Search - David Murray :: Flowers for Albert: Complete Concert

Two Albums by the Same Name

05/14/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"David Murray's "Flowers for Albert" is really two albums. The first, recorded in NYC in 1976, has a four-piece line-up: sax, trumpet (Olu Dara), bass and drums. This is an astonishingly fresh recording with great compositions. I highly recommend it -- 5 stars. The second, under the artist name "David Murray and the Lower Class Conspiracy" was recorded in Europe a year later. On this date, piano was added to the line-up, which seemed to restrict the improvisation and tonality (the first recording slips into microtonalism here and there -- something a piano cannot do). Definitely less interesting than the earlier record -- 3 stars. The first recording, which is on India Navigation, has been released in a 2-CD package but is extremely hard to find. (Please, if this becomes available again, let me know. I have the LP, and I'm dying to get the CD.) The title of the album refers to Albert Ayler, who was a big influence on Murray. Ayler came to a tragic end -- his body was found floating in the East River."