David Murray, Saxophone, 1955, Berkeley, CA
As a youngster, David took piano lessons learning stride and ragtime, and at age nine started on the alto sax, accompanying his mother, a renowned gospel pianist in church. As a teenager he began playing bop and swing. At Pomona College he studied and played with Stanley Crouch, Bobby Bradford, and Arthur Blythe. He formed the World Saxophone Quartet with Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill, and Hamiet Bluiett in 1976. Besides this group, David has led other small groups with which he's toured and recorded. Over the years he has had lasting associations with Jack DeJohnette, and John Carter. Murray is not afraid to use conventional bop formulas or to repeat and develop a tuneful bluesy motif. He effectively combines noise, wide leaps, harsh dissonances, and other extreme devices to achieve the contrasts he is seeking.
Ron Matthewson, Bass, 1944, Lerwick, Scotland.
Ron was born into a musical family and studied the piano from the age of eight. He took up the bass when he was 15. In 1962 he played his first professional gig with a dixieland band, in Germany. He later played in London with various rhythm-and-blues bands. In the mid '50s he worked with several American groups; Wild Bill Davison, Earl Hines, Rex Stewart, and Bud Freeman. Later, in the early '70s, he recorded with Tubby Hayes as well as several otherAmerican groups. During this period he also toured with Stan Getz and Phil Woods with whom he appeared at the Monterux International Jazz Festival in 1972. He has occasionally led his own groups, notably the Ron Matthewson Six Piece, which recorded with Shorty Rogers in 1984. A versatile and thoughtful musician, he is at home in many different styles.
