David Murray Trio with Richard Davis and Joe Chambers - Carlos I, Manhattan - November 25, 1986

David Murray was a prolific presence in the New York jazz scene in the 1980s, playing with a quartet, an octet, a big band, and here, as a trio with two legends who played on many classic 1960s Blue Note Records: Richard Davis and Joe Chambers. Murray had many great bands and wrote many great tunes, and straddled the two worlds of straight-ahead and free jazz. Although he has been lauded over the years, I don’t believe he has received all the credit he deserves as a jazz innovator. I caught this set at a restaurant on 6th Avenue about two blocks from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, two days before Thanksgiving (I don’t know how I was able back then to see so much late-night jazz during the week while working full-time in a construction job - ah youth!). This trio went into the studio two days after Thanksgiving to record the album “The Hill“ for Black Saint Records, so I guess this gig was a warm-up for that effort. This performance includes a few tunes that were not on the album. David Murray - tenor saxophone and bass clarinet (on New Life only) Richard Davis - bass Joe Chambers - drums 00:00 Fling (Butch Morris) 15:34 Santa Barbara and Crenshaw Follies 27:51 Lester (tribute to Lester Young) 38:10 New Life 49:25 Hope Scope All tunes by David Murray except Fling. Recorded on a Sony Walkman Pro D6C with Sony ECM-102 stereo microphone. Uploaded solely for educational purposes and historical interest. Enjoy.