David Murray & the Gwo-ka Masters “Gwotet”

The Grammy-winning composer marked 2004 with “Gwotet”, his third collaboration alongside traditional Guadeloupian gwo-ka percussionists. The acclaim was immediate: “The mix of rough world beat with over-egged jazz-funk is terrific,” enthused the London Guardian daily. “From the opening beat to the climaxing ultra funk … Murray and company keep their attention on intensity with this scalding entry to his crowded catalogue,” commented jazz critic Rex Butters. While for fellow specialist Jim Santella “a funk groove and Afro-Cuban traditions give the album its special ingredient. Variety is what makes it succeed,” he continues. “A viable candidate for album of the year, Murray’s Gwotet should stay in the CD player’s rotation for at least the remainder of 2004.”

Accolades that should have the reedist smirking with satisfaction but Murray is unlikely to sit back on his laurels or deviate from his self-assigned mission. “The thought of wandering frees the imaginary, it projects us out of this prison cave in which we have been trapped,” says jazz aficionado Jacques Denis in the CD sleevenotes, quoting one of his favourite West Indian authors, Edouard Glissant. Indeed, Murray set his sights firmly on discovery and emancipation ever since he left the comfortable confines of his native California. “Gwotet” is the latest example of his open-minded curiosity: it is a sumptuous exchange with, amongst others, veteran virtuosos Klod Klavue (ka drums) and Pharaoh Sanders (tenor sax).

Performing at breakneck speed, the thirteen piece ensemble sweeps listeners into a journey that marries South American, African and Caribbean sounds with consummate ease. The musicians build on the experience of their two previous encounters - “Creole” in 1998 and “Yonn-De” in 2002 - and construct complex yet scintillating bridges between funk, jazz, Afro-Cuban beats and West African polyrhythms. “When I reach the point of paroxysm in a piece I’m sure that I must be in contact with the Holy Spirit,” explains Murray. Delighting in his tenor sax exchanges with veteran master Pharoah Sanders, the African-American composer proves his versatility in the intense 12’ title track as well as the intoxicating “Ouagadougou”. At 49, the Paris-based freethinker continues to honour the definition found beside his name in the “Dictionnaire du jazz, Laffont, 1995”: “In the post-free jazz movement, Murray combines the heritage of 1970s free and New Orleans – the result is a paroxytic music with exacerbated effects.” Best fasten your seatbelts for this “Gwotet” ride.

December 2004.

Daniel Brown