IT’S RARE THAT A VETERAN SIDEMAN MAKES SUCH A SPLASH ON WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY A DEBUT ALBUM. SURE, SAXIST DAVID MCMURRAY HAS RELEASED A FEW ALBUMS IN THE PAST, BUT HE IS BEST KNOWN FOR IS ASSOCIATION WITH FAMED PRODUCER DON WAS.
MCMURRAY SENT A CANNONBALL OF A DIVE INTO THE POOL WITH HIS RECENT RELEASE MUSIC IS LIFE, AS IT’S A COMBINATION OF BEING A THROWBACK TO THE OLD R&B DAYS OF EARL BOSTIC, BUT IT’S ALSO SO WILDLY MODERN WITH SEARING GROOVES SUPPLIED BY BASSIST IBRAHIM JONES AND DRUMMERS JEFF CANADY OR RON OTIS THAT MIX THE EXCITEMENT OF SUN RA WITH THE SWING OF SONNY ROLLINS.
WE RECENTLY HAD A CHAT WITH MR. MCMURRAY, AND HE WAS ELOQUENT IN LETTING US INTO HIS CAREER AND REASONS FOR HIS RECENT RELEASE.
I LOOKED UP YOUR CAREER IN GOOGLE, AND THERE ISN’T MUCH THERE. YOU DON’T LEAVE MUCH OF A PAPER TRAIL!
I’m always playing with somebody else, so I just figured that it was time to step out.
WHO INSPIRED YOU TO PLAY THE SAX?
It was first John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter, but I came out of the ranks of R&B in Detroit, so it was Cannonball Adderley and then Junior Walker, because he was the person I saw and heard every single day. I love that big singing sound.
HOW DO YOU DEVELOP THAT SOUND? LONG TONES?
It’s not so much long tones. I don’t really know I got it; when I grew up my favorite sax players just had it, so I naturally started doing it. My wife used to say, “You’re the man on the side. You’ve got the singer, and then you’ve got the saxophone player next to the singer.”
That would be me. If I saw a singer, and then they give the sax player 16 bars, the saxophone player can noodle or do anything he wants. I was just intrigued by what he could do during his break with the vocalist. That was my thing; how could I sing like the vocalist?
WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN PRINCIPLES FOR BEING A SUCCESSFUL SIDEMAN ON THE SAX?
When I’d hear sax breaks on records from the 50s-60s, and then in my era you had Ernie Watts, Michael Brecker, Tom Scott and David Sanborn. They would do the sessions, so I’d listen to someone like Patti Austin just to hear the instrumental break. I’d hear how they did it and think “That’s what I wanna do.”
On all those sessions I did in Detroit studios, my first principle has been on all those records was “how to sing like the singer.” I was to complement the singer, and not outshine the singer.
You’ve got to make them sound good. When they’re not there and walk to the side of the stage, they know that I’m still going to bring the attention to them and not play something to distract from them.
Just recently the singer I was with said, “I love the way you answer me but still stay out of the way.”
YOU’VE PLAYED WITH A WIDE VARIETY OF ARTISTS, FROM BB KING TO THE ROLLING STONES, BOB DYLAN, BOB JAMES AND WAS/NOT WAS. WHO DID YOU START OUT WITH?
My first gig was with Albert King. When I went on the road with him I had only been doing R&B gigs around Detroit, and not with anyone like Albert King. It was a learning experience from start to finish.
The whole blues epic and being around that whole genre of music and what was going was just so hip. When he hired me I just took someone’s place, and played a bit and he said, “Man, you did good; I’ll call you.”
A month later he called me and immediately after he solo’d he throw the solo to another guitar player, and that guy would shine. Then he’d do it to me, and “bam,” I’d try to play my solo doing what I was doing.
One day he said, “You’re playing that jazz stuff” cause he knew what I wanted to be. “You’re playing all that stuff; I can play all of those notes that you play with one note.” He was joking, but I started listening to what he played, and how he played it. I then listened to blues saxophone players and how they did it and said, “Oh, I see what he’s saying.”
I got it; I didn’t have to cram all of that in there. I can take another approach. So I learned a lot, just from not simplifying it, but approaching the sax in another way, speaking through it.
“I asked Don what he thought of the first few songs, and he said, “Wow; it’s kind of like a punk band, but it’s jazzy.” That’s what I wanted”
WHAT ABOUT YOUR WORK WITH THE ROLLING STONES?
Working with the Stones was the best hang of my life. It was one of those situations where Don Was said, “If you come out here, they’ll hire you. I can’t fly you out here, but if you come, they’ll ask you to play.”
I went out there and hung out with him, and it was exactly like he said. They asked “what do you play? The saxophone? Feel like playing?” So I took a couple of passes at their songs, so I worked with the trumpet player and turned it into a full blown session. The main thing they said was “Be yourself.”
It ended up being great just watching these guys; they were RAGING at two in the morning!
I was like a fly on the wall, just hanging out of the way, but one guy comes up to me during the session and says “They like you. You know why? If they didn’t, you’d be gone!”
YOU ALSO SHOW OFF YOUR JAZZ CHOPS WITH HERBIE HANCOCK AND GERI ALLEN
I’d known Geri Allen since high school. I did her first record and tour when she did Open On All Sides In the Middle. That was a great tour. She was incredibly talented at 17; she was writing that music back then.
One summer I went over to her house literally every day, just playing music that she had, the chord changes and her way of thinking. We did that and then a couple years later she came up with the idea of the electronic group, so we did that and then another group with Antoine and Wallace Roney. She was very talented.
I did two things with Herbie Hancock. One was a project with Don Was called Orchestra Was. It was me, Terence Blanchard on horns; Herbie, Don played bass, Sheila E and another percussionist. We carried on with the music, and I think we did it all in one take.
