Search - Contemporary Jazz Quartet, Sunny Murray :: Featuring Sunny Murray

THE CONTEMPORARY JAZZ QUARTET 1964 & 1967

Stuart Jefferson | San Diego,Ca | 01/24/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Two discs,35 and 45 minutes each approximately. Restored and remixed sound. The sound on these two discs is clean and fairly spacious in tone. For those jazz listeners who might think this is two individual sets,each featuring the great drummer Sunny Murray,it is not. As the title infers,Murray is on the first set,which also features Hugh Steinmetz-trumpet,Franz Beckerlee-alto sax,and Steffen Andersen-bass. This is music that was highly influenced by Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry,influenced so much that this group of Danes set out to compose and play their own interpretation of what was then cutting edge music. If you are at all familiar with any of the more "outside" music being played in America in the sixties,then this will sound familiar. On listening to any of these tracks,it's easy to hear Coleman's and Cherry's sound-both in the compositions,the arrangements,and in the playing. Any listener who likes this particular era of music will be pleasantly surprised on hearing this music,especially the first disc. Being a fan of Murray since his early days,the first disc is marginally the best,however that is a subjective opinion. The second album consists of the above players,sans Murray whose replacement is Bo Thrige Andersen,with the addition of Niels Harrit-electric tenor sax and organ. It should be noted that Beckerlee's alto is now also electrified. This group is also indebted to Albert Ayler for a lot of their sound and tone. Each track weaves in and out with a certain logic for each player. Their sound plays off of each other,sometimes weaving in and out of the "melody" with just the right amount of spacing between the notes which lets the music breathe. On the second disc is where the music changes color. Using a more electronic sound as a base for the arrangements,this is very dense,sometimes seemingly grating music. The music here is even "freer" than on the first disc. Sounding more like a sound collage at it's most intense,this is sometimes jarringly electric and dense to the extreme. This music ebbs and flows from composition to composition,allowing the listener to literally catch his breath during the less intense areas in the compositions. It's a credit to the group that the areas of intensity are mixed with passages of subtleness. All the tracks are credited to the group and on listening it's easy to see why. Taking advantage of electric instruments,this group pushes what we normally think of jazz(or music in general) to the very edge of an aural experience. After listening to this disc the listener will feel physically exhausted. If you are new to this type of music its probably best to first familiarize yourself with Coleman,Cherry,Ayler,and others in this area of jazz,then move on to this group. This is not something to listen to all the time,however,repeated listenings will bring new surprises each time,which is one of the hallmarks of good music."