David Murray

David Murray is arguably the most consequential tenor saxophonist and bass clarinetist of his generation. He was part of New York's loft scene in the '70s and began his recording career with 1976's Flowers for Albert, co-founding the World Saxophone Quartet in 1977. During the '80s, he established the widely celebrated David Murray Octet, who recorded eight critically acclaimed albums between 1980 and 2000. He has worked in numerous settings from duo to big band, wedding his post-Coltrane modal style to everything from funk to African folk forms on 1998's Creole and 2010's The Devil Tried to Kill Me with Gwo-Ka Masters and Taj Mahal. In 2022 he formed the Brave New World Trio to release Seriana Promethea. Murray issued Sun/Moon in 2023, a set of bass clarinet and tenor solos, and in 2024, the quartet offering Francesca for Intakt. In April 2025 he released Birdly Serenade, his Impulse! debut.