Sunny Murray on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

Sunny Murray was one of the early avant-garde's most inventive and influential drummers, doing a great deal to establish the role of the drums in free improvisation. Although Murray could swing as hard as anyone, he often abandoned the drums' traditional timekeeping role. Instead of playing a steady beat, he might punctuate and color behind the soloist's lines, or engage in dialogues with the rest of the ensemble, commenting and conversing with an open-ear sense of give and take.

Born James Marcellus Arthur Murray in Idabel, OK, Sunny began drumming at age nine and moved to New York in 1956. At first, he played with traditional artists like Red Allen and Willie "The Lion" Smith, but he soon branched out into more adventurous territory with Jackie McLean and Ted Curson. His big break, however, came when he joined Cecil Taylor's group in 1959, which allowed him to improvise at a far more advanced level. While touring Europe with Taylor, Murray met Albert Ayler, and wound up joining his band in 1964; through 1967, Murray appeared on most of the saxophonist's greatest free jazz sessions. He also worked with Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, and John Tchicai, and made his first albums as a leader with 1965's Sunny's Time Now (for Jihad) and 1966's Sunny Murray Quintet (for the seminal ESP), the latter of which helped him win Down Beat's New Star award.

In 1968, Murray traveled to France, where he played with Archie Shepp and recorded as a leader for Affinity and BYG Actuel; returning to the U.S. in 1971, Murray settled in Philadelphia and formed a group called the Untouchable Factor, which he led off and on through varying lineups. He led a fine quintet in the late '70s and '80s, and surfaced on several dates during the '90s.

Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers/Sonny Murray Quartet-1968

Sunny Murray Shandar

Sunny Murray-Big Chief

Archie Shepp-Live at the Panafrican Festival

Archie Shepp-Yasmina, A Black Woman

Dave Burrell-Echo

Sunny Murray-Hommage To Africa

Sunny Murray-Sunshine

Various Artists-History of Jazz Vol. 10

.. Clifford Thornton-Ketchaoua

Archie Shepp-Black Gipsy

Archie Shepp-Pitchin Can

Sunny Murray-An Even Break (Never Give A Sucker)

Francois Tusques-Intercommunal Music

Gunter Hampel And His Galaxie Dream Band-Journey To The Song Within

Cecil Taylor Unit Core Ensemble

Various Artists-New American Music Volume 1-New York Section/Composers of the 1970's

Various Artists-Wildflowers 1

Various Artists-Wildflowers 5

Sunny Murray/The Untouchable Factor-Charred Earth

Sunny Murray's Untouchable Factor-Apple Cores

Sunny Murray Quintet-Aigu-Grave

Sunny Murray Trio-Live At Moers-Festival

Fall/Favors/Murray-African Magic

Burton Greene/Alan Silva/Sunny Murray-Firmanence

Maslak/Dikker/Miller/Murray-Mayhem In Our Streets

Cecil Taylor-It Is In The Brewing Luminous

Jimmy Lyons/Sunny Murray-Jump Up/What To Do About

Kenny Millions-No Money No Honey

Keshavan Maslak-Loved By Millions

David Eyges-Crossroads

Billy Bang-Outline No. 12

Schlippenbach & Murray-Smoke

Nelly Pouget-Le Dire

October Meeting 1991-Anatomy of a Meeting

Cecil Taylor Unit (private recording)

Ric Colbeck Pixie

Sunny Murray Acoustical Swing Quintet

Sunny Murray unissued studio session

Sunny Murray-Spiritual Infinity

Dave Burrell-High

.. Drum Workshop BBC-TV recording

Drum Workshop Radio broadcast)

Drum Workshop private recording

David Murray-Recording NYC. 1986

Sunny Murray Quartet-Indelicacy

Khan Jamal-Infinity

Sunny Murray/Khan Jamal/Romulus-Change of the Century Orchestra

Khan Jamal-Speak Easy

Sunny Murray & R.A.U.-Illumination

Aki Takase-Clapping Music

The Reform Art Unit featuring Sunny Murray-Subway Performances

Charles Gayle w/ Sunny Murray & William Parker-Kingdom Come

Walter Malli-Geh' langsam durch die alten Gass'n

Sunny Murray & R.A.U.-Illumination

Sunny Murray/Bob Dickie/Robert Andreano-Homework

Arthur Doyle/Sunny Murray-Live at Glenn Miller Caf?

Itaru Oki-Paris-Ohra?

Tsahar/Kowald/Murray-MA: Live at Fundacio Juan Miro

Sunny Murray/John Edwards/Tony Bevan-Home Cooking in the UK

Cecil Taylor-Cell Walk for Celeste

The Gil Evans Orchestra-Into The Hot

Cecil Taylor Jazz Unit-The Early Unit 1962

Albert Ayler-Holy Ghost

Cecil Taylor-Live At The Cafe Montmartre

Cecil Taylor-Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come

John Tchicai (private recording)

Albert Ayler Berlin

Albert Ayler Quartet-The Hilversum Session

Various Artists-The New Wave In Jazz

Albert Ayler Quintet-Bells

Albert Ayler Quintet-Spirits Rejoice

Sunny Murray-Sonny's Time Now

Sunny Murray

Albert Ayler Trio-Spiritual Unity

Albert Ayler-New York Eye And Ear Control

Albert Ayler Trio/Quartet

Albert Ayler-The Copenhagen Tapes

Albert Ayler-Ghosts

The Contemporary Jazz Quartet featuring Sunny Murray-Action

Sunny Murray Duo

Perles Noires, Vol. 1

Perles Noires, Vol. 2

David Murray-A Sanctuary Within

Sunny Murray Trio-13# Steps on Glass

Sunny Murray Duo featuring Charles Gayle-Illuminators

The Reform Art Unit-For John Coltrane and Pablo Picasso

Christian Brazier-Peregrinations

Interview with Sunny Murray-Birth of a Movement: The Avant Garde Movement in Jazz

Alexander von Schlippenbach-Schlippenbach Plays Monk

Archie Shepp-St. Louis Blues

Sunny Murray/Sabir Mateen-We Are Not At The Opera

Arthur Doyle/Sunny Murray-Dawn of a New Vibration

Tchangodei-Perfekte Leere -> LIEBE

Telectu-Quartetos

.. Bill Dixon 7-tette/Archie Shepp And The New York Contemporary 5

Albert Ayler-Spirits

Albert Ayler-Swing Low Sweet Spiritual

Albert Ayler-Goin' Home

Albert Ayler-Prophecy

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Sunny Murray Interviews