DAVID MURRAY CUBAN ENSEMBLE PLAYS NAT KING COLE EN ESPAÑOL
Motéma Music to Release Murray’s Interpretation of Historic Cole Recordings on October 11
Over the course of four decades, the saxophonist, composer and bandleader David Murray has created a body of work remarkable for its magnitude (over 150 albums), importance (a Grammy Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Bird Award, a Danish Jazz Bar Prize, etc.) and breadth (co-founding iconic bands such as the World Saxophone Quartet, and performing with everyone from the Grateful Dead to the Gwo Ka Masters of Guadeloupe to The Roots). On October 11, Motéma Music will release one of Murray’s most surprising and beautiful accomplishments to date: David Murray Cuban Ensemble Plays Nat King Cole en Español.
The album is based on two recordings that were as improbable 50 years ago as Murray’s excavation of them is today. Released in 1958 and 1962, respectively, Cole Español and More Cole en Español found Cole singing melodies from Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil and Argentina: Osvaldo Farrés’s “Quizás, quizás, quizás,” Richard Egues’s “El bodeguero,” and Bobby Capo’s “Piel canela,” to name a wide-ranging few. On his album, otherwise comprised of covers (of covers), Murray includes one original, which is also a Cole tribute, entitled “Black Nat.”
Cole was accompanied by ensembles of Cuban (1958) and Mexican (1962) musicians—recorded, with the exception of one tune, in Cuba and Argentina—although he had to overdub his vocals to the first disc in Hollywood, as Castro’s revolution made it impossible for him to attend the sessions at Havana’s legendary Egrem studios. The albums achieved worldwide success and continue to rank among Cole’s most beloved projects.
Murray’s approach to the material was similarly committed to authenticity. To play his new arrangements, Murray assembled some of the best Cuban musicians and formed the 10-piece David Murray Cuban Ensemble. After performing together for several months, the group recorded in Buenos Aires. To the big band, Murray added an equally sizable string section: 11 members of the Sinfonieta of Sines, which he recorded in Portugal. The tango singer Daniel Melingo, the tango revivalist and Pedro Almodóvar collaborator, contributes to four tracks, while the bandoneón player Juanjo Mosalini performs on one.
The result, Gary Giddins proclaims in the liner notes, “is one of Murray’s most purely pleasurable albums…a sensational tour de force and high spot in his massive discography.” The enhanced CD Motéma will issue in the U.S. features bonus material, including the track “El Choclo” and video footage from the David Murray documentary, Saxophone Man.
Murray’s ensemble has performed the material in sold-out concerts across Europe, where Murray has focused most of his live performances over the last decade or so. On September 11 at Red Bull Music Academy / Jazz A La Villette in Paris, Murray and the band will perform in (Roots co-founder) ?uestlove’s Afro-Picks, alongside ?uestlove, Tony Allen, Macy Gray and others. Murray will return to the U.S. with the ensemble for six shows at Yoshi’s in San Francisco (November 11—13) and an engagement at NYU’s 860-seat Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (November 17).
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