David Murray Quartet

About

A towering figure in post-bop jazz, saxophonist David Murray settles into the Joe Henderson Lab for two nights with his finely wrought quartet. Emerging from Berkeley in the mid-1970s, Murray quickly became the most galvanizing young tenor saxophonist on the scene. A creative catalyst for older masters such as Randy Weston, Julius Hemphill and Butch Morris, Murray combined volatile improvisational flights with the gruff, swinging lyricism of tenor sax titans like Paul Gonsalves and Don Byas. Dauntingly prolific on both tenor sax and bass clarinet, he’s recorded nearly 200 albums as a leader, co-leader or member of groundbreaking collectives, most importantly the World Saxophone Quartet. Back in New York City since 2022 after two decades in Paris, where he forged deep ties with musicians from the Francophone Caribbean and West Africa, the 71-year-old Murray has embraced the role of seasoned master. For the past three years he’s toured and recorded with the powerhouse quartet from his critically hailed 2024 album Francesca with Spanish pianist/composer Marta Sanchez , bassist Luke Stewart , and drummer Russell Carter . Murray’s latest with the group is 2025’s Impulse! release Birdly Serenade . At the same time he’s forged new relationships with incandescent young improvisers, like his Joe Henderson Lab conflagration last March with Immanuel Wilkins, while building on decades-long relationships with fellow explorers such as percussionist Kahil El’Zabar. Whatever the context, Murray is a spirit-summoning titan with a sound as big as the sky.