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.
Originally PublishedRelated Posts
Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee: Backwater Blues
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading

Jonathan Butler: The Simple Life
Jonathan Butler’s optimistic music belies a dirt-poor childhood growing up in a South Africa segregated by apartheid. Live in South Africa, a new CD and DVD package, presents a sense of the resulting inner turmoil, mixed with dogged resolve, that paved the way to his status as an icon in his country and successful musician outside of it. Looking back, the 46-year-old Butler says today, the driving forces that led to his overcoming apartheid-the formal policy of racial separation and economic discrimination finally dismantled in 1993-were family, faith and abundant talent.
“When we were kids, our parents never talked about the ANC [African National Congress] or Nelson Mandela,” he says. Butler was raised as the youngest child in a large family. They lived in a house patched together by corrugated tin and cardboard, in the “coloreds only” township of Athlone near Cape Town. “They never talked about struggles so we never knew what was happening.”
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading

Scott LaFaro
Previously unavailable recordings and a new bio illuminate the legend of bassist Scott LaFaro
Kurt Elling: Man in the Air
Nate Chinen makes the argument that Kurt Elling is the most influential jazz vocalist of our time