London, Bristol, Southampton, Birmingham and Leeds dates on the Infinity Quartet itinerary for October

Just days after the release this week of the David Murray Infinity Quartet’s Be My Monster Love promoter Serious has confirmed that the saxophonist and bandleader is to tour in the autumn. Murray, a maverick figure blessed with the ability to produce one of the most definitive tenor saxophone sounds on the planet, has a Gonsalves-like style on the new album on a song like ‘Stressology’ yet the innovations of the New Thing and beyond are always a factor in his music added to the strong Ellingtonian dimension deep within Murray’s music. The opening love song to Murray’s wife Valérie is just lovely, and romance is clearly one of the important factors at the album’s core. Later the funky and gospellised ‘Army of the Faithful (Joyful Noise)’ with Gregory Porter stretching out against soulful organ sets up Murray to blow his heart out before the old school sophistication of ‘Sorrow Song’ takes the record into a new fulfilling direction. Murray brings an old friend cornetist Bobby Bradford out to join him on ‘The Graduate’ for some effective testifying but ‘Hope is a Thing with Feathers’ a Murray/Ishmael Reed song about immigration and freedom, with Gregory Porter at his best is the ultimate standout of a very fine socially conscious, involved and appealing album. Dates for the tour are 14-19 October beginning with two nights at Ronnie Scott’s, London (14-15), then St George’s, Bristol on the 16th, Turner Sims, Southampton (17), CBSO Centre, Birmingham (18), and Howard Assembly Room, Leeds (19). Murray is touring with pianist Thornton Hudson Jr, bassist Jaribu Shahid, and drummer Nasheet Waits.
David Murray above