I felt bad about ripping on Wynton earlier on, and though my rip was right on the money (if I do say so my bad-self), the only way I could make it up was a double-review. Proof positive that I don't hate the 80s - I love the 80s, just not the VH1 docu-smut version of it. The David Murray 80s. Who knew back then that while we were wearing our day-glo Gotcha's and saving our pennies for the next SST record, that Murray was saving jazz as we don't know it? Nobody knew, 'cause even though he was throwing down classic albums fast and loose, nobody's been able to find them until now. These two live sessions of the 12-piece big band from 1984 are not the absolute greatest Murray records, which means that they're still great, just not as transcendant as "Ming" or "Home." Nevertheless they may be the missing link between old-school and free jazz. There's a lot of noise on these records, horns bouncing off one another like crazy, and lots of circular breathing. (Olu Dara's clarinet solo on "Bechet's Bounce," christ, the run's just don't stop.) But these performances also swing like crazy. You could put "Sweet Basil" albums comfortably on the same shelf as Ornette's Science Fiction for large-scale mayhem. And they would rest just as comfortably next to 30s-era Count Basie or Bennie Moten or, of course, Sidney Bechet. This is history taken out of the museum and put where it belongs - in the club with ample amounts of beer and whiskey. Not the museum/mortuary school of preservation. The living constitution, rather. Crouch claims there was lots of sweat in the room during the Wynton band's stint at Blues Alley. On these "Sweet Basil" albums, the sweat literally drips off the tracks themselves.Suggested Wine Pairing: A big Australian bloke comes into the room and knocks you on your ass. A Thorn-Clark Terra Barossa Shiraz 2005, Barossa Valley South Australia (with a high enough alcohol-content to withstand the rack of Kansas City ribs you just ordered). Better order two or three of them.
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