, Malachi Favors and Kenneth Terroade."

Artist:	MURRAY, SUNNY
Title:	Sunshine
Label:	BYG RECORDS
Format:	LP
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	BYG 348LP

48st volume in the BYG Actuel series; gatefold sleeve, 180 gram vinyl. "This album was recorded in Paris on August 15, 1969 with Lester Bowie, Dave Burrell, Roscoe Mitchell, Archie Shepp, Alan Silva, Malachi Favors, Arthur Jones and Kenneth Terroade. Sunny Murray is 'rightly regarded as jazz's first free drummer. His belief in the drum as an extension of the human soul's vibration allowed him to create a sonic firebed for tonal instruments to dance across. He spent the '60s developing his propulsive, brain-poking style with Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor and his own groups. The wild sextet Mr. Murray led for this session heralds our entry into the rough and blaring world of high energy." --Thurston Moore and Byron Coley.

Artist:	MURRAY, SUNNY
Title:	Perles Noires vol. I
Label:	EREMITE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	MTE 045CD

Sunny Murray: drums; Sabir Mateen: alto and tenor saxophones, alto-clarinet; Dave Burrell: piano; Alan Silva: bass; Louis Belogenis: tenor saxophone. "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, and 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 CD 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."

Artist:	MURRAY, SUNNY
Title:	Perles Noires vol. II
Label:	EREMITE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	MTE 046CD

Sunny Murray: drums; Sabir Mateen: alto and tenor saxophones, clarinet; John Blum: piano; Oluyemi Thomas: bass clarinet and c-melody saxophone. "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 and 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."

Artist:	MURRAY, SUNNY
Title:	Big Chief
Label:	EREMITE
Format:	LP
Price:	$26.00
Catalog #:	MTE 051LP

First LP reissues on Eremite and true state-of-the-art reproductions -- beautiful heavy sleeves, attentive re-mastering, 180 gram RTI pressings. This Sunny Murray LP was released on the French EMI/Pathé label in 1969 and rarely seen by humans since. "Examples on record of Sunny Murray's enduring originality & influence as a drummer are many (refer to eremite 14, 45 & 46, among others), but very few recordings demonstrate his strikingly unusual voice as a band leader & composer. None do so more spectacularly than his 1969 album Big Chief. Unfortunately, it's been a sick collector's item since long before ebay. So it is with great pride & satisfaction that Eremite returns to our friends in the human clan this long unavailable masterpiece. The group assembled for this Parisian studio date includes musicians from France, South Africa, Jamaica, & the USA, and the huge sweeping sound they conjure while absolutely nailing Murray's highly irregular compositional structures is as thrilling as free jazz gets. Hart Le Roy Bibbs appears once only in a wildly memorable turn. Everywhere & thru-out, Murray uses the instrumentation's orchestral range to explore his fascination with the far extremes of the frequency range. Prepare your hearing for searing high-end burn! The record resolves beautifully in a performance of 'This Nearly Was Mine' that manages to be both otherworldly & poignant. Not only is Big Chief one of Murray's great achievements, it's one of the truly special recordings in free jazz history. Seriously. There is no greater love. The music was fastidiously remastered from the best available sources by Mike King (Reel Recordings), pressed on premium HQ-180 gram vinyl by RTI, & presented in a heavyweight Stoughton replica sleeve in an edition of 600."

Artist:	MURRAY, SUNNY
Title:	Sunny Murray
Label:	ESP-DISK
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	ESPDISK 4037CD

Reissue of Sunny's classic ESP-Disk LP, his first session as a leader, originally released in 1966. Performed by: Murray (percussion), Jacques Coursil (trumpet), Jack Graham (alto sax), Byard Lancaster (alto sax), Alan Silva (bass). The new artwork is in poor taste compared to the original, but this CD adds about 30 minutes of new interview tracks that are pretty fascinating to listen to. "A raw and powerful recording, digitally remastered with new artwork, and liners by Russ Musto. Also contains bonus interview tracks with Sunny Murray and founder of ESP-DISK, Bernard Stollman. Digitally remastered. Manufactured in the USA by the original label."

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