''Live at Moers Festival'' is a live album by drummer

Sunny Murray James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray (September 21, 1936 – December 7, 2017) was an American musician, and was one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming. Biography Murray was born in Idabel, Oklahoma, where he was raised by an ...

. It was recorded in June 1979 at the Moers Festival in Moers, Germany, and was released later that year by

Moers Music Moers Music is a German jazz record label that was founded by Burkhard Hennen in Moers, Germany. The label started in 1974 under the name Ring but was changed three years later due to a conflict with a Canadian record label that had the same name. ...

. On the album, Murray is joined by saxophonist and bass clarinetist David Murray, and bassist

Malachi Favors Malachi Favors (August 22, 1927 – January 30, 2004) was an American jazz bassist who played with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Biography "Favors's tendency to dissemble about his age was a well-known source of mirth to fellow musicians of his g ...

, and percussionist Cheikh Tidiane Fall.

Reception

The editors of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

awarded the album 3 stars. The authors of the ''

Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' awarded the album 3½ stars, and wrote: "The leader's playing... remains utterly distinctive, using a simple kit to create waves of rhythm and colour, dispersing marked time and controlling without dominating all the different areas of the music. David Murray is at something near his early, blistering best and, while the music is more a jam session than a charted course, the four themes provide enough material for the group to roister along. The in-concert sound is no more than acceptable, but the excitement survives any fidelity problems."

Track listing

All compositions by Sunny Murray. # "Sweet Lovely" – 9:27 # "German Dilemma" – 15:01 # "Tree Tops" – 8:15 # "Happiness Tears" – 14:00

Personnel

– drums * David Murray – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet *

– double bass, percussion * Cheikh Tidiane Fall – congas * Recorded on June 3, 1979, at the Moers Festival in Moers, Germany.

References

{{Authority control 1979 live albums Sunny Murray live albums Moers Music live albums