Cast
David Murray — Bass-clarinet, Tenor/saxophonist
Saul Williams — Rapper
Orrin Evans — Pianist
Jaribu Shahid — Double bassist
Nasheet Waits — Drummer
Program notes
In this concert at the famous Zurich jazz club “Moods”, David Murray and his Infinity Quartet join forces with poet, writer, and rapper Saul Williams, a collaboration initiated in 2014 at the funeral of the great poet and activist of the Black Power movement, Amiri Baraka.The music possesses a fervent energy, combining powerful lyrics and frenetic improvisation with a blend of jazz, hip-hop, and funk.
The American saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist, and composer David Murray is a major figure in the history of jazz. He is one of the major players of the New York Loft Generation of the mid-70s, a generation of musicians who inherited the free jazz of Ornette Coleman, John Coltraine, Cecil Taylor, and Albert Ayler.
David Murray has recorded over a hundred albums under his name and has collaborated with musicians such as Julius Hemphill, Henry Threadgill, Cecil Taylor, James Blood Ulmer, Lester Bowie, and Milford Graves. He was also the founder of the World Saxophone Quartet and the David Murray Octet. Today, he pursues a jazz that is a blend of hip-hop, New Orleans jazz, Cuban and Caribbean musical traditions.