One of the things I love about the guy, whom I listed Monday as one of the five saxophonists who really float my boat, is that you never know what he's going to do next. It's blow with a Cuban big band here (the outstanding "Now Is Another Time" from Justin Time), draw jazz straight from the well of African drum rhythms there ("Gwotet" and "Yonn-Dé," also Justin Time).
Now there's his new CD "Waltz Again," Justin Time again, which pairs Murray's quartet (Lafayette Gilchrist on piano, bassist Jaribu Shihad and drummer Hamid Drake) with a 14-piece string orchestra for five Murray compositions, including the 26-minute "Pushkin Suite No. 1."
The piece, I think, is a great example of what has been called "third stream" jazz with its classical overtones and avant-garde interludes. This isn't a lightweight (albeit lovely) "Charlie Parker with Strings." It's a hard-core orchestral piece at various junctures dark and turbulent then soaring and rousing married to hard-core post-bop and free jazz improvisation. They must be on their honeymoon because every moment is copacetic. Brilliant.
The title track makes me think of the big-group sound of "Now Is Another Time" without the Latin beat, while "Dark Secrets" is the blues with strings, an interesting combination, and "Steps" is a ballad with Ellington-like intricacy. Murray, playing tenor sax and bass clarinet, is marvelous throughout. I can't wait to see what he does for an encore.
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