YOU HAD A LONG TIME MUSICAL RELATIONSHIP WITH DON WAS. WHEN DID THAT START?
I was on the first Was/Not Was record. It was just a crazy idea. When he cut the first album with his songs like “Out Come the Freaks” he said what he wanted was “kind of like a punk band meeting Elvin Jones.” So I said heck yes!
At first, all he played me was the bass line and the drums, just snippets. He’d tell me “I want not regular playing.” So, I just played crazy on those sessions. When I heard it played back with guys like Marcus Belgrave on trumpet it was great. He was one of those guys who said, “We’re going to do this with the band” like everyone else, but he actually did it!
Next thing I know we do a couple of gigs, and then next we’re on the road! Crazy music; it was like a circus! I was on stage thinking “I can’t believe he’s actually doing this.”
We opened up for Dire Straits for four months in Europe, which was excellent.
YOU WENT FROM THAT MANIC SOUND DO DOING SOME SLEEK SOUNDS WITH BOB JAMES
I came back to relax, and heard that Bob James needed a saxophone player. He came to Detroit, and he had cats playing with him like Kirk Whalum. On my way to the sound check for him, my car broke down, so I come in and he says, “The sound check is over; you might as well just stick around for the gig. You can play something with Kirk.” So we played together awhile.
Four weeks later, Kirk got the gig with Whitney Houston, and he gave me the thumbs up and so I toured with James in Japan. I knew all of those Grover Washington solos, so being with him was like a dream come true.
“I just want to be a positive force. I don’t mean to play “happy music” there’s a difference between positive and happy.”
THAT SMOOTH JAZZ IS MOSTLY WHAT YOU HAVE ON YOUTUBE. SO HOW DID THIS NEW ALBUM THAT IS A COMBINATION OF EARL BOSTIC AND PHAROAH SANDERS COME ABOUT?
That is what I originally did. There was a group called Griot Galaxy by the Creative Art Collective. It’s still around; it’s a Detroit version of AACM. I was a member of it, which was a great situation.
It was hard music. It was also very visual, so we could go in front of a crowd of people even if they heard it would go “what is that?!?” when they’d see it, how tight we were and with our faces painted, we’d be killing them! (laughs)
It was a visual experience. We had three saxes, bass and drums. Everything was odd meters; that’s how I hooked up with David Murray and all of those kind of people.
So, in doing this new record, it was like doing whatever I wanted, and we’ll see how it comes out.
My first records were avant garde craziness. I was doing demos during this time for Bob James, and he said “I don’t understand it, but I know there’s something to it.” He just thought it was funny and weird.
I was going to go in that direction with this new album, but I decided to fuse my Ornette Coleman thing with my blues and big tone, like Pharoah Sanders. I just wanted to break it down to the basics where it’s just hit and run music.
I could just walk in and just play; sax, bass and drums, and still make it intriguing to people.
When I cut the first songs with the trio. I was trying to get it to be like a power trio where it’s not so much esoteric and loose, but tight and with a big sound.
I asked Don what he thought of the first few songs, and he said, “Wow; it’s kind of like a punk band, but it’s jazzy.” That’s what I wanted.
WAS IT A CONSCIOUS DECISION TO MAKE ALL THE SONGS A CONCISE 4-5 MINUTES?
Yes, because all I wanted to do a trio, but make it palatable to everybody, where they can get it.
People who would normally say “I don’t like jazz” may get into it. On the other side, people who know I can swing can tell that I can still get it in these short songs. I’m curious to see the reaction, but so far, so good.
HAS THE TRIO DONE ANY CONCERTS YET?
Yes, all year I’ve been teasing at it here in Detroit and it definitely works. People get it. Because of the quirky covers that I swing hard, and I can change directions real quickly with the trio. Everyone is soloing and some of the songs get long. There are some instrumental passages, so it’s different “live.” I also do some songs that aren’t on the record, so I might swing or do some standards. I figure “Once I’ve got you, I can take you anywhere and I won’t lose you.”
There are a lot of trios out there right now, so what I try to do differently is to keep it in the pocket. You can’t listen to the music from the musician’s point of view; you’ve got to take it from the listener’s point of view. Will they understand it and want to buy it once they hear me “live”?
If someone young hears it, I want to get them past the initial shock of “What was that?!?” to “I want to buy this!”
ANY VISITS TO LOS ANGELES COMING UP?
We’re definitely trying to set up a West Coast tour.
ANY BOOKS, RELIGION OR PHILOSOPHIES THAT MOTIVATE YOU?
My main intention when I do anything, even doing this record, is to keep things positive.
I try to be a positive person. I smile a lot and encourage people. When I’m doing this record I was just thinking “I just want to be a positive force.” I don’t mean to play “happy music” there’s a difference between positive and happy.
WHO TAUGHT YOU THIS ATTITUDE?
I got it at my house growing up with my family upbringing, but I’ve always been this way.
I’m not a big, muscular guy; I’m only 6’ 1”, but my thing has always been to try to not intimidate people. If I’m walking down the street in New York, even if you don’t know my language I want you to know I’m a positive person.
IT TAKES A CERTAIN MUSICAL AND PERSONAL ATTITUDE TO BE COMFORTABLE PLAYING WITH THE ROLLING STONES, DIRE STRAITS AND GERI ALLEN. THE WIDE MUSICALITY OF DAVID MCMURRAY’S CAREER IS WELL SUMMARIZED BY THIS RECENT ALBUM, HOPEFULLY WHICH WILL BE THE FIRST IN A LONG STRING OF SIMILAR PROJECTS. HANG ON TIGHT!