Sunny Murray

[jeffcrom]

The French newspaper Libération  is reporting that drummer Sunny Murray died yesterday at the age of 82.

[OliverM]

Also just now:

https://www.spin.com/2017/12/sunny-murray-dead-at-82/

RIP

[JSngry]

whoa, that hurts. RIP to one of the true masters.

 

[Pim]

Rest in peace mister Murray. And Thanks for everything!

[paul secor]

Sad News.
I heard Sunny Murray lead a nonet in early 1966 - one of the first two times I heard free music played live. Quite an experience.
Thanks for everything you gave to us, Mr. Murray.

Edited December 8, 2017 by paul secor

[Hardbopjazz]

Another loss. RIP Sunny.

[Chuck Nessa]

First saw him with Cecil in the early '60s. I was clueless.

Edited December 8, 2017 by Chuck Nessa

[HutchFan]

Sorry to hear this sad news.

RIP

[mjzee]

RIP.  He profoundly changed the way I heard the role of drums.

[Steve Reynolds]

Very glad that I had the opportunity to see the great man once

I think I remember when I first really heard him on record - I think it was on Jump Up with Jimmy Lyons & John Lindberg. Then I realize he was doing that fee time thing in 1962 when no other drummer had ever approached that sort of free thing. To my ears the most relaxed and coolest drummer in the world. Plus those cymbals? Who does that?? No one by Sunny

 

 

[soulpope]

A number of this year`s losses is piling up .... R.I.P ....

[JohnS]

A big loss.  I saw Sunny at a drum night on one of those Jazz Expo(?) concert tours.  His contribution was magical but unfortunately didn't go down too well with the bulk of the audience.

[Cyril]

Very sad news.

R.I.P. Sunny.

[sidewinder]

Sorry to hear this. RIP.

[OliverM]

An interesting interview from 2000 here:

http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/interviews/murray.html

Also watched the Sunny's Time Now documentary last night and found interesting how such different musicians as François Tusques and Robert Wyatt had very similar understandings of the nature of Sunny Murray's drum playing: essentially the circular, space-occupying aspect of the sound and the physical dimension of it.

 

Edited December 9, 2017 by OliverM

[brownie]

A sad end to the innovative musician.

The failure of the film 'Sunny's Time Now' that was shot in Luxembourg was a very disappointing évent for him.

The great drummer deserved so much better from life.

[Late]

3 hours ago, brownie said:

The great drummer deserved so much better from life.

Agreed. His sound on the drums was like no other. What would Spiritual Unity be without him ...

[jlhoots]

6 hours ago, OliverM said:

An interesting interview from 2000 here:

http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/interviews/murray.html

Also watched the Sunny's Time Now documentary last night and found interesting how such different musicians as François Tusques and Robert Wyatt had very similar understandings of the nature of Sunny Murray's drum playing: essentially the circular, space-occupying aspect of the sound and the physical dimension of it.

 

That doc. is very good. R.I.P.

[clifford_thornton]

On 12/9/2017 at 3:29 AM, brownie said:

A sad end to the innovative musician.

The failure of the film 'Sunny's Time Now' that was shot in Luxembourg was a very disappointing évent for him.

The great drummer deserved so much better from life.

I agree with this completely.

He was a true giant. Saw him only once, hung out with him after and it was a kick. Also really enjoyed interviewing him for the NYC Jazz Record -- a gracious, hilarious, and fun guy who would talk your ear off.

[mikeweil]

Great interview - thanks for posting. Should be a standard text for jazz historians and fans alike. 

I'm sorry to say I never got around to check him out in depth - I will try to remedy that. I remember a TV broadcast of his group at the Berlin Jazz Festival - just as Chuck, I was clueless. 

R.I.P.

[corto maltese]

Although this news doesn't come as a surprise, it's very sad.

The first time I saw him perform was at a small club in the early nineties, with Charles Gayle. There was only a handful of people waiting for the concert to begin; I was standing two or three meters away from the drum set. He walked over to the set, took his seat, and then looked at us with a big grin, seemingly not bothered at all by the modest attendance: "Hi, I'm Sunny Murray!". As if we didn't know... I thought: maybe I should say something, tell him how important a musician he was in my opinion, how much I had been enjoying his records.

But of course I didn't. Gayle and William Parker came on stage and they immediately started to play. It was a great concert and a wonderful experience to observe the master-drummer from very close.

Thank you for the music, Mr. Murray.

 

[ghost of miles]

WBGO obit:

Sunny Murray

[Jason Bivins]

RIP, sir.