April 1998

David Murray
fo deuk Revue
Justin Time Records

By Harvey Pekar

In his notes Murray states that his purpose is to "fuse ancient music with music of the future," and also mentions that his life "has been a stairway to what I believe will be my most significant achievement; to be the leader of fo deuk Revue," which is described in the notes as "the meshing of African and jazz cultures." Here this results in a synthesis of vocal and instrumental music including rap and R&B by a group of African and African-American artists recorded in Dakar, Senegal. Instrumental work, singing, rapping and poetry reading occur over polyrhythmic accompaniment. The genre blending works smoothly; all of the tracks have something to recommend them. Murray contributes fine tenor sax work, pulling together a number of influences in the process.