An interesting disc
David Murray and the Gwo Ka Masters: The Devil Tried to Kill Me
California born Saxophone player David Murray has been playing jazz for the better part of 40 years. His prolific solo career has included a Grammy win, and a Guggenheim fellowship award. In his latest work, The Devil Tried to Kill Me, Murray works with another Grammy winner, blues artist Taj Mahal as well as a full band of performers, including: Sista Kee, Jaribu Shahid, Renzel Merrit, Klod Klavue, Francois Lasrezeau, Rasul Siddik, Christian Laviso and Herve Samb on a modest eight-track disc.
Titled The Devil Tried to Kill Me, this album is Murray's third album with the Gwo Ka Masters, following a release in 2004 titled Gwotet. Murray is no stranger to working with others, he is known for collaborating with many musicians, most notably, rock fusion group Grateful Dead and experimental jazz legend Pharaoh Sanders. In The Devil Tried to Kill Me, the group mixes elements of jazz with spoken word in an album that could best be described as a love letter dedicated to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.
Guadeloupian culture, which Murray has been exploring since the mid-90s, is a point of fascination and obviously has served as a point of inspiration. Gwo Ka itself is a style of drumming which is deeply ingrained in the folk music of Guadeloupe and is prominent throughout this album.
The album was also recorded in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe's largest city. Murray was seeking to uncover the classic and ancestral sound representing the style and past of the island, prior to its integration into France.
Hitting bars and popular areas, Murray investigated the deeper and more personal sound Guadeloupe had to offer, with mixed results. The Devil Tried to Kill Me is a fairly short disc, clocking in at roughly 60 minutes, (including two shorter radio edits of the tracks Southern Skies as well as Africa.) In the slow and soft Africa, Taj Mahal's raspy deep vocals are in full effect, as he plays the role of a caretaker to an ailing country.
With emotional words originally written by author Ishmael Reed, turned lyrics: “I would wash your hot face with cool cloths/I would spoon-feed you while cradling your skeletal head” are an emotionally revealing personification. In other tracks such as Kiama for Obama, a very distinctive and traditional chanting and the Gwo Ka drum style are melded with Murray's classic and sometimes improvised saxophone style, resulting in an upbeat and optimistic sound. Other tracks like Southern Skies and the title track, feature vocals by female musician Sista Kee. whose soulful brand of gospel/blues singing resonates well with the overall feel of the album itself. A couple of the songs tend to go on a little longer than necessary, in the case of Canto Oneguine which is a drawn out 10:33, but overall it is a decent album with a lot of effort put forth behind it.
California born Saxophone player David Murray has been playing jazz for the better part of 40 years. His prolific solo career has included a Grammy win, and a Guggenheim fellowship award. In his latest work, The Devil Tried to Kill Me, Murray works with another Grammy winner, blues artist Taj Mahal as well as a full band of performers, including: Sista Kee, Jaribu Shahid, Renzel Merrit, Klod Klavue, Francois Lasrezeau, Rasul Siddik, Christian Laviso and Herve Samb on a modest eight-track disc.
Titled The Devil Tried to Kill Me, this album is Murray's third album with the Gwo Ka Masters, following a release in 2004 titled Gwotet. Murray is no stranger to working with others, he is known for collaborating with many musicians, most notably, rock fusion group Grateful Dead and experimental jazz legend Pharaoh Sanders. In The Devil Tried to Kill Me, the group mixes elements of jazz with spoken word in an album that could best be described as a love letter dedicated to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.
Guadeloupian culture, which Murray has been exploring since the mid-90s, is a point of fascination and obviously has served as a point of inspiration. Gwo Ka itself is a style of drumming which is deeply ingrained in the folk music of Guadeloupe and is prominent throughout this album.
The album was also recorded in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe's largest city. Murray was seeking to uncover the classic and ancestral sound representing the style and past of the island, prior to its integration into France.
Hitting bars and popular areas, Murray investigated the deeper and more personal sound Guadeloupe had to offer, with mixed results. The Devil Tried to Kill Me is a fairly short disc, clocking in at roughly 60 minutes, (including two shorter radio edits of the tracks Southern Skies as well as Africa.) In the slow and soft Africa, Taj Mahal's raspy deep vocals are in full effect, as he plays the role of a caretaker to an ailing country.
With emotional words originally written by author Ishmael Reed, turned lyrics: “I would wash your hot face with cool cloths/I would spoon-feed you while cradling your skeletal head” are an emotionally revealing personification. In other tracks such as Kiama for Obama, a very distinctive and traditional chanting and the Gwo Ka drum style are melded with Murray's classic and sometimes improvised saxophone style, resulting in an upbeat and optimistic sound. Other tracks like Southern Skies and the title track, feature vocals by female musician Sista Kee. whose soulful brand of gospel/blues singing resonates well with the overall feel of the album itself. A couple of the songs tend to go on a little longer than necessary, in the case of Canto Oneguine which is a drawn out 10:33, but overall it is a decent album with a lot of effort put forth behind it.
