Sunny Murray - Sunny Murray (1966)

Drummer Sunny Murray's second date as a leader (following by eight months an almost-unknown set for Jihad that featured Don Cherry and Albert Ayler as sidemen) finds Murray leading a high-powered free jazz quintet. Best known among the sidemen are altoist Byard Lancaster and bassist Al Silva, although second altoist Jack Graham and trumpeter Jacques Coursil also play important roles in the music. Performing lengthy versions of three Murray originals and one by Graham, the band is fairly coherent but also full of fire and chance-taking solos. In ways, this is a typical ESP free-form blowing session, and certainly will be most enjoyed by open-eared listeners.