David Murray Infinity Quartet. Ronnie Scott’s Club, London

And yet if it is ’Body And Soul’ and the performer is David Murray then such indulgence is easily forgiven. Almost nonchalantly the tenor saxophonist launched into one of the greatest of love songs that was defined as much by the robust sensuality of Coleman Hawkins in the 1930s as Cassandra Wilson’s chiaroscuro murmurs in the 1990s, and within a few bars he had the whole room rapt in silence. To distil the ballad’s powerful bittersweet essence, Murray referenced two vocabularies, one being the feathery tenderness of Ben Webster, the other the fraught violence of Albert Ayler. Pitching his phrases between these poles he fashioned a vivid agony-ecstasy continuum, letting his gentler, measured mid-range sighs tumble into a rapier sharp high register where the lines were feverish and agitated.

Double bassist Jaribu Shahid and pianist Rod Williams, depping for Marc Cary, were wholly sensitive accompanists, but it was drummer Nasheet Waits who emerged practically as a brilliant second solo voice to the leader, drawing his cymbals to a whispery hush but constantly producing crisp, inventive fills on a snare that was propulsive without ever threatening to overpower. Funk was always just under the surface of his timekeeping. This kind of lush romanticism with groove sub-plots was pretty much the order of the day as Murray showed that a strong root in swing and blues can still flower into modernism that is anything but mildewed. ‘French Kiss’ was the notable cut from the quartet’s new album Be My Monster Love, but the rendition of a highlight of the leader’s voluminous back catalogue –1983s ‘Murray’s Steps’- was a reminder that the 58 year-old has himself become part of the ongoing history of the tenor saxophone. Based on ‘Giant Steps’ it was a fitting dedication to another icon, and John Coltrane may have been more than entertained by its clever, fast-moving harmonic staircase and concise but jaunty melodies.

– Kevin Le Gendre