**** Donal Fox and David Murray
UGLY BEAUTY
(Evidence)
Boston-based
pianist Fox has an uncanny way of drawing out the best from Murray on tenor sax
and bass clarinet. Although this 10-tune program splits originals between the
two, with two Monk covers added for spice, the most memorable performances are
of Murray's tunes, all found on some of his too-numerous-to-count recordings,
making this one Murray recording that does count. Fox thinks quickly, moves
readily between chordal and "free" frames of reference, and has a sharp
improvisational intelligence that just might be as rooted in Scriabin as in
Tatum. This makes Murray reformulate the structures of well-trodden originals
like "Horoscope" and "Picasso," blowing uncliché'd blues and bop with
thoughtful enthusiasm. The best Fox original is a thorny yet tender ballad for
the saxman ("Song for Murray"), a tempestuous tribute celebrating the most apt
partnership since Murray's duets with Randy Weston on 1987's The Healers
(Soul Note).
-- Norman Weinstein
(Donal Fox plays the Regattabar Tuesday, April 30, with saxophonist
Bill Pierce.)
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