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Formats and Editions
1. Sacred Ground
2. Transitions
3. Pierce City
4. Banished
5. Believe in Love
6. Family Reunion
7. Prophet of Doom, The
More Info:
SACRED GROUND is a fascinating and important new recording that grew from David Murray's involvement in the acclaimed documentary film, BANISHED, directed by Marco Williams. Although it's virtually unknown, more than a dozen counties in the U.S. violently expelled thousands of families between the Civil War and the Great Depression. The film - and this recording - explores not only these historical facts, but also the legacy of these events in the communities and for the descendants of the families.Reviews:
The numbers themselves aren't really that impressive. Since the '70s David Murray has cut 80-some records under his name, and another dozen or so with the World Jazz Quartet. He's a jazz guy'"they can just walk into the studio, start the tape rolling, and an hour later they've got marketable product.But what has set Murray apart, and has made him a hit with open-eared rockers too, isn't just his mighty saxophone sound. He's a conceptualist, and whether seeking Afro-Caribbean fusion or interpreting the Grateful Dead, he's always made his blowing cohere within a context. Sacred Ground is no exception.
This is Murray's soundtrack for Banished, the Marco Williams documentary that examines early 20th century white mob violence that drove black Americans from their homes and neighborhoods. Cassandra Wilson, who sings on the first and last cuts here, is a conceptualist herself. But though she's a smart cookie, she's often allowed context to swallow up the whole on her own albums. Wilson's stately sobriety is a wet blanket when she drowses through pop like "Time After Time" or "Last Train to Clarksville." But it seems appropriate to the subject here, whether she's intoning lyrics by African-American author Ishmael Reed or moaning wordlessly alongside'"and in response to'"Murray's articulate wails. In fact, you might say that Wilson and Murray each provide context for the other's art'"a neat trick, no?
