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David Murray
The Devil Tried To Kill Me
JUSTIN TIME 224
AA 1 /2
David Murray returns for the third time in a
decade or so to the rolling rhythmic roil of
the Gwo Ka Masters, a Guadeloupean percussion
team that is forever whipping up the
music as the blades of a mix master churn
dough. The metaphorical yeast is provided
mostly by Murray, who has chosen also to
shoulder the added weight of ancestor worship
in the form of much indigenous chanting
and vocalizing. The liner notes make
much of Guadeloupe’s unique musical heritage.
Perhaps, but I suspect such cultural hairsplitting
will escape the ears of most listeners
for whom it will merely be so much multicultural
exoticism. All this may be well and good,
but neither good intentions nor authenticity
constitute an excuse for diluting the truly interesting
Murray, who is not exactly front and
center through much of this.
Not that he’s always easy or even listenable—“The
Devil Tried To Kill Me” gives him
little to do but babble and shriek. But between
the chants on “Congo” we hear Murray in a
kind of relaxed repose, playing with a tenor
timbre that seems to come from some pre-
Coltrane place where a warm but urgent sound
seemed connected to an age of classic swing
and bebop tenors. More than once your may be
reminded of Sonny Rollins in his calypso mode
slugging away at “St. Thomas” or some other
Caribbean theme. Also, “Canto Oneguine” is a
swinging little island tune that Murray probes
with a playful vigor that lets him stretch out
and up into altitudes that make one wonder
why he doesn’t simply do it the easy way and
switch to soprano. Still it is hard not to be
impressed by the sheer muscle by which he
projects the tenor so gracefully into distant and
unnatural orbits without trading control.
There are a few other vocal cuts worth mentioning
(though not in praise), if only because
they provide a proscenium for the CD’s two
guest vocalists. Bluesman-for-all-seasons Taj
Mahal offers a bleak and rather undiplomatic
essay on Africa that portrays the continent, quite
literally, on its deathbed with hope for nothing
more than a peaceful demise. Mahal duets with
Sista Kee on “Southern Skies,” a funky rap
against misogyny. Both tracks are repeated in
edited versions at the end, supposedly for radio
play. Kee also solos on the album’s title tune,
whose iambic pentameter is seductive but illusory
and, as noted, gives Murray nothing to work
with. But on the instrumental side, Rasul Siddik
proves himself a worthy partner on trumpet to
the leader’s tenor. —John McDonough
The Devil Tried To Kill Me: Kiama For Obama; Africa; Southern
Skies; The Devil Tried To Kill Me; Congo; Canto Oneguine;
Southern Skies; Africa. (64:53)
Personnel: Rasul Siddik, trumpet; David Murray, tenor saxophone,
bass clarinet; Sista Kee, piano, vocals; Christian Laviso,
Herve Samb, guitars; Jaribu Shahid, electric bass; Renzel Merrit,
drums; Klod Kiavue, Francois Ladezeau, ka drums, vocals; Taj
Mahal, vocals (2, 3).
»
Ordering info: justin-time.com
Arturo O’Farrill
Risa Negra
ZOHO 200910
AAA 1 /2
Arturo O’Farrill continues to draw outside
and in between the lines of Latin
jazz, as he did so hilariously with last
year’s Claudia Acuña collaboration, In
These Shoes. Untethered to dogma, the
joyful pianist plays fast and loose with
genre—literally—refusing to stick to
clave or any or other rigidity, yet rarely
lapsing into pretentiousness about “new
forms.” Mostly O’Farrill seems to be just
having good fun mixing jazz, classical,
rock, Latin and other world beat
rhythms, a joy reflected in his punning
titles. Compositionally, this album doesn’t
always live up to its ambitions, but its range of
feeling and relaxed melding of traditions makes
it appealing, even brilliant at times.
O’Farrill is a “pianistic” player in the best
Cuban tradition, not above a grand flourish,
and covers the whole keyboard with elegant
ease. His tumbling, sparkling solo elevates the
opening track, “One Adam 12 Mambo,” meant
to evoke the mad energy of his son, Adam,
when he was younger. But O’Farrill quickly
shifts gears, playing silky, sleek lines on
Fender Rhodes, on the mysteriously obsessive
jazz/rock cut “Goat Check.” Furry-toned tenor
saxophonist Ivan Renta donates a clever solo
on the spirited “Blue State Blues,” opening and
closing with an allusion to Thelonious Monk’s
“Let’s Call This,” while bassists Ricardo
Rodriguez and Boris Kozlov duke it out on
acoustic and electric. Alto saxophonist David
Bixler delivers the most intriguing track, “The
Darkness Is My Closest Friend,” a ballad that
crosses tender regret with a mournful cry, then
blossoms into bluesy medium swing.
The angular, obsessive horn riff and moviesuspenseful
atmospherics of “No Way Off”
nicely evoke the frustration of being trapped
playing on a cruise ship, though the foghorns at
the start and finish, no doubt funny at the
moment, probably should have been scrubbed
(ditto for the ba-a-a-ing that kicks off “Goat
Check”—ha-ha). Adam O’Farrill, now 14, steps
forward with a nervous horn line of his own,
“Crazy Chicken,” and solos like a grownup
bopper on it, as well. Rodriguez’s bass sounds
extraordinarily sweet here. The compositional
centerpiece of the album, the two-part “Tabla
Rasa” (another punning title, referencing Indian
drums meeting Latin rhythms on a blank slate),
first evokes a 19th century Cuban salon on a
sunny afternoon, parasols and all, with flute and
violin, but feels underdeveloped beyond the
simple evocation of a mood. Part two, the
“Tintal Tintal Deo” (riffing on Dizzy
Gillespie’s title) stacks tabla rhythms—spoken
and played—sarangi-like violin, bravura trumpet
and Bollywood drama in a swirl of rhythmic
and timbral color that is more structurally
sophisticated. Trumpeter Jim Seely’s 6/8 funky
bopper “Ceviche” struts with sweet simplicity,
and O’Farrill closes with a tender solo piano
paean to his wife, Alison Deane.
That selfsame Alison plays piano on three
tracks and O’Farrill’s other son, Zachary, plays
drums on his brother’s tune. Some family.
Wish I could spend some time in their living
room. But this CD will have to do for now.
—Paul de Barros
Risa Negra: One Adam 12 Mambo; Goat Check; Blue State
Blues; The Darkness Is My Closest Friend; No Way Off; Crazy
Chicken; Tabla Rasa: El Salon Cubano; Tabla Rasa: Tintal Tintal
Deo; Ceviche; Alisonia. (66:48)
Personnel: Arturo O’Farrill, piano, Fender Rhodes (2); Alison
Deane, piano (5, 7, 8); Jim Seeley (1–5,7–9), Adam O'Farrill (6),
trumpet; David Bixler, alto saxophone; Ivan Renta, tenor saxophone
(3, 6); Boris Kozlov, acoustic or electric bass (1–5, 9);
Ricardo Rodriguez, acoustic bass (3, 6–8); Vince Cherico (1–5,
7–9), Zachary O’Farrill (6), drums; Roland Guerrero, percussion;
Badal Roy, tablas (7, 8); Heather Bixler, violin (7, 8); Cecilia
Tenconi, flute (7, 8).
» Ordering info: zohomusic.com
70 DOWNBEAT March 2010