Special Quartet

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Special Quartet
Studio album by David Murray

Publication
(s)

1991

Label (s) DIW / Columbia Records

Format (s)

CD, LP

Genre (s)

jazz

Title (number)

6th

occupation

production

Bob Thiele

Studio (s)

Soundtrack Studios, New York City

chronology
Ming's Samba
1989 		Special Quartet Tea for Two
1990

Special Quartet is a jazz album by David Murray , recorded March 26, 1990, released in 1991 on the Japanese jazz label DIW , a sub-label of Columbia Records .

The album

Deviating from his quartet with Dave Burrell , Fred Hopkins and Ralph Peterson , with whom Murray recorded the albums Lovers, Tenors, Ballads and Spirituals in January 1988, he deliberately chose the two (available) members for his first recordings at the beginning of the 1990s of the legendary John Coltrane Quartet of the 1960s, pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones , complemented by his long-time partner, bassist Fred Hopkins. David Murray had already worked with Tyner two years earlier on the album "Blues for Coltrane" (MCA), accompanied by Cecil McBee and Roy Haynes , on which they dealt with Coltrane's work (for example with the title I Want to Talk About You , which was the title track on a Black Saint album by the saxophonist with John Hicks in 1986 ). The success of the first Tyner / Murray cooperation resulted in the production of the album "Special Quartet" in 1990; Murray was primarily concerned with playing "in the spirit of Coltrane".

The album begins with an interpretation of the 1959 Coltrane classic, Cousin Mary , which he released on the 1960 Atlantic album Giant Steps . This is followed by one of the most famous Murray compositions, Hope-Scope , which was part of the repertoire of his bands of the 1980s. The following ballad, La Tina Lee, was written for him by his longtime collaborator and friend Lawrence "Butch" Morris . Dexter's Dues is Murray's tribute to another great tenor saxophonist, Dexter Gordon ; Originally titled "Blues # 1", Murray changed the name of the piece after Dexter Gordon's death, who he believed was one of Coltrane's major influences. The title is played by the "Special Quartet" in the style of Gordon's classic Blue Note recordings from around 1964. Murray understands the subsequent Ellington ballad In a Sentimental Mood as a bow to the classic saxophonists of the Duke Ellington Orchestra , Ben Webster and Paul Gonsalves , deliberately in style held the 1930s and 1940s; Tyner moves stylistically in this title between ragtime and James P. Johnson , Tin Pan Alley and the Gershwins . The last track on the album, 3-D Family , an elliptical fast waltz, was originally a composition for Murray's octet, released on his album Home (1981). It has strong references to the music of the Zulu .

reception

Richard Cook and Brian Morton gave the album the highest rating of four stars in their Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD .

Track list

  1. Cousin Mary (David Murray) - 7:30
  2. Hope-Scope (David Murray) - 13:46
  3. La Tina Lee (Lawrence Butch Morris) - 6:52
  4. Dexter's Dues (David Murray) - 6:31
  5. In a Sentimental Mood (Ellington / Kurtz / I. Mills ) - 10:21
  6. 3D Family (David Murray) - 9:28

Literature / sources