eMusic Review
One celebrated aspect of David Murray's technique is his ability to play spectacular, iron-jawed high note passages. So it's a treat to hear him alongside a wind player who may inhabit the same range, especially a compadre from back when they were both young pups, jazz flute virtuoso James Newton. He has a piercing but silvery tone, all the way into the piccolo range, and he and Murray dance around each other nimbly. The band is not always a quintet; six players are involved — including pianist John Hicks, Murray regular Fred Hopkins on bass and drummers Andrew Cyrille and Billy Hart — and they are sometimes deployed in shifts. But the fluid lineup just adds to the date's limber, any-which-way quality; this is bright, melodic, adventurous music.
