''Sunshine'' is an album by American

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

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 ...

, his third as a leader. It was recorded in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in August 1969, and released on the

BYG Actuel BYG Records was a French record label known for the Actuel series specializing in free jazz. However, the label released a handful of non-jazz recordings by artists such as Musica Elettronica Viva, Freedom and Gong. History BYG Records was found ...

label later that year. On the album, Murray is joined by Arthur Jones and

Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' described him as "one of the key figures ...

on alto saxophone,

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

and Kenneth Terroade on tenor saxophone,

Lester Bowie Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Biography Born in t ...

on trumpet,

Dave Burrell Herman Davis "Dave" Burrell (born September 10, 1940) is an American jazz pianist. He has played with many jazz musicians including Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Marion Brown and David Murray. Biography Born in Middletown, Ohio, United Sta ...

on piano, and

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

Alan Silva Alan Silva (born Alan Lee da Silva; January 22, 1939 in Bermuda) is an American free jazz double bassist and keyboard player. Biography Silva was born a British subject to an Azorean/Portuguese mother, Irene da Silva, and a black Bermudian fat ...

on bass. In 2002,

Fuel 2000 Fuel 2000 is an independent record label, formed in 1994 as part of the Fuel Label Group. One of the biggest independent record labels, it has amassed a catalog with over 20,000 master recordings. Since its inception, the company has released ove ...

reissued ''Sunshine'' along with Murray's 1970 BYG album ''

An Even Break (Never Give a Sucker) ''An Even Break (Never Give a Sucker)'' is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray. It was recorded in Paris in November 1969, and released on the BYG Records, BYG Actuel label in 1970. On the album, Murray is joined by saxophonists Bya ...

'' on a single disc. The album was recorded as part of a marathon week-long BYG session which also produced Murray's ''

Homage to Africa ''Homage to Africa'' (also released as ''Hommage to Africa'') is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray. It was recorded in Paris in August 1969, and released on the BYG Records, BYG Actuel label in 1970. On the album, Murray is joined ...

'' as well as albums by artists such as Archie Shepp (''

Yasmina, a Black Woman ''Yasmina, a Black Woman'' is a jazz album by Archie Shepp, recorded in 1969 in Paris for BYG Actuel. It features musicians from the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The first track, giving its title to the album, is a long free jazz piece by an 11-piece ...

'', ''

Poem for Malcolm ''Poem for Malcolm'' is a jazz album by Archie Shepp. Recorded in Paris in August 1969 only two days after ''Yasmina, a Black Woman'', it again features musicians from the Art Ensemble of Chicago. This time, the tone is resolutely set to avant g ...

'', and ''

Blasé Blasé may refer to: * ''Blasé'' (album), an album by Archie Shepp * "Blasé" (song), a 2015 song by Ty Dolla Sign {{disambiguation ...

''), the

Art Ensemble Of Chicago The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians ( AACM) in the late 1960s. The ensemble integrates many jazz styles and plays many instruments, including "little ...

(''

Message to Our Folks ''Message to Our Folks'' is a 1969 album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Paris for the French BYG Actuel label.Reese and the Smooth Ones ''Reese and the Smooth Ones'' is a 1969 album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Paris for the French BYG Actuel label. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell and Malachi Favors Maghostut. Reception The ...

''),

Grachan Moncur III Grachan Moncur III (June 3, 1937 – June 3, 2022) was an American jazz trombonist. He was the son of jazz bassist Grachan Moncur II and the nephew of jazz saxophonist Al Cooper. Biography Born in New York City, United States, (his paternal gran ...

('' New Africa''), Alan Silva (''

Luna Surface ''Luna Surface'' is an album by multi-instrumentalist Alan Silva, recorded on August 17, 1969 and released later that year on the BYG label as part of their Actuel series. His first recording as leader, it features Silva on violin along with a la ...

''), Dave Burrell (''

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the list ...

''),

Andrew Cyrille Andrew Charles Cyrille (born November 10, 1939) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographe ...

(''

What About? ''What About?'' is a solo percussion album by drummer Andrew Cyrille, his first recording under his own name. It was recorded in Paris in August 1969, and released on the BYG Actuel label later that year. The album was recorded as part of a marath ...

''), and

Jimmy Lyons Jimmy Lyons (December 1, 1931 – May 19, 1986) was an American alto saxophone player. He is best known for his long tenure in the Cecil Taylor Unit. Lyons was the only constant member of the band from the mid-1960s until his death. Taylor neve ...

(''

Other Afternoons ''Other Afternoons'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, recorded in 1969 and released in 1970 on the BYG label as part of their Actuel series. His first recording as leader, it features Lyons on alto saxophone along with trumpe ...

'').

Reception

In a review for

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 ...

, Brandon Burke wrote: "Sunny Murray's ''Sunshine'' is yet another all-star blowing session from the BYG Actuel series. Like many of the others, it is loud, very intense, and clocks in at just over 30 minutes. Also, and again like the others in the series, it is an indispensable document of late-'60s Pan-African art music. This is an opportunity to hear a number of fantastic players at the peaks of their respective careers... This is some heavy music and is not for the faint of heart, but fans of avant-garde jazz will find a great deal to enjoy here." Britt Robson, in an article for ''

Red Bull Music Academy The Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) is a world-traveling series of music workshops and festivals that was founded in 1998 by Red Bull GmbH. The main five-week event is held in a different city each year. The public portion of its program is a festiv ...

'', commented: "''Sunshine'' is an appropriate title for its incandescent three songs. The longest, 'Flower Trane,' frequently has a dirge pace, but with a roiling undertow that sucks you in. Archie Shepp and Lester Bowie retain their distinctive tonalities in the maelstrom that is set by Murray's frenetic flow, so relentlessly off-kilter it becomes the norm. 'Real' is a wonderful showcase for obscure tenor Kenneth Terroade blasting away amid the powerhouse rhythm section of Murray and bassist Malachi Favors. And 'Red Cross' has an intro that is so immediately frenzied and yet seemingly coordinated among a bevy of horns, including Roscoe Mitchell and Arthur Jones, that it was wisely used as the lead track for the superb three-disc compilation of the BYG/Actuel catalogue, ''JazzActuel'', back in 2000." Writing for the ''Bleg'' web site, Kikanju Baku called the album "a stellar opus of vintage 60's inventive-extremism" and "glorious & ineffable, an extraordinary triumph," praising "Red Cross" as "a biblical show-down of indomitable mayhem & fraying fanaticism... It's beyond powerful, obliterating & feverishly exciting, overflowing at apex emergency." The authors of ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''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 3 stars but stated: "there was never much coherence to the album."

Track listing

All compositions by Sunny Murray. # "Flower Trane" – 13:44 # "Real" – 8:44 # "Red Cross" – 7:50

Personnel

* Arthur Jones – alto saxophone (track 3) *

– alto saxophone (track 3) *

– tenor saxophone (track 1) *Kenneth Terroade – tenor saxophone *

– trumpet (track 1) *

– piano (tracks 1 and 3) *

– bass *

– bass (track 1) *

– drums

Production

*Jean Georgakarakos, Jean-Luc Young – producers

References

{{Sunny Murray, state=autocollapse 1969 albums Sunny Murray albums BYG Actuel albums