Sunny Murray

Sunny Murray was one of the early avant-garde's most inventive and influential drummers, doing a great deal to establish the role of the drums in free improvisation. Although Murray could swing as hard as anyone, he often abandoned the drums' traditional timekeeping role. Instead of playing a steady beat, he might punctuate and color behind the soloist's lines, or engage in dialogues with the rest of the ensemble, commenting and conversing with an open-ear sense of give and take.

Born James Marcellus Arthur Murray in Idabel, OK, Sunny began drumming at age nine and moved to New York in 1956. At first, he played with traditional artists like Red Allen and Willie "The Lion" Smith, but he soon branched out into more adventurous territory with Jackie McLean and Ted Curson. His big break, however, came when he joined Cecil Taylor's group in 1959, which allowed him to improvise at a far more advanced level. While touring Europe with Taylor, Murray met Albert Ayler, and wound up joining his band in 1964; through 1967, Murray appeared on most of the saxophonist's greatest free jazz sessions. He also worked with Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, and John Tchicai, and made his first albums as a leader with 1965's Sunny's Time Now (for Jihad) and 1966's Sunny Murray Quintet (for the seminal ESP), the latter of which helped him win Down Beat's New Star award.
In 1968, Murray traveled to France, where he played with Archie Shepp and recorded as a leader for Affinity and BYG Actuel; returning to the U.S. in 1971, Murray settled in Philadelphia and formed a group called the Untouchable Factor, which he led off and on through varying lineups. He led a fine quintet in the late '70s and '80s, and surfaced on several dates during the '90s. DISCOGRAPHY
Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers/Sonny Murray Quartet-1968

Sunny Murray Shandar

Sunny Murray-Big Chief

Archie Shepp-Live at the Panafrican Festival

Archie Shepp-Yasmina, A Black Woman

Dave Burrell-Echo

Sunny Murray-Hommage To Africa

Sunny Murray-Sunshine

Various Artists-History of Jazz Vol. 10

.. Clifford Thornton-Ketchaoua

Archie Shepp-Black Gipsy

Archie Shepp-Pitchin Can

Sunny Murray-An Even Break (Never Give A Sucker)

Francois Tusques-Intercommunal Music

Gunter Hampel And His Galaxie Dream Band-Journey To The Song Within

Cecil Taylor Unit Core Ensemble

Various Artists-New American Music Volume 1-New York Section/Composers of the 1970's

Various Artists-Wildflowers 1

Various Artists-Wildflowers 5

Sunny Murray/The Untouchable Factor-Charred Earth

Sunny Murray's Untouchable Factor-Apple Cores

Sunny Murray Quintet-Aigu-Grave

Sunny Murray Trio-Live At Moers-Festival

Fall/Favors/Murray-African Magic

Burton Greene/Alan Silva/Sunny Murray-Firmanence

Maslak/Dikker/Miller/Murray-Mayhem In Our Streets

Cecil Taylor-It Is In The Brewing Luminous

Jimmy Lyons/Sunny Murray-Jump Up/What To Do About

Kenny Millions-No Money No Honey

Keshavan Maslak-Loved By Millions

David Eyges-Crossroads

Billy Bang-Outline No. 12

Schlippenbach & Murray-Smoke

Nelly Pouget-Le Dire

October Meeting 1991-Anatomy of a Meeting

Cecil Taylor Unit (private recording)