Composer and multi-instrumentalist David Murray has issued well over 100 albums as a bandleader and played on more than 500 others. Since returning from Paris in 2017 after a 20-year sojourn, Murray remains an active musician and serves as a mentor and guide to younger players. This is one of two recordings for 2024; the other, Sun / Moon, is a collection of bass clarinet and saxophone solos. This quartet grew out of Murrays touring trio with bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Russell Carter. The addition of Madrid-born pianist Marta Sanchez, a celebrated bandleader and composer, is an anomaly given the saxophonists historically complex relationship with pianists. She is a canny accompanist and formidable soloist who implicitly understands the sometimes subtle but important difference between comping and cluttering another soloists creativity. This group recorded Francesca in Switzerland after a tour. Murray plays tenor and bass clarinet here. He wrote everything but "Richards Tune" by pianist Don Pullen. The bright opening title track was composed for his spouse, jewel tie designer Dr. Francesca Cinelli-Murray. Nearly 11 minutes long, its opening sax vamp is adapted from Irving Berlins "Cheek to Cheek" and gets transformed into a thing of post-bop beauty with Sanchez swinging ahead of the rhythm section. Murray moves from lyricism to angular modal invention in his solo. Carter delivers a solo and engages in knotty interplay with Stewart. The ten-minute "Ninno," introduced by Stewart and Carter, weds samba and Horace Silver-esque funk. A straight-ahead, midtempo groover, it finds Murray and Sanchez winding around one another in a circular phrase as the rhythm section double-times. Murray plays bass clarinet on "Shenzen." He opens with a warm, limpid solo as Stewart introduces a bluesy rumba. Carter uses mallets to introduce Sanchez, who responds gently from the upper middle register. The pianist offers Murray lovely, dark, contrasting chords and skeletally framed vamps to play off. "Come and Go," in 5/4 time, is blistering, as Murray and Sanchez go head-to-head; her solo, weaving contrasting harmonic lines and chords, is as dazzling as it is elegant. "Am Gone Get Some" was originally recorded for 2022s Seriana Promethea with Brad Jones and Hamid Drake. Melding post-bop, gospel, and Latin overtones, Murray and Sanchez trade fours with one another and Carter. Murray plays bass clarinet on "Richards Tune," a tender midtempo ballad inspired by tropes in the Great American Songbook. Stewarts playing on "Free Mingus" is striking in its fluidity and lyricism. Murray and Sanchez wed gospel, funk, and bolero, recalling Pullens playing in the Mingus band. The strutting closer, "Cycles and Seasons, lopes from a 7/4 sprint to 4/4 swagger, folding in rumba, descarga, hard bop, post-bop, and rich counterpoint. Francesca is remarkable, both for the depth of Murrays compositions and for his bands willingness to pursue forward-thinking yet always balanced communication as the root of collective exploration. ~ Thom Jurek

Rovi