Sunday June 10th         9:30pm        $20

DOCUMENTATION: (By Bob Jacobson)

Kahil El’Zabar - drums, perc., voice
David Murray - tenor, bass clarinet

For many, David Murray is already a jazz legend, for the number of albums recorded, concerts performed, and awards garnered, with a Grammy, Guggenheim, and Danish JazzPar Prize, among them.  Murray was also an original founding member of the iconic World Saxophone Quartet.

The son of Baptist parents, Murray discovered and grasped the Negro spiritual style, Coltrane, and Ayler.  Now in his fifties, Murray has 1over 130 albums to his name.  Born in Oakland, he grew up in Berkeley and studied with Catherine Murray (his mother, an organist), trumpeter Bobby Bradford, alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, and drummer/writer Stanley Crouch.  In March 1975, he left Ponoma College in Los Angeles for New York, performing with artists such as Anthony Braxton, Don Cherry, Julius Hemphill and many others.  

Kahil El’Zabar has been leading his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble in various trio configurations for over 40 years.  A former Chairman of the internationally acclaimed, AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians), Dr. Kahil El’Zabar is considered one of the most prolific innovators of his generation.  In 2012, President Obama awarded Zabar the International Ambassador’s Award in the Arts.  In 2014, Dr. El’Zabar was knighted and christened by the Counsel General of France.  El’Zaber has worked with such musical luminaries as Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Pharoah Sanders, and many others.