Although
David Murray has recorded in many different settings throughout his busy career, his octet has always been perfect for his talents. More disciplined than his big band, yet containing more tone colors than his smaller combos, the octet allowed
Murray to be exploratory yet occasionally look backwards. This set, his second with the band, has quite an all-star lineup:
Murray on tenor and bass clarinet, altoist
Henry Threadgill, trumpeter
Olu Dara, cornetist
Butch Morris, trombonist George Lewis, pianist
Anthony Davis, bassist Wilber Morris and drummer Steve McCall. All of the brilliant players have their opportunities to make strong contributions to
Murray's five originals (best known of which is "3-D Family"), and the leader's writing is consistently colorful and unpredictable. Recommended. ~ Scott Yanow